The Psalms 144 : A Prayer for Rescue and Prosperity

A Psalm of David.


1 Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war,
and my fingers to fight:



2 my goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer;
my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.


3 LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!


4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.


5 Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.


6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.


7 Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;


8 whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.


9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.


10 It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.


11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:


12 that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:


13 that our garners may be full, affording all manner of store; that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:


14 that our oxen may be strong to labor; that there be no breaking in, nor going out;
that there be no complaining in our streets.


15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

EA Lessons--- How Would You Respond To These....

These are in the Entered Apprentice degree of the AASR Rituals.
I know these dissertations are not given in the Preston/Webb rituals I recieved, and after reading them, I wonder how a candidate would respond to these after the Chamber of Reflection and first being brought into the Lodge.
I would love to hear from other masons on how they would react and feel if these were related to you when first embarking on the journeys involved in the EA Degree.

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WM- The partial state of nakedness in which all must be introduced to our mysteries constitutes the first symbolic lesson, and personifies the primal state of man after his creation. Although surrounded with every element of comfort, he found himself with no other resource than that of his bodily strength and powers, which he knew not how to use in consequence of his primitive ignorance. This is symbolized by the darkness to which you have submitted yourself. In that helpless condition he must have been a prey to great anxiety, and his loneliness must have been oppressive. The puncture which you have felt on your left bare breast is also the symbol of those first sufferings of his mind, and of the loneliness which overshadowed his heart. The future and the object of his creation were inexplicable and a source of great uneasiness. Many an idea, no doubt, arouse in his mind suggesting what he might do to make his way through the immensity which had suddenly unrolled itself before him, in all the brilliant glory of the new creation, but want of experience led him to uncertain views, and he found himself a slave, bound down by his own perplexities in the abode of liberty, which is symbolized by the cord which appears to restrain you of the free use of your limbs, and keeps you defenseless in the hands of an unknown guide. In a word, your condition is intended to impress upon your mind the circumstances attending the introduction of man upon earth, his entrance to a new and untried existence, with a world to conquer and subdue. So with you, you enter upon this new world naked, blind and helpless, and chaos appears to reign supreme. Let your mind seek for light, truth and liberty in this new world, and they will surely come to you. Is it of your own free will and accord, unactuated by motives of curiosity or self—aggrandizement, that you have asked to be initiated into the mysteries of this Ancient Institution? (Candidates answers.) It behooves you then to give heed to the difficulties which will beset you on every side. The path of life is strewn with care and disappointment; every step in knowledge, which leads to light, calls for labor. So here, your every step will be attended with fatigue, difficulties and trials, not to say dangers, which will call for the exercise of patient endurance on your part, accompanied by a persevering effort and presence of mind. Are you ready, calmly and steadily, to encounter them? (Candidate answers.) It being so, we now leave you for a short time to commune with your own thoughts.



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W.M.—Like all institutions, whether sacred or profane, Masonry has not escaped the tongue of envy, jealousy and uncharitableness. It has been said by thoughtless persons that our mysteries are but childish plays; that we meet for the purpose of passing our leisure hours in the revels of the banqueting hall; that the tendency of the Institution and the observance of its obligations and precepts is to make us forgetful and negligent of the duties and love we owe our families, and that we even propagate pernicious doctrines in matters of religion and politics. Without assuming to ourselves perfection in all things, we sincerely believe that you will soon discover that we are not amenable to these accusations; that they are unfounded and proceed from the envious and malicious. On the contrary, it is chief among our aims to attain to a true knowledge of our duties to God to our country, and to our fellow—beings. Now, if you have been prompted to approach our portals and ask for initiation to these ancient mysteries of Freemasonry with no more praiseworthy motive than the gratification of a vain and idle curiosity, regardless of the consequences of imposing on our kind indulgence we would most earnestly advise you to withdraw, reminding you that in so doing your trials will probably terminate in a manner quite different from what you have been led to expect. Can we rely upon the earnestness of your determination to become a faithful, honorable, upright Freemason, true to your fellow—men? (Candidate answers.)



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W.M.—We believe that amidst the stupendous works of Nature with which man found himself surrounded at his first appearance on earth, an inspiration from above informed him of his physical and mental powers, placing him at the head of all animated creation, and that on viewing the splendors of the heavens above and the wonders of the earth beneath, he saw the handiwork of an infinite, all—wise and beneficent being, calling for unbounded adoration and praise as the Author and Creator of all things, believing himself to be the image and direct heir of his heavenly Father. In subsequent ages man's heart became subject to evil passions, and his great source of comfort and intelligence was obscured by the appalling darkness of all evil—and paganism, with all its attendant degrading slavery, succeeded to the knowledge of the true God, and man was not far removed from the beasts of the forest. In all ages we find that there were a few wise and righteous men, who strove with all their power to stem the mighty torrent of ignorance and of mental and political degradation. They had to contend against the mightiest for evil, among the religious and civil institutions of their time. We find these wise men uniting in secret societies for the acquisition of strength, for the preservation of the knowledge of the true God, and for the restoration of man to his original political and mental liberty and dignity of character. By the blessings of God they were powerfully instrumental in raising man to the high position in which we now find him. We, as direct successors of those learned and philosophical societies, have a great work to do in the careful preservation of the wisdom and virtues of those true founders of our ancient and honorable Institution.





W.M.—Mr. __________, will you please tell us what you understand by the term virtue?

(Candidate answers.)

W.M.—In the same manner as there is in the universe a physical light which spreads its rays over the wonders of the earth in order that man may see, admire and avail himself of them, so is there in every man an inward and intellectual light which diffuses itself in his mind, which shows what he owes to himself, and to his fellow—beings. A continued and sincere obedience to that inward light or inspiration is what we call virtue, because it depends upon us either to exercise or refuse that obedience, and we cannot lay claim to those divine qualities which distinguish man from all created beings, without a judicious and active exercise of reason in guiding us in our selection of good from evil. Virtue is, therefore, that energy and tendency of the mind and feelings which determines us in doing that which is good, beautiful and true.

W.M.—Mr. __________, will you please tell us what you understand by the word vice? (Candidate answers.)

W.M.—Vice in our estimation is the reverse of virtue and results from a perverted judgement in the exercise of our powers of selection, and leads us to adopt the evil rather than the good. We consider a man to be vicious who, instead of obeying the inward light or inspiration which prompts to all that is good, beautiful and true, gradually falls into an inclination to abuse his sensual powers and suppress his morality without consideration of the duties that he owes to himself and to humanity. These three subjects, the ideas concerning Deity or universal being, virtue and vice are at the foundation of the purest philosophy, comprise the whole of its moral teachings, and are susceptible to infinite development. We had briefly to examine them with you preparatory to your initiation, for we can receive no one without being well satisfied that the mind and heart are in a proper state gradually to attain to a participation of our mysteries and purposes.
You now have several voyages to undergo. Are you prepared?




(Candidate answers.)


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Not until after this Light is garnered can the candidate proceed through the journeys/trials that await the candidate.

This seems to be more enlightening compared to the Preston/Webb rituals and does seem to be more in line with the 18th century movement of Freemasonry.

BIND YOURSELF WITH THE ILLUSION OF THE GRAND LODGE's INFALLIBILITY AND YOU SHALL NEVER CROSS THE PATH OF LIGHT!



BELIEVE THE HEART, MORE THAN THE EYES, FOR THE EYES, THEY FOLLOW REASON AND REASON IS BASED UPON WHAT ORDINARY MEN SEE; THEY DO NOT SEE ALL THAT IS THERE, SO REASON IS IN PART A LIE!


IF YOU FOLLOW A LIE YOU WILL NEVER GET TO A TRUE PLACE.

MARK MY WORDS APPRENTICES, I HAVE BEEN THERE. IN THE DWELLING-PLACE OF THE MASTERS, WERE THE DOORS ARE OPENED TO THE STARS, WHEN THEY CHOSE TO OPEN THEM, FOR THEY HAVE TRANSCENDED DEATH, THOUGH ARE WAITING STILL TO BE EVERYTHING FOLLOWING THE TRACE OF THE GREAT AMON.

RED SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE HEART, AND YOU SHALL KNOW WHAT LAYS IN THERE, FOLLOW IT AND THIS MAP USUALLY NEVER FAILS.

IF YOU STEP INSIDE THE CAVE, THE TEMPLE, THE ANSWER TO YOUR SEARCH, KNOW THAT YOU ARE FAR FROM THE END, BUT THE TIME YOU TAKE TO REACH IT, IS PART OF YOU.

BE THE MASTER OF THE CHANGE, TIME IS A SERVANT!

A Wise Man Once Said.................................

"Every man who is prepared to die rather than renounce TRUTH and JUSTICE is "MOST TRULY LIVING", for Immortality 'ABIDES IN THAT MAN'S SOUL', and to him there can be no DEATH.
To develop such men was the Aim and End of all Ancient Initiation.
It is the Aim and End of PHILOSOPHIC INITIATION and the becoming of one of the BROTHERS OF FREEMASONRY.
Measure all things by REASON and prove them by APPLICATION."

UNKNOWN



"Dost thou think I would give to the mere pupil, whose qualities are not yet fully TRIED, powers that might change the face of the social world?
The last secrets are instructed "only to him of whose virtue[moral strength and personal responsibility] the Master is convinced."

PATIENCE!

"It is Labor[personal effort] itself that is the greater purifier of the mind; and by DEGREES the secret will grow upon[will be revealled by the Inner Light] thyself as the mind becomes riper[prepared] to receive them."

ZANONI

“The Other Masonic Rites” -New currents in American Freemasonry

“The Other Masonic Rites”
-New currents in American Freemasonry




By our Investigating Reporter From the Freemasons Press









In the two hundred and seventy years of American Craft Freemasonry, the dominant ritual in use by most of the Jurisdictions was the ritual of the York Rite Craft Degrees. Some European scholars call it “American Rite”-(Preston-Webb) in order to emphasize differences between the American and English versions of the York Rite degrees. Most of the Jurisdictions came up with their “standard” versions of the York Rite ritual prescribing it as the only allowed work for use in the Lodges under their protection. Of course, there were few exemptions. Several Lodges (no more than two dozen in the whole of the USA) in some of the Jurisdictions, generally ones that predated the formation of the particular Grand Lodge, were granted dispensation to use their original ritual works, as a part of the Lodge “landmarks”. This way, some of the American Freemasons were able to experience Scottish Rite Craft degree work or some of the older forms of the English workings; but that was as far as the variations in the Craft ritual experience in the US would go.

At the same time in the continental Europe were developed numerous craft workings within a various Rites, and unlike in the United States, in many Jurisdictions Craft Lodges were allowed to choose the Rite they would practice. This was particularly case in the France and Belgium. This way, over a period of time, numerous Craft workings were developed. Today, the following Rites are practiced in Craft Lodges of the continental Europe: Craft degrees of the Ancient accepted Scottish Rite, Traditional French Rite, Modern French Rite, Rectified Scottish Rite, Swedish Rite, Schroeder Rite, Emulation Rite, Domatic workings, York Rite, as well as variations of the Rites already mentioned.


Recent appearance of the new Masonic Jurisdiction in the US, the Grand Orient of the USA, brought new opportunities for the ritualistic experience. Constitutionally, being a confederation of the private Lodges, Grand Orient allows individual Lodges under their protection to pick the Rite of their choice for the use in the particular Lodge. So far, there are six Rites available for the use in GOUSA Lodges: Modern Restored (French) Rite, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Rectified Scottish Rite, Cosmopolitan Rite, Emulation Rite, and American (Preston-Webb) standard Rite. The introduction of the Modern French Rite was followed by the formation of the first Chapter for the practice of the four higher degrees (or Orders) of the Modern French Rite. So far, there are three Lodges of the Grand Orient of the USA practicing Modern Rite: The Intrepid Lodge (Los Angeles, CA), Cosmopolitan Lodge (New York, NY), and Thomas Paine Lodge (Paris, France).




In many ways, ritualistic activities of the members of the Grand Orient of USA are pioneering. Modern (French) Rite has never been translated before in English. Set of Officers of the Lodge is different than in the American York Rite. Same is true in the case of the Rectified Scottish Rite chosen to be practiced by the newly established Lodge from Grand Rapids (MI), where at the same time Lodge Euclid practice Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. Cosmopolitan Rite is the result of the efforts within the GOUSA to restore some of the original workings of the 18th century Craft Rituals and to use them in its unsoiled form, free from all changes and additions that occurred over the period of time. Cosmopolitan Rite is practiced by the Sirius Lodge from Atlanta (GA).




These developments in the American Free Masonry are certainly great refreshment in the bloodline of all those Freemasons who like to do and to study various ritual works. Lodges of the Grand Orient of USA, cosmopolitan in their nature, allow visitations and affiliations of the Freemasons members of the “regular” Jurisdictions. The requirements for membership in any of the Lodges of the Grand Orient of USA are similar to those of the regular Jurisdictions with several differences: The potential candidate is neither asked of his religious beliefs nor to confirm his belief in God. Members of the GOUSA believe in the freedom of conscience, mutual tolerance, respect of oneself and another, as well as in the separation of the church and state. Usually it takes two to three years to go through the three degrees of Craft Freemasonry, during which time, Apprentices and Fellowcrafts are asked to write papers on the symbolical and philosophical subject and present them in the Lodge, in order to prove their progress in the Free Masonry. It is general understanding that Freemason is not working only on his own ethical improvement, but also on the improvement of the society in which he lives. Many members of the GOUSA are active participant in the public discussions on the important social issues in our society.

It is important to mention that members of the Grand Orient of the USA understand that big number of the mainstream Freemasons don’t share their approach to Free Masonry. Nevertheless, they don’t want to enter into quarrels with those who oppose their right to exist and work, but they wish to practice their Royal Art in peace and harmony, with gentle and welcoming words and fraternal greetings to the Universal Brotherhood of Freemasons, regardless of their understanding of Freemasonry, race, or gender. So, we may be pro or contra their understanding of Freemasonry, but it seems that they are working hard in the quarries of Freemasonry.

It remains to be seen what future will bring to the American Freemasonry, and particularly to the Grand Orient of the USA. Practice of the many different Rites certainly looks very attractive to those willing to learn more about Freemasonry.


http://www.freemasonspress.info/index2_files/Page665.htm

The Cloud Upon The Sanctuary

The Cloud Upon The Sanctuary

By the Councillor D’ Eckartshasen
exerpts:




There is no age more remarkable to the quiet observer than our own. Everywhere there is fermentation in the minds of men; everywhere there is a battle between light and darkness, between exploded thought and living ideas, between powerless wills and living active force; in short everywhere is there war between animal man and growing spiritual man. It is said that we live in an age of light, but it would be truer to say that we are living in an age of twilight; here and there a luminous ray pierces through the mists of darkness, but does not light to full clearness either our reason or our hearts. Men are not of one mind, scientists’ dispute, and where there is discord, truth is not yet apprehended. The most important objects for humanity are still undetermined. No one is agreed either on the principle of rationality or on the principle of morality, or on the cause of will. This proves that though we are dwelling in an age of light, we do not well understand what emanates from our hearts- and what from our heads. Probably we should have this information much sooner if we did not imagine that we have the light of knowledge in our hands, or if we would cast a look on our weakness, and recognize that we require a more brilliant illumination. We live in the times of idolatry of the intellect, we place a common torchlight upon the altar and we loudly proclaim the aurora, that now daylight is really about to appear, and that the world is emerging more and more out of obscurity into the full day of perfection, through the arts, sciences, and cultured taste, and even from a purer understanding of religion. Poor mankind! To what standpoint have you raised the happiness of man? Has there ever been an age which counted so many victims to humanity as the present? Has there ever been in which immortality and egotism have been greater or more dominant than in this one? The tree is known by its fruits. Mad men! With your imaginary natural reason, from whence have you the light by which you are so willing to enlighten others? Are not all your ideas borrowed from your senses which do not give you the reality but merely its phenomena? Is it not true that in time and space all knowledge is but relative, for absolute truth is not to be found in the phenomenal world? Thus your natural reason does not possess its true essence, but only the appearance of truth and light; and the more this appearance increases and spreads, the more the essence of light inwardly fades, and the man confuses himself with this appearance and gropes vainly after the dazzling phantasmal images he conjures. The philosophy of our age raises the natural intellect into independent objectivity, and gives it judicial power, she exempts it from any superior authority, she makes it voluntary, converting it into divinity by closing all harmony and communication with God; and this god Reason, which has no other law but its own, is to govern Man and make him happy!....Darkness able to spread light!....Death capable of Life! The truth leads man to happiness. Can you give it? That which you call truth, is a form of conception, empty of real matter, the knowledge of which is acquired from without and through the senses, and the understanding co-ordinates them by observed synthetic relationship into science or opinion.

You abstract from the Scriptures and Tradition their moral, theoretical and practical truth; but as individuality is the principle of your intelligence, and as egotism is the incentive to your will, you do not see, by your light, the moral law which dominates, or repel it with your will. It is to this length that the light of today has penetrated. Individuality under the cloak of false philosophy is a child of corruption. Who can pretend that the sun is in full zenith if no bright rays illuminate the earth, and no warmth vitalizes vegetation? If wisdom does not benefit man, if love does not make him happy, but very little has been done for him on the whole. Oh! If only natural man, that is, sensuous man, would only learn to see that the source of his intelligence and the incentive of his will are only his individuality, he would then seek interiorly for a higher source, and he would thereby approach that which alone can give the this true element, because it is wisdom in its essential substance.

Love and Wisdom beget the spirit of truth, interior light; this light illuminates us and makes supernatural things objective to us. It is inconceivable to what depth of error a man falls when he abandons simple truths of faith by opposing his own opinions.



The absolute truth lying in the center of Mystery is like the sun, it blinds ordinary sight and man sees only the shadow. The Avalon can gaze at the dazzling light, likewise only the prepared soul can bear its luster. Nevertheless, the great Something which is the inmost of the Holy Mysteries has never been hidden from the piercing gaze of him who can bear the light. God and nature have no mysteries for their children. They are caused by the weakness of our nature, unable to support light, because it is not yet organized to bear the chaste light of unveiled truth. This weakness is the Cloud that covers the Sanctuary; this is the curtain which veils the Holy of Holies; but in order that man may recover the veiled light, strength and dignity; divinity bends to the weakness of its creatures, and writes the truth that is interior and eternal mystery on the outside of things, so that man can transport himself through this to their spirit. These letters are the ceremonies or the rituals of religion, which lead man to the interior life of union with God. Mystic hieroglyphs are these letters also; they are sketches and designs holding interior and holy truth. Religion and the Mysteries go hand in hand to our brethren to truth, both have for object the reversing and renewing of our natures, both have for the end the re-building of a temple inhabited by Wisdom and Love, or God with man. But religion and the Mysteries would be useless phenomena if Divinity had not also accord means to attain these great ends. But these means are only in the innermost of the sanctuary. The Mysteries are required to build a Temple to Religion, and religion is required to unite Man with God. Such is the greatness of religion, and such the exalted dignity of the Mysteries from all time. It would be unjust to you, beloved brothers, that we should think that you have never regarded the Holy Mysteries in this aspect, the one which shows them as the only means able to preserve in purity and integrity the doctrine of the important truths concerning God, nature and man. This doctrine was couched in holy symbolic language, and the truths which it contained having been gradually translated among the outer circle into the ordinary languages of man, became in consequence more obscure and unintelligible. The Mysteries, as you know, beloved brothers, promise things which are and which remain always the heritage of but a small number of men; these are the mysteries which can neither be bought nor sold publicly, and can only be acquired by a heart which has attained to wisdom and love. He in whom this holy flame has been awakened lives in true happiness, content with everything and in everything free. He sees the cause of human corruption and knows that it is inevitable. He hates no criminal; he pities him, and seeks to raise him who has fallen, and to restore the wanderer, because he feels notwithstanding all the corruption, in the whole there is no taint. He sees with a clear eye the underlying truth in the foundation of all religion, he knows the sources of superstition and of incredulity, as being caused by modifications of truth which have not attained perfect equilibrium. We are assured my esteemed brothers, that you consider the true Mystic from this aspect, and that you will not attribute to royal art, which which the energy of some isolated individuals have made of this art. It is therefore, with these views, which exactly with ours, that you will compare religion, and the mysteries of the holy schools of Wisdom, to the loving sisters who have watched over the good of mankind since the necessity of their birth.




He can now receive the truth will understand. It is to you, much beloved brothers, you who have so faithfully preserved the hieroglyphics of the holy mysteries in your temple, it is to you that the first ray of truth will be directed; this ray will pierce through the cloud of mystery, and will announce the full day and the treasure which it brings. Do not ask who those are who write to you; look at the spirit not the letter, the thing, not at persons. Neither pride, nor self seeking, neither does any unworthy motive, exist in our retreats; we know the object and the destination of man, and the light which lights us works in all our actions. We are especially called to write to you, dear brothers of light; and that which gives power to our commission is the truth which we possess, and which we pass on to you on the least sign, and according to the measure of the capacity of each. Light is apt for communication, where there is reception and capacity, but it constrains no one, and waits its reception tranquilly. Our desire, our aim, our office is to revivify the dead letter, and to spiritualize the symbols, turn the passive into the active, death into life; but this we cannot do by ourselves, but through the spirit of Light of him who is Wisdom and the Light of the World. Until the present time the Inner Sanctuary has been separated from the Temple, and the Temple beset with those who belong only to the precincts; but the time is coming when the Innermost will be reunited with the Temple, in order that those who are in the Temple can influence those who are in the outer courts, so that the outer pass in. In our sanctuary, all the hidden mysteries are preserved intact; they have never been profaned (compared to American Masonry which has been profaned). This sanctuary is invisible, as is a force which is only known through its action. By this short description, my dear brothers, you can tell who we are, and it will be superfluous to assure you that we do not belong to those restless natures who seek to build in this common life an ideal after their own fantastic imaginations. Neither do we belong to those who wish to play a great part in the world, and who promise miracles that they themselves do not understand. We do not represent either that class of minds, who, resenting the condition of certain things, have no object but the desire of dominating others (Grand Lodge and Grand Officers), and who love adventure and exaggeration. We can also assure you that we belong to no other sect or association than the one true and great one of those who are able to receive the light. We are not also of those who think it their right to mould all after their own model, the arrogance to seek to remodel all other societies; we assure you faithfully that we know the innermost of religion and of the Holy Mysteries; and that we possess with absolute certainty, all that has been surmised to be in the Adytum, and that this said possession gives us the strength to justify our commission, and to impart to the dead letter and hieroglyphic everywhere both spirit and life. The treasures in our sanctuary are many; we understand the spirit and meaning of all symbols and the ceremony which have existed since the day of Creation to the present time, as well as the most interior truths of all the Holy Books, with the laws and customs of primitive people. We possess a light by which we are anointed, and by means of which we read the hidden and secret things of nature. We possess a fire which feeds us, and which gives us the strength to act upon everything in nature. We possess a key to open the gate of mystery, and a key to shut natures laboratory. We know of the existence of a bond which will unite us to the Upper Worlds, and reveal to us their sights and their sounds. All the marvels of nature are subordinate to our will by its being united with Divinity. We have mastered the science which draws directly from nature, whence there is no error, but truth and light only. In our School we are instructed in all things because our Master is the Light itself and its essence. The plentitude of our scholarship is the knowledge of this tie between the divine and the spiritual worlds and of the spiritual world with the elementary, and of the elementary world with the material world. By these knowledge’s we are in condition to co-ordinate the spirits of nature and the heart of man. Our science is the inheritance promised to the Elect; otherwise, those who are duly prepared for receiving the light, and the practice of our science is in the completion of the Divine union with the child of man. We could often tell you, beloved brothers, of marvels relating to the hidden things in the treasury of the sanctuary, which would amaze and astonish you; we could speak to you about ideas concerning which the profoundest philosophy is as removed as the earth from the sun, but to which we are near being one with the light of the innermost. But our object is not to excite your curiosity, but to raise your desires to seek the light at its source, where your search for wisdom will be rewarded and the longing for love satisfied; for wisdom and love dwell in our retreats. The stimulus of their reality and of their truth is our magical power. We assure you that our treasures, though of infinite value, are concealed in so simple a manner that they entirely baffle the researches of opinionated science, and also though these treasures would bring to carnal minds both madness and sorrow, nevertheless, they are, and they ever remain to us the treasures of the highest wisdom. My best blessing, upon you, O my brothers, is you understand these great truths. The recovery of the triple word and of its power will be your reward. Your happiness will be in having the strength to help re-unite man with man, and with nature and with God, which is the real work of every workman who has not rejected the Corner Stone.