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           A MASONIC PERSPECTIVE,
Any Masonic Perspective can only be that of the individual Freemason,
according to the light that he himself has discovered.

              MASONIC LANGUAGE

Like all other initiatory systems, which are concerned to impart and
to develop techniques for spiritual unfoldment, Freemasonry has its
own special language derived from the ancient tool of allegory and the
universal language of symbolism. In general, the search for spiritual
evolution and illumination can be termed a pathway to light. Light,
for Freemasons, signifies knowledge. Darkness signifies Ignorance.

                  The Pathway to LIGHT
              By NORMAN PEARSON, PH.D., D.B.A

Long before our society embraced the concept of lifelong learning,
Freemasons had posited one of the basic human tasks to be an endless
quest for knowledge: light, and still more light, as all the readily
available literature on Freemasonry will attest. Masons are required
to make a daily advancement, no matter how small, in this struggle for
the light. On this pathway, Masonry uses three main personal
techniques at the outset, and they continue throughout a Mason's
individual development, supplemented by other techniques. These are:

1 - Admonition
2 - Incident
3 - Symbol

FIRST TECHNIQUES FOR THE INDIVIDUAL

These first techniques of admonition, incident and symbol are
deceptively simple. They are also very powerful. They point to Masonry
as a discipline, not a religion. Freemasonry has been held to contain
those spiritual principles on which all good men can agree, whatever
their history, their culture, their origin, their religion or their
mores. That has been the root of its universal appeal.

On Masonic altars the Torah, the Bible, the Koran, the holy Vedic
books of India, the teachings of Zoroaster, the Mormon books and those
of the Bahai and others sit side by side in peace and harmony.

Members are forbidden to discuss such divisive matters as politics and
dogma, and are expected to meet in peace and brotherhood. Because of
the vital significance of this spiritual work, in many jurisdictions
Masonic meeting-places are termed Temples, used in the sense of a holy
place of spiritual searching; of a temple of learning about light; and
as a reminder of a fundamental principle that the body is the temple
of the soul; buildings dedicated to the basic Cosmic force and
ultimate mysterious principle which we term God, and as places of
fellowship and harmony where the concerned seekers can work together
in their search, both individually and collectively.

        ADMONITION, INCIDENT & SYMBOL

The Masonic discipline at every meeting and in the Mason's private
life, uses all three techniques of admonition, incident and symbol.
Admonitions abound - in plain and forthright language. This technique
is simple and direct. For example, the cardinal virtues of temperance,
fortitude, prudence and justice are stated, explained, and the need
for their use in daily life is made very plain. Any book of published
material on Freemasonry clearly indicates this as a basic starting
point. The intent is towards basic honesty and integrity, to make our
inner code of honor apply directly to our external actions as a matter
of habit.

A series of incidents constitute the second teaching, technique. These
are not abstract moral lessons, but simple and practical
demonstrations: indications of the importance of duty as a compass
bearing on our progress in life; friendship as a key element, showing
that we are all totally dependent on friendship and on mutual
cooperation to make society work at all, and particularly to overcome
peril; loyalty is sought, along with demonstrable fidelity to certain
key principles already evident in the admonitions; full personal
responsibility for our actions is required, including self-discipline
to ensure harmonious working together, to ensure responsibility for
our words and deeds and their consequences: fidelity is evident,
including the need for positive action to actually oppose evil, even
at great risk, to put these principles into action in the great arena
of life.

... there are emblems of mortality and immortality: to remind us that
life is short in this present school of Earth, and that such time must
be used well; and to remind us that the Divine spark within is one
with the great universe, transcends time and space, and lives for
ever.

The third method uses the universal and ancient language of symbols.
It takes time to learn this forgotten language, but it gradually
becomes clear that the symbols fall into various groups: some relate
to regulating our conduct; some deal with building our character;
still others speak to our purpose in life; others emphasize the need
for a balanced life. Finally, there are emblems of mortality and
immortality: to remind us that life is short in this present school of
Earth, and that such time must be used well; and to
remind us that the Divine spark within is one with the great universe,
transcends time and space, and lives for ever. Then having
contemplated infinity, there are symbols to remind us of the various
aspects of the universal moral law which should guide our lives.

So we have the commitment to lifelong learning and the three methods of
admonition, incident and symbols as the obvious techniques and
starting point. But what precedes this is also vital: the process of
initiation in stages.


        The universe is viewed as one huge coherent structure,, run,
        by universal law, which owes its existence to the Great
        Architect of the Universe. Man is not lost in space.



     INITIATION & ARCHITECTURE AS A METAPHOR

Many Masonic writers have noted that there are many in the order who
are unchanged by the solemn ceremonies of initiation. They frequently
remind us of Tolstoy's character Pierre, in 'War and Peace", who
classified his lodge members as (1) those who were few, but genuinely
affected by initiation and who made profound efforts at spiritual
development; (2) those who, like himself, sought to improve their
character but wavered and fell by the wayside periodically; (3) those
fascinated by minute detail of ritual, ceremony, history and
symbolism, demanding conformity and strict observance; (4) the
unchanged (often called in English works "bread-and-butter Masons")
who were not at all affected by any event, and saw in the whole
thing simply a social occasion. It seems evident that those in the
first category are likely very few in number, but as Tolstoy said,
they are the lifeblood of Freemasonry.

Hammond (1939) alluded to these Masons when he spoke of the fourfold
allusions to the metaphor of architecture in Freemasonry as techniques
for spiritual unfoldment:

1. The universe is viewed as one huge coherent structure, run by
universal law, which owes its existence to the Great Architect of the
Universe. Man is not lost in space.

2. Man is a builder, charged with the construction of personal
character. He is reminded that the universe within is as vast and
limitless as the universe without, as the ancient symbol of infinity
indicates. For this task of building a fitting temple for the soul,
man is given abundant material, noble models and patterns, and
explicit instructions.

3. Man is commissioned to build an ideal social structure, globally,
person by person. Since the nature of this slowly-evolving structure
depends on the quality of the individuals involved and their
relationship to each other, then each Mason must qualify as a "living
stone" of society to contribute to its betterment, following universal
law.

4. Finally, Masons are engaged in creating "that house not made with
hands eternal in the heaven", the idea that after transition we have
passed through the earthly chambers of birth, youth, manhood, old age
and death, into the eternal. This sequence envisages a process which
this author sees as an indication of re-incarnation in some sense,
until the soul has learned all it needs to know. Oliver Wendell Holmes
states this well:
"Build thee more stately mansions, O, my soul, As the swift seasons
roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the
last. Shut thee from heaven within a dome more vast Till thou at
length are free, Leaving shine outgrown shell by life's unresting
sea!"




THE CHILDREN AND THE CHESSBOARD

So the whole direction of the dominant architectural metaphor in
Freemasonry is toward this major task of spiritual unfoldment. We
must, therefore, look beyond admonitions, incidents, symbolism and
metaphors and allegories to a more fundamental level.

Where did all this come from? Yet here, the great mystic Manly Hall,
who had profound admiration for the essentials of Freemasonry and
eventually became a Mason later in life, stated that most modern
Freemasons were like children playing innocently and quite ignorantly
with a chessboard and chess pieces, seeing them as toys, and with no
idea of their real significance. To those who are concerned with
spiritual development, what does this mean?

What Hall meant was that Freemasonry is a modern form of spiritual
development and unfoldment descended from, and worthy of being set
alongside some very ancient systems, and that it has also very ancient
roots going back to Mankind's earliest attempts to reconcile the
evident materiality of an external infinite universe and an internal
spiritual cosmos. This refers, of course, to what many Masonic
historians have termed the "Credibility Gap" in Masonic evolution.
What this means is that the pioneer English Grand Lodge dates from
1717, that Grand Lodge history is totally silent on any antecedents,
and that in some way Masons are cut off from the rich legends and
mythology of their origins.

That pre-history is not only cloaked in symbolism and allegory, it is
silent and a virtual blank: hence the recent spate of literature
challenging the venerated idea of a transition from Operative
cathedral builders to a more universal Speculative Freemasonry, and
suggesting evolution from the Knights Templar, from the Order of
Enoch, or (as Hall said) from Atlantis (which modern authors even
suggest may have been Antarctica before the ice-caps covered it; the
progenitor of a universal high-technology civilization of which
Freemasony was a practical-tool for universal peace among diverse
peoples!) It is not our purpose here to debate these ideas, but rather
to look further at the chessboard and the pieces.

Internally, Masonic ritual is replete with references to antecedents
such as Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Mysteries of Dionysus and Eleusis,
the Pythogoreans, the Order of Melchizedek, the Order of Enoch, and
Ancient India

The great de-bunkers of the 19th century did much to destroy all
reliance on such sources, thereby denigrating the spiritual aspects of
Freemasonry by literal interpretations of that which by its very
nature is esoteric: messages hidden in ritual envelopes wrapped inside
packages.

But real history confirms much of this. When King Henry VI (1421-1471)
of England asked about the origin of English Freemasonry, he was told
it originated with the Phoenicians, and that one Peter Gower of Groton
learned of this, spread it to France and then to England. This clearly
is an Anglicized pronunciation of Pythagoras of Crotona as he was
described in ancient French. The King also learned it developed in the
East, then in Greece, Egypt and Syria and thence to France and from
there to England. This in turn links Freemasonry to the Dionysian
Architects, who had (1000 BC) a structure like modern Masonry, and who
were, legend tells us, used to build King Solomon's Temple (which is
largely featured in Masonic degrees). They were also used in the great
Christian cathedrals. The early Christian Church had a system of
degrees, like Craft Masonry. As Charles Heckthorn has stated, by
syncretic evolution, we therefore find in modern Freemasonry its roots
in ancient India, Egypt, Jewish and Christian ideas and ideas, of the
Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Such is the chessboard and the
pieces in it. They are meaningful.


         Initiation is found in all of the antecedents of Freemasonry,
         and it is the crucial experience to modern Freemasonry. In
         its simplest form, the word means revelation of the basic
         principles, by means of rituals.


SPIRITUAL SECRETS

Those who have developed spiritually in Freemasonry suggest that the
idea of the chessboard and the pieces is a reference to a secret
teaching aimed at the effort to measure and to estimate
philosophically all the parts and proportions of the microcosm, and
that such knowledge could then be applied to the creation of the
perfect man.

Hall believed that Freemasonry was the vehicle by which the
all-inclusive old nature religions of the symbols of the Sun and Fire,
and the Ancient Mysteries, survived the advance of Christianity.

He argues that these old mysteries simply assumed all the trappings
and symbols of the new faith, and then went underground in the face of
the orthodoxy promulgated by the Council of Nicea (325 AD) which led
to the destruction of all ancient Schools and all their written
documents and symbols that could be found. Interpretations of the
recently rediscovered records of the Essenes seem to confirm this, as
do records of Rosicrucianism and even of Freemasonry itself. What is
clear now is that within and behind the Mysteries of Freemasonry "lie
hidden the long-lost arcane sought by all peoples since the genesis of
human reason", as Hall suggested. Pike was correct in seeing in modern
Freemasonry the ruins of a former gigantic global system for spiritual
unfoldment, there for all who can dig beneath the rubbish of the ages
and discern true meanings.

In a letter to Robert Gould, Pike wrote: "It began to shape itself to
my intellectual vision into something more imposing and majestic,
solemnly mysterious and grand. It seemed to me like the pyramids in
their loneliness, in whose yet undiscovered chambers may be hidden,
for the enlightenment of coming generations, the sacred books of the
Egyptians, so long lost to the world; like the Sphinx half buried in
the desert. In its symbolism, as in its spirit of brotherhood and its
essence, Freemasonry is more ancient than any of the world's living
religions. It has the symbols and doctrines which, older than himself,
Zarathrusta inculcated; and it seemed to me a spectacle sublime, yet
pitiful - the ancient Faith of our ancestors holding out to the world
its symbols once so eloquent, and mutely and in vain asking for an
interpreter And so I came at last to see that the greatness and
majesty of Freemasonry consist in its proprietorship of these and its
other symbols; and that its symbolism is its soul. "

This is a far cry from the literalists and the de-bunkers and those
whose history begins only in 1717. While the Ancient Egyptian temples
are now broken and deserted, the spirit of their philosophy is alive
in Freemasonry. So is the philosophy of numbers developed by
Pythagoras, along with the ceremonies of Ancient Greece. So too are
the values of the Vedas though their sanctuaries are in ruins.
Zoroaster speaks to us, and so do the echoes of many initiatory bodies
including the Templars and the Rosicrucians. Even the prototype of
Masonry, in the order of the Red Branch of Eri from Ireland from 1600
BC, is present. Such is the strength of Freemasonry that these ancient
guides are still with us and still able to influence us.


          Perhaps the most powerful symbols are those of the rebuilding
          of the earthly Temple after great disasters, and the
          unfinished spiritual Temple upon which we all labor.


THE TECHNIQUES OF INITIATION

Just as we have seen the techniques which an individual Mason is
expected to use in the self-development which is required, the daily
advancement of Masonic knowledge, so too there are other techniques
for spiritual unfoldment. Some are revealed so as to re-inforce that
individual development. Some are special techniques of initiation, and
some are the techniques of the Lodges, which lie at the heart of the
Masonic experience.

Initiation is found in all of the antecedents of Freemasonry, and it
is the crucial experience to modern Freemasonry. In its simplest form,
the word means revelation of the basic principles, by means of
rituals. As with all such bodies, solemn oaths are required so that
the esoteric knowledge is protected and reserved for those who are
deemed worthy, and those who demonstrate by their lives and actions
that they value the various steps, which are termed "degrees".

Those who balk at the secrecy which surrounds these ceremonies should
remember that the perspective of Freemasonry covers the total human
experience of spiritual unfoldment, and that it has learned by bitter
and sad experience to be able to survive all manner of disasters in
order to preserve essential truths needed by questing mankind. That
perspective covers such catastrophes as the Flood, Rome's defeat of
Ancient Greece, the collapse of Ancient Egypt, the extirpations caused
by the Council of Nicea, the collapse of the Roman Empire and the Dark
Ages, the destruction of the Knights Templar, and in more recent
times, the Fascist, National Socialist and Communist revolutions.

In each age, somewhere in the world, and sometimes in the whole of the
known world, dark forces seek to destroy bodies such as Freemasonry,
to remove enlightenment from mankind. Freemasonry has taught what it
is to be a man, and the meaning of freedom and self-direction. The
oaths of secrecy are not idly required, but guarantees of continuity.

What is here described then breaches no oaths, but records that which
is widely and readily available in published material for the
discerning. The basic Craft Lodges, colloquially known as "Blue
Lodges", have three degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and
Master Mason) based on initiatory experience related to enlightenment.
These solemn and noble ceremonies guide men through the great cycles
of youth, maturity and death, and here the initiate finds echoes of
the Egyptian "Book of the Dead", which is really concerned with
bringing forth by day that which is normally realized too late, if at
all, when man is overtaken by transition. This is a generic experience
of ritual rebirth into a new state. It is a very old technique to have
the candidate re-enact the experience of a great hierophant, to awaken
the soul and transform the individual so that the true self speaks and
is nourished. There are many other aspects to these rituals, which use
the individual techniques already described.

A key element is the Temple of Solomon, whose name signifies light,
glory and truth. He is presented as an archetype of universal wisdom,
and his Temple as "the House of Everlasting Light", which introduces
the discerning Mason to the hierarchical orders of the architectural
metaphor, previously noted.

The most conspicuous symbols of Freemasonry at this stage are the
seven liberal arts and sciences, once the realm of universities and
now scattered and dismembered into separate departments, which rarely
speak to each other.

Those are grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music and
astronomy. Even if a Mason does no more, this education will equip him
to cope with virtually all of life's problems, relying on the other
tools of individual self- development already inculcated. Perhaps the
most powerful symbols are those of the rebuilding of the earthly
Temple after great disasters, and the unfinished spiritual Temple upon
which we all labor.

Solomon inspires the Mason to mental, spiritual, moral and physical
Illumination. This unleashes in the thoughtful Mason a lifelong
process to that end.

       The great symbolic Masonic hero Hiram Abif, the architect of
       the Temple, killed by three ruffians for refusing to divulge
       the secrets of the Craft, is the symbol of universal action.
       Together they are the basic triad of concept, causation, and
       manifestation, which ancient philosophers called the Triune
       Foundation of the Universe.


THE TECHNIQUES OF THE LODGE

The initiated man is entered as a Fellow Craft and in due course
becomes privy to the tasks of the Master Mason. In this process and
thereafter, the Freemason becomes aware of the techniques of the Lodge
in the task of spiritual unfoldment.

First, there is the task of working together in harmony with many
diverse persons, seen as brothers; the pursuit of the basic ideals of
developing brotherly love; the practical relief of human suffering
including compassion to the widows and orphans and all the
unfortunate; and the lifelong challenge to search honestly for the
truth. Kipling, in his eloquent stories and poetry about the British
Raj in India, for example, makes it plain that the Masonic Lodge was
the only place where a man could meet and transcend the divisions of
race, caste, religion, social order, and all that divides men in the
outer world.

It soon dawns on the Mason that the Lodge is precisely, as it is said
in the published rituals, a working miniature of the Universe. As men
work in the processes of the Lodge and as they progress through the
various offices they realize that the whole structure focuses around
the centrality of the Creator, termed the Great Architect of the
Universe. The whole Lodge system becomes an eloquent philosophical
statement about the redemption of the human soul, which is of great
assistance to each Mason in the spiritual unfoldment which he desires.
Using the analogy of the three Grand Masters of the Lodge of Jerusalem
while building a Temple, there is a black-and-white chequered pavement
to signify the vagaries of life. The Worshipful Master (King Solomon)
represents the eternal and unchanging principle of the Great Architect
of the Universe. Hiram, King of Tyre, who helped to build the Temple,
represents that energy and those resources from the world of cause and
effect. The great symbolic Masonic hero Hiram Abif, the architect of
the Temple, killed by three ruffians for refusing to divulge the
secrets of the Craft, is the symbol of universal action. Together they
are the basic triad of concept, causation, and manifestation, which
ancient philosophers called the Triune Foundation of the Universe. The
ritual, the hammers or gavels, speak of the divine power over all
aspects of creation.

The joint working in the Lodge takes place in the framework of the
cardinal points. Light streams in from the east, south and west, but
the north is universally symbolic of the ignorance and chaos which
plague mankind: the place of darkness. But in the Lodge the initiated
sit on all sides, spreading light, and we are reminded of the
universality of the principles which guide us. The ruffians who killed
Hiram Abif represent the forces of the twine principles of the
inferior world, forever seeking to destroy the operation of the
dimensionless and limitless force of the Spirit which the Great
Architect sent to shape creation into the intended habitat of
everlasting life. In all, the total reminds us we are tied to what the
Vedas call the Wheel of Life, or the Wheel of Existence. Such,
according to thinkers such as Hall, Pike and Waite, is the spiritual
technology embodied in the operations of the Craft Lodge. Beyond this
lie the further lessons of the additional degrees.


       This is the meaningful aim of the spiritual techniques: to
       merge the human with the Divine Consciousness and being able to
       know as God knows. The illustrative prototypes in all the great
       Mystery Schools have been shown as exemplars to indicate this
       process.


LIGHT BEYOND THE CRAFT

Beyond the "Blue Lodges", there opens up to the searcher for more
light an immense structure of additional degrees, with two basic
branches. One branch is the York Rite, which is a series of
historically independent orders and Rites (Royal Arch Masons, Allied
Masonic Degrees and the Sovereign Great Priory of Knights Templar)
which are basically either initiatory or dependent on prior
achievements. They either explore further the Temple theme, or explore
the Enoch legend, or explore a wide range of historic degrees.

Here the attention is individual, and the techniques for spiritual
unfoldment are applied both individually and in the Lodge setting.
These experiences, which are intended to be sequential, culminate in
the Masonic versions of the tests and vigils of the Templars. From
published material these are perhaps the most moving and spiritually
significant of the whole York Rite group.

The second branch is that of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
(which is really French and European in origin). By contrast to the
York Rite, it is a gigantic coherent structure in three interlocked
bodies (Lodges of Perfection, Chapters of Rose Croix, and the
Consistory) giving an addition 29 degrees. These are more in the
nature of guided classes, like an on-going university structure, which
explore the further implications of the Temple motif, then pursue the
Rosicrucian tradition, and beyond that trace virtually the whole
history of human experience with esoteric matters right down to the
present day! The rituals again use the same pattern of techniques, to
give appreciation of the vast structure of syncretism and distilled
experience, which constitutes Freemasonry, and the history of mystery
schools.

In addition, there are other bodies which explore the chivalric
traditions (Tabernacles of Holy Royal Arch Knight Templar Priests, the
Conclaves of the Red Cross of Constantine, the Order of the Secret
Monitor, and the Royal Order of Scotland) mainly invitational and in
certain cases such as the last, decidedly mystical. There are also
bodies such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia which use valuable
old rituals from the German Rosicrucians. The Royal Order of Scotland,
also embodying the ancient Order of the Thistle, is apparently a
direct continuation of the Scottish Templars, about 1320. All have
valuable insights and commentaries on the basic themes enunciated in
the Craft Lodges.


      "Get knowledge; get wisdom; but with all thy gettings, get
       understanding". That gift depends on Spiritual Light, and that
       in its turn depends on the ardour of those who deserve it: and
       their knowledge and use of the ancient techniques to good
       effect.


SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT

As Wilmhurst (1980) so wisely said: "It is a fallacy to suppose that
the multiplying of degrees will result in the discovery of important
arcane secrets which one has failed to find in the rites of the Craft.
. . "

At various points in the various rituals certain Masonic secrets are
hinted at, the search is encouraged, and certain substitute meanings
are presented.

Very soon, the diligent spiritual explorer realizes that the only
secrets worth the bother are those which must be experienced and which
cannot be communicated, but which discover themselves in the
fundamental personal consciousness of the earnest seeker, who is able
to see beyond the curtain of impressive ceremonial, -and to translate
spiritual experience. The basic degrees in fact present all the four
stages of human spiritual regeneration.

This is what was meant by "squaring the circle". In other words, a
metaphor for the transmutation by spiritual unfoldment of all parts
and faculties of the candidates being and organism into a new quality
of life and a higher and better order of life than prior to the
experiences of Masonic life. The first three degrees lead up to the
necessity of "mystical death" (to 'come forth by day' as the Ancient
Egyptian texts have it), and the Royal Arch continues that, to present
the apotheosis which can result: a new and more intense and meaningful
life, and the higher degree of consciousness which can result. This is
the meaningful aim of the spiritual techniques: to merge the human
with the Divine Consciousness and being able to know as God knows. The
illustrative prototypes in all the great Mystery Schools have been
shown as exemplars to indicate this process. We think of Osiris,
Bacchus, Baldur, Mithra and Hiram Abif.

In essence, Freemasonry has preserved, through sixteen centuries,
those spiritual techniques which were ignored by the organized
churches as they departed from their true realm to become first an
impersonal state religion, and then a world temporal power and then by
stages disintegrative, and then displaying only the husk of the
heritage while the kernel was preserved elsewhere against centuries of
cruelty, intellectual tyranny and the oppression of the light. The
Mason argues for "The Path of Light" (Via Lucis) as opposed to "The
Path of Crucifixion" (Via Crucis). He is expected to demonstrate his
principles in life, in action, not sitting in a cell.

And so writers such as Hammond, Hall, Pike and Wilmshurst have argued
that the evident techniques in the Masonic discipline for the
divinization of Man are no accident. They come with authentic
historical credentials. They are essential to mankind. The literalists
and conformists may yet win, but if so, it will be a hollow victory.
As Wilmshurst said: "It remains with the Craft itself whether it shall
enter upon its own heritage as a lineal successor of the Ancient
Mysteries and Wisdom teaching, or whether, by failing to do so, it will
undergo the inevitable fate of everything that is but a form from
which its native spirit has departed. "

Should this occur, the stream will simply go underground to re-emerge
with renewed vigor to help mankind. Hopefully, Freemasons are wise
enough to continue the task which they have honestly inherited. The
techniques it uses for spiritual unfoldment are tested, tried and
true: and they derive from the oldest traditions of the Ancient
Mysteries known to mankind.


         "Get knowledge; get wisdom, but with all thy gettings, get
         understanding". That gift depends on Spiritual Light, and
         that in its turn depends on the ardour of those who deserve
         it: and their knowledge and use of the ancient techniques to
         good effect.


References
Hall, Manly, P.(1977): THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES: The Philosophical
Society: San Francisco
Hall, Manly, P. (1984): LECTURES ON ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY. The Philalethes
Society: San Francisco
Hammond,William, E.(1939): WHAT MASONRY MEANS: Macoy: Richmond, Va.
Pearson, Norman (Editor) and Pearson, N. et. al (Contributors) (1997):
LIGHT BEYOND THE CRAFT IN CANADA:
Lux Quaro
Chapter, The Philalethes Society: London, Ontario, Canada
Pike, Albert (1877): MORALS & DOGMA. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite: Charleston, South Carolina
Tolstoy, Alexei: WAR & PEACE Wilmshurst, Walter Leslie (1927): THE MEANING
OF MASONRY. London: Crown
Publishing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


                   Journey of the Soul
                     BY PAMELA BARNES

In the Beginning there was ONE. Why the Separation came .... I know
not. From where came the belief of Good and Evil... I know not. Who
told us we were naked and should feel shame... I know not.


Suddenly, we were each alone... looking at ourselves and our brothers
in Fear. The burden of that fear became very heavy, and over time I
began to surround my soul, the very essence of my true self, with
armor. Each sheet was painstakingly put in place to insulate against
the arrows of pain and the spears of sorrow that I could not tolerate
in my isolation.

In the darkness of the night my soul cried out to the Source, and in a
dream state I saw the brilliance of the Grail shining in the distance
with a winding path leading to it. The signpost on the path said: The
Path of Self Knowledge. This is the path I must take .... there is no
turning back once one has glimpsed the Grail. The way is hard. But as
I pass through the fierceness of the storms of my mind and peer into
the blackness of the cavern of my heart, a golden spark is emitted
from one of the facets of the Grail. It pierces the armor surrounding
my soul, and from this tiny crack a spark of golden light, just as
brilliant as the Grail itself, comes forth! It gives me the desire and
the power to keep searching the deep valleys and the narrow paths of
self. As I do, the armor crumbles away, bit by bit, and the light
becomes brighter and more powerful. Suddenly, I KNOW ... I AM THE
GRAIL. The path, which had seemed to twist and turn, is just a
circular path back to the beginning from which I came. The only
separation that has occurred has been from the armor of my own making.

Each day as I continue to tear down the walls around my soul and
rejoice in who I really am, the Fear is replaced with Love for myself
and for my brothers. FOR WE HAVE NEVER REALLY WALKED ALONE .... WE ARE
ONE.



