maat
Strength
Posts: 35
|
Post by maat on Jun 4, 2010 9:21:55 GMT 9.5
What do you think... Here is an extract from: FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM by Max Heindel [1865-1919]
AN EXPOSITION OF THE COSMIC FACTS UNDERLYING THESE TWO GREAT INSTITUTIONS AS DETERMINED BY OCCULT INVESTIGATION
THE MASONIC LEGEND has points of variance from as well as agreement with the Bible story. It states that Jehovah created EVE, that the Lucifer Spirit SAMAEL united with her but that he was ousted by Jehovah and forced to leave her before the birth of her son Cain, who was thus THE SON OF A WIDOW. Then Jehovah created ADAM, to be the husband of Eve, and from their union Abel was born. Thus from the beginning there have been two kinds of people in the world. One begotten by the Lucifer Spirit Samael and partaking of a semi-divine nature imbued with the dynamic martial energy inherited from this divine ancestry, is aggressive, progressive, and possessed of great initiative, but impatient of restraint or authority whether human or divine. This class is loath to take things on faith and prone to prove all things by the light of reason. These people BELIEVE IN WORKS rather than faith, and by their dauntless courage and inexhaustible energy they have transformed the trackless wilderness of the world to a garden full of life and beauty, so lovely in fact that THE SONS OF CAIN have forgotten the garden of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, whence they were expelled by the decree of the lunar God Jehovah. Against Him they are in constant rebellion because He has tied them by THE UMBILICAL "CABLE TOW." They have lost their spiritual sight and are imprisoned in the forehead of the body where it is said Cain was marked; they must wander as prodigal sons in the comparative darkness of the material world, oblivious to their high and noble estate until they find the door of the temple, and ask and receive LIGHT; then as "PHREE MESSEN" or children of light they are instructed in methods of building a new temple without sound of hammer, and when the spirit realizes that it is far from its heavenly home, a prodigal, feeding upon the unsatisfactory husks of the material world, that apart from the Father it is "POOR, NAKED AND BLIND," when it knocks at the door of a mystic temple like that of the Rosicrucians and asks for light, when it receives the desired instruction after due qualification by building and ethereal soul-body, a temple or house eternal in the heavens, not made with hands, and without sound of hammer, when its nakedness is clothed with that house (see Cor. 4.5,) then the neophyte receives "THE WORD," the open sesame to the inner worlds and learns to travel in foreign parts in the invisible worlds. There he takes soul-flights into heavenly regions and qualifies for higher degrees under more direct instruction from THE GRAND ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE, who fashioned both heaven and earth.
Such is the temperament of THE WIDOW'S SONS inherited from their divine progenitor Samael and given by him to their ancestor Cain. Their past history is a struggle with adverse conditions, their achievement is victory wrested from all opposing forces by indomitable courage and persistent effort, unchecked by temporary defeat.
www.rosicrucian.com/frc/frceng01.htm#par30
Max Heindel was a very gifted man and Rosicrucian.
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Jun 4, 2010 9:26:36 GMT 9.5
I can vouch that this is true ... though in my case I think I still have the trainer wheels on and a hand on my back, just in case.
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Jun 17, 2010 13:13:21 GMT 9.5
This is new me... From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary: 1. (Old Testament) first king of the northern kingdom of Israel who led Israel into sin (10th century BC); [syn: Jeroboam, Jeroboam I] Jeroboam increase of the people. (1.) The son of Nebat (1 Kings 11:26-39), "an Ephrathite," the first king of the ten tribes, over whom he reigned twenty-two years (B.C. 976-945). He was the son of a widow of Zereda, and while still young was promoted by Solomon to be chief superintendent of the "burnden", i.e., of the bands of forced labourers.www.freedictionary.org/?Query=jeroboam
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Jun 17, 2010 13:59:18 GMT 9.5
Something else to consider... In the New Testament we are told that the Christ went to the city of Nain and there raised the Son of a Widow. In the Latin Testament, this city was not called Nain, but Naim. And it is very significant that all three, Naim, Naioth and Endor, where the sorceress that assisted Saul is supposed to have lived, are in the same locality by Mount Tabor.
Every Freemason knows that the brethren of that Order are called "Sons of the Widow." And it is stated in the Bible that Hiram Abiff, the Master Builder of Solomon's Temple, was the Son of a Widow, a cunning craftsman. We cannot in the present article repeat the Masonic Legend which tells the reason why. This we have given the book on "Freemasonry and Catholicism" and also in our books on the Rosicrucian Philosophy. But suffice it to say that in the Bible story to which reference has been made, we have one of the Naim, a Widow's Son or initiate of the old Serpent School, for the priests of Egypt were "phree messen," children of light. Each had within, the ancient Serpent Wisdom. But a new religion was being inaugurated, and it was necessary to raise the ancient Initiates to the Mysteries of the Coming Age. Therefore the Christ, the Lion of Judah, Lord of the New Kingdom, went to the Widow's Son of Nain and raised him up by the strong grip of the Lion's paw. And we may here emphasize that the first Initiate under the new system was Hiram Abiff, the highest Initiate of the old system, who by this new initiation given him by the Christ, became a Christian, pledged to bear the Rose and the Cross, which were the symbols of the New Mystery Teachings of the Western World and he was then given the symbolical name, Christian Rosenkreuz. www.rosicrucian.com/mos/moseng01.htm
|
|
|
Post by paul on Sept 30, 2010 13:10:52 GMT 9.5
"Tradition holds that his death he left the writings to his widow, who was a Persian. She had once redeemed a slave named Manes and he was called ‘the Son of the Widow.’ His followers called themselves ‘Sons of the Widow.’"
Thus Manes was freed by an apparently unnamed widow who somehow was more important than Manes so that his followers were named after her.
I see similarities in Masonry.
It all seems designed to conceal some important identity
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Sept 30, 2010 16:12:11 GMT 9.5
Excellent lead, Paul. Thank you. It is the Temple Legend. All these Spiritual Streams came to expression esoterically through legends. The Legend of Manes is a legend dealing with supersensible truths, a mighty cosmic legend. The Spirits of Darkness wished to storm the Kingdom of Light. They came to its borders for the attack. They were, however, able to achieve nothing. Now they were to be punished by the Kingdom of Light. But in the Kingdom of Light there is only good. Thus the Demons of Darkness could only have been punished through good. Therefore the Spirits of the Kingdom of Light took a portion of their own kingdom and mingled it into the Kingdom of Darkness. Thereby a leaven, so to speak, came into the Kingdom of Darkness and a kind of vortex arose. Death came into it, whereby it consumed itself. It now carried within itself the seed of its own destruction. There then arose from the Kingdom of Light the Archetypal Man, the human race who must mingle with the Kingdom of Darkness and overcome it.
The deep and profound thought here contained is the following: the darkness must be overcome through the Kingdom of Light, through the mingling of the Good with the Evil, in order that the Evil may be redeemed, but not through punishment. The conception underlying this is also that of Theosophy, namely that Evil is only an untimely Good.
wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/19041111p01.html
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Sept 30, 2010 16:32:30 GMT 9.5
Lets look at this closer to see if it sits nicely within the lodgeroom..
It is the Temple Legend. All these Spiritual Streams came to expression esoterically through legends. The Legend of Manes is a legend dealing with supersensible truths, a mighty cosmic legend (the moon and stars are messengers of His Will). The Spirits of Darkness wished to storm the Kingdom of Light. They came to its borders for the attack. They were, however, able to achieve nothing (the Guardian Wall (black/white triangles/Spirit). Now they were to be punished by the Kingdom of Light. But in the Kingdom of Light there is only good. Thus the Demons of Darkness could only have been punished through good.
Therefore the Spirits of the Kingdom of Light took a portion of their own kingdom and mingled it into the Kingdom of Darkness(the Mosaic Pavement). Thereby a leaven, so to speak, came into the Kingdom of Darkness and a kind of vortex arose (circumambulating the lodge). Death came into it, whereby it consumed itself. It now carried within itself the seed of its own destruction. There then arose from the Kingdom of Light the Archetypal Man (the Perfect Ashlar), the human race who must mingle with the Kingdom of Darkness and overcome it (Higher Degrees)(continually passing through the South and the North columns).
The deep and profound thought here contained is the following: the darkness must be overcome through the Kingdom of Light, through the mingling of the Good with the Evil, in order that the Evil may be redeemed, but not through punishment (by perseverance-Mark). The conception underlying this is also that of Theosophy, namely that Evil is only an untimely Good. (All those questions about what hour it is?)
|
|
|
Post by paul on Sept 30, 2010 19:05:36 GMT 9.5
> The Spirits of Darkness wished to storm the Kingdom of Light. They came to its borders for the attack.
This seems a rather dualist and materialist view of inner realities.
Perhaps the Kingdom of Light is itself the body of an entity, or perhaps the Kingdom of Light is the right hand of the Creator.
Does the left hand of the Creator attack the right? Is there some profound intent behind Light and Dark polarity?
>the darkness must be overcome through the Kingdom of Light, through the mingling of the Good with the Evil, in order that the Evil may be redeemed,
I find it useful to distinguish the light-dark from the good-evil polarity.
Not all polarities can be mapped together - for example is male-female the same as light-dark?
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Nov 1, 2010 11:42:15 GMT 9.5
From another favourite of mine - ALVIN BOYD KUHN, Ph. D. Excerpt from The Root of All ReligionA possible explanation for 'sons of widows' and Jesus talking about making Mary Magdalene male so that she can enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Gospel of St Thomas - Nag Hammadi) Says Plotinus, the great Neo-Platonist: "Thus the soul, although she has a divine origin (or being), yet she enters into a body. Being the lower divine, she descends here below by a voluntary inclination, for the purpose of developing her powers and to adorn what is below her," i.e., to spiritualize and beautify the animal nature.
...
Ancient philosophy classed each kingdom or plane as masculine with reference to the plane below it, and feminine as related to that above it. Why was this? Simply enough; in the linked chain of progressive energy, each plane received life and power from the one above it and in turn propelled it outward and downward to the one below it. Receiving from above, it became feminine, passive; energizing from above onto the one below, it became masculine, active, and generative. It was paternal to the subordinate grade, but maternal to the seed of higher life received from the plane above. Of whatever degree the fineness of its essence, it was "spirit" to the plane below, but "matter" to the plane superior to it. And it is the eternal function of matter (mater is Latin for "mother") to mother the seeds of spiritual life. Spiritual force is the power of the Father; matter is the maternal womb in which it is ever brought to birth. The Father's germinal seed must be enwombed in nature's material forms. Spirit must be incubated in matter if it is to have its next cyclical rebirth. Every God of mythology or theology had his goddess, his shakti, who was at once his wife and his sister, and eventually in his rebirth became his mother again. And here at last is unequivocal elucidation of the function of Mary, Isis, Tiamat, Ishtar (Esther), Semiramis, Cybele, S Sophia, Achamoth, Parvati, Aditi and all the female characters of the archaic tomes. Every spiritual energy has to be implanted again and again in Mother Nature's physical body, for its second and ever recurring rebirth! And now at last we are able to read the long-hidden subtle meaning of Jesus's saying to Nicodemus, that a man (i.e., spirit, soul) must enter a second time into his mother's (matter's) body and be born again! Every living organic creature, from god down to moneron, is a compound of masculinity, or spiritual consciousness, and feminity, or physical form. It is next to unbelievable that modern science has been so crass as to ignore and miss this pivotal datum of all existence. Yet it is the formula on which depends the interpretation of every phenomenon of life in the organic kingdoms. pc93.tripod.com/rootrlgn.htm
|
|
|
Post by paul on Nov 1, 2010 15:50:46 GMT 9.5
I am not sure how that gets to the Widow - which is the husband that has died?
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Nov 2, 2010 8:07:37 GMT 9.5
it was "spirit" to the plane below, but "matter" to the plane superior to it.
Matter (mater=mother) is 'separated' from the plane above - Spirit. The matter part of the husband might disintergrate upon 'death' and the wife be termed a widow, but from a different perspective there is no real separation, they both still exist but at different 'levels'. And it is the eternal function of matter (mater is Latin for "mother") to mother the seeds of spiritual life. Spiritual force is the power of the Father
Herein might lie the secret of the Tetragrammaton... ?
|
|
|
Post by paul on Nov 2, 2010 8:15:04 GMT 9.5
I think you are struggling with this.
The Widow appears in a variety of mythologies but each seems to me to be a description of physical events - even if adapted from the histories of previous sons of god.
In the Hebrew context the god departs and leaves behind his consort - the Shekinah (she who lives in a tent). This is adapted by theologians to remove the goddess and substitute a symbolic Holy Spirit.
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Nov 2, 2010 9:50:17 GMT 9.5
Cheeky I didn't struggle with that at all. Like the point within the circles I come across lots of candidates for The Widow... I like to consider them all. And for me at least it doesn't matter at all if I come up with the correct answer, it is more important to just know 'She' is 'somewhere'. My favourites are: Binah Kundalini Soul Nature Isis/Mary/Asherah etc
|
|
|
Post by paul on Nov 2, 2010 10:21:03 GMT 9.5
There is potentially confusion between:
- various humanoid/elohim females e.g. Isis - the Earth Mother (whose energies operate the physical-astral planet) - the World Mother (who operates the mother-sister energies for the planet) - the Great Mother (who operates the female aspects of Creation in this part of the galaxy)
Arguably all four categories are separate entities but related energetically in varying degrees
The various Widows are in the first category
|
|
|
Post by Henka on Nov 3, 2010 16:06:52 GMT 9.5
Binah Kundalini Soul Nature Isis/Mary/Asherah etc Freya.
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Nov 4, 2010 8:15:05 GMT 9.5
.. I thought she had a husband .. ?
|
|
|
Post by Henka on Nov 4, 2010 15:22:47 GMT 9.5
.. I thought she had a husband .. ? Odr, who was lost, and for whom she wept tears which, striking the ground, turned to gold and, in water, to amber. She is my patron Goddess, since I was 13.
|
|
|
Post by paul on Nov 4, 2010 15:28:34 GMT 9.5
Some early depictions of the 3rd degree show the candidate surrounded by the tears of the widow
|
|
|
Post by LorrB on Nov 4, 2010 15:32:31 GMT 9.5
for whom she wept tears which, striking the ground, turned to gold and, in water, to amber. ..similar to 'a fall of water and ... ' Must look at her story. Thanks Henka.
|
|
|
Post by vajranagini on Nov 7, 2010 10:40:28 GMT 9.5
I was told by a reliable source that the "widow' is the Black Isis, the "widow" of Osiris. the Son of the Widow is the Sun, Heru. I have already stated elsewhere how Freemasonry is the remnant of the old 'everyman' worship of the Lord of Judgement. That being so, the Widow can be none other than the Black Isis, whose son is the Sun.. The Winged Sun of Ra-Herakhte (Ra-Hoor-Khuit) is placed above the doorways of all Western Esoteric Schools.
|
|