Purposes for which Freemasonry Exists

[paul]

My answer is as before. I am making a simple interpretation of the EA TB. It shows a ladder that appears to be the only way out of the temple. That way leads to star and as it goes it passes (depending on the depiction) some senior brethren standing on columns that may be part of floor of a temple above, and the ladder passes by the Sun.

I suggest these are not random images and contain several of the genuine secrets of Masonry.

[LorrB]

Revelations, Chap. I, 19 and 20.

"Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are,
and the things which shall be hereafter; THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN STARS, which thou sawest in my right hand."

.......

A rich reward is in store for those spiritual investigators who will follow out the paths and lines herein mapped out on Spiritual Astrology, Alchemy, and other subjects. Meditation and aspiration will open up hidden treasures that will prove a boon to Occult students, for Astrology and Alchemy are the two grand sciences that explain the why and reasons for what we see and experience on every plane of life.

.......

We see that the radiant constellations of the heavenly vault, with the beautiful reflection and counterpart, the shining Zodiac, are the two halves of the great Cycle of Necessity, the spiral of eternal, universal life, which binds the whole into unity, and unity into infinity. It is the grand scheme of creative life. The seven principles of Nature, or Divine Activities, are the forces producing the phenomena within seven angelic states, seven kingdoms, and, by seven planets, upon the external plane; the planets being the passive mediums of the positive spiritual forces. Upon this dual spiral, which reflects the seven rays of the solar spectrum is produced seven musical notes; one half of the spiral in sound and colour being the complementary of the other half. Man, the Earth, and our solar system, are revolving, each orb in its own key, and its own peculiar ray, meeting and blending with other spirals, and the whole blending into one mighty spiral Cycle of Progressive Life, revolving around the Eternal, Infinite Ego-God, ever involving and evolving the attributes, powers and possibilities of the One great central source of Being.

THE LIGHT OF EGYPT OR THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL AND THE STARS Volume II, by Thomas H Burgoyne

www.phoenixmasonry.org/the_light_of_egypt.htm

[paul]

...THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN STARS...

7 stars appear on the EA TB. They are however variously arranged. That may make the identification more difficult.

[tamrin]

Oct 23, 2011 18:51:42 GMT 9.5 paul said:

My answer is as before. I am making a simple interpretation of the EA TB. It shows a ladder that appears to be the only way out of the temple. That way leads to star and as it goes it passes (depending on the depiction) some senior brethren standing on columns that may be part of floor of a temple above, and the ladder passes by the Sun.

I suggest these are not random images and contain several of the genuine secrets of Masonry.

My question is as before:

Oct 20, 2011 5:47:39 GMT 9.5 @tamrin said:

Are you referring to the Bailey inspired notion of a physical "temple in the heavens" incorporating seven solar systems, including our own, orbiting Alcyone in the Pleiades, about which you have spoken before?

[paul]

It is a simple interpretation of the EA TB that points out the possible existence of other temples in the heavens without naming them.

You may name them as you wish but the naming you have chosen is probably inappropriate for the EA TB.

[Deleted]

Oct 24, 2011 15:55:38 GMT 9.5 paul said:

It is a simple interpretation of the EA TB that points out the possible existence of other temples in the heavens without naming them.

Do you mean physical temples or metaphorical temples?

Have you visited any physical temples in the heavens?

[paul]

Oct 24, 2011 16:57:13 GMT 9.5 @smithee said:

Do you mean physical temples or metaphorical temples?

Of course they are not temples as humans build them. For example, it is commonly said that the human body is the temple of the Spirit. If humans can be temples for the Spirit then why not landscapes?

www.labyrinth.net.au/~jkoch/southern.html
www.nancysafford.net/1/Walking_With_The_Magdalene.pdf

And of course Blake considered England as a landscape temple

Oct 24, 2011 16:57:13 GMT 9.5 @smithee said:

Have you visited any physical temples in the heavens?

If the Earth is part of the heavens then the answer is yes.

Thus we are told in the Masonic ritual that the lodge (temple) extends from E to W and N to S and from the center (or surface) of the Earth to the Heavens.

Such a temple certainly includes the heavens.

[stewartedwards]

I still vividly remember the time that a chap, who happens to be a Grand Officer, took me into a lodge and I had to sit down. The energy of the room connected with me in a way that all those years ago I did not understand. Anyhow this mason understood what I was feeling and we had a good chat about energy in lodge.

I realise that many masons dont like to talk about this for all sorts of reasons, including being fearful of conspiracy world, not experiencing it themselves, even possibly keeping it stum as a means of weeding through those who are spiritually advanced, etc, but not only is it there, but some masons will talk about it, as some are doing here.

Anyhow the relevant point, once you can feel these energies, in time you gain the ability to picture an energy lodge in a lodge room, and in time you can conceptually see how this can extend to the heavens.

It could take a decade plus to go through this process of esoteric awareness but it is very much worth it.

[tamrin]

Oct 24, 2011 17:39:51 GMT 9.5 paul said:

Such a temple certainly includes the heavens.

You are being disingenuous (or that word Alan used and to which Lorraine objected). The following excerpt is like the Bailey baloney I recall you speaking of at length (and which you include among your travels):

Esoteric Astrology Course

The Seven Rays originate in the seven stars of the Great Bear constellation, and are representative of the energies of seven solar systems, of which ours is one. This helps us get a perspective of our tiny place on Earth, within just one solar system. Of course, these seven solar systems act as seven "chakras" within the body of a greater entity, which occultism terms "the One About Whom Naught May Be Said" (OAWNMBS). Just as our Earth is inhabited by a great life that we call God, so it is the same with all other planets and stars. As we are "cells" within this earthly body, so these great lives are simply cells or chakras within greater bodies of manifestation. The seven stars of the Great Bear have also been called the Seven Rishis (Seers, Sages), which date back to the ancient Vedic Hymns of India.

The descent of the seven rays to Earth - broadly speaking :

As the energy of the seven rays stream forth from the Great Bear constellation (Ursa Major), they interact with the "seven stars" of the Pleiades ("seven sisters" or "wives" of the Rishis), the seven stars of the "Little Bear" constellation (Ursa Minor), and the Star Sirius. The ray energies then travel through the 12 zodiacal constellations and toward our solar system, where they are "funnelled" through the physical sun into the solar system proper.

From there the rays are "picked up" by their planetary vehicles, the seven "sacred" planets of the solar system. Then, according to the various cycles of the planets, the ray energies are conveyed to our home planet, via our zodiac, which acts as an invisible "astral" body to the Earth. This zodiac of 12 signs reflects and focusses the energies of the 12 constellations. It does not matter if they are "aligned" or not, this being an illusion of the concrete mind.

[paul]

.... this being an illusion of the concrete mind.....

Hmm

[stewartedwards]

Oct 24, 2011 19:04:06 GMT 9.5 @tamrin said:

As the energy of the seven rays stream forth from the Great Bear constellation (Ursa Major), they interact with the "seven stars" of the Pleiades ("seven sisters" or "wives" of the Rishis), the seven stars of the "Little Bear" constellation (Ursa Minor), and the Star Sirius. The ray energies then travel through the 12 zodiacal constellations and toward our solar system, where they are "funnelled" through the physical sun into the solar system proper.

From there the rays are "picked up" by their planetary vehicles, the seven "sacred" planets of the solar system. Then, according to the various cycles of the planets, the ray energies are conveyed to our home planet, via our zodiac, which acts as an invisible "astral" body to the Earth. This zodiac of 12 signs reflects and focusses the energies of the 12 constellations. It does not matter if they are "aligned" or not, this being an illusion of the concrete mind.

[/size][/quote]Paul, LorrB, anyone, perhaps you could help me with this.

I can't visualise this, but I can visualise an energy stream from the Pleiades, through Orion to Sirius and on to our Sun and its planets, specificly Earth. Once it reaches here it funnels through the crystal matrix, but it has been largely blocked by darkness build ups over generations. A bit like dust gathering in an unkept room. Though over recent years a bit of housekeeping has begun to breath life back into the matrix, resulting in more light getting through.

That all said I can all see how in initiatory terms you can be at the stage of Orion, then Sirius then the Pleiades, which doesn't make obvious intuitive sense to me at this time.

[paul]

Stewart

Your visualisations are exploring the organic nature of the Cosmos - and rather well.

Traditionally there is a sun behind the sun. Here is Rumi: "the sun in the sky is metaphoric and secondary to the real sun" www.wisdomportal.com/Numbers-56/Rumi-Discourses56.html

In Masonry in the EA TB, the ladder goes past the Sun to another star, just as Rumi said. (By one account Freemasonry derives much its teaching from the Sufis).

And you have properly identified the sun relevant to the current context and you are correct in perceiving some improvement in the state of the Earth (and relevant parts of the solar system).

It might be more accurate however not to relate human initiation directly to Orion - at least not for most humans.

As for seeing the greater scheme, sight comes progressively with inner work and refinement.

I am impressed.

[tamrin]

Oct 24, 2011 19:08:06 GMT 9.5 paul said:

... this being an illusion of the concrete mind...

Hmm

Yes, I too found it hilarious that "alignment" was the only bit of this baloney that it was felt necessary to qualify.

[tamrin]

Oct 24, 2011 19:30:49 GMT 9.5 paul said:

It might be more accurate however not to relate human initiation directly to Orion - at least not for most humans.

Stewart, in Australian Star Lore, much of the otherwise widely diverse Aboriginal men's business concerns Orion, while much of our women's business concerns the Pleiades. The rising of these constellations is used as a signal to commence the respective initiation ceremonies (see also). Consider too harvest scheduling traditions in the northern hemisphere:

25° Knight of the Brazen Serpent

Usually only exemplified or conferred in passing to the 30°. The cross is an Egyptian ankh entwined with a serpent. The apron features the Pleiades, the Hyades, Orion and Capella constellations.

Of the regalia in this degree, Jim Tresner, 33°, informs us:

The names on the cordons include the names of many of the gods and goddesses who appear in the ancient vegetation myths, stories which usually centered around a goddess and her lover who must die each year in order for the earth to bring forth a harvest.

[stewartedwards]

Paul, Tamrin

Thank you both.