DORMER MASONIC STUDY CIRCLE #162

FOUR PLUS THREE EQUALS SEVEN

Some Theosophic concepts applied to aspects of the Masonic Quest

and

THE MYSTIC JOURNEY FROM SQUARE TO CIRCLE

By W.Bro. CHARLES DE BEER, PDGJW

These two short Papers by W.Bro. Charles de Beer, of South Africa,
are typical of the type of Paper always welcomed by the Governing
Council for presentation at our Regular Meetings for a variety of
reasons. Different approaches to the Craft allegory and symbolism
created by diverse backgrounds of correlation and classification
are stimulating and thought-provoking, and individual restatement
of time-honoured principles tends to effectively fill in gaps in
our own particularised understanding while at the same time
high-lighting aspects which had not before been considered.

Brother Charles periodically sends Papers to Dormer on a variety of
subjects including Synchonicity and Dream Interpretation (which
have a habit of interacting) well knowing that some of our Members
have kindred interests and read them with appreciation, but as they
are "non-Masonic" it precludes us from printing them. His
Theosophist leaning is clearly indicated in the first of these two
Papers while knowledge of the Hermetic and Qabalistic teachings is
shown in the second.

It is hoped that these two Papers will inspire other Members to
share and communicate the result of their personal endeavours with
us all.

PRESIDENT 


FOUR PLUS THREE EQUALS SEVEN

Some Theosophic concepts applied to aspects of the Masonic Quest

"Into an unprepared vessel 
the Gods will pour their wine in vain.
(Ancient Saying)

'And who does more wrong
than one to whom are recited 
the Signs of the Lord,
and who then turns away 
therefrom ? " 
(The Holy Qu'ran Sura 32 v 22)

"In the middle of the journey of our life 
I came to myself in a dark wood 
Where the straight way was lost. "

(Dante Divine Comedy' Canto 1, v l)

The candidate in Freemasonry, once initiated and learning the
questions and replies that will assist him to pass to the second
degree is taught that 'Freemasonry is a peculiar system of
morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.'

In the 'Charge after Initiation' he had meanwhile been recommended
'To seriously contemplate the Volume of the Sacred Law, to consider
it as the unerring standard of Truth and Justice, and to regulate
your conduct by the divine precepts it contains. '

However the texts in the Bible like the Masonic Ritual appear to
be, likewise, 'veiled in allegory.' Origen, theologian in the third
century A.D. wrote in 'Selecta in Psalmos, Patrologia Graeca XII,'
as quoted by Geoffrey Hodson:  The Holy Scriptures are like large
houses with many, many rooms and outside each door lies a key, but
it is not the right one. To find the right keys that will open the
doors, that is the great and arduous task.'

In the preface to 'The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary,' we read.-

The Bible is from Genesis to Revelation, in its inner or spiritual
meaning, a record of the experiences and the development of the
human soul and of the whole being of man; also it is a treatise of
man's relation to God, the Creator and Father. '

'The Scriptures veil their metaphysical meaning under the names of
towns, rivers, seas, and so forth, and the acts of men in
connection therewith. The name of each person and of everything in
the Scriptures has an inner meaning.' Maimonides, born in Spain in
the 12th Century, and who became one of the greatest of Judaic
thinkers of all ages, in his famous book 'Guide of the Perplexed,'
writes:  'We must further discuss the figurative language employed
in Scriptures

...... Employ your reason and you will be able to discern what is
said allegorically, figuratively or hyperbolically, and what is
meant literally, exactly accordingly to the original words.'

'You will then understand all prophecies, learn and retain rational
principles of faith, pleasing in the eyes of God, who is most
pleased with truth, and most displeased with falsehood; your mind
and heart will not be so perplexed as to believe or accept as law
what is untrue or improbable, whilst the law is perfectly true when
properly understood.'

Elsewhere, as quoted by Geoffrey Hodson, Maimanides wrote 'Every
time that you find in our book a tale the reality of which seems
impossible, a story which is repugnant to both reason and common
sense, then be sure that the tale contains a profound allegory
veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater the absurdity of
the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the Spirit.'

And Geoffrey Hodson comments: 'Such is part of the wisdom which is
said to be implicit and, indeed, revealed under the veil of
allegory in the Torah (the five books of the Pentateuch). This
sacred book is for Kabbalists a revelation of the laws of the
Cosmos, of its inter-relationship with man, and of the history of
the Jews. All is, however, deeply concealed under successive veils
of allegory, symbol and metaphysical history.'

Mrs. H. P. Blavatsky, the founder of modern Theosophy, in her great
book 'The Secret Doctrine' writes: 'The Bible, from Genesis to
Revelation, is but a series of historical records of the great
struggle between white and black Magic, between the adepts of the
right path, the Prophets, and those of the left, the Levites, the
clergy of the brutal masses.'

If, therefore, we desire, as Freemasons, to make a daily
advancement in Masonic knowledge, that is: to apply the whole of
our daily life in search for Masonic truth, we have to take account
of the fact that the whole of our living is steeped in mystery,
allegory and symbolism, the correct deciphering of which is
essential if we want to make inner progress.

In Genesis Ch. 25, v. 21-23, Rebekah, who was barren (read: without
faith), once she conceived (read when true faith was born) became
conscious of the fact that 'the children struggled together within
her' .... (read: that notwithstanding man's faith he was being
buffeted by selfish, physical desires clashing with spiritual
understanding) and so 'she went to inquire of the Lord,' and (v 23)
'the Lord said unto her "two nations are in thy womb, and two
manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one
people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall
serve the younger."' 

In other words, man is born in duality, and has to balance the
physical and the spiritual sides of his nature. He needs the
physical body to house the spiritual principle, the two are
inter-dependent with the Divine Principle. G. de Purucker speaks as
follows about initiation:  'The entire story of Jesus, as given in
the Christian New Testament is an esoteric or mystical tale setting
forth in mystical form what took place in the initiation chambers
initiation signifying the dying of the lower man so that the higher
nature of the neophyte could thereafter be realised; and further
that the postulant, when he had finished his three days' initiation
trial, might go forth 'anointed' or as one who had received the
unction or anointing in the Mysteries.'

The first degree in Free Masonry shows the way to that life-long
effort to subjugate man's lower appetites, and elevate his thoughts
to that greater reality, still dormant in him, of the vital and
eternal principle he in fact IS.

Mrs. Blavatsky, in her first book, 'Isis Unveiled,' writes:  'Is it
enough for man that he exists? Is it enough to be formed a human
being to enable him to deserve the appellation of 'MAN?' It is our
decided impression and conviction that to become a genuine
spiritual entity, which that designation implies, man must first
create himself anew, so to speak i.e., thoroughly eliminate from
his mind and spirit, not only the dominating influence of
selfishness and other impurity, but also the infection of
superstition and prejudice.'

It is only as a true spiritual entity that he may dare approach his
creator, and Mrs. Blavatsky writes: 'Of the majesty and boundless
perfection (of the Divine Power) we dare not even think. It is
enough for us to know that IT exists and that IT is all-wise.
Enough that, in common with our fellow creatures, we possess a
spark of ITS essence.'

'The supreme power whom we revere is the boundless and endless one
the grand 'Central Spiritual Sun' by whose attributes and the
visible effects of whose inaudible Will we are surrounded: The God
of the ancients and the God of modern seers. His nature can be
studied only in the worlds called forth by His Mighty Fiat. His
revelation is traced with His own finger in imperishable figures of
universal harmony upon the face of the Cosmos.'

The Brethren present who are Compagnons of the Holy Royal Arch will
no doubt have recognised echoes of the ritual of that degree in
what has been read thus far.

The preceding pages enable us to draw some conclusions: 

(a) Man is born and put on earth for the sole purpose of making his
way back to his state of sanctity, to his at-one-ment with the
Divine Principle, to the Companions of his former toil, contact
with which was lost by the very fact of incarnating and being
plunged in apparent duality. That which was lost is therefore his
consciousness of his Divine Estate, and this it is that constitutes
the lost word he must regain in his sojourn in the West. 

(b) The ritual of Freemasonry contains a teaching which veiled in
allegory and symbol, can guide the zealous candidate to retrace his
steps, back to the fount, to 'His Native Land' but only 'if he so
desires':

Ask and you will be answered, 
Search and you will find,
Knock and you will be opened 
ASK!

(c) The Freemason's Lodge is an emblematic and allegorical
representation of the total constitution of man, where he is set to
make progress in his gradual understanding of the Masonic teachings
which, though nowadays available in printed form, are communicated
and transmitted in oral form only.

'In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the
word WAS God.'

In the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary we can read the following
about the beneficial effect of transmission by way of the voice: 

'Every so-called miracle of Jesus points to the transformation of
some function of the body consciousness. For example, consider His
changing of water to wine at Cana in Galilee: Cana means 'place of
reeds' (the larynx); Galilee means 'rolling energy, rolling,
turning,' or as we say in modern terms 'vibration. '

So we understand that the first miracle of Jesus (the I AM), the
turning of water into wine in Cana of Galilee, represents the
change that goes on in the waters of life, or the nerve fluids, as
they are brought into vibration by a spiritually quickened man or
woman. The waters of life are thus changed into wine, or are given
elements of greater stimulating life-giving power than they
possessed before they passed through the vibration of the voice.

The whole organisation may be invigorated and stimulated through
the vibratory thrill of the voice. In connection with this
particular miracle there is still more interior meaning.

The six waterpots (in which the water was changed to wine) indicate
that when the six great nerve centres in the body are purified, the
vibratory power of the voice will become so great that by the
spoken word a vessel filled with water may be changed into wine.'

Now the six nerve centres, or the six endocrine glands, can be
likened to the six officers of the Lodge: Tyler, Inner Guard,
Junior Deacon, Senior Deacon, Junior Warden and Senior Warden, who
need to be brought into harmony with the Worshipful Master, the
seventh officer, representing the Divine Principle in man's
spiritual constitution, just as the Crown Chakra, the seventh and
top centre in man's physical and physiological constitution
represents the point of enlightenment, of fusion with the Divine.

The candidate who, in his perambulations, has passed along and
through the various positions in the Lodge with awareness of their
meaning and potential, will indeed, after having been raised to a
reunion with that higher Principle, be transformed to be master of
his life, as it is said in Astrology, that the stars rule ignorant
man, but the wise man rules his stars.

G. de Purucker, theosophist, in his little book titled 'The
Mahatmas and Genuine Occultism' has this to say about sound and the
music of the spheres: 

'Every phenomenon of growth is accompanied with a sound. There is
indeed such a thing as the Music of the Spheres, a very real thing.
Every motion of material substance is accompanied with a sound.
That sound may be too great for our imperfect ears to sense, or to
take note of, or it may come within the gamut of sound that
evolution has brought our auditory sense to understand or to take
in. In the latter case we are aware of the physical sound; in the
former case we are not, but The musical harmonies through nature
are going on all the time. Everything that moves sings as it moves,
and all things are moving. Nothing is absolutely inert,
consequently everything sings, and the stars in their majestic
cyclical motions, and the planets in their orbits, sing the Songs
of Spheres, but our senses are not attuned to take it in.
Therefore, we don't hear it. Shakespeare describes this beautifully
in the Merchant of Venice:

"There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest but in his
motion like an angel sings, still quiring to the young-eyed
cherubims such harmony is in immortal souls but while this muddy
venture of decay doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it."

Shakespeare, in this passage, was merely repeating the teachings of
the ancient Greek Pythagorians.'

It is the recognition of the vibratory power of the spoken or
chanted word that makes the Brahmanas chant the Aum or Om, and the
Krishna devotees chant endlessly the 'Hare Krsna, Hare, Krsna,
Hare, Hare, Krsna, Krsna,' Krsna means:-  'The Supreme Pleasure'
and Hare is the vocative way of addressing the energy of the Lord
or Supreme Pleasure.

With regard to the holy word Aum or Om in Orahmanical literature,
it is said that by prolonging the uttering of this word, both the
O and the M, with the mouth closed, the sound reechoes in and
arouses vibrations in the skull, and affects, if the aspirations be
pure, the various nervous centres of the body for good.

The beneficial effect of this chanting of holy names is greatly
extended by being done in groups, in unison and accord. The same of
course holds good for all church services. Similarly, the Brethren
in Freemasonry should understand that the power of transmission of
the ritual, to the candidate, is greatly enhanced if all those
present actively, though silently, participate in the ceremony and
mentally support the work being done 'on the floor.'

This power is greatly diminished if, as is so often the case,
various brethren keep up their private conversations or comments,
which merely detracts from the solemnity of the work, risks to
distract the officiating officers, and merely exposes those
brethren as ignorant and unaware of the eucharistic work that is,
in fact, being performed.

Now it is this Eucharistic potential of Communion with the Divine
in man which is the true raison d'etre for the Free Masonic
movement. This I would now like to explore a little more deeply
with you.

We are taught that 'three rule a Lodge, but seven make it perfect.'
If, a bit earlier on I spoke of six officers in the Lodge, it is
because I had left out the main principal, the Worshipful Master,
just as in the body of man the main Chakra, the seventh and top
Chakra near and around the skull of man, had not yet been
mentioned.

The seven officers thus are: The W.M., the two wardens, the two
deacons, and the two guards.

The two guards and the two deacons represent the lower attributes
of man, the two wardens and the W.M. the three higher attributes.
The four, when perfected, form the perfect square, the apron and,
by extension, the cube. On perfection being reached the three, the
triune aspect of the diety, can then inhabit that square, and it is
this inflow which is symbolised by the lowering of the triangular
flap on the mason's apron, and by the opening up in the form of a
cross by the perfect cube: three squares across, four squares
downwards.

The Metaphysical Bible Dictionary has this to say about the number
seven: 

'The number representing fullness in the world of phenomena; seven
always refers to the divine law of perfection for the
divine-natural man .... In the spiritual, twelve is the number of
fulfillment, instead of seven.'

'Seven is so universally used as a mystical number that its basis
must be in some fundamental arrangement of the natural world. The
golden candlestick that was made expressly for use in the
tabernacle in the wilderness had seven lamps (see Exodus 25, v.
31-39).

We know that the Tabernacle and the Temple represented the body of
man, and the seven lamps were symbols of seven centres in the
organism, through which intelligence finds expression. Everybody
knows of five of these avenues: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling
and feeling. There are two in addition to these: intuition and
telepathy. The solar plexus is the organ of intuition and the brain
of telepathy.'

Whilst not disagreeing with this text, as regards the seven
centres, there is the further explanation which relates these
centres to the seven chakras, or wheels, or vortexes, along the
spine of man, which in the ancient wisdom teachings are the centres
whereby man is in communication with the higher world of which he
is a part. To the Companions of the Royal Arch it will not sound
strange that whereas 7 reflects the perfection of the natural man
approaching the Divine fount, the figure 12 reflects the spiritual
fulfillment that will be the natural man's heritage once the
sevenfold way of development has been mastered.

Theosophist G. de Purucker put it this way:  'There is a hunger in
the human heart for beauty; there is a longing in the human soul
for harmony and peace; there is an increasing aspiration in the
human mind for an understanding of the problems of the Universe.
and all these qualities of heart and soul and mind are
fundamentally ones arising out of that amazing spiritual fire which
dwells in the inmost of every human being, and which is a
reflection in his human character of the Divine Flame which is
fundamentally the Spiritual Man; and this flame is the core of his
being. Men yearn for truth, they yearn for light, they yearn for
peace and happiness; and alas, in how slight a degree is this
divine hunger satisfied! it is unsatisfied because men will not
self-consciously realise who they are, that they are, in the core
of themselves; their human consciousness refuses to recognise the
living existence in them of this Divine Flame of the spirit.
Nevertheless, there is through the ages a pressure towards 'this
realisation, and when recognition comes, then indeed breaks the
splendour of the spirit on the mind and illuminates it divinely.
The man's soul is then moved, and the very depths of his being are
stirred, for he recognises not only his kinship but his oneness
with the Universe of which he is a child, an inseparable part.'

Once again, the ritual and the beauty of the Royal Arch degree is
reflected in the above description.

Mrs. Blavatsky, in volume 1 of the Secret Doctrine, writes: 
'Though one and the same thing in their origin, Spirit and Matter,
when once they are on the plane of differentiation, begin each of
them their evolutionary progress in contrary directions Spirit
falling gradually into matter, and the latter ascending to its
original condition, that of a pure spiritual substance. Both are
inseparable, yet ever separated. In polarity, on the physical
plane, two like poles will always repel each other, so do Spirit
and Matter stand to each other the two poles of the same
homogeneous substance, the root-principle of the Universe .... This
association of spirit and matter needs a third factor, a connecting
link, to make both fully operative. This is Mind, which provides
intelligence and reason.... "

If therefore the candidate, the seeker, intensifies his
intellectual approach to life, purifies his thoughts and feelings,
and detaches himself from earthly attachments, he may approach real
initiation. Our ceremonies are but a feeble rehearsal, a vague
reflection thereof, and will remain that way until the Brethren
will understand the sacramental value of what is supposed to take
place and officiate accordingly. The rough ashlar has to be turned
into the perfect cube, fit for altar service. This work is
symbolised by the square.

Let us now pay some attention to the triangle, to the triune unity
of the W.Master and his two wardens.

Field Marshall Jan Smuts, in expounding his Holistic philosophy
spoke of the three-fold energy of the blessed Trinity of the
Godhead. In doing so, he mentioned the following energy forces:  
(1) the creative Entirety of Intelligence in design and concern,

(2) the compassionate Emotion of the Restorer and Saviour, 

(3) the overruling Will of the Harrowing Spirit and these three are
ONE

We can apply these three forces, detailed by General Smuts, to the
three principal positions in the Lodge -

The Entirety of Intelligence:
the W.M., the Diefic force 

The Compassionate Emotion:
the S.W., the Soul force 

The Will of the Spirit:
the J.W., the Intellectual force 

Yes, it is the 'overruling Will of the Hallowing Spirit '
represented by the J.W., who stands for the Sun, the enquiring
intelligence, that is sent out in the world to search for, and
find, that which was lost. Just as in the Bible stories, it is the
younger son Jacob who is sent away into the world, and the youngest
brother, Joseph, who travelled to Egypt and acquired wonderful
knowledge.

Joseph Campbell comments on this as follows: 'In fact, all through
the Book of Genesis there is consistently a preference for younger
against elder sons: Not only Abel against Cain, but also Isaac
against Ishmael, Jacob against Esau and Joseph against Rueben.'

This, I would suggest, is because it is Faith, the younger of
'Faith, Hope and Charity' that must find the way back to the Fount,
by Wisdom garnered on the way, thereby strengthening Hope, and
together Faith and Hope finally glorifying Charity: that Love
which, at the head or apex of the triangle, sent forth the
sojourner to discover that which was lost. In the Royal Arch story,
too, the sojourner is the last one to arrive, the other princes
having already taken their seat, yet he it is who becomes the
restorer.

All along therefore we find that it is the enquiring spirit, the
J.W. who, with will and faith as tools, finally enriches the Soul
(the S.W.), even though the latter stayed closer to the Father's
house. The prodigal son is the one feted, on his return to his
Father's house after his travels abroad, to the discomfort of the
elder son who all the while had faithfully worked his father's
fields.

All this indicates that to prepare for initiation the vivifying and
yet also stabilising influence of intellectual pursuit is
essential. One must get out of the rut of purely material
requirements for one's daily fare, and strive, by digging and
delving, and turning inwards, to open up the hidden channels that
will lead to spiritual unfoldment.


About fifty years before General Smuts penned these thoughts, Annie
Besant, in a book called 'The Pedigree of Man,' wrote:  'Mrs
Blavatsky taught us that, in trying to understand man and his
pedigree, we must mark three great lines of evolution: First the
spiritual, which is by far the most important, for Spirit is the
master of matter, guides it, shapes it, builds it into form; and
unless the spiritual pedigree is known man remains an insoluble
problem. Then, at the other pole of human nature, the physical, the
pedigree of man's body. The spiritual pedigree is the coming down
by slow degree of spirit into matter. The physical pedigree is the
result of the upward climbing of the spirit through matter, which
it shapes for the expression of its own inherent powers. Then,
looking at those two great lines, one from above downwards, the
other from below upwards, we come to a point at which a third line
of the evolution of man's pedigree joins these others, and links
them both to form the human being. That is the intellectual
evolution; that is the coming of the ego to take possession of his
physical tabernacle and to link to that tabernacle the Spirit which
has brooded over it, which has by its subtle influence shaped and
fashioned it.

When we have traced the spiritual evolution, then, there unfolds
before us a vast picture, in which we can see the whole pedigree of
man traced in broad illuminative outlines, and we can begin to
understand something of the wonder of that Human nature which is
God. God in manifested form, divine in essence and in powers.'
These inspired words come very close to part of the ceremony of the
Third degree.

I.K. Taimni echoes Mrs. Blavatsky's words, when he writes:  'When
the search for Truth is motivated by real earnestness and there is
a dynamic spiritual urge behind it, it transfers the efforts of the
individual from the realm of purely intellectual enquiry into the
realm of spiritual experience and realisation.... He is thus
obliged to enter the path of Yoga (Union) and discover these truths
of the inner life by direct experience.'

I would like to still further clarify my thoughts as to the
separate yet often interlinking, roles of the Junior and Senior
Wardens, by quoting from two further philosophic works.

Theosophist G. de Purucker, writing about initiation, in a chapter
headed: 'The Sacred Seasons ' writes as follows: 

'As all occultists know, the mysteries of antiquity were celebrated
at various times of the year in the spring, in the summer-time, in
the autumn, and at the winter solstice. These most sacred of the
ancient mysteries began with the winter solstice. Therein were
initiated certain men who had been chosen on account of having
perfected a certain preliminary period of training: chosen not
arbitrarily but because these Elect were ready for the tests, to go
through initiatory trials for the purpose of bringing out into
manifestation in the man the divine faculties and powers of the
inner God.

The initiatory cycle contained the circling year as a symbol of the
entire spiritual, intellectual, and psychical life-cycle of a human
being, and at the four cross-periods, composing the 'cross of the
Universe' as the divine philosopher Plato called it, there took
place the four great initiation ceremonies of human existence.

The first of these initiations was called 'the birth.' it took
place at the time of the winter solstice, December 21-22 or
thereabouts, which Christians now call the Christmas festival of
December 25.

As the man lived on, it he had the strength of will and the courage
to proceed and to follow the path to the second initiatory stage -
no matter how many years this may have taken or may now take - then
came 'the Easter' of his life, the second great initiation, when
the Christ within him was - not born, because that had already
taken place but when the Christ 'arose' and took his own stand as
a fully developed Master, Teacher, Guide and Leader of men.

Then came the third stage, that which was commemorated
mythologically by so many of the ancient peoples in the festival of
the mid-summer, of the summer solstice. On June 21-22 began the
'trials of this stage, and they lasted fourteen days, beginning at
a time when the moon was new, and ending for that period when the
moon was full. So it was with the other stages and with the fourth
stage, during the Autumn period, September 21/22. Each of these
initiation ceremonies began when, according to the ancient,
wonderful, mystical, true astrology, the sun and moon were rightly
situated.

'The cycle of the year represented symbolically the entire
initiatory cycle that a man could follow from the beginning of his
training until its end. There was 'the birth,' then the evocation
of the inner Christ or Master, which was the mystic 'youth' just as
the former had been the mystic 'birth', the third was the mystic
'majority' or adulthood, at which the glorious initiate or Master
of Life began an active, indeed a strenuous career among men as
teacher, guide and saviour; and then finally the last period, that
of the passage into the 'great peace' where, if such was the choice
made and followed, the Master left the world of men for ages and
entered into other spheres. Many renounced this fourth and supreme
initiation in order to remain, Buddha-like in their love and pity
for erring mankind, with men in order to help them and to protect
them and to guide them.'

Let us now look at these two main initiation periods at the winter
and summer solstices, to see whether we can detect a relationship
between them and the positions of the Junior and Senior Wardens. I
shall do this by translating from a most beautiful book in the
Missak collection in the Fairbrass Library, the author being Jean
Tourniac, who writes:- 

'It is custom in Masonry to laud St. John the Baptist at the
festival of the summer solstice of the 24th June. The following
masonic text can be cited. 'It is you, first, Son of Zacharias, of
whom we celebrate the memory, you who were sent to the Heavens to
render witness to the True Light. You are filled with the spirit
and virtue of Elias, you are the voice crying in the wilderness."
What more noble usage could man make of thought and word then to
try to understand and interpret the Eternal Truths which are
manifested for him in the form of the three great lights provided
by the Creator: 

The book of the world, which is the square,

The inner light, which is the compasses, and finally,

The book of the Sacred Law.

It is with this in mind that we want to study the role of St. John
the Baptist. But, first, we have to insist on the complexity of the
symbolism which ties St. John the Baptist indissolubly with that of
St. John the Evangelist.

The two St. Johns are like two solstices, the two columns, like the
past and the future, like birth and death and like the two
luminaries: limit points one at the start, one at the end.'

'John the Baptist closes the old law and announces the Christian
Revelation. The Evangelist closes the book of the world with the
Apocalypse and announces a second dispensation. Both open up, and
no one can close. Both close, and no-one can open.

Both are in close contact or relationship with the start of
initiation and with its completion; with the second birth by
baptism in water, and the third birth by trial of fire. Both are
part of the path, at have much in common, and resemble the Supreme
Master.

John the Baptist refers to the horizontal line, and the level.
Isaiah prophesies about the Baptist's mission as follows: 

"Level his paths and may the mountains be lowered." And similarly
does the baptismal water refer to the level, aspect which
corresponds to passivity, to the past, to the moon, to the
conservation of things. And if the past is dead, in compensation
the moon presides at all births.

In contradiction, the Evangelist is related to the Plumbrule. He
stands on the Mount of Transfiguration, on the Mount of Olives, on
the Mount of Calvary, and does not tread the flat desert of Judea.
Apostle of Light and Fire, he is symbolised by the Eagle. This
character of verticality and of light gives him a solar aspect, and
an aspect of Apollo, God of the Sun and the Oracles. But in
compensation, the only certainty of the future is death ....'

Brethren, much more is contained in this particular study of the
two St. Johns, in Tourniac's book: a real feast for the searcher
with a bend for mysticism. But enough has been quoted to be able to
liken St. John the Baptist, first on the scene, to the position of
S.W., whereas it is St. John the Evangelist, as J.W., the spiritual
sojourner, who - after the passion of Christ-  is witness to the
Beatific vision and proclaims the ultimate unity of all living
creatures in Christ.

Thus the Junior and Senior Wardens form the base of the Triangle
which has the W.M. at its apex, symbolising the mystic trinity, the
three in one, hovering over the square of perfected man. Mystic
indeed is the Masonic art, steeped in symbolism and allegory,
hiding its secrets from the profane view.

In conclusion I quote a short part of 'A Personal Affirmation' by
Wor.Bro. W. H. Topley, England:

'Masonic secrets what are they?

Brethren, our rituals have been sold in the streets, and our
symbols displayed in the marketplaces, yet the secrets of our Order
are still secrets; they are not open to the merely curious, even
among the Brethren. But if in our hearts we truly seek that Light
which, as "Poor Candidates in a state of darkness" we were prompted
to declare was the predominant wish of our hearts, then for us the
venerable exhortation stands: 

"Ask and a Brother will come to your aid, seek, and the close-tyled
door of your own being will in some manner be opened to your inner
vision."

But we must be fortified by an overwhelming desire to know, even
though it be through trials and adversities. For so the Great
Architect has ordained it, that labour to perceive must come before
refreshments in partaking.'

Unless therefore we go about our search with a firm faith and a
great will, we shall not even perfect that perfect square of our
earthly existence, without which attainment we shall not be able to
pull down into our being the triangle of the Triune Deity. Faith.
Hope and Charity shall not pour their light into the vault of our
being, and we shall have been Masons in vain. Brothers, perhaps 
but Freemasons, no. We shall not have arrived at that Truth, that
ultimate reality where 4 and 3 make 7.

"Into an unprepared vessel the Gods will pour their wine in vain."

May I therefore end with the prayer, for myself as much as for all
Brethren: 'That we may heed the message.' 



THE MYSTIC JOURNEY FROM SQUARE TO CIRCLE


'There are these three: God and the Kosmos and Man. God possesses
the Kosmos; the Kosmos possesses Man. The Kosmos is born as son of
God, and man as son of Kosmos, and as it were, grandson of God.
God, then, is not ignorant of man, but acknowledges him to the full
and wishes to be acknowledged by him. The knowledge of God, this
alone is deliverance for man; it is the journey upward into
Olympus; from this alone the good soul comes into being.

The forces of God work through the Kosmos and reach man through the
radiations of the essences of the Kosmos, and the essences reach
man through the fundamental laws. Thls is the order of the whole,
all things being dependent upon the nature of the one God and
governed by the one mind.

Nothing is more divine than mind, nothing more powerful, nothing
serves better to unite men to gods and gods to men. It is a good
daemon. Blessed is the soul which is filled with it; ill-fated is
that which lacks it. " "Hermetica"

Hermes Trismegistus Chapter: 'The Key'

In a book of which the title in English is: 'The I Ching and the
Genetic Code or The Hidden Key of Life" Or Martin Schonberger did
establish the congruence between the I Ching and the Genetic code.

The I Ching, or book of changes, is thousands of years old. It is
one of the classic texts attributed to Confucius, who lived around
500 BC, but it is presumed to be of still earlier origin. The
uniqueness of the I Ching consists in its presentation of 64
symbolic hexagrams which, if properly understood and interpreted,
are said to contain profound meaning applicable to daily life.

The Genetic code has to do with the manner in which heredity is
transferred, and its discovery established the code by which DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid) is translated into protein. Basically,
Genetics is concerned primarily with the method by which genetic
traits are transmitted in plants and animals. It was found that
there are 64 different combinations possible of codons, a codon
consisting of three nucleotides forming the various amino acids.

Dr. Martin Schonberger discovered the congruity between the genetic
code (details of which were put together in the 1950-1955 period)
and the numerical structure and polarity principle of the I Ching
which dates back 3000 years or more, thus bringing together the
results of one of the most ancient of human researches with one of
the most modern ones.

The pivot and sensational summation of German philosopher Martin
Schonberger's book is the proposition of the absolute one to one
equation of the 64 'kua' or hexagrams, of the ancient Chinese
system I Ching and the 64 DNA codons of the genetic code.
Schonberger's discovery that the I Ching hexagrams and the DNA
codons correspond exactly when written in binary order provided the
topic of the funeral address given by Carl G. Jung in honour of the
great German translator of the I Ching, Richard Wilhelm.

One of the reasons for this introduction to my paper is that, as an
opening gambit to his book 'The I Ching and the Genetic Code,' Dr
Schonberger reproduces a more than 2000 years old chinese stone
rubbing. In this rubbing a couple appear twice, and I hereunder
copy the text of his comments: 

"In this reproduction of a stone rubbing the couple appear twice.

above, the man and woman are turned towards each other and the
dragon tails are entwined below, after union (hieros gamos) they
still form an inseparable couple and now the upper parts of their
bodies are turned outward;

Fu-Hsi holds the set-square in his left-hand. As it is used to draw
the square, it represents an emblem of the earth, i.e., of the
female (yin) principle, and can hold good as the insignia of the
male principle only after an exchange of attributes completed
during hierogamy. Similarly, Nu-Kua, his wife, carries the
compasses, the circle producing emblem of the sky, of the male
(yang) principle.

... Fu-Hsi and Nu-Kua.... 'the first married couple (and at the
same time brother and sister) stand at the dawn of history as it
emerges from myth. They have mythical characteristics (dragon tail
and wings) and also carry instruments of precision (set square and
compasses). Together these instruments betoken 'order and correct
behaviour. ' .....

Indeed the couple seem to be a representation of TAO itself in its
appearance as Yang and Yin."

Dr. Schonberger dedicates his book to this mythical couple 'the
founders of the I Ching and of marriage,' combining as it does
ancient wisdom with modern science.

Here we find, before the Christian era, the square and compasses
used as instruments symbolically pointing out 'order and correct
behaviour.: In China! Indeed, Masonry, 'the Mystic Art is
universal. But before elaborating further on this subject it may be
useful to give as concise as possible an overview of what the I
Ching stands for: 

Also known as 'the Book of Life' or 'the Book of Changes,' this
compendium of Chinese natural philosophy has two things to offer:
a catalogue of 64 hexagrams (= states), and at the same time their
changes and transformations into one another at infinitum.

Thus the I Ching claims or rather its practitioners claim that it
is nothing less than an exhaustive catalogue of all sequent events,
processes and developments of Nature for everything that exists as
a distinguishable world, everything that evolves from an
inconceivable 'invisible origin' into a three dimensional existence
and a threefold sequence of time: past present and future. To use
a modern term, it can be seen as a "world formula" with a
cosmogony, a generally valid theory of the origination of the
visible world from a primary principle, the TAO, which transcends
the power of words to describe. The manifestation of this
principle, its emergence, is always polar. The world poles are
called 'yang' and 'yin'; they condition and supplement each other,
unite, appear in a state of rest and motion just as, say
electricity (with a plus and minus pole) can be static or flowing.

The positive pole, yang, is represented by a straight unbroken
line; the negative pole, yin, is represented by a broken line.

To form the basic trigrams which then lead to the hexagrams, a
further yang or yin line is added to any combination of two lines,
either two yang (air), two yin (earth), a yang with a yin on top
(fire) or a yin with a yang on top (water).

Thus eight different trigrams can be obtained which, when made up
in the various possibilities to form hexagrams, yield 64 different
hexagrams.

Each such hexagram has specified meaning and potential, and in the
process of transition from one hexagram to another hexagram, which
the I Ching states is happening continuously, they indicate
tendencies in movement, just as in the physical, mental and
emotional worlds all aspects are in continuous movement.

But as the basis of the hexagrams is their constituent trigrams, it
is really an analysis of the trigrams in their various combinations
which gives the I Ching its readings, when consulted in either the
classical manner, by the throwing of yarrow sticks, or by whatever
way of approach the individual seeker may use.

This fluidity and continual change to which the I Ching alludes is
clearly symbolised in the T'ai-Chi, a drawing in which the
complementary poles (white and black, in this instance) are
inscribed in a circle, each fitting snugly into the other abd
containing the (mutable) seed of the counterpole.

This short and obviously inadequate explanation of what the I Ching
is and stands for, will have to suffice, as its main objective has,
hopefully, been achieved in that it sets out the Chinese philosophy
that opposites are not opposites but complimentary forces, that
each principle contains the seeds of all other principles, and that
no situation is ever static but that all life flows along in ever
changing situations.

Let us now look at the Genetic code, the realities of which have
only come to light in the last thirty years or so. Again, it is
requisite to compress the necessary comments to their most
elementary basis for the purposes of this paper.

DNA, a chain-like molecule of great length and high molecular
weight, is a double strand twisted like a spiral staircase, a
double helix with plus and minus strands which represent the matrix
of the genetic message.

There are four basic compositions, represented by letters, and as
each DNA is a double helix, formed by parallel strands, and because
of their chemical and spatial structures, they all fit together
precisely like the elements of a zipper. Laborious investigations
have revealed the surprising fact that three of these letters,
i.e., a sequence of bases, always signify a code word in an endless
sequence of 'words' (with punctuation) on the substrata of the
double strand. By 'signify' is meant that the code is an
instruction for putting together (synthetising) a compound and is
not the product itself. According to the laws of mathematics 64
such combinations, known as triplets, are possible and have in fact
been found and recognised, and their meaning, which is fixed by
natural laws, has been read. Each one has a distinct, though
possibly, overlapping function.

One or more of these 'words' represent the information and
instructions needed for the synthetising of an amino acid, one of
the protein building-in blocks of the body.

The sum-total of all these codewords is therefore synonymous with
the 'blueprint' for producing a whole specific plant or animal body
with all its characteristics. In a virus a few hundred code words
are sufficient, whereas man needs billions.

If all the chromosome DNA units were lined up, each would be
equivalent to a closely printed lexicon of 20,000 pages.

One can thus follow author Schonberger's expose which leads to the
conclusion that each individual 'Kua' of the ancient I Ching can be
seen as containing a specific cosmological message which is now
found duplicated in the genetic code encapsulated in one of the DNA
codons discovered in recent years.

We are left to wonder, in humble admiration if not adoration, at
this synchronistic marvel which thus links the philosophical cum
scientific endeavours of men over a period of about 4000 years.

Schonberger's conclusion is that his discovery leads to the
proposition that there is but one holistic universe which contains
all creation, whether already manifest or as yet unmanifest, and
that each fragment, each individual part, contains and reflects the
whole in potential seed-form.

This proposition has now been elaborated upon by Jose Arguelles in
his recently published book 'Earth Ascending,' which was ten years
in the making. In this book he postulates and endeavours to prove
as a fact the basic unity of the whole of creation, and coins the
word 'holonomic.' I'll quote just a few of this thoughts: 

"By contemplating and understanding this holonomic model (of the
Universe) one may come to understand the whole, as well as the
different sub-systems, as facets of one mutually interacting,
interpenetrating set of orders and operations."

"We may infer the existence of a much larger evolutionary
mechanism, a morphogenetic moderating factor that, because it is
resonantly keyed into the whole process of the planet as a living
system, may accurately be described as a holonomic recollection
process, which could be called the PSI bank."

"The PSI bank obviously functions as a phenomenally simple yet
all-encompassing information storage and retrieval system, a
holonomic brain. thus given what we know now of the PSI bank as a
creatively evolving data base, the nature of which seems to
manifest itself the more global or comprehensive we make our own
collective intelligence or view of things we should also be able to
construct a more accurate read-out of history.'

For the purpose of this paper I would like to summarise my own
'read-out' of the foregoing, as follows.

(1) We live in- and are part of- a holistic universe in which all
parts can be seen as reflections of the whole, as well as
interlinking individually.

(2) There are no opposite forces, but only complimentary
influences.

(3) Nothing is static, but all individual parts of manifestations
are in a state of transition and evolution, the imprint of which is
encoded on each individual particle of matter.

(4) By trying to understand this evolutionary process and by living
in harmony with it, one enriches the process itself as well as
one's own individual role in the world's economy.

(5) And I see 'harmony' as another word for LOVE.

Such then is the wisdom/knowledge symbolically presented to the
world by 'the first couple' Fu-Hsi, the husband, and Ny-Kua, the
wife, in which presentation the square and compasses are shown as
emblematic of the whole evolutionary process.

James S. Forrester-Browns in his book: 'The Two Creation Stories in
Genesis,' has this to say of the dual nature in man:

"Each individualised soul may be said to possess potentially these
ideally perfect principles and powers of 'adam' and 'ish-shah,'
'heaven' and 'earth,' male and female, sun and moon, symbolized
here as 'man' and woman'."

Now, the square and compasses are the two main symbols in
Freemasonry wherewith the movement is identified. They are
sculptured on most Masonic buildings, reproduced on nearly all
Masonic documents, integrated in all Masonic designs and with the
Sacred Volume form the septenate combination on which the
candidates promise allegiance: 

The triangle of the square

the triangle of the compasses

on the foundation of the Holy Scriptures.

Around the year 1870, Wor.Bro. Albert Pike, perhaps the greatest
exponent of the mystical cum spiritual contents of the Masonic
mysteries, published his mighty work 'Morals and Dogma' The preface
for the Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree of the Southern
Jurisdiction of the United States, mentions that the book:

"contains the Lectures of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in
that jurisdiction, and is specially intended to be read and studied
by the Brethren of that obedience, in connection with the Rituals
of the Degrees. It is hoped that each will furnish himself with a
copy and make himself familiar with it." and continues: 

"Of course the ancient theosophic and philosophic speculations (.
. . contained herein . . .) are not embodied as part of the
doctrines of the Rite, but because it is of interest and profit to
know what the Ancient Intellect thought upon these subjects, and
because nothing so conclusively proves the radical difference
between our human and the animal nature, as the capacity of the
human mind to entertain such speculations in regard to itself and
the Diety."

Chapter 32 deals with the 32nd degree, called Sublime Prince of the
Royal Secret.

On the first page of that Chapter is reproduced a drawing on which
the author comments as follows: 

"You see at the beginning of this reading an old Hermetic symbol,
copied from the 'materia Prima' of Valentinus, printed at
Franckfurt in 1613, with a treatise entitled 'Azoth.' (Note: Azoth,
to the medieval alchemists, was the creative principle of nature,
which they subsumed to be astral light). Upon it you see a Triangle
upon a Square, both of these continued in a Circle; and above this,
standing upon a dragon, a human body, with two arms only, but two
heads, one male and the other female. By the side of the male head
is the Sun, and by that of the female head, the Moon, the crescent
within the circle of the moon. And the hand of the male side holds
a compass, and that on the female side, a square.

The close resemblance between the old Chinese drawing and this
German one of the 17th century is striking, and both show the
dragon as an integral part of the composition.

According to Manly Hall who, in his Encyclopedic Outline of
Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical
Philosophy reproduces on page 39 a drawing from Bryant's Mythology
in which the God Hermes in human form, but with an animal head,
stands with one foot on a dragon, the name Hermes is derived from
'Herm ' a form of Chiram, the personified Universal Life Principle,
generally represented by Fire. Hermes is supposed to have been
initiated by Poimandres, the Great Dragon, with wings stretching
across the sky and light streaming in all directions from its body.
The mysteries taught that the Universal Life was personified as a
dragon.

With regards to the dual nature of man (male and female)
graphically outlined in both drawings, it is said that heavenly
man, dwelling in the light of God, fell in love with his shadow
which he saw reflected on the earth and descended into it. Nature,
beholding the descent, wrapped herself about the man whom she
loved, and the two were mingled. For this reason earthy man is
composite.

Within the composite man is the Sky man, immortal and beautiful,
without is Nature, mortal and destructible. Thus suffering is the
result of the Immortal man's falling in love with his shadow and
giving up Reality to dwell in the darkness of illusion for being
immortal man has the power of the Seven Governors also being the
Life, the Light and the Word but being mortal, he is controlled by
the Rings of the Governors Fate or Destiny.

Then God spoke the Holy Word within the soul of all things, saying: 

"Let him that is endued with Mind know himself to be immortal and
that the cause of death is the love of the body; and let him learn
all things that are, for he who has recognised himself enters into
the state of Good."

And Hermes is admonished as follows: 

"Understand, O Hermes, and meditate deeply upon the mystery. That
which in you see and hear is not of the earth, but is the Word of
God incarnate. So it is said that Divine Light dwells in the midst
of mortal darkness, and ignorance cannot divide them. The union of
the Word and the Mind produces that mystery which is called LIFE.
The Light and the Fire which rises are the Divine Man, ascending in
the path of the Word, and that which fails to ascend is the mortal
man, which may not partake of immortality. Learn deeply of the Mind
and its mystery, for therein lies the secret of immortality."

Albert Pike in commenting on the Hermetic drawing reproduced in his
book, writes: 

"The hermaphroditic figure is the Symbol of the double nature
anciently assigned to the Diety, as Generator and Producer . . .
The Compass, therefore, is the Hermetic Symbol of the Creative
Deity, and the Square of the Productive Earth or Universe . . . The
Compass as the symbol of the Heavens, represents the spiritual,
intellectual, and moral portion of this double nature of Humanity,
and the Square, as the symbol of the Earth, its material, sensual
and baser portion."

"Life is a battle, and to fight that battle heroically and well is
the great purpose of every man's existence, who is worthy and fit
to live at all . . .

But that which is the greatest battle, and in which the truest
honour and most real success are to be won, is that battle which
our intellect and reason and moral sense, our spiritual nature,
fight against our sensual appetites and evil passions, our earthly
and material or animal nature. Therein only are the true glories of
heroism to be won, there only the successes that entitle us to
triumphs."

If we now compare the old Chinese stone rubbing with the Hermetic
drawing, and also the conclusions we came to regarding the lessons
we can draw from the I Ching message and the Genetic code with the
teachings revealed to Hermes and the Masonic ideals expressed by
Albert Pike as attributable to the 32nd Degree, we shall see that
drawings and teachings point to the same mystic journey every man,
and assuredly every Freemason, should undertake and, hopefully,
complete on the Centre.

Both pictures, the Chinese one and the Hermetic one, show a union
of man and woman, the one in the form of hieros gamos, the other in
hermaphroditic form. Both pictures show the Dragon, or the Dragon's
tail, and in both the Square and Compasses are shown as the
instruments of spiritual progress and as illustrative of the dual
nature of all manifestation.

This very fact of duality implies a constant battle,' a continuous
flow of interacting energies between the 'Divine' and its 'Shadow,'
ONE in reality, but dual in appearance.

This is expressed in the age old wisdom of the I Ching's oracular
communications and found back in the message encoded in the Genetic
codons.

In Freemasonry this never ending 'battle' towards progress is
emblematically expressed in the ritual of the degrees, in which
'trigrams' can be detected at all levels.

This however, we must leave for each Mason to study and find for
himself.

I would submit, though, that the 'helical' form of the DNA is
expressed in the steps leading from the first to the second degree,
and in the first steps of those leading to the third degree. In
fact, these steps, together, would point to a double helix, as they
are in contrary directions.

Linked with this interpretation one can point to the three columns
of the Tree of Life in the Qaballah, and surmise that the steps
alluded to just now concern the two outside columns of that Tree,
and that the last few steps in the third degree refer to the
central column and show the progress from Malkuth to Kether via the
powers of Yesod and Tiphareth.

The second degree steps would then only refer to the outside
columns, the B. and J. of our Masonic Ritual, the first part of the
third degree steps would retrace the second degree progress in
reverse order, and then, on the central column, lead to that
raising so eminently symbolised by the powers of Kether.

If one sees Malkuth as representing the Candidate, then the Tree of
Life has three triads, which he has to ascend, and without starting
a completely new lecture, it can be pointed out that those three
ascending triads can be closely linked to the teachings of the
first three degrees.

One could also surmise that the two lower triads are connected with
the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the higher and highest
triad with the Tree of Life, indicating a progression from material
and spiritual knowledge to Divine At-onement, hence from square to
circle.

These three triads can also be found represented in various forms
in the ceremony of the Holy Royal Arch, the apogee of the third
degree.

The double helix is also expressed in the final stage of the
raising in the third degree, when W.M. and Candidate unite in what
can also be seen as symbolical of the caduceus, the staff of
Hermes.

The Life of the Freemason, in progressing from 1st to 2nd degrees,
and then to the 3rd degree, thereafter moving from the position of
Steward through the various chairs to the ultimate responsibility
of Worshipful Master, and taking his further steps in the Mark and
Royal Arch degrees, and higher even, is an emblematic
representation of that continuous flow of complementary forces and
energies the I Ching alludes to, and the DNA encodes in its genes.

All life is one, and the base is LOVE, and in progressing from the
point, via line and square to the perfect cube it will be found
that that cube is encompassed in a circle. On the way a multitude
of trigrams will be encountered, and if his progress is spiritual
and not just formal, the candidate will experience that square and
compasses merge into the Divine Life and Divine Light symbolised by
the Sacred Book on which they rest.

To achieve this the journey must be undertaken in full awareness of
its mystical import, and with an enquiring mind and an intuitively
receptive soul. Then one can transform the rough ashlar into the
perfect cube, that cube which James Forrester Brown in his book
'The Two Creation Stories in Genesis' writes: (Appendix 1, page
251) 

"The most sacred of the shrines at Mecca, the central city of the
Mahommedan faith, is named after its emblem, the Ka'ba, the Cube.
The cube is the shape of 'the holy city of Jerusalem,' for Rev. 21,
10-16 states that 'the length and breadth and the height thereof
are equal.' In verse 17 the dimensions of the mystic city are said
to be 'according to the measure of man, that is, of an angel,'
implying apparently that what is recorded is to be 'measured,'
interpreted and applied in terms of living Reality, which is a
synthesis of perfected substance and a high order of consciousness.

Finally, I would record here that the six faces of the perfect cube
open up in the form of a cross, the cross of redemption which
transforms itself in the classical form of benediction. So may it,
in time, turn out to be for the author of this paper as well as for
its reader.