A Lexicon of Freemasonry: Containing a Definition of All Its Communicable Terms, Notices of Its History, Traditions, and Antiquities, and an Account of All the Rites and Mysteries of the Ancient World
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The History of Freemasonry Volume 2: Its Legends and Traditions, Its Chronological History
(THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY ITS LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS ITS...)
THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY ITS LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS ITS CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY BY ALBERT GALLATIN MACKEY, M.D., 33° Volume 2 of 7. Other volumes also available. SO comprehensive a title as the one selected for the present work would be a vain assumption if the author's object was not really to embrace in a series of studies the whole cycle of Masonic history and science. Anything short of this would not entitle the work to be called THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY. Freemasonry as a society of long standing, has of course its history, and the age of the institution has necessarily led to the mixing in this history of authentic facts and of mere traditions or legends. We are thus led in the very beginning of our labors to divide our historical studies into two classes. The one embraces the Legendary History of Freemasonry, and the other its authentic annals. The Legendary History of Freemasonry will constitute the subject of the first of the five parts into which this work is divided. It embraces all that narrative of the rise and progress of the institution, which beginning with the connection with it of the antediluvian patriarchs, ends in ascribing its modern condition to the patronage of Prince Edwin and the assembly at York. This narrative, which in the I5th and up to the end of the I7th century, claimed and received the implicit faith of the Craft, which in the I8th century was repeated and emendated by the leading writers of the institution, and which even in the 19th century has had its advocates among the learned and its credence among the unlearned of the Craft, has only recently and by a new school been placed in its true position of an apocryphal story. And yet though apocryphal, this traditionary story of Freemasonry which has been called the Legend of the Craft, or by some the Legend of the Guild, is not to be rejected as an idle fable. On the contrary, the object of the present work has been to show that these Masonic legends contain the germs of an historical, mingled often with a symbolic, idea, and that divested of certain evanescences in the shape of anachronisms, or of unauthenticated statements, these Masonic legends often, nay almost always, present in their simple form a true philosophic spirit.
Cryptic Masonry: A Manual Of The Council; Or, Monitorial Instructions In The Degrees Of Royal And Select Master. With An Additional Section On The Super-Excellent Master's Degree.
(Published in 1897, this volume contains a Masonic manual ...)
Published in 1897, this volume contains a Masonic manual of the council and instructions on the degrees of Select Master, Royal Master, Super-Excellent Master and Ceremonies of the Order.
The Symbolism of Freemasonry: Illustrating and Explaining its Science and Philosophy, its Legends, Myths, and Symbols
(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
The History of Freemasonry Volume 1: Its Legends and Traditions, Its Chronological History
(Volume One of Seven. Other volumes also available. SO com...)
Volume One of Seven. Other volumes also available. SO comprehensive a title as the one selected for the present work would be a vain assumption if the author's object was not really to embrace in a series of studies the whole cycle of Masonic history and science. Anything short of this would not entitle the work to be called THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY. Freemasonry as a society of long standing, has of course its history, and the age of the institution has necessarily led to the mixing in this history of authentic facts and of mere traditions or legends. We are thus led in the very beginning of our labors to divide our historical studies into two classes. The one embraces the Legendary History of Freemasonry, and the other its authentic annals. The Legendary History of Freemasonry will constitute the subject of the first of the five parts into which this work is divided. It embraces all that narrative of the rise and progress of the institution, which beginning with the connection with it of the antediluvian patriarchs, ends in ascribing its modern condition to the patronage of Prince Edwin and the assembly at York. This narrative, which in the I5th and up to the end of the I7th century, claimed and received the implicit faith of the Craft, which in the I8th century was repeated and emendated by the leading writers of the institution, and which even in the 19th century has had its advocates among the learned and its credence among the unlearned of the Craft, has only recently and by a new school been placed in its true position of an apocryphal story.
A Text Book of Masonic Jurisprudence: Illustrating the Written and Unwritten Laws of Freemasonry (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from A Text Book of Masonic Jurisprudence: Illust...)
Excerpt from A Text Book of Masonic Jurisprudence: Illustrating the Written and Unwritten Laws of Freemasonry
Four years ago I wrote, and soon after published, a treatise on the "Principles of Masonic Law," which was received by the Fraternity with a readiness that convinced me I had not miscalculated the necessity of such a work. In the composition of it I was entering upon a field of Masonic Literature which had, up to that time, been traversed by no other writer. There was, it is true, an abundance of authorities scattered over thousands of pages of Grand Lodge Proceedings, and contained in the obiter dicta of Grand Masters' Addresses, and the reports of Committees on Foreign Correspondence. But these authorities were often of a conflicting character, and as often were repugnant to my sense of justice, and to the views I had long entertained of the spirit of equity and reason which pervaded the Masonic Institution.
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The Book of the Chapter: Or Monitorial Instructions, in the Degrees of Mark, Past and Most Excellent Master, and the Holy Royal Arch (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from The Book of the Chapter: Or Monitorial Instr...)
Excerpt from The Book of the Chapter: Or Monitorial Instructions, in the Degrees of Mark, Past and Most Excellent Master, and the Holy Royal Arch
It must be acknowledged that there is no dearth of ordinary monitorial books, although I know of none exclusively appropriated to the Chapter degrees. But an experience, by no means inconsiderable, has forced upon me the conviction that the plan upon which these works have been hitherto constructed, is not such as to meet the demands of the enlarged masonic intellect of the present day. All the Monitors now extant appear to have adopted that of Thomas Smith Webb as their prototype, and, like it, have been very generally confined to the arrangement of the prayers, charges, and Scripture lessons, which are used in the several degrees, without any, or, at most, a very slight attempt to explain, by commentaries, the symbolic meaning or the historical references of the different portions of the ritual. Hence, but very little knowledge, beyond the mere working part of our institution, is to be obtained from these books; and although they are well enough for that purpose, still, as it is not the only purpose which may and ought to be effected by a Monitor, I have sought to present the masonic reader with something more in the ensuing pages.
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Albert Mackey was an American writer and encyclopedist.
Background
Albert Gallatin Mackey was born on March 12, 1807, in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the youngest son of Dr. John Mackey, also a native South Carolinian, of Scotch descent.
The latter was a physician, editor, and teacher. He conducted The Investigator from its establishment in 1812 to 1817, and in 1826 published The American Teacher's Assistant and Self-Instructor's Guide.
Education
Albert received a good English education and an elementary classical one, which later he extended greatly by private study. After teaching school for a time, he entered the South Carolina Medical College, Charleston, and graduated in 1832, receiving the first prize for his Latin thesis.
Career
Mackey practiced medicine in Charleston and became demonstrator of anatomy in the Medical College. In 1854, however, his increasing interest in Freemasonry impelled him to relinquish his profession and devote his entire time to the interests of the Masonic fraternity. When South Carolina seceded from the Union he espoused the latter's cause and remained steadfast throughout the Civil War, although practically all the citizens of Charleston were Southern sympathizers.
In July 1865, he was appointed by President Johnson collector of the port of Charleston. Mackey was a Mason in St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 10 of Charleston in 1841, shortly thereafter joining Solomon's Lodge, No. 1 of the same city, of which he became master in 1842.
He was a member and presiding officer of practically all the subordinate bodies of the various rites of Freemasonry, eventually becoming grand secretary of the Grand Lodge, grand high priest of the Grand Chapter, grand master of the Grand Council, and general grand high priest of the General Grand Chapter of the United States.
The last decade of his life was spent in Washington, D. C. , where he devoted himself to the continuance of his work as secretary general of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree, having held this office since 1844.
He was the editor of a number of Masonic magazines, a contributor to many others, and some of his many Masonic addresses have been printed.
Mackey's death occurred at Old Point Comfort, Virginia, and he was buried in Glenwood Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
(Volume One of Seven. Other volumes also available. SO com...)
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Views
Quotations:
"The ultimate success of Masonry depends on the intelligence of her disciples. "
"Freemasonry is a science of symbols, in which, by their proper study, a search is instituted after truth, that truth consisting in the knowledge of the divine and human nature of God and the human Soul. "
"The triangle pointing downward is a female symbol corresponding to the yoni and the upward pointing triangle is the male, the lingam . .. When the two triangles are interlaced, it represents the union of the active and passive forces in nature; it represents the male and female elements. "
"So important , indeed, is it (Light), and so much does it pervade with its influence the whole Masonic system, that Freemasonry itself anciently received, among other appellations, that of Lux, or Light, to signify that it is to be regarded as that sublime doctrine of Divine Truth by which the path of him who has attained it is to be illuminated in his pilgrimage of life. "
"The Cabala may be defined to be a system of philosophy which embraces certain mystical interpretations of Scripture, and metaphysical and spiritual beings. .. Much use is made of it in the advanced degrees, and entire Rites have been constructed on its principles. "
"The Kassideans or Assideans. .. arose either during the Captivity or soon after the restoration. .. The Essenians were, however, undoubtedly connected with the Temple (of Solomon), as their origin is derived by the learned Scalier, with every appearance of truth, from the Kassideans, a fraternity of Jewish devotees, who, in the language of Laurie, had associated together as 'Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem. '. .. From the Essenians Pythagoras derived much, if not all, of the knowledge and the ceremonies with which he clothed the esoteric school of his philosophy. "
"The Cabal is of two kinds, theoretical and practical, with the practical Cabala, which is engaged in the construction of talismans and amulets, we have nothing to do. The theoretical is divided into the lineal and dogmatic. The dogmatic is nothing more than the summary of the metaphysical doctrine taught by the Cabalist doctors. It is, in other words, the system of the Jewish philosophy. "
Personality
Confined within the city limits he gave his time, his energies, and his substance to the succor of his brethren, little heeding whether they belonged North or South. After the war he made a journey to the North, where he was received with enthusiastic and substantial manifestations of gratitude and appreciation.
Mackey was of stalwart and commanding presence with somewhat harsh but striking features, replete with intelligence and amiability; he conversed well and was liked as a genial and companionable man, of cheerful, tolerant and kindly nature, who, if he had quarrels with individuals, had none with the world.
Connections
On December 27, 1836, Mackey married Sarah Pamela Hubbell, daughter of Sears Hubbell, a sea-captain of Connecticut ancestry.