Divine39A

Ancient Order of Free Asiatics

There are Masons, Mechanics, and Carpenters; these are the first three degrees of Ancient Masonry. Those who know will see that Ancient Masonry is closely related to the Freemasonry of today. The common gavel, 12-inch gauge, and 24-inch ruler are the tools of a Mason. The 133rd Psalm is read in the Temple of Solomon in the first degree. The grip of the Ancient Mason was a pressure of the thumb at the base of the other index finger in the dark to see another brother and or brothers. The groom's name is Boaz, after the husband of Ruth 2:1. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make lambskin aprons, and clothed them—the Master who secured the Golden Fleece with the help of Medea and the Argonauts. For the standard representing a Roman Eagle, is carried, by the head of each Roman legion, Truth and Union, are the words, and you shall be cautious, using the listening ear, a silent tongue, and a faithful heart.

The Fellow Craft is opened on the number five, after those who said unto them, Say now Shibboleth. He said Shibboleth, for they could not frame their mouth to pronounce it right. They took them and slew them at the passages of Jordan. There fell at the time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand, Judges 12:6. In this was manifested the love of IHVH toward us, because He sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him, I John 4:9. Thus, he showed me and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand, Amos 7:7. In addition, he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple and he set up the right pillar and called the name thereof Jachin. He set up the left pillar and called the name thereof Boaz 2 Chronicles 3:17. Jacob's ladder or the Theological Ladder is said to contain three principal rounds, denominated Faiths in IHVH, Hope for immortality, and Charity for all in the Universe. There is a point within the circle; however, the circle is bounded on the east and west. The two perpendicular parallel lines represent the anniversaries of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.

The Master in Ancient Masonry is Tubal Cain! He kneels before the altar on both naked knees, raises both hands to heaven with the arms bent, and gives the hailing sign. Saying, Is there no help for the widow's Son? The sign of the degree shows where the hope lies for a Master Mason; this is made by drawing the right hand, palm down, from left to right across the abdomen in the region ruled by the sign Libra and letting it fall to the side. The pass-grip of an Ancient Mason is the right hand between the joints of the second and third fingers where they join the hand; its name is Tubal Cain, the true Master of Masonry. In this degree, the apron is worn with the triangle down over the square, indicating 3 + 4 = 7. The Trowel is to spread the cement of brotherly love and affection, that cement which unites them into one sacred band or society of brothers, among whom no contention should ever exist, but that noble emulation of who can best work or best agree. Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum are names intended to reveal the light of the Ancient brother who was killed under number 3. We first learn of Enoch in Genesis 5, as he is Noah's grandfather. The sprig of cassia, the emblem of this degree, is a pelican feeding her young, on one side of her a rose. On the left, a sprig of cassia for immortality, nevertheless low six, and G marked on the left breast or jewel is for the Ancient Mason to see his brother in the dark and also in the light. Boaz, Jachin, and Mah-Hah-Bone marrow of the bone or the Lion's grip all show that Jubela strikes GMHA a blow across the throat with a 24-inch gauge, Jubelo gives GMHA a blow across the breast with a square, and Jubelum strikes the Master upon the forehead with a gavel, whereupon the Master falls dead. In the words of King David, Fear is to warn you of the danger, not to make you afraid of it. You shall never underestimate the appoint, nor take what he offers you. If you must resort to violence, you have already lost; if a battle cannot be won, do not fight it.

Solomon said to see the word of a master in the Ancient works of Tubal Cain (Gen 10:2), and also that the grips are the compasses. The jewels of a Master are Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly Love, and are as strong as a lion's paw. The Grand hailing sign is of distress or mourning for the Grand Master Hiram. In the dark, the words O Lord, My God, is there no help for the widow's Son? From an EA to an FC, you are raising yourself on the square. In the first and second attempts, there is a failure to raise the body; then the grand hailing sign of distress is given: O Lord my God!" 0 Lord my God! 0 Lord my God! I fear the Master's IHVH in the Qabalah; the word is forever lost. The three stages of man are youth, manhood, and old age, which were referred to as the Three Steps on the Carpet. Moreover, the pot of incense is one of the symbols in the lecture to the Old Masters. Because the bee is such an energetic insect, never appearing to rest from sun-up to sundown, as the world turns, the bee and, hence, the beehive have long been symbols of industry or work for a man. The book of Constitutions guarded by Tyler's sword is the general term for any book, or even an MS., containing the fundamental laws, regulations, or constitutions of a Masonic body or system of bodies. The sword pointing to a naked heart symbolizes the Master's Degree and is one of the eight hieroglyphical emblems. 

The All-Seeing Eye is naturally a symbol of watchfulness, connoting both solicitude and detection. The Anchor and Ark are emblems of a well-grounded hope and a well-spent life. The hourglass is an emblem of the passage of time or the brevity of life. The scythe of Father Time is the emblem of death, introduced into the Master's Degree by the Ancients, not only in the symbol of the hourglass but also in the monument representing the Virgin weeping, with time standing at her back. The setting maul is a wooden hammer consisting of a mass of wood, either globular or barrel-shaped. Usually, a long wooden handle for two-hand use, the setting maul, coffin, and spade appeared in all Masonic charts as late as 1824 and are still illustrated in some Masonic monitors.

The EA degree treats the physical plane. The Master Mason degree treats the spiritual plane. The FC treats the astral plane. At the death of the physical body, both the physical form and the etheric body are lost. The physical body and the etheric body cannot exist on the astral plane. The sign of the FC is made by grasping the left breast with the right hand, as though to tear a piece from it, then quickly drawing the hand with the fingers partly closed to the right and dropping it to the side. The breast is the seat of emotion, and the right breast indicates the higher aspirations and longings. The left breast symbolizes the more physical emotions, and the region of the heart, ruled by the Sun, is the center of vital life. Ancient Masonry teaches that each soul is a responsible entity working out its deliverance from voluntary and purposeful incarceration in the matter. On the higher astral plane, man no longer eats organic substances to live; he no longer eats his fellows, even a one-cell animal is his lowly kin.

The 47th Problem of Euclid

While these principles are illustrated by numbers, geometry, and mathematical symbolism, the Tetragrammaton, the operation of divine law, is incorporated into the understanding of this great mathematical symbol. The three sides represent the holy trinity: knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. The Ark corresponds to the mundane houses, in the zodiacal signs and starry constellations of the universe, for the physical body of man is a planet. He has an astral body, and the ego is part of his mind. The oral law symbolizes the Book of Constitutions, corresponding to 120 or 33.33% of 360. The long, winding staircase refers to the annual journey of the Sun: there are 365 days in a year on Earth, but only 360 degrees in the Sun's yearly cycle. Finally, yet importantly, the Master's grip is called the Lion's grip, because it is typical of the Sun's action in the sign Leo, where it exercises its most virile Power. (Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice, see 12, 20, 11, 4), Euclid's 47th problem is an invention of our Ancestors, and the seven sciences of the original people, and was appropriated by Europeans, who are the children of the world as far as tribes and families. It teaches Masons to be general lovers of the arts and sciences. A theorem in any right-angled triangle, the square which is described upon the side subtending the right angle, is equal to the squares described upon the sides which contain the right angle.