Each of the symbols have more than one meaning. Yet, there is one symbol of Freemasonry that we rarely talk about or consider, but it is a sigil of who we all are and represent. We are all Hiram, on one level of another.
We discuss who he is, what he represents, what we are to learn from him and his sacrifice. To some, Hiram represents Jesus, and to others Mithra and to others Osiris and so on.
We know that Hiram is an archetype, an exemplar, a teacher… and of course, we are all, symbolically, Hiram Abiff. We are told that Hiram is a widow's sons, of the tribe of Napthali. That is certainly the biblical reference, but if you carefully read the bible, you will see that he did not die before the temple was completed, and truth to tell, according to the bible he was a worker in metals, dyes, fabric and stonework, not an architect, or master of workmen.
When the first grand lodge was created in London in , it comprised two degrees. Shortly thereafter, around , the third degree was created, more or less the third degree we have today. The character Hiram Abiff was chosen for a reason, one that, given the deep symbolic nature of the degrees already extent, had to be more than simple representation of an archetype Now, I was thinking about this the other day, actually, I was responding to a post about Mary, the "mother" of god, and how the cult of Mary arose in the Catholic Church around the 4th Century AD, just about the time the Christian faith was taking off in England.
Now, arguably, the existence of the Catholic Church can be pinned on the strength of that faith in England in the first four or five centuries AD, but that is another long and involved monologue.
But, here is the strange thing The goddess appeared in three incarnations: the Virgin, The Mother, and the Hag. Any of this sound familiar? The widow may symbolize a separation of the material world to that of the spiritual Father. The Widow reference therefore symbolizes our lost connection to our Divine essence and origin.
Of Isis, it is written: Isis, the Virgin of the World IT is especially fitting that a study of Hermetic symbolism should begin with a discussion of the symbols and attributes of the Saitic Isis. This is the Isis of Sais, famous for the inscription concerning her which appeared on the front of her temple in that city: "I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal Man hath ever me unveiled.
She was known as the goddess with ten thousand appellations and was metamorphosed by Christianity into the Virgin Mary, for Isis, although she gave birth to all living things--chief among them the Sun--still remained a virgin, according to the legendary accounts.
Horus himself is the classic archetype and symbol of unifying our spiritual and material aspects. He is the personification of the transcendent nature of humanity, in other words, a different way to express the same nature of the creative forces symbolized as Isis and Osiris.
Since his father was from the Phoenician city of Tyre, that heritage was also his. For all we know, Hiram retained this "dual citizenship" for the rest of his life. But it is also clear that upon his father's death his mother was a widow Hiram decided to stay in Tyre rather than move to his mother's homeland near Galilee.
Hiram was still living in that Phoenician city and practicing his father's building trade when King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. The many vivid stories of this long-lived Phoenician society are then explored in Phoenicians: Lebanon's Epic Heritage , bringing out many practices which will be immediately familiar to every Mason.
The rituals of Masonry are not disclosed in this book; it is hoped that every Mason already knows them. However all the details of the corresponding Phoenician society are fully disclosed. This is in every sense a complete history of these intriguing people in the ancient Mediterranean who deeply affected other societies around them. They especially affected the roots of Freemasonry, making this a wonderful experience for every Mason. See more at. These images of Solomon's Temple are photographs by Geoff Robin- son of the intricately detailed scale model built by Alec Garrard.
This replica of Solomon's Temple measures 20 feet by 12 feet, and he has dedicated 33, hours to building it. It does not give us the legend of the Third Degree. It does however, provide us with the story of the death of Noah, some 1, years beforethe Temple. His sons wentto his grave to find anything that would lead them to these secrets, but they had.
During this period, the traditional history wasenlarged, the ceremony rearranged, and what was formerly the Second Degree, expandedand then divided to form the degrees of Fellow Craft and Master Mason. They were Dr. John Theophilus Desaguliers, an Episcopalian clergyman. Who actually attached Hiram Abiff to Freemasonry is undetermined, although it may be assumed that BrothersDesaguliers and Anderson were prominently involved. Hiram became a central figure inMasonic ritual during their years of involvement.
WHY:The next point to consider is the source of the material. Obviously based on the story ofthe building of the Temple, the question remains, why was the story of the death of Hiram Abiff impressed with such detail upon Freemasonry?
We are talking about the western world prior to the 19th century. There was brutality among people and between countries. Poverty was prevalent to sucha degree as can only be found in 4th and 5th world countries today.
The publication ofwhat was going on in the world was determined by what stories would sell, be they factor fiction. The story of the death of our Grand Master is simply the Masonic way of serving up anancient mystery. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the western world was absorbed withsecret societies and spirituality. The ancient mysteries of Egypt and Greece and Romewere as much a part of that world as are the stories of Star Wars or E. The menof learning had the teachings of these ancient fables as a part of their general knowledgebase and culture.
Solomon then asked King Hiram to send him timber, and paid for it with "wheat and oil. The man in charge of this draft was named Adoniram. Chapter 5 closes with telling us that these workmen also cut the stones for the foundation of the Temple. At this same time, according to 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 2, Solomon asked Hiram of Tyre to send him "a man skilful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that has skill to grave all manner of gravings, to be with the skilful men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem.
Hiram answered Solomon's request, stating that he had sent "a skilful man, endued with understanding, even as it says in the original Hebrew 'Hiram my father,' the son of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to devise any device; to do whatever may be set before him. A parallel to this passage is in lst Kings, Chapter 7.
We read that "King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all work in brass. And he came to King Solomon and wrought all his work. Thus we see that this workman was responsible for 1 erecting the Temple according to the designs which Solomon already had, 2 casting all the metal work that went into the Temple in any way, and 3 doing the decoration of the completed building.
A very responsible position, without a doubt, similar in many ways to a modern day construction superintendent. So Masonic tradition is correct in describing him as Grand Master of the workmen in the actual construction and completion of the Temple.
But who was he? As already stated, Hiram of Tyre described him as "Hiram my father.
0コメント