"CONCERNING GOD AND RELIGION."

"....may the work begun in Thy Name be continued to Thy Glory, and
evermore established in us by obedience to Thy Divine precepts."

(Masonic Ritual.)

"And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptise with water the
same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending,
and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy
Ghost."

(ST. JOHN, 1, 33.)

"I returned
From the most holy wave, regenerate,
E'en as new plants renew'd with foliage new,
Pure and made apt for mounting to the stars."

(DANTE, "Purgatorio")

Part Three: THE SECOND INITIATION.

The first initiation has taken place, and the aspirant who has
taken the "first regular step must now lay emphasis upon the
purification of the lower nature which it is essential should
preface the second Initiation.  The baptism of John is the symbol
of this purification.  Tradition tells us that the Christian Master
was "thirty years" old when He submitted Himself to the baptism
("And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age " - Luke
3, 23), at which period began His work as a Master for a further
"three" years.  Thirty-three years was, in the Mysteries, the
mystical duration of life of every initiate who attained
Mastership, and it is for this reason that the Antient and Accepted
Scottish Rite of Masonry extends to 33 Degrees, in perpetuation of
the original secret tradition.  Thirty signifies the perfecting of
the three aspects of the personality - the physical body, the
emotional nature, and the mind.  When these three parts of the
lower nature are functioning smoothly, and together form a unit for
the use of the inner man, an integrated personality, or an
efficient lower self, is the result.  Ten is the number of
perfection, and thirty therefore testifies to perfection in all
three parts of the equipment of the soul.

In the story of the Baptism related in the New Testament, it is
stated that John "came into all the country about Jordan, preaching
the baptism of repentance "(St. Luke, 3, 3).  The name "John"
signifies "gift of God" and represents the spiritual capacity
within man which first awakens the moral nature.  This moral nature
means, as Freemasonry teaches, the cultivation of the four Cardinal
Virtues, namely Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice, and
until these are built into the character of the aspirant there can
be no further progress.  We are also told in the Gospel narrative
that John addressed the "multitude", divided into four
representative classes, the intellectuals, the artisans, the
traders, and the soldiers, using words appropriate to each (St.
Luke, 3, 7-14) Now, we must understand that in the East, these four
great classes of people are symbolic of the fourfold essence of man
(spirit, soul, mind, and body), as the following extract from the
"Laws of Manu" will make clear

"In order to protect the Universe, He, the most Resplendent One,
assigned separate duties and occupations to those who sprang from
His mouth, arms, thighs and feet.

"To Brahmanas (the higher mind) he assigned teaching and studying
the law.

"To Kshatriya (the mental forces) he commanded to protect the
people.

"To Vaisya (the astral desire body) he commanded to bestow gifts,
to tend cattle, to trade, to lend money, to cultivate land.

"One occupation alone he commanded the Sudra (the physical body) to
serve meekly the other three."

("Symbolism of the Sacred Language of all Scriptures and Myths," 
by G. A. GASKELL.)

It will be seen, therefore, that the content of John's message is
intended for the guidance of aspirants and must be interpreted in
the light of mystical teaching.  First, the "Scribes and Pharisees"
(corresponding to the Brahmanas) are condemned because they do not
bring forth spiritual gifts; this is an admonition to aspirants to
manifest "the spirit which is of God"; as St. Paul declares: "And
my speech and my preaching was not with the enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1st
Corinthians, 2, 4).  Second, the "people" (corresponding to the
Sudra) are instructed to cultivate the virtue of giving; this is a
reminder to aspirants that even the smallest act of giving is a
step upon the Path, and leads to that sublime stage where the whole
personal life, with its acts and thoughts and feelings, is
dedicated to the service of the One in all.  Third, the "publicans"
(corresponding to the Vaisya) are told to "exact no more than that
which is appointed to you"; this means that aspirants must
constantly practise control and discrimination, well knowing that
it is the outgoing forces of desire that are the sources of sorrow
and suffering.  Fourth, the "soldiers" (corresponding to the
Kshatriya) are enjoined, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any
falsely; and be content with your wages"; the meeting here is that
aspirants are to keep the mind serene and quite indifferent to the
result of actions while yet, in a spirit of utter detachment,
performing such acts as are their bounden duty.

Generally speaking the steps in spiritual progression may be
grouped into four - corresponding, in mystical terminology, to
Initiation by Water, Air, Fire, and Earth, or the four metaphysical
"elements". The writer of the Gospel according to St. Luke had
evidently been instructed in the rites of the Greek Mysteries, for
the following passage employs a symbolism which is exact according
to the Mystery teaching:-

"John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptise you with
water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes
I am not worthy to unloose he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost
and with fire:

"Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor,
and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will
burn with fire unquenchable."

(ST. LUKE, 3, 16-17.)

In the Greek Mysteries, the first priest carried water; he baptised
the candidates for Initiation, and then announced the coming of the
second priest, who carried a fan and a sieve.  The second priest
announced the third, who carried a lighted torch to burn the chaff,
and in turn announced the fourth, who came with a pruning hook and
adze "to be laid at the root of the tree that every useless bough
might be cut off". These successive visitations by priests bearing
emblems of the progressive degrees of purification were intended to
emphasise to candidates selected from those who, of their "own free
will and accord", had accepted the discipline of the Path, that no
achievement of the higher initiations is possible without absolute
purity.  The first initiation stands simply for commencement, and
marks that period in the life of the aspirant when he definitely
sets himself to work at the building of his own character. He takes
himself in hand, cultivates the qualities that are lacking in his
disposition, and seeks with all diligence to bring his personality
under control.  The analogy between the prenatal period in the
history of the human being, and that of the development of the
indwelling spirit is important to students of mystical doctrine. 
We may, for convenience, express it in the following terms:-

1. The moment of conception - denotes the entrance to the mystical
Path - the first preparation: "In my heart".

2. Nine months' gestation - the gradual response to the imperative
urge to adjust the personal life experienced at the outset of the
quest.

3. The birth hour - corresponding to the first initiation - the
commencement on the pilgrimage of the Path.

The first initiation, or "new birth", therefore symbolises the
dedication of the physical body and the physical plane life to the
soul.  A certain structure of right living, thinking, and conduct
has been built up ("the building in the heart"); we call that form,
character.  It has now to be vivified and indwelt.  Thackeray has
well described this process of building, in the words so often
quoted :-
Sow a thought and reap an action; sow an action and reap a habit;
sow a habit and reap character; sow character and reap destiny."

The immortal destiny of each and all of us is to attain the
consciousness of the higher self, and subsequently that of the
Divine Spirit.  When the form is ready, when Solomon's Temple has
been built in the quarry of the personal life, then the Spirit of
Wisdom descends upon the work and the glory of the Lord overshadows
His temple.  In other words, the form becomes vibrant.  Therein
lies the difference between theory and attainment, for as the
result of the work of the first initiation, and of the "trials and
approbations" undergone, the new life germinates.  The aspirant is
already a changed man; the inner forces of his soul have begun to
organise and manifest themselves in his thought, his conduct, his
speech, and his person.  To the trained eye this spiritual change
is easily perceptible; "How do you know a Brother by day?" asks the
cryptic question in the First Lecture (Seventh Section) of our
Masonic E.A. Degree, and the equally cryptic reply is, "By seeing
him and observing the Sign but the sign observed is not the formal
gesture of salute, it is the perceptible radiance of new life from
within, suffusing and issuing from the man who is intently building
the temple of his own soul.  At this stage of the work the aspirant
undergoes the "Baptism of John", or Initiation by water; the "ear
of corn" (the indwelling spiritual principle) is nourished by the
"fall of (Living) water" from above and begins to "sprout forth".
As the result of life experience the aspirant is ready to take the
"second regular step". The second initiation stands for the
demonstrated control and consecration to divinity of the desire
nature, with its emotional reactions and its potent "wish life". A
new factor now enters in, the discriminating faculty of the mind. 
By means of it, the aspirant must bring the mental life under
control and dedicate it to the life of the kingdom of God, which is
consummated at the third initiation.  Through the correct use of
the mind, the aspirant is led to make right choice, and to balance
(with wisdom) the endless pairs of opposites.

The path of the aspirant henceforth is a thorny one; briars beset
his every step, and difficulties meet him at every turn.  Yet in
the treading of the Path, in the overcoming of the difficulties,
and in a single-hearted adherence to the end in view, comes at
length the attainment of the goal.  This definiteness of objective
and the consecration of the whole man to an ideal are conditions
indicative of the state of initiation.  All life's happenings are
related to the carrying forward of the life task; life takes on
true significance.  Here is a lesson which all of us, uninitiate
and aspiring, can at least attempt to learn, and then as we proceed
onwards maybe we can say with a well known writer 

"Life to me, as I look back on it, is not a succession of
experiences, but one great experience illumined here and there by
moments of revelation."

("The Mystery of the Kingdom of God,"  by ALBERT SCHWEITZER.)

The "second regular step", then, may be described as a process of
growth in the characteristics, together with the gradual
attainment of maturity, which mark the citizen of the Kingdom of
God.  To this, indeed, the Christian Master testified through the
baptism when He attained maturity, while by His successful
passing of the tests, as outlined in the three "temptations"
recorded in the Gospels. He demonstrated the needed purity.  Now,
the author of the Gospel according to St. Luke indicates the
inner significance of these tests or "temptations in the
following passage :-

"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and
was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

"Being forty days tempted of the devil.  And in those days he did
eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterwards hungered."

It is important to note the statement that Jesus was - full of
the "Holy Ghost"; in other words, fervour filled his whole being;
the inner planes had been opened to him; he was to be tested as
to what use he would make of this new consciousness.  Jesus here
typifies the aspirant who has received a revelation from "above";
he is "properly prepared" by means of drastic purification (the
baptism of Jordan) to make what has often been called
"Itinerarium mentis in Deo", the ascent of the mind to the Source
of Light; and must first be tested in the "wilderness", or the
uncultivated places of his emotional and desire nature.  The
allusion to a period of time spent in the "wilderness" therefore
denotes a necessary phase in the experience of the aspirant.  All
aspirants must discover that they contain the "wilderness" within
themselves, and they must also learn to cultivate that
"wilderness" until it becomes a "garden" for the soul.  In the V.
of the S.L., the number forty is always used as the full
appointed time of probation or trial; hence, Noah was shut up in
the Ark for forty days; the Israelites were "led into the
wilderness" for forty years, and were in the hands of the
Philistines for forty years; Elijah was in hiding for forty days;
and Nineveh fasted for forty days when they heard Jonah's
message.  Further, the number forty, measured in weeks,
represents roughly the number of weeks that a child rests in its
mother's womb before birth; hence its significance of any period
of time when the aspirant is undergoing the inevitable testing,
and is therefore apparently "hemmed in" by circumstances, which
will eventually lead to the birth of a new consciousness or of
greater spiritual power.  The "devil" (otherwise Satan or Saturn)
thus refers to the confining and limiting condition imposed upon
the aspirant, and is another name for the lower self-principle,
which is the foundation of all temptation, and entirely inimical
to spiritual growth.  There are three "temptations" relating to
the testing of the three aspects of the lower nature - the
physical nature, the emotional-desire nature, and the mind or
mental nature.  Oriental philosophy speaks of three spheres of
life, which are known as the worlds of "maya", "glamour", and
"illusion", to be overcome by aspirants, and these are equivalent
to the three "temptations" of the Gospels.  "Maya" is associated
with the world of physical forces, and may be said to be the
"sphere of life" corresponding to the first "temptation".
"Glamour" alludes to the world of emotional being and desire, and
it is this "glamour" which colours our lives and produces false
values, wrong desires, worries, anxieties, and cares; the test of
dissipating "glamour" is the subject of the second "temptation".
"Illusion" is more mental in its impact and comprehends the world
of ideas and thought life, and is the "sphere of life" with which
the third "temptation" is concerned.  Moreover, in these three
words - "maya", "glamour", and "illusion" we have synonyms for
the "flesh", the "world", and the "devil ", which constitute the
threefold test that confronts every aspirant at this stage of his
progress on the Path.  The writer of the third Gospel indicates
the technique of this grade in the cryptic phrase: "And in those
days he did eat nothing; and when they were ended, he afterwards
hungered." The discipline of the Path is adapted at this stage of
advancement in order to take into account the fact that while in
the flesh Man exists also in the invisible worlds of feeling and
thought.  As the result of this preparation the psychic senses of
the aspirant are awakened, and the tests imposed during the
period of probation are therefore particularly concerned with the
unlawful use of psychic powers.  These psychic powers must be
kept under the strictest control (or, "starved"; hence it is said
of Jesus, "he did eat nothing") otherwise the aspirant is apt to
be taken in by the allurements of the desire for psychic
phenomena.  Increased psychic sensitiveness is both an indication
of growth and, at the same time, a test; the danger is that the
dormant spiritual qualities (the "stone" of the biblical
narrative) will remain undeveloped owing to the exploitation of
psychic powers, and their use for self assertion, due to
over-development of the desire nature (unleavened "bread" is a
symbol of desire).  The reward to him who, by the exercise of
spiritual will, is successful in "overcoming" desire for psychic
powers is the "hidden manna" (Gnosis or secret wisdom "the word
of God"), by which spiritual strength and power is conferred. 
This spiritual nourishment (the "food" for which, it is said of
Jesus, "he afterwards hungered") has been symbolised in religious
systems by ceremonial feasts.  In the Mithraic mysteries it
appeared as the Mizd or sacred wafer; in the mysteries of Eleusis
the candidate was fed from the basket of Ceres; and in early
Christian times the candidate for baptism (then considered as a
grade of initiation), after fasting, was given a meal of milk and
honey.  The further reward is the "white stone" (stabilised
consciousness on the higher planes) with the "new and secret name
written therein" (knowledge within the self of the changed and
transmuted nature).  A white stone, with mystic characters
engraved, was common to many of the Mysteries, the meaning of the
letters being communicated to the initiated alone.  A similar
token survives in one of our present day Masonic degrees.

There are two interesting facts connected with the three
"temptations" as recorded by the author of the Gospel according
to St Luke; each of them begins with "If" on the lips of the
devil, and each is met by the Master with the words, "It is
written". These two phrases link together the three episodes and
furnish the key to the whole process of testing.  The test that
all aspirants have to face eventually is the test of divinity,
and the ultimate "temptation" is therefore DOUBT.  Two crucial
questions insistently recur during the progress of the aspirant:
Am I divine? How must my divine powers express themselves?
Admittedly, to the aspirant who is but little evolved spiritually
the problem of divinity as a whole does not pre sent itself; at
first he is preoccupied only with the details of his preparation,
and with the problems in the immediate foreground of his life;
these he handles or not, as the case may be, by the light of his
conscience. As he progresses, however, the details are found to
assume less importance, and the general truth of his divine
nature begins slowly to concern him, until at length the life
problem must be fully considered from the angle of divinity
itself.  Such are the implications hidden in the threefold "If"
of the "tempter" (threefold in allusion to the three principal
stages on the Path, corresponding to the three Degrees of our
Craft system), and in the triple response, "It is written",
attributed to the Master (a cryptic reference to the quest of the
aspirant for the "Lost Word", also perpetuated in our Masonic
system).  It is indeed the "Word of God" (the influx of divinity)
that determines the attitude of the aspirant in temptation; if
that "Word" is remote, deep-hidden by the veiling form, it will
not be potent enough to withstand the test.  The "Word" is
"written" in the flesh, and the aspirant must strive continually
to tread the "path", and to take the "step", which will enable
the "Word" to sound forth, if not in its completeness, at least
in broken syllables or letters.  Hence our practice in the Craft
of "halving" or "lettering" the "Word" of the Degree is a most
instructive reminder of the fact that although the aspirant can
only "communicate the Word" in sincere, but fragmentary efforts,
those fragments will nevertheless suffice to permit him to "pass"
on to higher attainments.  When the aspirant has contacted the
higher consciousness ("the pinnacle of the Temple"), and doubt is
resolved, the "devil" departs for a season. There are more trials
ahead, but he has safely emerged from the three connected with
the "water" test.  From now on he will not require that every
message from "on high", and every intuitional thought, must be
demonstrable immediately by his reasoning consciousness, for he
will have learned that there are powers within the soul that
transcend those of the concrete mind.

At this stage also the aspirant must commence to study thought
control as a preliminary to the "air initiation". Initiation by
"air" signifies the understanding of the workings and powers of
the mind.  Even in ordinary language the word "air" is associated
with the mind we say that a thing is "in the air" when we mean
that the minds of men everywhere are turning towards a certain
truth.  The work of the "air initiation" is known as the
cleansing of the mental body, and it is to this that the writer
of the third Gospel refers in the cryptic phrase, "Whose fan is
in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor " (Luke, 3,
17).  The synthetic mental faculty is not yet perfectly unfolded,
neither has the aspirant begun to exercise its full powers; he
has therefore to "repent", i.e., to change or reverse the
direction and sublimate the quality of thought, thereby
constantly correcting impressions made on the lower mind by
knowledge drawn from the higher.  Henceforth the quality of
speech (mystically understood) is to be changed, and as in the
change from boyhood to manhood the sound vibrations change with
the altered pitch of the voice, so at this spiritual maturing a
more powerful mental vibration is set in motion and the quality
of the thought is altered.  By this is meant that the aspirant
now begins to project his thought with definite intent.  He
learns to speak "with authority," i.e., with true knowledge of
reality.  He determines to use the potent immuence of sound for a
spiritual purpose alone, and on this account he is enjoined to be
"watchful" (to guard his words); he must speak with deliberation,
weighing well what is to be said or left unsaid, striving to
convey his ideas with accuracy and clarity.  He must learn in
this disciplined speech to leave unspoken everything that might
be harmful, and particularly to guard his tongue in regard to the
secrets of spiritual science.  There are mental processes which
entirely transcend ordinary modes of thought.  In the realm of
abstract thought, unmixed with desire, the aspirant is lifted out
of his illusory sense of separateness.  Here his thought is pure,
being uncontaminated with the desire element; here he can
synthesise and harmonise all that the lower mind has observed as
separated.  On these higher levels of the mental plane the
aspirant will achieve finally the state of pure contemplation of
Reality into which all mental activity is indrawn in the mystic
trance, the advanced stage of meditation.  The promise to him who
attains is that he shall be "clothed in white raiment", i.e.,
being utterly purified he shall be indrawn or re-absorbed into
the Divine, being thus clothed in Light.  White, as the
unrefracted light, is the emblem of Life and Eternity, as colour
denotes the various qualities of that One Life displayed in the
realms of time and phenomena.  In the words of the poet :-

"Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity."

The regaining of the Eternal is therefore symbolised by the
putting on of the "white garment", which will explain an
important part of the investiture of the Candidate in our Masonic
Royal Arch Degree.

According to the Kabbalistic tradition (which is the source of
much of our Craft teaching) the second initiation marks the stage
of intermittent illumination, and is denoted by the name DAVID
(signifying the "accepted" neophyte, still under testing and
instruction).  The Hebrew letter, corresponding to our letter D,
with which the name David begins and ends, is Daleth, meaning "a
door", and "the key of the house of David" (Isaiah, 22, 22)
denotes the aspiration of the soul after Truth, which opens the
"door" to revelation.  In the sense, then, that the Candidate in
the Craft is seeking admission to the Mysteries, the "key of the
house of David" signifies the opening of a "door" which admits
him to a further perception of Truth.  This simple explanation
also provides the key to the following catechism taken from the
Second Section of the First Lecture:- 

Q.- How did you gain admission ?
A.- By t . . . distinct knocks.
Q.- They have an allusion ?
A.- To an ancient and venerable exhortation: Seek, and ye shall
find; ask, and ye shall have; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you.
Q.- How did you apply that exhortation to your then situation ?
A.- Having sought in my mind, I asked of my friend, he knocked,
and the door of Freemasonry became opened to me.

The first cryptic reference, however, to the "key of the house of
David appears in the First Section of the First Lecture, and it
is significant that this Section leads up to the declaration that
Freemasonry contains "secrets." The catechism proceeds as
follows:-

Q.- Have Freemasons secrets ?
A.- They have, many and invaluable ones.
Q.- Where do they keep them ?
A.- In their hearts.
Q.- To whom do they reveal them ?
A.- To Freemasons and to Freemasons only.
Q.- How do they reveal them ?
A.- By Sns., Ts., and particular Ws.
Q.- As Freemasons how do we hope to arrive at them?
A.- By the assistance of a key.
Q.- The position of that key ?
A.- It hangs.
Q.- Why is the preference given to hanging ?
A.- It should always hang in a Brother's defence and never lie to
his prejudice.
Q.- What does it hang by ?
A.- The thread of life, in the passage of utterance between
Guttural and Pectoral.
Q.- Why so nearly connected with the heart ?
A.- That, being an index of the mind, it should utter nothing but
what the heart truly dictates.
Q.- It is a curious key, will you inform me of what metal it is
composed ?
A.- Of no metal, W.M. ; it is the tongue of good report.

Here, at the very outset of the instruction intended to be given
to the novice in the Craft, information is imparted of a profound
nature.  The subject cannot be pursued exhaustively in this
Paper, but the following excerpt from that excellent manual -
"The Ceremony of Passing" by the late W. Bro. W. L. Wilmshurst
will suggest the underlying meaning, and amplify what has already
been put forward:-
The secrets of each Degree are to be kept separate and distinct
from those in the former," says the Ritual.  Reflect, therefore,
in what respect those of the Second Degree are "separate and
distinct" from those of the First.  The secrets of the first
Degree had to do with the "head", i.e., with the practical
everyday intelligence and the performing of "active" duties. But
those of the Second Degree are different; they are secrets of the
"heart" or soul; of the intuitional and affectional side of our
nature, which is subjective and "passive". The Candidate for
self-knowledge has to train himself to understand and discipline
both his head and his heart, to balance activity with
contemplation; to labour zealously at practising virtue and his
external Masonic duties, especially the control of his
sense-nature, but also to "study to be quiet", to watch for and
examine perceptions, enthusiasms and passional urges (whether
good or bad) that well up from within him; above all to listen
for the "still small voice" that may be heard speaking in his
heart when the winds of passion drop and the tremors of the
senses subside.

"This distinction between the things of the head and those of the
heart accounts for the difference in the posture" assumed by the
Candidate when taking his Obligation.  If we recall that in the
Craft as in the Scriptures the right side and limbs of the body
are associated with the head and the left with the heart, we
shall readily see why, at the Obligation, complementary parts of
the Candidate are exposed or covered.  For both head and heart,
though intimately related, have their distinct functions and must
be separately understood by those who seek knowledge of
themselves.  Both are as necessary to us as the two sides of the
body, but until the head is so enlightened by the heart that
reason and intuition function in unity and cannot act separately,
either of them may prove a terribly treacherous and misleading
faculty.  Wrongheadedness is far more common than
evil-heartedness and responsible for far more mischief and
suffering, because we are prone to form our judgments by the
darkened carnal reason, in preference to consulting the luminous
intuitions of the heart. Let us recall the Biblical injunction -
"Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth!" by which
we must understand that the heart will often have to refuse its
sanction to the impulses of the head."

("The Ceremony of Passing," by W.L. WILMSHURST.)

There are adequate reasons for the veiled language of the
catechism quoted from the First Lecture, not the least of them
being the fact that much physiological truth is concealed in the
guarded reference to: "The thread of life, in the passage of
utterance between Guttural and Pectoral". The allusion is to
certain powers intimately related to the perfecting process by
which the aspirant, gradually discovering, conquering, and
utilising all his forces and faculties, achieves at length the
regeneration of his whole nature.  In the unawakened individual
these higher powers are literally shut down, inhibited or sealed,
until such time as, by an effort of spiritual will, assisted by
strenuous training, stern discipline, and continued mental and
moral endeavour, they are one by one released and slowly brought
into full activity.  It is dangerous, however, to tamper with the
secret springs and mechanism of life ignorantly, and without full
knowledge of what is involved; abuse of the use of this "key" may
entail both physical and mental damage.  Spiritual energies
cannot be set in motion without inducing results of some kind;
and here, as elsewhere, action and reaction are equal and
opposite. If they do not act creatively and constructively they
react destructively and like a boomerang; the counsel always
given to aspirants is, therefore, that no one should attempt to
use the "key of the house of David" except under the guidance of
a qualified and responsible Preceptor.  Because these dangers are
real they are expressly referred to in the penal provisions
attached to the Obligation of the Second Degree in our Craft
system, where they are associated with a special Sign (the Sn. of
F.) which alludes to the protection of the heart "from the
attacks of the insidious". Moreover, as our Ritual implies, until
the aspirant is possessed of a high degree of personal purity,
virtue, and understanding, permission is not granted to him to
"extend" his "researches into the hidden mysteries; although, to
the man of virtue, who knows in advance what he is attempting,
and whose progress is guided by the "principles of moral truth",
the assurance is given that "no danger will ensue - upon his
venturing into the paths of heavenly science." He will act, and
with safety, upon the age-old enjoinder of the Mysteries: To
know; to will; to dare and to keep silent".  This grade on the
Path, known to us in Freemasonry as the "mid-way", is notoriously
one of violent emotional alternation, and may be likened to a
rough sea passage; folly and wisdom, weakness and strength,
aridity and illumination - these are the lot of every mystical
David, whose psychological life at this stage is one of
alteration between the opposite shores by which the fluidic mind
of man is bounded. The psalmist himself has well described those
who enter the process of "passing", in the following passage -

"They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths;
their soul is melted because of trouble.
"They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at
their wit's end.  Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,
and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
"He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still
"Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them
unto their desired haven."

(Psalm 107, 26-30.)

To this Scriptural metaphor we no doubt owe the reference in our
Ritual to steering "the barque of life o'er the rough sea of
passion, without quitting the helm of rectitude". Another
allusion in our Ritual to the personal troubles encountered in
the "passing" stage is the cryptic reference to the payment of
"wages" to the Craftsmen in the "porchway or entrance" to the
Temple, i.e., in the initial stage of spiritual progress.  This
mention of "wages" in the Second Degree is a remnant from the
Mark Degree, which was formerly incorporated in the Fellowcraft
grade, where the subject is dealt with much more fully.  The
following quotation from "The Ceremony of Passing" will again
supply the explanation:-

Now every Craftsman may rest assured of receiving good wages for
his work and for all efforts he expends in promoting the
spiritual development of himself or his Brethren; the Great
Overseer and Paymaster will see to that.  But as soon as he
wholeheartedly sets about to such work he may, and probably will,
find wages of a disagreeable and unexpected kind coming to him,
in the form of obstacles, illness, losses, estrangements; as
though, at the very moment he had begun to reconstruct his life
and outlook, all the powers of darkness were crowding in upon him
to prevent his advance.  Well, so they are; but they are powers
proceeding from within himself; he is encountering opposition
from his own self and experiencing the reactions of the Moral Law
to his own past, and perhaps forgotten, breaches of it.  The soul
of each of us contains its own Judgment-book with a debit and
credit account of what is due from us or to us by the Law
underlying our being, an account which is often overdrawn and
which sooner or later has to be balanced; and there are "wages of
sin" as well as wages of righteousness.  The "wages of sin" is
always "death", i.e., a deadening and dulling of spiritual
faculty, and it is the peculiar trial of every real Initiate
that, after his first glad glimpse of Light and after most
earnest resolves to be faithful to his vision, he loses it and
finds himself suddenly confronted with unexpected inexplicable
difficulties in recapturing it.

Hence, then, our Craft's reference to receiving our mystical
"wages" without scruple or diffidence, well recognising ourselves
to be justly entitled to them and in complete confidence in the
Employer into whose service we have entered.

("The Ceremony of Passing," by W.L. WILMSHURST.)

The exhortation to the aspirant is to hold fast to the Ideal, to
the imparted truth ("and, as I trust that the import of the
former Charge neither is, nor ever will be, effaced from your
memory") and the reward to him who fulfils his Obligation to the
Higher Self ("to act as a true and faithful Craftsman, to answer
Sns., obey S., and maintain the principles inculcated in the
former Degree") will be complete dominion over his own powers and
faculties.  He shall control his own forces, having achieved
mastery over the lower nature; he shall obtain power to rule
("the Master to rule and direct the Lodge").  Finally, there is
the reward of the Morning Star, signifying the rising of Divine
Love, which points the way to full illumination.  This is the
Blazing Star of the Mysteries; in the Christian tradition
reappearing at the Star of Bethlehem, heralding the King, the
established spiritual Ruler: "whose rising brings peace and
salvation to the faithful and obedient of the human race ".

The aspirant now enters into the period of active work which must
precede the next initiation, that of the Transfiguration.

SO MOTE IT BE.

TO BE CONTINUED.