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ANCIENT MYSTICORIENTAL MASONRYItsteachings, Rules,Laws andwhich govern the OrderPresent Usagesat the presentday. TRUE MASONRY AND THE UNIVERSAL BROTHER-HOOD OF MAN AREBY DR.Author of "TheR.ONE."SWINBURNE CLYMERRosicrucians:theirPhilosophy of Fire,"etc.Published byThePhilosophical Publishing Co.AUentown, Pa.Teachings;"The

DEDICATIONTo HenryJ.Barton,M.D.,The American Deputy,Thos. Benj. OmiCole and Prof. A. F. Davies, ofAfrica, to thosethisofworkwhowhopossible, to that Fraternitythe workoneMasonic Brethreninwhothe past as at present,has been the Guiding Star offarhave helpedoffmakehas been the Lifeand abovemytowork,all,to thatis thisbookLovingly Dedicated.R.SWINBURNE CLYMER

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INTRODUCTORY.In placing the present work before the public Ihave no apology whatever to offer, and this for severalFirst, because I have been ordered to prereasons.pare it, and Second, because much of what I hereingive is not new, for the simple reason that there canTrue, many a thing,be nothing new in Masonry.especially what concerns Mystic Masonry, has notbeen given to a profane people, but this is not to saythat it is new, for it is not.Iknowworkthat the presentlenged as to the Truthsitwill stand unchal-contains,andthis for thereason that I quote from the highest Masonic authoritiesin the world,Masonry comesand that which concerns Mysticfrom him who knows and whodirecthas no superior in this work.I alsoknowthat I will not be accused of stealing, forthe very good reason that I give credit for every singlequotation, unlessmecanitwas changed.Withthese factsgo forward.There are several reasons why this book should gobefore the people, and especially before Masons themToo little is known by my Brother Masonsselves.concerning that Order to which they have the honor tobelong, but which some of them do not honor and thebeforelaIfeel well satisfied to let it

ANCIENT MYSTIC6present work, prepared from the highest authorities,them some idea of what the underlyingwill giveprinciple of their teachingsis.become necessary to let the world knowMasonry exists and has existed for manyalthough not always under that name. NotIt has alsothat Mysticyears,much canbe said concerning the Order, for the reasonthat evenitsdegreesconcerningmaynot becomeknownCraft Masons can learnfane world.allto a pro-they desireprovided they are willing to pay thebut in their duty and init,price, not in current coin,work.InitiationAll Masonsisnot whatit isgenerally supposed to be.know what CeremonialInitiation is, butsimply the outward symbol of the inner work. AMason who has the three degrees may think that hehas all that can be had, but little does he know of thatinner work, that Grand and Supreme Initiation whichthis ispossible for thoseiswhotruly desireit.Thousands of good men take the letter for the Spiritand it is in doing this where the misunderstanding begins. Nothing new can come to Masonry, but there isa world of Truth in Masonry that the vast majorityknow nothing whatever about, and it is for this reasonthat the present work is placed before the public andespecially before all Brother Masons, and it is sentforth in such astated before,allmanner thatfrom theit isitcannot be denied, for ashighest authoritiesamongMasons.As regardto the true Initiation, Iwould quote from

:ORIENTAL MASONRY.the7work of that Master Mason, Dr.J.D. Buck, inwhich he saysand Regeneration are synonymous terms."of Freemasonry is based on thisnatural law, and the ceremony of initiation illustrates,at every step, this principle, and if the result attained"Initiation"TheisRituala possession rather than a regeneration, in the greatmajority of cases, the principle remains none the lessThe mere inculcation of moral principles, ortrue.lessons in ethics,andtheir symbolic illustrationanddramatic representation, are by no means in vain.These appeal to the conscience and moral sense inevery man, and nomanhas ever beenthe Lessons of the Lodge.the FreemasonBythese'made worse byritesand bene-men, in our so-calledModern Civilization, the nearest to the Ancient Wisdom. He has possession of the territory in which lieconcealed the Crown Jewels of Wisdom.He maycontent himself, if he will, by merely turning over thesod and gathering only a crop of husks or stubble. Hemay dig deeper and find not only the Keystone of theArch, the Ark of the Covenant, the Scroll or the Law,but, using the Spirit concealed in the wings of theCherubim, he may rise untrammeled by the rubbishof the temple, and, meeting Elohim face to face, learnalso to say 'I am that I amV Does this read like arhapsody, and are the Landmarks, traditions, andglyphics of Freemasonry nothing more?"fits,'Andagain':'is,aboveallThe Universal Science and the Sub-lime Philosophy, once taught in the Greater Mysteriesof Egypt,Chaldea, Persia, and India, andamong

ANCIENT MYSTIC8manyother nations of antiquity,modern Freemasonry.Theisa dead letter inever, should be the last person in thethat suchWisdomonce existed, for the simple reasonthe whole superstructure of Masonrythe traditions ofMason, howworld to denyintelligentitsexistence,andbuiltisits ritualuponserves asmonument. Proficiency in the precedingeverywhere made a reason for advancementin Masonry. This proficiency is made to consist in theability of the candidate to repeat word for word,itslivingdegreeiscertain rituals and obligations already passed, themeaning and explanations of which constitute thelectures in the various degrees.The usage at thispoint, in the United States at least, serves rather tosecure the rightsentitled to them,andandLodge to thosethem from others,benefits of theto withhold'than to advance the candidate in real Knowledge.For this very reason the present work is placed before all those who would know. Mystic Masonry alsohas its Rituals and its laws, but it makes the Spirit ofmore value than the letter and will teach its candidatesthe Spirit as well as the letter, for ingrees theman mustitsbring out that whichhigher de-isinhimifhe desires to advance. In this way the real Initiationdoes not only become a possibility but a fact and nonecan advance unless they do the work. Besides this,Mystic Masonry does what Craft Masonry should doit binds its men into one Universal Brotherhood inwhich they must treat each other as brothers if theyThis is not a dream,desire to remain in the Order.but a reality.

'(ORIENTAL MASONRY.Says Dr. Buck again:becauseweare toldso.9"We do not know a thingLet the gods shout the Truthand stillHerefor-the principal of all Initiations.Itof all ages into the ears of a fool forever,ever the fool would be joined to his folly.the conceptionandliesknowledge unfolded by degrees in an orderly,systematic manner, step by step, as the capacity toapprehend opens in the Neophyte. The result is not apossession, but a growth, an evolution. Knowledge isnot a mere sum in addition something added to something that already exists; but rather such a progressive change or transformation of the originalis;structure as tomakeit,at every step, aReal Knowledge, or the growth ofNewWisdomBeing.in man,isan Eternal Becoming; a progressive transformationinto the likeness of the Supernal Goodness and theSupreme Power.In a work of this nature, not too much can be saidas regard the Supreme Initiation, and those who may'would refer to "The Rosiand to "The Philosophyof Fire/' both of which contain Chapters on the truebetrulyinterestedIcrucians; their Teachings,"Initiation.Ninety-nine Masons out of every hundred wouldlaugh at the Occult Science, and yet, were it not for:the Occult Fraternities, Masonry could never haveexisted.The Secret Doctrine was the universallyand prehistoric world.diffused religion of the AncientProof ofits diffusion, authentic records of its history,a complete chain of documents, showing its characterand presencein every land, together with the teaching

ANCIENT MYSTIC10of allitsgreat Adepts, exist to this day in the secretcrypts of libraries belonging to the Occult Fraterni-The Rosicrucian Fraternity, more than anyis to be thanked for keeping the Secret andSacred writings intact.Although the Individualmembers of this Fraternity have been persecuted inmany lands and during all centuries, the Order orties.other,Fraternity, as such, has never been persecuted, norhas there been any interruption.This Fraternity,therefore, has been able to continue, without interrup-Doctrine and Ancientmatter what the Order, whetherMasonry or Mystic Masonry, no matter the name, ittion, the teachings of the SecretMysteries.Nohas always been found that Rosicrucians had the workin hand. History proves this, it cannot be successfullydenied, and none but those who are ignorant try todeny it.Every Soul must "work out its own Salvation.'Salvation by faith and the vicarious atonement werenot taught, as now interpreted, by Jesus, nor are thesedoctrines taught in the exoteric Scriptures. They arelaterand ignorant perversions of theoriginal doc-In the Early Church, as in the Secret Doctrine, there was not one Christ for the whole world,but a potential Christ in every man. Theologians firstmade a fetish of the Impersonal, Omnipresent Divinity and then tore the Christos from the hearts ofall humanity in order to deify Jesus that they mighthave a God made peculiarly their own. Masonry doesnot teach Salvation by Faith nor the Vicarious atonetrines.;;ment.Go throughitsdegrees, study the History as

ORIENTAL MASONRY.taught bygreatest Masters,its11and you cannotfindBoldly do I claim thatthis doctrine does not make Christians, but it doesmake criminals. The reason for this is plain. All thethatitteaches this Doctrine.Ancient Mysteries had the true Doctrine, and so hadMasonry, he fore it was contaminated by the disciples of Loyala the Jesuitshad it also. It is for Masons to bring out the good andthe early Christians.——the true from the rubbish."HumanitySays Bro. Buck again:only Personal God; the Christosisin totoisthethe realization, orperfection of this Divine Persona, in Individual con-Whenscious experience.the stateiscalledBuddha withthis perfection is realized,Christos,the Hindoos.with the Greeks, andye perfect, even as/Beyour Father in Heaven is Perfect.'Then, my brother, if Christ and Buddha areand the same, why condemn you those that followBuddha? Know you not that they who FollowBuddha follow the same Christ as you underanotheronethethebutname ?"Wehave brought the same selfishness into ourwe indulge in regard to our other possessions, such as wife and children, and houses andland, and country and the same partisan spirit as inour politics, and this more than anything else appearsreligion that;to justify selfishness in general, militates against theBrotherhood of man, and prevents the founding ofmany Nations andall people.This idea of Universal Brotherhood, whichwas a cardinal doctrine in the Ancient Mysteries asthe 'Great Republic, composed of'—