Oswego River
Chapter No. 270 Penny
with a Rising
Phoenix
This wonderful Chapter Penny
pictures our namesake at Phoenixmasonry, that of the "Rising
Phoenix". The old mythological legend of the
Phoenix is a familiar one. The bird was described as of the size of an eagle,
with a head finely crested, a body covered with beautiful plumage, and eyes
sparkling like stars. She was said to live six hundred years in the
wilderness, when she built for herself a funeral pile of aromatic woods, which
she ignited with the fanning of her wings, and emerged from the flames with a
new life. Hence the phoenix has been adopted universally as a symbol of
immortality. Higgins (Anacalypsis, ii., 441) says that the phoenix is the
symbol of an ever-revolving solar cycle of six hundred and eight years, and
refers to the Phoenician word phen, which signifies a cycle. Aumont, the first
Grand Master of the Templars after the martyrdom of DeMolay, and called the
"Restorer of the Order," took, it is said, for his seal, a phoenix
brooding on the flames, with the motto, "Ardet ut vivat" - She burns
that she may live. The phoenix was adopted at a very early period as a
Christian symbol, and several representations of it have been found in the
catacombs. Its ancient legend, doubtless, caused it to be accepted as a symbol
of Jesus Christ's resurrection and immortality.
Here at Phoenixmasonry, we believe that each of us has had the feeling
of being consumed by fire. That the problems of our lives have left us in
the pit of despair, the ashes of destruction, although it may not have been
the fire that creates those ashes. Adversity and the overcoming of it makes us
stronger. Just as the beautiful Temple of King Solomon rose from the rubbish
and ashes of barbarous forces to become an even more magnificent and
resplendent structure, our belief and faith in the principles of Freemasonry allows us to rise up from the ashes to become stronger and better Phoenixmasons.
Obverse: THEY
RECEIVED EVERY MAN A PENNY / (York Rite Triple Tau/Keystone/Triangle) / ONE
PENNY
Reverse: OSWEGO
RIVER CHAPTER No. 270 R.A.M. / (Rising Phoenix) / CHARTERED / FEB.4.1874 /
PHOENIX, N.Y.
SIZE/CONDITION/ETC:
34mm. AU. NOTICE: To convert millimeters
to inches, 25.4mm equals one inch.
