Index
Previous
Next
p. 25
The Ancient Mysteries
and Secret Societies
Part Two
THE entire history of Christian
and pagan Gnosticism is shrouded in the deepest mystery and obscurity; for,
while the Gnostics were undoubtedly prolific writers, little of their
literature has survived. They brought down upon themselves the animosity of
the early Christian Church, and when this institution reached its position of
world power it destroyed all available records of the Gnostic cultus.
The name Gnostic means wisdom, or knowledge, and is
derived from the Greek Gnosis. The members of the order claimed to be
familiar with the secret doctrines of early Christianity. They interpreted the
Christian Mysteries according to pagan symbolism. Their secret information and
philosophic tenets they concealed from the profane and taught to a small group
only of especially initiated persons.
Simon Magus, the magician of
New Testament fame, is often supposed to have been the founder of Gnosticism.
If this be true, the sect was formed during the century after Christ and is
probably the first of the many branches which have sprung from the main trunk
of Christianity. Everything with which the enthusiasts of the early Christian
Church might not agree they declared to be inspired by the Devil. That Simon
Magus had mysterious and supernatural powers is conceded even by his enemies,
but they maintained that these powers were lent to him by the infernal spirits
and furies which they asserted were his ever present companions. Undoubtedly
the most interesting legend concerning Simon is that which tells of his
theosophic contests with the Apostle Peter while the two were promulgating
their differing doctrines in Rome. According to the story that the Church
Fathers have preserved, Simon was to prove his spiritual superiority by
ascending to heaven in a chariot of fire. He was actually picked up and
carried many feet into the air by invisible powers. When St. Peter saw this,
he cried out in a loud voice, ordering the demons (spirits of the air) to
release their hold upon the magician. The evil spirits, when so ordered by the
great saint, were forced to obey. Simon fell a great distance and was killed,
which decisively proved the superiority of the Christian powers. This story is
undoubtedly manufactured out of whole cloth, as it is only one out of many
accounts concerning his death, few of which agree. As more and more evidence
is being amassed to the effect that St, Peter was never in Rome, its last
possible vestige of authenticity is rapidly being dissipated.
That Simon was a philosopher
there is no doubt, for wherever his exact words are preserved his synthetic
and transcending thoughts are beautifully expressed. The principles of
Gnosticism are well described in the following verbatim statement by him,
supposed to have been preserved by Hippolytus: "To you, therefore, I say what
I say, and write what I write. And the writing is this. Of the universal Æons
[periods, planes, or cycles of creative and created life in substance and
space, celestial creatures] there are two shoots, without beginning or end,
springing from one Root, which is the power invisible, inapprehensible silence
[Bythos]. Of these shoots one is manifested from above, which is the Great
Power, the Universal Mind ordering all things, male, and the other, [is
manifested] from below, the Great Thought, female, producing all things. Hence
pairing with each other, they unite and manifest the Middle Distance,
incomprehensible Air, without beginning or end. In this is the Father Who
sustains all things, and nourishes those things which have a beginning and
end." (See Simon Magus, by G. R. S. Mead.) By this we are to understand
that manifestation is the result of a positive and a negative principle, one
acting upon the other, and it takes place in the middle plane, or point of
equilibrium, called the pleroma. This pleroma is a peculiar
substance produced out of the blending of the spiritual and material æons. Out
of the pleroma was individualized the Demiurgus, the immortal
mortal, to whom we are responsible for our physical existence and the
suffering we must go through in connection with it. In the Gnostic system,
three pairs of opposites, called Syzygies, emanated from the Eternal
One. These, with Himself, make the total of seven. The six (three pairs) Æons
(living, divine principles) were described by Simon in the Philosophumena
in the following manner: The first two were Mind (Nous) and Thought
(Epinoia). Then came Voice (Phone) and its opposite, Name (Onoma),
and lastly, Reason (Logismos) and Reflection (Enthumesis). From
these primordial six, united with the Eternal Flame, came forth the
Æons (Angels) who formed the lower worlds through the direction of the
Demiurgus. (See the works of H. P. Blavatsky.) How this first Gnosticism of
Simon Magus and Menander, his disciple, was amplified, and frequently
distorted, by later adherents to the cult must now be considered.
The School of Gnosticism was
divided into two major parts, commonly called the Syrian Cult and the
Alexandrian Cult. These schools agreed in essentials, but the latter division
was more inclined to be pantheistic, while the former was dualistic. While the
Syrian cult was largely Simonian, the Alexandrian School was the outgrowth of
the philosophical deductions of a clever Egyptian Christian, Basilides by
name, who claimed to have received his instructions from the Apostle Matthew.
Like Simon Magus, he was an emanationist, with Neo-Platonic inclinations. In
fact, the entire Gnostic Mystery is based upon the hypothesis of emanations as
being the logical connection between the irreconcilable opposites Absolute
Spirit and Absolute Substance, which the Gnostics believed to have been
coexistent in Eternity. Some assert that Basilides was the true founder of
Gnosticism, but there is much evidence to the effect that Simon Magus laid
down its fundamental principles in the preceding century.
The Alexandrian Basilides
inculcated Egyptian Hermeticism, Oriental occultism, Chaldean astrology, and
Persian philosophy in his followers, and in his doctrines sought to unite the
schools of early Christianity with the ancient pagan Mysteries. To him is
attributed the formulation of that peculiar concept of the Deity which carries
the name of Abraxas. In discussing the original meaning of this word, Godfrey
Higgins, in his Celtic Druids, has demonstrated that the numerological powers
of the letters forming the word Abraxas when added together result in the sum
of 365. The same author also notes that the name Mithras when treated in a
similar manner has the same numerical value. Basilides caught that the
THE DEATH OF SIMON THE MAGICIAN.
From the Nuremberg Chronicle.
Simon Magus, having called upon
the Spirits of the Air, is here shown being picked up by the demons. St. Peter
demands that the evil genii release their hold upon the magician. The demons
are forced to comply and Simon Magus is killed by the fall.
p. 26
powers of the universe were
divided into 365 Æons, or spiritual cycles, and that the sum of all these
together was the Supreme Father, and to Him he gave the Qabbalistical
appellation Abraxas, as being symbolical, numerologically, of His
divine powers, attributes, and emanations. Abraxas is usually
symbolized as a composite creature, with the body of a human being and the
head of a rooster, and with each of his legs ending in a serpent. C. W. King,
in his Gnostics and Their Remains, gives the following concise
description of the Gnostic philosophy of Basilides, quoting from the writings
of the early Christian bishop and martyr, St. Irenæus: "He asserted that God,
the uncreated, eternal Father, had first brought forth Nous, or Mind; this the
Logos, Word; this again Phronesis, Intelligence; from Phronesis sprung Sophia,
Wisdom, and Dynamis, Strength."
In describing Abraxas, C. W.
King says: "Bellermann considers the composite image, inscribed with the
actual name Abraxas, to be a Gnostic Pantheos, representing the Supreme Being,
with the Five Emanations marked out by appropriate symbols. From the human
body, the usual form assigned to the Deity, spring the two supporters, Nous
and Logos, expressed in the serpents, symbols of the inner senses, and the
quickening understanding; on which account the Greeks had made the serpent the
attribute of Pallas. His head--that of a cock--represents Phronesis, that bird
being the emblem of foresight and of vigilance. His two arms hold the symbols
of Sophia and Dynamis: the shield of Wisdom and the whip of Power."
The Gnostics were divided in
their opinions concerning the Demiurgus, or creator of the lower worlds. He
established the terrestrial universe with the aid of six sons, or emanations
(possibly the planetary Angels) which He formed out of, and yet within,
Himself. As stated before, the Demiurgus was individualized as the lowest
creation out of the substance called pleroma. One group of the Gnostics
was of the opinion that the Demiurgus was the cause of all misery and was an
evil creature, who by building this lower world had separated the souls of men
from truth by encasing them in mortal vehicles. The other sect viewed the
Demiurgus as being divinely inspired and merely fulfilling the dictates of the
invisible Lord. Some Gnostics were of the opinion that the Jewish God,
Jehovah, was the Demiurgus. This concept, under a slightly different name,
apparently influenced mediæval Rosicrucianism, which viewed Jehovah as the
Lord of the material universe rather than as the Supreme Deity. Mythology
abounds with the stories of gods who partook of both celestial and terrestrial
natures. Odin, of Scandinavia, is a good example of a deity subject to
mortality, bowing before the laws of Nature and yet being, in certain senses
at least, a Supreme Deity.
The Gnostic viewpoint
concerning the Christ is well worthy of consideration. This order claimed to
be the only sect to have actual pictures of the Divine Syrian. While these
were, in all probability, idealistic conceptions of the Savior based upon
existing sculpturings and paintings of the pagan sun gods, they were all
Christianity had. To the Gnostics, the Christ was the personification of
Nous, the Divine Mind, and emanated from the higher spiritual Æons. He
descended into the body of Jesus at the baptism and left it again before the
crucifixion. The Gnostics declared that the Christ was not crucified, as this
Divine Nous could not suffer death, but that Simon, the Cyrenian,
offered his life instead and that the Nous, by means of its power,
caused Simon to resemble Jesus. Irenæus makes the following statement
concerning the cosmic sacrifice of the Christ:
"When the uncreated, unnamed
Father saw the corruption of mankind, He sent His firstborn, Nous, into the
world, in the form of Christ, for the redemption of all who believe in Him,
out of the power of those that have fabricated the world (the Demiurgus, and
his six sons, the planetary genii). He appeared amongst men as the Man Jesus,
and wrought miracles." (See King's Gnostics and Their Remains.)
The Gnostics divided humanity
into three parts: those who, as savages, worshiped only the visible Nature;
those who, like the Jews, worshiped the Demiurgus; and lastly, themselves, or
others of a similar cult, including certain sects of Christians, who worshiped
Nous (Christ) and the true spiritual light of the higher Æons.
After the death of Basilides,
Valentinus became the leading inspiration of the Gnostic movement. He still
further complicated the system of Gnostic philosophy by adding infinitely to
the details. He increased the number of emanations from the Great One (the
Abyss) to fifteen pairs and also laid much emphasis on the Virgin Sophia,
or Wisdom. In the Books of the Savior, parts of which are commonly
known as the Pistis Sophia, may be found much material concerning this
strange doctrine of Æons and their strange inhabitants. James Freeman Clarke,
in speaking of the doctrines of the Gnostics, says: "These doctrines, strange
as they seem to us, had a wide influence in the Christian Church." Many of the
theories of the ancient Gnostics, especially those concerning scientific
subjects, have been substantiated by modern research. Several sects branched
off from the main stem of Gnosticism, such as the Valentinians, the Ophites
(serpent worshipers), and the Adamites. After the third century their power
waned, and the Gnostics practically vanished from the philosophic world. An
effort was made during the Middle Ages to resurrect the principles of
Gnosticism, but owing to the destruction of their records the material
necessary was not available. Even today there are evidences of Gnostic
philosophy in the modern world, but they bear other names and their true
origin is not suspected. Many of the Gnostic concepts have actually been
incorporated into the dogmas of the Christian Church, and our newer
interpretations of Christianity are often along the lines of Gnostic
emanationism.
THE MYSTERIES OF
, ASAR-HAPI
The identity of the
Greco-Egyptian Serapis (known to the Greeks as Serapis and the
Egyptians as Asar-Hapi) is shrouded by an impenetrable veil of mystery.
While this deity was a familiar figure among the symbols of the secret
Egyptian initiatory rites, his arcane nature was revealed only to those who
had fulfilled the requirements of the Serapic cultus. Therefore, in all
probability, excepting the initiated priests, the Egyptians themselves were
ignorant of his true character. So far as known, there exists no authentic
account of the rites of Serapis, but an analysis of the deity and his
accompanying symbols reveals their salient points. In an oracle delivered to
the King of Cyprus, Serapis described himself thus:
''A god I am such as I show to
thee,
The Starry Heavens are my head, my trunk the sea,
Earth forms my feet, mine ears the air supplies,
The Sun's far-darting, brilliant rays, mine eyes."
Several unsatisfactory attempts
have been made to etymologize the word Serapis. Godfrey Higgins notes
that Soros was the name given by the Egyptians to a stone coffin, and
Apis was Osiris incarnate in the sacred bull. These two words combined
result in Soros-Apis or Sor-Apis, "the tomb of the bull." But it
is improbable that the Egyptians would worship a coffin in the form of a man.
Several ancient authors,
including Macrobius, have affirmed that Serapis was a name for the Sun,
because his image so often had a halo of light about its head. In his
Oration Upon the Sovereign Sun, Julian speaks of the deity in these words:
"One Jove, one Pluto, one Sun is Serapis." In Hebrew, Serapis is Saraph,
meaning "to blaze out" or "to blaze up." For this reason the Jews designated
one of their hierarchies of spiritual beings, Seraphim.
The most common theory,
however, regarding the origin of the name Serapis is that which traces
its derivation from the compound Osiris-Apis. At one time the Egyptians
believed that the dead were absorbed into the nature of Osiris, the god of the
dead. While marked similarity exists between Osiris-Apis and Serapis, the
theory advanced by Egyptologists that Serapis is merely a name given to the
dead Apis, or sacred bull of Egypt, is untenable in view of the transcendent
wisdom possessed by the Egyptian priestcraft, who, in all probability, used
the god to symbolize the soul of the world (anima mundi). The material
body of Nature was called Apis; the soul which escaped from the body at
death but was enmeshed with the form during physical life was designated
Serapis.
C. W. King believes Serapis to
be a deity of Brahmanic extraction, his name being the Grecianized form of
Ser-adah or Sri-pa, two titles ascribed to Yama, the Hindu
god of death. This appears reasonable, especially since there is a legend to
the effect that Serapis, in the form of a bull, was driven by Bacchus from
India to Egypt. The priority of the Hindu Mysteries would further substantiate
such a theory.
Among other meanings suggested
for the word Serapis are: "The Sacred Bull," "The Sun in Taurus," "The
Soul of Osiris," "The Sacred Serpent," and "The Retiring of the Bull." The
last appellation has reference to the ceremony of drowning the sacred Apis in
the waters of the Nile every twenty-five years.
THE LION-FACED LIGHT-POWER.
From Montfaucon's Antiquities.
This Gnostic gem represents by its serpentine
body the pathway of the Sun and by its lion head the exaltation of the solar
in the constellation of Leo.
A SYMBOLIC LABYRINTH.
From Montfaucon's
Antiquities.
Labyrinths and mazes were
favored places of initiation among many ancient cults. Remains of these mystic
mazes have been found among the American Indians, Hindus, Persians, Egyptians,
and Greeks. Some of these mazes are merely involved pathways lined with
stones; others are literally miles of gloomy caverns under temples or hollowed
from the sides of mountains. The famous labyrinth of Crete, in which roamed
the bull-headed Minotaur, was unquestionably a place of initiation into the
Cretan Mysteries.
p. 27
There is considerable evidence
that the famous statue of Serapis in the Serapeum at Alexandria was originally
worshiped under another name at Sinope, from which it was brought to
Alexandria. There is also a legend which tells that Serapis was a very early
king of the Egyptians, to whom they owed the foundation of their philosophical
and scientific power. After his death this king was elevated to the estate of
a god. Phylarchus declared that the word Serapis means "the power that
disposed the universe into its present beautiful order."
In his Isis and Osiris,
Plutarch gives the following account of the origin of the magnificent statue
of Serapis which stood in the Serapeum at Alexandria:
While he was Pharaoh of Egypt,
Ptolemy Soter had a strange dream in which he beheld a tremendous statue,
which came to life and ordered the Pharaoh to bring it to Alexandria with all
possible speed. Ptolemy Soter, not knowing the whereabouts of the statue, was
sorely perplexed as to how he could discover it. While the Pharaoh was
relating his dream, a great traveler by the name of Sosibius, coming forward,
declared that he had seen such an image at Sinope. The Pharaoh immediately
dispatched Soteles and Dionysius to negotiate for the removal of the figure to
Alexandria. Three years elapsed before the image was finally obtained, the
representatives of the Pharaoh finally stealing it and concealing the theft by
spreading a story that the statue had come to life and, walking down the
street leading from its temple, had boarded the ship prepared for its
transportation to Alexandria. Upon its arrival in Egypt, the figure was
brought into the presence of two Egyptian Initiates--the Eumolpid Timotheus
and Manetho the Sebennite--who, immediately pronounced it to be Serapis. The
priests then declared that it was equipollent to Pluto. This was a masterly
stroke, for in Serapis the Greeks and Egyptians found a deity in common and
thus religious unity was consummated between the two nations.
Several figures of Serapis that
stood in his various temples in Egypt and Rome have been described by early
authors. Nearly all these showed Grecian rather than Egyptian influence. In
some the body of the god was encircled by the coils of a great serpent. Others
showed him as a composite of Osiris and Apis.
A description of the god that
in all probability is reasonably accurate is that which represents him as a
tall, powerful figure, conveying the twofold impression of manly strength and
womanly grace. His face portrayed a deeply pensive mood, the expression
inclining toward sadness. His hair was long and arranged in a somewhat
feminine manner, resting in curls upon his breast and shoulders. The face,
save for its heavy beard, was also decidedly feminine. The figure of Serapis
was usually robed from head to foot in heavy draperies, believed by initiates
to conceal the fact that his body was androgynous.
Various substances were used in
making the statues of Serapis. Some undoubtedly were carved from stone or
marble by skilled craftsmen; others may have been cast from base or precious
metals. One colossus of Serapis was composed of plates of various metals
fitted together. In a labyrinth sacred to Serapis stood a thirteen-foot statue
of him reputed to have been made from a single emerald. Modern writers,
discussing this image, state that it was made of green glass poured into a
mold. According to the Egyptians, however, it withstood all the tests of an
actual emerald.
Clement of Alexandria describes
a figure of Serapis compounded from the following elements: First, filings of
gold, silver, lead, and tin; second, all manner of Egyptian stones, including
sapphires, hematites, emeralds, and topazes; all these being ground down and
mixed together with the coloring matter left over from the funeral of Osiris
and Apis. The result was a rare and curious figure, indigo in color. Some of
the statues of Serapis must have been formed of extremely hard substances, for
when a Christian soldier, carrying out the edict of Theodosius, struck the
Alexandrian Serapis with his ax, that instrument was shattered into fragments
and sparks flew from it. It is also quite probable that Serapis was worshiped
in the form of a serpent, in common with many of the higher deities of the
Egyptian and Greek pantheons.
Serapis was called Theon
Heptagrammaton, or the god with the name of seven letters. The name
Serapis (like Abraxas and Mithras) contains seven letters. In their hymns
to Serapis the priests chanted the seven vowels. Occasionally Serapis is
depicted with horns or a coronet of seven rays. These evidently represented
the seven divine intelligences manifesting through the solar light. The
Encyclopædia Britannica notes that the earliest authentic mention of
Serapis is in connection with the death of Alexander. Such was the prestige of
Serapis that he alone of the gods was consulted in behalf of the dying king.
The Egyptian secret school of
philosophy was divided into the Lesser and the Greater Mysteries, the former
being sacred to Isis and the latter to Serapis and Osiris. Wilkinson is of the
opinion that only the priests were permitted to enter the Greater Mysteries.
Even the heir to the throne was not eligible until he had been crowned
Pharaoh, when, by virtue of his kingly office, he automatically became a
priest and the temporal head of the state religion. (See Wilkinson's
Manners and Customs of the Egyptians.) A limited number were admitted into
the Greater Mysteries: these preserved their secrets inviolate.
Much of the information
concerning the rituals of the higher degrees of the Egyptian Mysteries has
been gleaned from an examination of the chambers and passageways in which the
initiations were given. Under the temple of Serapis destroyed by Theodosius
were found strange mechanical contrivances constructed by the priests in the
subterranean crypts and caverns where the nocturnal initiatory rites were
celebrated. These machines indicate the severe tests of moral and physical
courage undergone by the candidates. After passing through these tortuous
ways, the neophytes who Survived the ordeals were ushered into the presence of
Serapis, a noble and awe-inspiring figure illumined by unseen lights.
Labyrinths were also a striking
feature in connection with the Rice of Serapis, and E. A. Wallis Budge, in his
Gods of the Egyptians, depicts Serapis(Minotaur-like) with the body of
a man and the head of a bull. Labyrinths were symbolic of the involvements and
illusions of the lower world through which wanders the soul of man in its
search for truth. In the labyrinth dwells the lower animal man with the head
of the bull, who seeks to destroy the soul entangled in the maze of worldly
ignorance. In this relation Serapis becomes the Tryer or Adversary who tests
the souls of those seeking union with the Immortals. The maze was also
doubtless used to represent the solar system, the Bull-Man representing the
sun dwelling in the mystic maze of its planets, moons, and asteroids.
The Gnostic Mysteries were
acquainted with the arcane meaning of Serapis, and through the medium of
Gnosticism this god became inextricably associated with early Christianity. In
fact, the Emperor Hadrian, while traveling in Egypt in A.D. 24, declared in a
letter to Servianus that the worshipers of Serapis were Christians and that
the Bishops of the church also worshiped at his shrine. He even declared that
the Patriarch himself, when in Egypt, was forced to adore Serapis as well as
Christ. (See Parsons' New Light on the Great Pyramid.)
The little-suspected importance
of Serapis as a prototype of Christ can be best appreciated after a
consideration of the following extract from C. W. King's Gnostics and Their
Remains: "There can be no doubt that the head of Serapis, marked as the
face is by a grave and pensive majesty, supplied the first idea for the
conventional portraits of the Saviour. The Jewish prejudices of the first
converts were so powerful that we may be sure no attempt was made to depict
His countenance until some generations after all that had beheld it on earth
had passed away."
Serapis gradually usurped the
positions previously occupied by the other Egyptian and Greek gods, and became
the supreme deity of both religions. His power continued until the fourth
century of
THE ALEXANDRIAN SERAPIS.
From Mosaize Historie der
Hebreeuwse Kerke.
Serapis is often shown standing
on the back of the sacred crocodile, carrying in his left hand a rule with
which to measure the inundations of the Nile, and balancing with his right
hand a curious emblem consisting of an animal with the heads. The first
head--that of a lion--signified the present; the second head--that of a
wolf--the past; and the third head--that of a dog--the future. The body with
its three heads was enveloped by the twisted coils of a serpent. Figures of
Serapis are occasionally accompanied by Cerberus, the three-headed dog of
Pluto, and--like Jupiter--carry baskets of grain upon their heads.
p. 28
the Christian Era. In A.D. 385,
Theodosius, that would-be exterminator of pagan philosophy, issued his
memorable edict De Idolo Serapidis Diruendo. When the Christian
soldiers, in obedience to this order, entered the Serapeum at Alexandria to
destroy the image of Serapis which had stood there for centuries, so great was
their veneration for the god that they dared not touch the image lest the
ground should open at their feet and engulf them. At length, overcoming their
fear, they demolished the statue, sacked the building, and finally as a
fitting climax to their offense burned the magnificent library which was
housed within the lofty apartments of the Serapeum. Several writers have
recorded the remarkable fact that Christian symbols were found in the ruined
foundations of this pagan temple. Socrates, a church historian of the fifth
century, declared that after the pious Christians had razed the Serapeum at
Alexandria and scattered the demons who dwelt there under the guise of gods,
beneath the foundations was found the monogram of Christ!
Two quotations will further
establish the relationship existing between the Mysteries of Serapis and those
of other ancient peoples. The first is from Richard Payne Knight's
Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology: "Hence Varro [in De
Lingua Latina] says that Clum and Terra, that is universal mind and
productive body, were the Great Gods of the Samothracian Mysteries; and the
same as the Serapis and Isis of the later Ægyptians: the Taautos and Astarte
of the Phnicians, and the Saturn and Ops of the Latins." The second quotation
is from Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma: "'Thee,' says Martianus Capella,
in his hymn to the Sun, 'dwellers on the Nile adore as Serapis, and Memphis
worships as Osiris: in the sacred rites of Persia thou art Mithras, in Phrygia,
Atys, and Libya bows down to thee as Ammon, and Phnician Byblos as Adonis;
thus the whole world adores thee under different names.'"
THE ODINIC MYSTERIES
The date of the founding of the
Odinic Mysteries is uncertain, some writers declaring that they were
established in the first century before Christ; others, the first century
after Christ. Robert Macoy, 33°, gives the following description of their
origin: "It appears from the northern chronicles that in the first century of
the Christian Era, Sigge, the chief of the Aser, an Asiatic tribe, emigrated
from the Caspian sea and the Caucasus into northern Europe. He directed his
course northwesterly from the Black sea to Russia, over which, according to
tradition, he placed one of his sons as a ruler, as he is said to have done
over the Saxons and the Franks. He then advanced through Cimbria to Denmark,
which acknowledged his fifth son Skiold as its sovereign, and passed over to
Sweden, where Gylf, who did homage to the wonderful stranger, and was
initiated into his mysteries, then ruled. He soon made himself master here,
built Sigtuna as the capital of his empire, and promulgated a new code of
laws, and established the sacred mysteries. He, himself, assumed the name of
Odin, founded the priesthood of the twelve Drottars (Druids?) who conducted
the secret worship, and the administration of justice, and, as prophets,
revealed the future. The secret rites of these mysteries celebrated the death
of Balder, the beautiful and lovely, and represented the grief of Gods and men
at his death, and his restoration to life." (General History of Freemasonry.)
After his death, the historical
Odin was apotheosized, his identity being merged into that of the mythological
Odin, god of wisdom, whose cult he had promulgated. Odinism then supplanted
the worship of Thor, the thunderer, the supreme deity of the ancient
Scandinavian pantheon. The mound where, according to legend, King Odin was
buried is still to be seen near the site of his great temple at Upsala.
The twelve Drottars who
presided over the Odinic Mysteries evidently personified the twelve holy and
ineffable names of Odin. The rituals of the Odinic Mysteries were very similar
to those of the Greeks, Persians, and Brahmins, after which they were
patterned. The Drottars, who symbolized the signs of the zodiac, were the
custodians of the arts and sciences, which they revealed to those who passed
successfully the ordeals of initiation. Like many other pagan cults, the
Odinic Mysteries, as an institution, were destroyed by Christianity, but the
underlying cause of their fall was the corruption of the priesthood.
Mythology is nearly always the
ritual and the symbolism of a Mystery school. Briefly stated, the sacred drama
which formed the basis of the Odinic Mysteries was as follows:
The Supreme, invisible Creator
of all things was called All-Father. His regent in Nature was Odin, the
one-eyed god. Like Quetzalcoatl, Odin was elevated to the dignity of the
Supreme Deity. According to the Drottars, the universe was fashioned from the
body of Ymir, the hoarfrost giant. Ymir was formed from the clouds of
mist that rose from Ginnungagap, the great cleft in chaos into which the
primordial frost giants and flame giants had hurled snow and fire. The three
gods--Odin, Vili, and Ve--slew Ymir and from him formed the world. From Ymir's
various members the different parts of Nature were fashioned.
After Odin had established
order, he caused a wonderful palace, called Asgard, to be built on the top of
a mountain, and here the twelve Æsir (gods) dwelt together, far above the
limitations of mortal men. On this mountain also was Valhalla, the palace of
the slain, where those who had heroically died fought and feasted day after
day. Each night their wounds were healed and the boar whose flesh they ate
renewed itself as rapidly as it was consumed.
Balder the Beautiful--the
Scandinavian Christ--was the beloved son of Odin. Balder was not warlike; his
kindly and beautiful spirit brought peace and joy to the hearts of the gods,
and they all loved him save one. As Jesus had a Judas among His twelve
disciples, so one of the twelve gods was false--Loki, the personification of
evil. Loki caused Höthr, the blind god of fate, to shoot Balder with a
mistletoe arrow. With the death of Balder, light and joy vanished from the
lives of the other deities. Heartbroken, the gods gathered to find a method
whereby they could resurrect this spirit of eternal life and youth. The result
was the establishment of the Mysteries.
The Odinic Mysteries were given
in underground crypts or caves, the chambers, nine in number, representing the
Nine Worlds of the Mysteries. The candidate seeking admission was assigned the
task of raising Balder from the dead. Although he did not realize it, he
himself played the part of Balder. He called himself a wanderer; the caverns
through which he passed were symbolic of the worlds and spheres of Nature. The
priests who initiated him were emblematic of the sun, the moon, and the stars.
The three supreme initiators--the Sublime, the Equal to the Sublime, and the
Highest--were analogous to the Worshipful Master and the junior and Senior
Wardens of a Masonic lodge.
After wandering for hours
through the intricate passageways, the candidate was ushered into the presence
of a statue of Balder the Beautiful, the prototype of all initiates into the
Mysteries. This figure stood in the center of a great apartment roofed with
shields. In the midst of the chamber stood a plant with seven blossoms,
emblematic of the planers. In this room, which symbolized the house of the
Æsir, or Wisdom, the neophyte took his oath of secrecy and piety upon the
naked blade of a sword. He drank the sanctified mead from a bowl made of a
human skull and, having passed successfully through all the tortures and
trials designed to divert him from the course of wisdom, he was finally
permitted to unveil the mystery of Odin--the personification of wisdom. He was
presented, in the name of Balder, with the sacred ring of the order; he was
hailed as a man reborn; and it was said of him that he had died and had been
raised again without passing through the gates of death.
Richard Wagner's immortal
composition, Der Ring des Nibelungen, is based upon the Mystery rituals
of the Odinic cult. While the great composer took many liberties with the
original story, the Ring Operas, declared to be the grandest tetralogy of
music dramas the world possesses, have caught and preserved in a remarkable
manner the majesty and power of the original sagas. Beginning with Das
Rheingold, the action proceeds through Die Walküre and Siegfried
to an awe-inspiring climax in Götterdämmerung, "The Twilight of the
Gods."
THE NINE WORLDS OF THE ODINIC MYSTERIES.
The Nordic Mysteries were given
in nine chambers, or caverns, the candidate advancing through them in
sequential order. These chambers of initiation represented the nine spheres
into which the Drottars divided the universe: (1) Asgard, the Heaven
World of the Gods; (2) Alf-heim, the World of the light and beautiful
Elves, or Spirits; (3) Nifl-heim, the World of Cold and Darkness, which
is located in the North; (4) Jotun-heim, the World of the Giants, which
is located in the East; (5) Midgard, the Earth World of human beings,
which is located in the midst, or middle place; (6) Vana-heim, the
World of the Vanes, which is located in the West; (7) Muspells-heim,
the World of Fire, which is located in the South; 8) Svart-alfa-heim,
the World of the dark and treacherous Elves, which is under the earth; and (9)
Hel-heim, the World of cold and the abode of the dead, which is located
at the very lowest point of the universe. It is to be understood that all of
these worlds are invisible to the senses, except Midgard, the home of human
creatures, but during the process of initiation the soul of the
candidate--liberated from its earthly sheath by the secret power of the
priests--wanders amidst the inhabitants of these various spheres. There is
undoubtedly a relationship between the nine worlds of the Scandinavians and
the nine spheres, or planes, through which initiates of the Eleusinian
Mysteries passed in their ritual of regeneration.
Next: The Ancient
Mysteries and Secret Societies, Part Three