A. They returned and bore this intelligence to King Solomon, who ordered them to divide themselves, and travel as before, with positive instructions to find the ruffians, and with as positive assurance, that if they did not the twelve should be deemed the murderers, and suffer severely for the crime committed.
Q. What followed?
A. They travelled as before, and, after many days of hardships and toil, on their return one of the brethren, more weary than the rest, sat down on the brow of a hill to rest and refresh himself, and on attempting to rise, accidentally caught hold of an acacia, which easily giving way, aroused his curiosity; upon which he hailed his companions, and on examination found it to be a grave.
Q. What followed? (See Note P, page 272.)
A. At this time a party arrived with the ruffians, and related that, while sitting down to rest and refresh themselves, they heard the following horrid exclamations from the clefts of an adjacent rock: the first was the voice of Jubela, exclaiming, “Oh! that my throat had been cut across,” &c., &c.; the second was the voice of Jubelo, exclaiming, “Oh! that my breast had been torn open.” &c., &c.; the third was the voice of Jubelum, exclaiming, “Oh! that my body had been severed in two, my bowels taken from thence,” &c., &c. (See p. 112.) Upon which they rushed in, seized, bound, and brought them before King Solomon; who, after due conviction of their guilt, ordered them to be executed according to their several imprecations upon their own heads, uttered from the clefts of the rocks. 1 (See Note P, page 271.)
p. 141
THIRD SECTION.
Q. How long was the Temple in building?
A. Seven years; during which it rained not in the daytime, that the workmen might not be obstructed in their labor.
Q. What supported the Temple?
A. Fourteen hundred and fifty-three columns, and two thousand nine hundred and six pilasters; all hewn from the finest Parian marble.
Q. What further supported it?
A. Three grand columns or pillars.
Q. What were they called?
A. Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty.
Q. What did they represent?
A. The pillar of Wisdom represented Solomon, king of Israel, whose wisdom contrived the mighty fabric; the pillar of strength, Hiram, king of Tyre, who strengthened Solomon in his grand undertaking; the pillar of Beauty, Hiram Abiff, the widow’s son, whose cunning craft and curious workmanship beautified and adorned the Temple.
Q. How many were there employed in the building of King Solomon’s Temple?
A. Three Grand Masters, three thousand three hundred Masters or overseers of the work, eighty thousand Fellow Crafts, and seventy thousand Entered Apprentices, &c., &c. (See p. 126.)
Q. How many constitute an Entered Apprentices’ Lodge?
A. Seven; one Master and six Entered Apprentices.
Q. Where did they usually meet?
A. On the Ground Floor of King Solomon’s Temple.
Q. How many constitute a Fellow Crafts’ Lodge?
A. Five; two Masters and three Fellow Crafts.
Q. Where did they usually meet?
A. In the Middle Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple.
Q. How many constitute a Masters’ Lodge?
A. Three Master Masons.
Q. Where did they usually meet?
A. In the Sanctum Sanctorum, or Holy of Holies, of King Solomon’s Temple.
Q. Have you any emblems in this Degree?
A. We have several, and they are divided into two classes.
Q. What are the first class?
A. The Pot of Incense, the Beehive. the Book of Constitutions guarded by the Tyler’s Sword, the Sword pointing to a Naked Heart, the All-seeing Eye, the Anchor and Ark, the Forty-seventh
p. 142
[paragraph continues] Problem of Euclid, the Hour-Glass, the Scythe, and the Three Steps on the Master’s Carpet.
Q. How are they explained?
These answers are monitorial. (See pp. 127-130.)
Q. What are the second class of emblems?
A. The Setting-Maul, Spade, Coffin, Grave, and Sprig of Acacia; and are thus explained.1 (See p. 130.)
Reader, I have given you the whole of the first three Degrees in Masonry. This ends the third, or Master Masons’ Degree.
But few Masons take sufficient interest in Masonry to be advanced further, and consequently do not get the password which was lost by the tragical death of Hiram Abiff.
Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. He is a father, husband, author, martial arts black belt, and an expert in Gnosticism, the occult, and esotericism.
