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How do Hermetic principles align with Freemasonry
Hermetic influence on Freemasonry appears historically in the early Legendary History of the Craft and symbolically in shared emblems and allegories of spiritual transformation. The old Masonic Constitutions, drawing on medieval works such as Ranulf Higden's Polycronicon and cited in the Cooke Manuscript, trace Craft traditions back to Hermes Trismegistus, attributing to him the preservation of knowledge and the introduction of teaching by signs.
MackeyArs Quatuor Coronatorum
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What are the Old Charges and why do they matter?
Manuscript constitutions dating from the late fourteenth century onward form the body of historical documents known as the Old Charges. Chief among the earliest versions are the Regius manuscript, written in rhyming verse around 1390, and the prose Cooke manuscript from the early fifteenth century. These records typically combine a traditional or legendary history of the building craft with specific ethical and operational regulations for masons, divided into Articles and Points or Charges General and Charges Singular. In operative times, these codes governed working conditions, wages, moral conduct, and the relationship between masters, craftsmen, and apprentices.
MackeyJonesHughan
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why does the Royal Ark Mariner degree use Noah and the deluge instead of Solomon's temple
Chronologically, the building and voyage of Noah's Ark precede the construction of Solomon's Temple by hundreds of years, placing the degree's narrative long before the characters met in Solomonic Masonry existed, Mark Masons' Hall states. Rather than focusing on Temple architecture, the degree draws on Genesis to commemorate divine providence and mercy, using the perils of the deluge to symbolize the dangers of human life, Mark Masons' Hall records.
Mackeymarkmasonshall.org
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The end of the stream
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