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HENRY VI.
HEREDOM.
HERMAIMES.
HERMANDAD.
HERMES.
HERMETIC ART.
HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.
HERMETIC RITE.
HERMETIC STUDENTS .
HERODEM.
HERODEM, ROYAL ORDER OF.
HERODEN.
HEROINE OF JERICHO.
HERRING, JAMES.
HESED.
HESSE.
HESSE-CASSEL.
HESSE DARMSTADT, GRAND DUCHY OF.
HEXAGON.
HEXAGRAM.
HEXAGRAM.
HEXAPLA.
H. G. W.
HIBBUT-HAKKEBER.
HIEROGLYPHICS.
HIEROGRAMMATISTS.
HIERONYMITES.
HIEROPHANT.
HIEROPHANT OR MYSTAGOG.
HIEROPHYLAX.
HIGH DEGREES.
HIGHEST OF HILLS.
HENRY VI.
King of England from 1422 to 1461. This monarch is closely connected with the history of Freemasonry because, in the beginning of his reign and during his minority, the celebrated Statute of Laborers, which prohibited the congregations of the Freemasons, was passed by an intolerant Parliament, and because of the questions said to have been proposed to the Freemasons by the king, and their answers, which are contained in what is called the Leland Manuscript, a document which, if authentic, is highly important; but of whose authenticity there are as many oppugners as there are defenders.
HEREDOM.
In what are called the High Degrees of the Continental Rites, there is nothing more puzzling than the etymology of this word. We have the Royal Order of Heredom, given as the ne plus ultra, meaning nothing farther or nothing beyond, of Freemasonry in Scotland, and in almost all the Rites the Rose Croix of Heredom, but the true meaning of the word is apparently unknown. Ragon, in his Orthodoxie Maçonnique (page 91), asserts that it has a political signification, and that it was invented between the years 1740 and 1745, by the adherents of Charles Edward the Pretender, at the Court of Saint Germain, which was the residence, during that period, of the unfortunate prince, and that in their letters to England, dated from Heredom, they mean to denote Saint Germain. He supposes it to be derived from the medieval Latin word hoeredum, signifying a heritage, and that it alludes to the Castle of Saint Germain, the only heritage left to the dethroned sovereign But as Ragon's favorite notion was that the Hautes Grades or High Degrees, were originally instituted for the purpose of aiding the house of Stuart in its restoration to the throne, a theory not now generally accepted, at least without modification, this etymology must be taken with some grains of allowance The suggestion is, however, an ingenious one.
In some of the old manuscripts the word Heroden is found as the name of a mountain in Scotland; and we sometimes find in the French Cahiers the title of Rose Croiz de Heroden. There is not a very great difference in the French pronunciation of Heredom and Heroden, and one might be a corruption of the other. Brother Mackey says he was once inclined to this theory; but even if it were the correct one we should gain nothing, for the same difficulty would recur in tracing the root and meaning of Heroden.
The most plausible derivation is one given in 1858, by a writer in the London Freemasons Magazine. He thinks it should be spelled Heredom, and traces it to the two Greek words, repass hieros, meaning holy, and biros, domos, meaning house. It would thus refer to Freemasonry as symbolically the Holy House or Temple. In this way the title of Rose Croiz of Heredom would signify the Rosy Cross of the Holy House of Freemasonry. This derivation is now very generally recognized as the true one.
So far Brother Mackey's explanation of the word, but at this point Brother Hawkins observes that according to the view taken in the last paragraph the word should be Hierodom (see also Royal Order of Scotland ).
HERMAIMES.
A corruption of Hermes, found in some of the old Constitutions (see Hermes).
HERMANDAD.
Lennhoff
The Spanish word for Brotherhood. An association of the principal cities of Castile and Aragon bound by a solemn league for the defense of their liberties in time of trouble. The sovereigns approved this brotherhood as agents for suppressing w the increasing power of the nobles, and without cost to the government. The Hermandad was first established in Aragon in the thirteenth century, and in Castile about thirty years later, while, in 1295, thirtyfive cities of Castile and Leon formed a joint confederacy, pledging themselves to take summary vengeance on every robber noble who injured a member of the association. The Santa, or Holy Brotherhood, finally checked so effectually the outrages of the nobles, that Isabella of Castile, in 1496, obtained the sanction of the Cortez to reorganize and extend it over the whole kingdom.
HERMES.
Nederlands
In all the old manuscript records which contain the Legend of the Craft, mention is made of Hermes as one of the founders of Freemasonry. Thus, in the Grand Lodge Manuscript, No. 1, whose date is 1583 and the statement is substantially and almost verbally the same in all the others that "The great Hermarines that was Cubys sonne, the which Cubye was Semmes sonne, that was Noes sonne. This same Hermarines was afterwards called Hernes the father of Wysdome; he found one of the two pillars of stone, and found the science written therein, and he taught it to other men."
There are two persons of the name of Hermes mentioned in sacred history. The first is the divine Hermes, called by the Romans Mercury. Among the Egyptians he was known as Thoth. Diodorus Siculus describes him as the Secretary of Osiris; he is commonly supposed to have been the son of Mizraim, and Cumberland says that he was the same as Osiris. There is, however, much confusion among the mythologists concerning his attributes.
The second was Hermes Trismegistus or the Thrice Great, who was a celebrated Egyptian legislator, priest, and philosopher, who lived in the reign of Ninus, about the year of the world 2670. He is said to have written thirty-six books on theology and philosophy, and six upon medicine, all of which are lost. There are many traditions of him; one of which, related by Eusebius, is that he introduced hieroglyphics into Egypt. This Hermes Trismegistus, although the reality of his existence is doubtful, vvas claimed by the alchemists as the founder of their art, whence it is called the Hermetic Science, and whence we get in Freemasonry, Hermetic Rites and Hermetic Degrees.
It is to him that the Legend of the Craft refers; and, indeed, the York Constitutions, which are of importance, though not probably of the date of 926, assigned to them by Krause, give him that title, and say that he brought the custom of making himself understood by signs with him to Egypt. In the first ages of the Christian church, this mythical Egyptian philosopher was in fact considered as the inventor of everything known to the human intellect. It was fabled that Pythagoras and Plato had derived their knowledge from him, and that he had recorded his inventions on pillars. The Operative Masons, who wrote the old Constitutions, obtained their acquaintance with him from the Polycro7lycon of the monk Ranulf Higden, which was translated from the Latin by Trevisa, and printed by William Caxton in 1482. It is repeatedly quoted in the Cooke Manuscript, whose probable date is the latter part of the fifteenth century, and was undoubtedly familiar to the writers of the other Constitutions.
HERMETI(S)C(H).-.
HERMETIC ART.
HERMETIC BROTHERHOOD OF LUXOR
HERMETISCHE BRUDERSCHAFT DES LICHTS,
HERMETISCHE FREIMAUREREI,
HERMETISCHER ORDEN DER G. D.,
HERMETISCHER RITUS,
HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.
HERMETIC RITE.
HERMETIC SCHOOLS AND MASONRY
HERMETIC STUDENTS .
HERMETISCHE VRIJMETSELARIJ
HERMETISME
HERMETIC ART.
The art or science of Alchemy, so termed from Hermes Trismegistus, who was looked up to by the alchemists as the founder of their art. The Hermetic philosophers say that all the sages of antiquity, such as Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and Pythagoras, were initiated into the secrets of their science; and that the hieroglyphics of Egypt and all the fables of mythology were invented to teach the dogmas of Hermetic philosophy (see Alchemy).
HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.
Pertaining or belonging to that species of philosophy which pretends to solve and explain all the phenomena of nature from the three chemical principles, salt, sulphur, and mercury. Also that study of the sciences as pursued by the Rosicrucian Fraternity. A practice of the arts of alchemy and similar pursuits, involving a duplex symbolism with their peculiar distinctions.
HERMETIC RITE.
A Rite established by Pernetty at Avignon, in France, and more commonly called the Illuminati of Avignon (see Avignon, Illuminati of).
HERMETIC STUDENTS .
See Isis-Uranea Temple.
HERODEM.
See Heredom.
HERODEM, ROYAL ORDER OF.
See Royal Order of Scotland.
HERODEN.
"Heroden," says a manuscript of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, iris a mountain situated in the northwest of Scotland, where the first or metropolitan Lodge of Europe was held." The word is not now used by Masonic writers, and was, undoubtedly, a corruption of Heredom or Harodim, which see.
HEROINE OF JERICHO.
Nederlands
An androgynous (for both sexes) Degree conferred, in America, on Royal Arch Masons, their wives, and daughters. It is intended to instruct its female recipients in the claims which they have upon the protection of their husbands' and fathers' companions, and to communicate to them an effectual method of proving those claims. An instance of friendship extended to the whole family of a benefactress by those whom she had benefited, and of the influence of a solemn contract in averting danger, is referred to in the case of Rahab, the woman of Jericho, from whom the Degree derives its name; and for this purpose the second chapter of the Book of Joshua is read to the candidate. When the Degree is received by a male, he is called a Knight of Jericho, and when by a fernale, she is termed a Heroine. It is a side or honorary Degree, and may be conferred by any Royal Arch Mason on a candidate qualified to receive it.
HERRING, JAMES.
Born in London, England, January 12, 1794; died in France, October 8, 1867; buried in Greenwood Cemetery, New York, October 27, 1867. The family emigrated to America in 1805. James Herring was initiated in Solomon's Lodge, Somerville, New Jersey, in 1816. He was Master of Clinton Lodge, New York City, in 1827, 1828, 1832, and 1834, a period when the anti-Masonic spirit was in its zenith. He, with the remaining members of Clinton Lodge, united with Saint John's, No. 1, and met in union December 18, 1834. He instituted the formation of the Lodge of Strict Observance, which was constituted by Grand Lodge, December 27, 1843, Right Worshipful Brother Herring being the Master, with which Lodge he remained until his death. On September 3, 1528, he was appointed Assistant Grand Secretary, and on June 3, 1829, was elected Grand Secretary, which office he retained until 1846. He sided with the Phillips or Herring Grand Body at the split in Grand Lodge on June 5, 1849, and remained its Grand Secretary until 1858, when, in June, the two Grand Lodges were fused. He was a delegate to the Convention of Grand Lodges held in Washington on March 7, 1842.
Brother Herring delivered the oration, on August 25, 1847, in Saint John's Lodge, in commemoration of the Most Worshipful Grand Masters, Morgan Leavis and Alex. H. Robertson, and other eminent Freemasons, on the occasion of the First Lodge of Sorrow held in America in the English language. He was exalted in Jerusalem Chapter, No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, New York City, January 5, 1817, dubbed a Knight Templar in Columbian Commandery, No. 1, New York, and was received a Sovereign Grand Inspector General, Thirty-third Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Brother Herring was a Past High Priest and Past Grand Secretary of the General Grand Chapter of the United States, Past Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of the United States, and Past Grand Representative of the Orients of Brazil and France. Grand Historian Ossian Lang on page 126, History of Freemasonry in the State of New York, 1922, says "James Herring proved a tower of strength in the trying days. His untiring zeal and masterly management did much to pilot the Grand Lodge through the night of storm."
HESED.
A corruption of Chesed, which see.
HESSE-CASSEL.
Freemasonry appears to have been founded in this Electorate in 1743, by a Lodge at Marburg, called Zu den drei Löwen, or Three Lions, which afterward took the name of Marc Aurel zum flammenden Stern, or of the Blazing Star. A Lodge also appears to have existed in 1771, at Cassel, called Zum blauen Löwen. In 1817 the Grand Mother Lodge of Hesse-Cassel was founded, which lasted until 1821, when the government closed all Lodges. In 1849 one was reopened by General von Helmschwerdt, but it was closed in 1855. It is now understood that this Lodge has been reopened.
HESSE DARMSTADT, GRAND DUCHY OF.
German state. An early Masonic Lodge, Die drei Disteln, or Three Thistles, here said to have been first organized at Mayence in 1765. The Lodges in Darmstadt were in the Frankfort Eclectic Union and formed the Grand Lodge Zur Eintracht or of Concord, at Darmstadt in 1845, which is now called Die grosse Loge des Freimaurer Bundes zur Eintracht in Darns stadt or The Grand Lodge of Masonic Bodies of Concord at Darmstadt.
HEXAGON.
A figure of six equal sides constitutes a part of the Camp in the Scottish Degree of Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. Stieglitz, in an essay on the symbols of Freemasonry, published in 1825, in the Altenburg Zeitschrift, says that the hezagon formed by six triangles, whose apices converge to a point, making the accompanying figure, is a symbol of the universal creation, the six points crossing the central point; thus assimilating the hexagon to the older symbol of the point within a circle.
HEXAGRAM.
From two words of the Greek language meaning siz and written. A geometrical figure made up of two interlaced equilateral triangles, supposed to possess mysterious powers and frequently used as a symbol of the Pythagorean school. It is also known as the Seal of Solomon and the Shield of David (see Magic Squares).
HEXAGRAM.
HEXAGRAM.2
Symbool
Lennhoff,
Nederlands
See Magic Squares.
HEXAPLA.
Greek for sixfold. A Bible arranged with six versions in parallel columns, sometimes spoken of as the Hexaplar.-Text of the Holy Scriptures.
H. G. W.
Initials of an expression frequently used by visiting English Brethren to convey the hearty good wishes of the Master and Brethren of their own Lodge to the officers and members of the Lodge visited.
HIBBUT-HAKKEBER.
Means the Beating of the sepulcher- A Mohammedan belief as to the state of
the soul after death. The form and mode of judgment is explained in Al Koran. The sarcophagus of an orthodox Moslem is so constructed that the deceased can sit upright when notified by his angel of the approach of the examiners, who question him as to his faith in the unity of God and the mission of Mohammed Satisfactory answers insure peace; but if to the contrary, he is beaten on the temples with iron maces until he roars with anguish. The two angels, Monker and Naku, then press the earth upon the body, which is gnawed and stung by ninety-nine seven-headed dragons until the day of resurrection. As the Mohammedan was an imitative religion, we naturally look for the origin of its customs and beliefs in older faiths; thus the Hibbut-Hakkeber is found in the Jewish, which taught that the angel of death would sit on a new-made grave, the soul would return to the body, which would stand up, the angel striking it thrice with a chain, half iron and half fire; at the sirst blow all the limbs were loosened, at the second the bones vere dispersed, but gathered again by angels, and the third stroke reduces it to dust. This need not occur to those who died on the Sabbath or in the land of Israel (see Gilgul).
HIEROGLYPHICS.
From the two Greek words which signify the engraving of sacred things. Hieroglyphics are properly the expressions of ideas by representations of visible objects, and the word is more peculiarly applied to that species of picturewriting which was in use among the ancient Egyptians, whose priests by this means concealed from the profane that knowledge which they communicated only to their initiates. Browne says (Master Rey, page 87), "The usages amongst Masons have ever corresponded with those of the ancient Egyptians. Their Philosophers, unwilling to expose their Mysteries to vulgar Curiosity, couched the Principles of their Learning and Philosophy under Hieroglyphical Figures and Allegorical Emblems, and expressed their notions of Government by Signs and Symbols, which they communicated to the Magic or wise Men only, who were solemnly obligated never to reveal them."
HIEROGRAMMATISTS.
The title of those priests in the Egyptian mysteries to whom were confided the keeping of the sacred records. Their duty was also to instruct the neophytes in the ritual of initiation, and to secure its accurate observance.
HIERONYMITES.
A Hermit Order established in the fourteenth century, formed from the third Order of Saint Francis. Followers of Thomas of Siena, who established themselves among the wild districts of the Sierra Morena, and so forming a community, obtained approval of Pope Gregory XI in 1374.
HIEROPHANT.
From the Greek, tepo¡ßµ¥¢ which signifies one who explains the sacred things. The Hierophant was, in the Ancient Mysteries, what the Master is in a Masonic Lodge—he who instructed the neophyte or candidate in the doctrines which it was the object of the Mysteries to inculcate.
HIEROPHANT or MYSTAGOG.
The Chief Priest of the Eleusinians, selected from the grade of Eumolpidens He was selected for his imposing personal presence, and his dignity was sustained by the grandeur of his attire, his head encircled with a costly diadem. He was required to be perfect in animal structure, without blemish, and in the vigor of life, with a commanding voice. He was presumed to be surrounded by a halo of holiness. His duty was to maintain and also expound the laws. He was the introductor of the novices into the Eleusinian Temple, and passed them from the lesser into the greater mysteries, where he became the Demiurg, and Impressed the initiate, while instructing him, by his manner and voice. His title of Mystagog was awarded because he alone revealed the secret or mystery.
HIEROPHYLAX.
Title of the Guardian of the holy vessels and vestments, as used in several Rites.
HIGH DEGREES.
Not long after the introduction of Freemasonry on the Continent, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, three new Degress were invented and named, Ecossais, Novice, and Knight Templar. These gave the impulse to the invention of many other Degrees, all above the Master's Degree. To these the name of Hautes Grades or High Degrees was given. Their number is very great. Many of them now remain only in the catalogues of Masonic collectors, or are known merely by their titles; while others still exist, and constitute the body of the different rites. The word is not properly applicable to the Royal Arch or Degrees of the English and American systems, which are intimately connected with the Master's Degree, but is confined to the additions made to Ancient Craft Freemasonry by continental ritualists. These Degrees have, from time to time, met with great opposition as innovations on Ancient Freemasonry, and some of the Grand Lodges have not only rejected them, but forbidden their cultivation by those who are under their obedience. But, on the other hand, they have been strenuously supported by many who have believed the Ancient Craft Degrees do not afford a sufficient field for the expansion of Masonic thought. A writer in the London Freemosons Magazine (of 1858, i, 1167) has expressed the true theory on this subject in the following language:
It is the necessary consequence of an exclusive addietion to Craft Masonry that the intellectual and artistic development of the minds of the members must suffer the ritual sink to formalism, and the administration fail into the hands of the lower members of the Order, by a diminution in the initiations of men of high intellectual calibre, and by the inactivity, or practical secession, of those within the Order. The suppression of the higher Degrees, that is, of the higher Masonry, may be agreeable to those who are content to possess the administrative functions of the Order without genuine qualifications for their exercise, but it is a policy most fatal to the true progress of the Order. When Masonry has so fallen, to restore the higher Degrees to their full activity is the measure essential for restoring the efficacy of Masonry within and without. Thus, in the last century when Craft Masonry had spread rapidly over the whole of Europe, a reaction set in, till the heads of the Order brought the high Degrees into vigor, and they continued to exercise the most powerful influence..
HIGHEST OF HILLS.
Lennhoff
In the Old York Lectures was the following passage: "Before we had the convenience of such well-formed Lodges, the Brethren used to meet on the highest of hills and in the lowest of valleys. And if they were asked why they met so high, so low, and so very secret, they replied the better to see and observe all that might ascend or descend; and in case a Cowan should appear, the Tiler might give timely notice to the Worshipful Master, by which means the Lodge might be closed, the jewels put by, thereby preventing any unlawful intrusion." In commenting on this, Doctor Oliver (Landmarks i, page 319) says: "Amongst other observances which were common to both the true and spurious Freemasonry, we find the practice of per forming commemorative rites on the highest of hills and in the lowest of valleys. This practice was in high esteem amongst all the inhabitants of the ancient world, from a fixed persuasion that the summit of mountains made a nearer approach to the celestial deities, and the vallev or holy cavern to the infernal and submarine gods than the level country; and that, therefore, the prayers of mortals were more likely to be heard in such situations." Hutchinson also says: "The highest hills and the lowest valleys were from the earliest times esteemed sacred, and it was supposed that the Spirit of God was peculiarly diffusive in those places."
The sentiment was expressed in the language of the earliest lectures of the eighteenth century, and is still retained, without change of words, in the lectures of the present day. But introduced, at first, undoubtedly with special reference to the ancient worship on high places, and the celebration of the mysteries in the caverns of initiation, it is now retained for the purpose of giving warning and instruction as to the necessity of security and secrecy in the performance of our mystical rites, and this is the reason assigned in the modern lectures. And, indeed, the notion of thus expressing the necessity of secrecy seems to have been early adopted, while that of the sacredness of these places was beginning to be lost sight of; for in a lecture of the middle of the eighteenth century, or earlier, it was said that "the Lodge stands Upon holy ground, or the highest hill or lowest vale, or in the Vale of Jehosophat, or any other secret place." The sacredness of the spot is, it is true, here adverted to, but there is an emphasis given to its secrecy.
This custom of meeting on the "highest hills and in the lowest valleys," says Brother E. E. Cawthorne, seems to have prevailed at Aberdeen, Scotland, for they say: "We ordain that no Lodge be holden within a dwelling-house where there is people living in it, but in the open fields, except it be ill weather, and then let a house be chosen that no person shall heir or sie us." Also, "We ordain lykewayes that all entering prentieses be entered in our ancient outfield Lodge in the mearnes in the Parish of Negg, at the Stonnies at the poynt of the Ness." It is also of interest that Montandon Lodge No. 22, Grand Lodge of Chile, was consecrated in November 1927, at Potrerillos, some ten thousand feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains and named after George Montandon, the constructing engineer who lost his life in building the railroad there in 1908. The Revisor is reminded of attending the consecration of a Masonic Lodge on the top floor of the pioneer skvscraper, the old Masonic Temple, later the Capitol building, a 355 foot structure, at Chicago, Illinois.