RITE OF HERODOM OF KILWINNING

THIRD DEGREE

M:. ADEPT COMMANDER
OF
SAINT ANDRE

THIRD DEGREE
M:.ADEPT COMMANDER
OF
SAINT ANDRE

WARNINGS

To obtain this grade, one of the most important in Masonry, it is necessary to justify having been legally received as a companion Adept Prince of Merey or to possess equivalent grades in some recognized foreign rites such as those of:
M:. Andrew of Scotland Patriarch of the Crusades 28:. of the ancient and accepted rite

True Mason Adept 58:. degree of the Rite of Misraim
Hermetic Mason 73:. of the metropolitan chapter of France
Chevalier des Argaunautes 5:. of the Academy of True Masons
Follower of the Orient on the 4th of the order of the
Master Templars (?) Coëns 6:. degree of the Elus Coëns

Provided that the neophyte has previously been affiliated companion apprentice Prince Adept in the form required by the general regulations of the order.

This rank has two main purposes, one to perfect what is imperfect and the other to unite with the knights of Palestine in the event that fortune comes to favor these funds, they can return to these goods which they once possessed. . The Commanding Adepts of M:. André must help them with their help and participate in their good, especially since it is proven that they all descend from these true Masons who had conquered and possessed property in the Holy Land. Their misfortunes as well as their triumph must be common.

DECORATION OF THE COUNCIL TABLE

The hanging of the room is in the 4 colors black, white, aurora and red and the room decorated with 16 bronze columns one at each corner, two to the east one on the right and the other to the left of the throne, two to the west placed at equal distance from the door and the angle of the room, four to the south and four to the north, these last 8 will be decorated so that by their means each side is divided into 5 equal parts.

Between the columns will be emblematic figures:
in the east we will see the sun in transparency on the left, in the middle and above the throne the radiant delta and the moon on the right.

to the south will be starting eastward: 1:. Hermes, 2:. a Phoenix, 3:. Osiris, 4:. a crow, 5:. Mercury.
to the north from the east we will place: 1:. abundance, 2:. a dove, 3:. Isis, 4:. a dragon, 5:. Haspo(?).
to the west behind the first supervisor Horus, behind the second supervisor Thypon and above the door a painting representing the chemist's laboratory.

The painting spread out on the floor will represent a cross of Saint Andrew. Between the lower branches of this cross will be a cornucopia. Between the left side branches a crown and a sceptre. Between the right side branches a book a lyre and a chisel and above the upper branches four feet from the center a luminous triangle in the middle of which is an eye image of divine providence.

All FF:. placed in the ordinary order will have at the collar a white ribbon cord 4 fingers wide and passed in saltire on it will be embroidered in gold and silver some emblems of the rank and at the bottom will be suspended a gold triangle in the middle of which will be an eye in enamel .

OPENING OF WORK

NOTE:
The president is called Excellent and powerful Sovereign, he will be seated to the east on a throne and will have in front of him a table whose front angles will be 120 degrees and those of the back 60 degrees. It will be covered with a green carpet with a fringe in the four colors black, white, aurora and red alternately. On the table will be placed a scepter, a sword and the statutes of the order.

Wardens will have the title Excellent and Perfect, First and Second Lieutenants. They will be placed to the west and will also have a quadrangular table in front of them. The rest of FF:. will be named excellent and perfect commanders each being placed in the usual order. The work will be opened as follows.

The power:. Souv:. strikes a blow with his sceptre, the lieutenants respond successively with another blow with the pommel of their sword and the Souv:. then asks them the following questions:

Q: Excellent and perfect lieutenants, Excellent and perfect commanders, I have brought you together to work on the great work, but before we do it, it is important, excellent lieutenants, that you be assured that no layman or mason of lesser rank can hear us. To this end, therefore, take the precautions which prudence suggests.

The lieutenants execute the order both inside and outside then they say successively:

A: Powerful Sovereign, he is in the council room and even in that of the lost steps only of the Master Adepts.

Q: How old are you?

A: Sixteen years.

Q: What time is it?

A: Dawn announces to me the first hour of the day, when we usually begin our work.

The Sovereign M:. continues as follows:

Q: Since the first hour of the day calls us back to work and we can devote ourselves to the great work without the prying eye of the profane being able to defile the sanctity of our mysteries, excellent and perfect first and second lieutenants announce to all the FFs:. commanders employed in your respective workshops that I will open the supreme council of M:. Followers.

The announcement successively made by the lieutenant, the Power:. Souv:. strikes 4 blows which all in turn repeat one and the other lieutenant:..

Le Souv:. hits another 4 more then he says:

Q: To me Excellent and Perfect Commanders.

He makes the sign and we applaud by 16, all having then said four times Hosana, the Souv:. strikes a knock and thus announces the opening of the council.

Q: The supreme council is open, take your seats excellent commanders.

We then read the layout of the previous works, we sanction the writing, we introduce the visitors and then we proceed to the reception.

RECEPTION

Everything being arranged for the reception and the introduced visitors, the F:. preparer goes to look for the recipient whom he has placed in advance in the room of reflections. He takes off his weapons, covers him from head to waist with white gauze, takes him by the hand and leads him to the door of the council where he knocks as a companion Adept 15 knocks.

One announces to the Power:. Souv:. knocking at the door of the council as a Prince of Mercy. So the Souv:. knocks a knock and says:

Q: Excellent and perfect first mate, show who the Prince of Mercy is who allows himself to appear here and ask him what he claims.

The lieutenants having carried out the order say:

A: Power:. Souv:. the horse:. NAME companion Adept asks the council for instructions on how to achieve the highest perfection.

The Souv:. then says:

Q: Excellent Commanders, you know how important it is for us to admit only active and virtuous workers to our work. Malicious people would expose us to inextricable dangers, careless people would hinder our operations and without fruit we would lose precious moments. We only receive here men known for a long time or endorsed by someone of us.

The companion who presents himself does not yet offer us any guarantee that can authorize the admission he is requesting; he can only make up for it by the testimony of one of us. Excellent Commanders, is there anyone on the council who knows him well enough to tell us if this companion is worthy of working for the great work?

All the commanders having by their silence testified not to want to give this assurance, the Power:. Souv:. knocks and says:

Q: Excellent and Perfect first lieutenant, have the companion who presents himself announce that none of us know him well enough to solicit in his favor the pardon he is asking for and that if he does not find someone outside the council who answers for him, he cannot hope to be introduced.

This announcement comes through the lieutenants at F:. preparer who responds in these words:

R: If my declaration can suffice for the council, I offer myself as guarantor of both the morality and the laudable dispositions of the recipient whom I am presenting to him.

This answer reaches the Souv:.. He says:

Q: Excellent and perfect Commanders do you believe that the guarantee offered by the T:. Ex:. F:. preparer can suffice in this circumstance?

All the commanders make the sign of acquiescence with the sword. So the Souv:. introduced the candidate. It is placed between the lieutenants and the F:. preparer is on his left then the Souv:. knocks and says:

Q: Excellent F:. preparer, do you know enough about the candidate you present to us to assure us that he is worthy of being admitted to our work.

The F:. preparer responds:

Then the Souv:. asks the recipient the following questions and the F:. preparer helps him with the answers.

Q: Companion what is your name and where did you work?
A: May:. Souv:. my name is Gibeon, I worked for sixteen years on the great work and my acquaintances raised me to the third heaven.
Q: What are you asking?
A: Instructions for achieving the highest perfection.
Q: What rights do you have to achieve this?
A: The purity of my intentions and the sincere desire to be useful to all men but especially to my FF:.

So the Souv:. says:

Q: Mate, the instructions you seek are of the utmost importance; through them one attains supreme bliss. Wealth, strength, health, amenities of mind and body such are the ordinary fruits. I must nevertheless observe that one cannot enjoy all these advantages at the same time. Talents excite envy and persecution; the sweetest enjoyment leads naturally to disgust. Just as man cannot unite all the physical advantages, so he cannot possess all the gifts of the spirit. Two roads are open to you, one easy, sprinkled with roses, leads to fortune and consequently to honors, but imperceptibly leads away from the love of virtues; the other, rugged and strewn with thorns, leads to perfection and one advances there only by imposing new privations on oneself at each step. The great work to which we devote ourselves will open the first to you and our precepts will guide you in the second. Here opulence and adulation would be the price of your weaknesses; there poverty and contempt would accompany a pure conscience. Companion, choose from these routes the most suitable to your tastes and trust that we will be pleased to open it to you immediately. The great work to which we devote ourselves will open the first to you and our precepts will guide you in the second. Here opulence and adulation would be the price of your weaknesses; there poverty and contempt would accompany a pure conscience. Companion, choose from these routes the most suitable to your tastes and trust that we will be pleased to open it to you immediately. The great work to which we devote ourselves will open the first to you and our precepts will guide you in the second. Here opulence and adulation would be the price of your weaknesses; there poverty and contempt would accompany a pure conscience. Companion, choose from these routes the most suitable to your tastes and trust that we will be pleased to open it to you immediately.

If the recipient would prefer the road that leads to worldly goods, the Souv:. would say to him:

Q: Companion, your choice does not surprise me at all, the majority of men think like you, trampling on the laws of honor, or prefer the false power of a moment to the real happiness of an entire eternity. However, I did not assume that such an error was yours; I was far from imagining that you would have so disdained the salutary maxims that truth made you hear when the Princes of Mercy admitted you to their august association. Oh what! would you still hold on to the old man of whom you then seemed to rid yourself? no doubt, you have shown yourself too well so far not to persevere in the wise determination you had taken. Too much haste in your last answer no doubt made you pronounce what your heart abjures.

The recipient is seated. A deep silence reigns and after a few minutes the Souv:. asks him again. If he persisted in giving preference to riches he would be excluded. In the contrary case or in the supposition where from the first time he had made a satisfactory answer the Souv:. will say to him:

Q: The choice you have just made praises your discernment and disposes you to grant yourself a place among us. But it is not enough for us to want to do good, we must also know how to do it. The intention to rescue misfortune is certainly laudable, but it would only turn to your glory without being advantageous to the unfortunate if we could not realize them. It is then that it is necessary to have the objects which can relieve it and especially to know the manner of presenting them to him. Before probing what your faculties may be in this regard, it is appropriate that we make sure of your discretion on the important discoveries that we are going to communicate to you.

Approach companion and come lend (?) hands an obligation that reassures us about your feelings.

The F:. preparer leads by the steps of the rank of companion the neophyte at the foot of the altar and makes him kneel, his right hand on the regulations of the order. The Souv:. put all the FF:. standing and to order and invites the recipient to pronounce with him the following obligation:

OBLIGATION

To the glory of the Grand Architect of the universe in the presence of the excellent and powerful commanders here present, I NAME of my free will swear and promise, to be faithful to the government under whose protection I breathe, to be subject to the statutes and regulations of the association which admits me on this day, to help with my purse or my advice the unfortunate of whatever dogma or country they may be, finally to be an exact observer of the divine, civil and political laws of the country that I live and devote myself to human misery. If I ever violate this obligation in any part, God help me.

This loaned bond, the Souv:. has the recipient driven to the west and while he is there, the M:. ceremonies unrolls the grade table on the floor. This makes the Souv:. said to the F:. preparer who has continued to support the recipient:

Q: F:. preparer remove the recipient's veil so that from now on he can direct himself in the career that is open to him. Drive east by the march of the rank, and by the use he will make of the freedom granted him we can judge what he will do next.

The F:. preparer leads the recipient to the table and makes him perform the step of the grade by making him carry the right foot then the left foot both at right angles on the cornucopia drawn on the table. He then makes him place both feet in the same way but starting from the left foot on the crown and the scepter of the painting. By the third step from the right foot he stops on the book, the sphere and other scientific instrument. Finally by the fourth from the left foot he goes about six inches below the luminous triangle and waits there for the Souv:. address him the following words:

Q: The walk you have just taken is entirely mysterious. The first step you took on it proves to me that you know how to appreciate true goods. Vain riches were offered to you, you trampled them under foot to acquire more precious ones. Penetrate from the first instructions given to you, you have shown only contempt for this metal which is often only the cause of vices.

The second step you have taken is the continuation of the previous one when one knows how to appreciate the riches of this world one also brings to its true value the true honor of commanding one's FF:..

True greatness is not in the rank you occupy, it is only in the feelings that guide you. True happiness cannot even be found there. There is neither purity nor rest for the monarch, everything to his people, perhaps not to him. If at times he gives himself up to the most innocent pleasure, his enjoyment is disturbed and like Titus he fears that he has used for his private satisfaction a minute that he could have devoted to the happiness of others. The greater the duties, the more undoubtedly it is glorious to fulfill them, but the more difficult they become. Let us revere and pity the Kings but let us beware of ambitioning their fate.

Trampling on riches and ranks you knew very well that they are not always a source of error. Gold is needed to found useful establishments, it is needed to rescue an honest man from poverty. To protect innocence you need power. However you abandoned it the moment you had to choose between it is purity of soul. This sacrifice may have cost you. However, it is nothing compared to the one you made on the third step. You could by brilliant, by vast knowledge astonish the universe and live in the future centuries. This glory only seemed like a smoke to you if it did not ensure someone's happiness.

The figure that your steps have respected in this mysterious journey is the emblem of the divine providence of this soul of the world which watches over the preservation of all beings. She is the image of this wisdom that the Great Architect of the universe does not refuse our ardent prayers, of this incorruptible guide who cannot deceive you and who must henceforth direct you in all actions of your life. Finally, it reminds you of those innate principles of justice and equity that the Eternal has engraved in our hearts, of that morality which, becoming the object of your meditations, must regulate your conduct and protect you from the perils which constantly threaten you.

Come now and receive the reward that your constancy and your successes have earned you.

The F:. preparer leads the neophyte to the east, makes him kneel at the foot of the throne and to the order of companion. The Souv:. knock and say:

Q: Excellent and perfect commanders stand and order.

He places his sword above the head of the recipient and says:

In the name of God and of Saint Andrew of Scotland with the consent of the members of this supreme council and by the powers delegated to me I receive you and constitute M: . adept Commanders of Saint Andrew of Scotland to enjoy throughout the globe and in perpetuity the rights and privileges attached to this sublime rank.

The Souv:. strikes with his scepter 16 blows on the sword then he raises the recipient and kisses him 4 times and gives him the words signs and touches of this grade.

WORDS

There are 2 sacred words, one of request, which is Keborah (?) which means sepulchre, and the other of response which is Thekomach (?) which means resurrection.

There are 4 passwords namely: Adamah ----- earth, Majim ---- water, Rouach ---- air, Esch ----- fire.

SIGN

To put oneself in order, the last three fingers of each hand are crossed, the two index fingers and the thumb elongated forming by the meeting of their extremity and the distance from their root an angle of 30 degrees, the thumbs forming at their extremity by the distance of the index fingers the opening of an angle of 90 degrees, finally move the palms away from each other as much as possible.

To form the sign we first come to order and in this position we swing our hands twice to the right and twice to the left then we come to order.

TOUCH

After having given the claw, we reverse the wrist 4 times, the left hand on the shoulder then we kiss each other 4 times while saying the 4 passwords alternately.

The Souv:. having given the recipient the words signs and touching sends him to the West to be recognized there.

The recognition made, the new commander is placed at the head of the column of the south and the Souv:. address him the following words:

Q: Before communicating more important secrets to you, we wanted to make sure that you could put them to good use later, what the wise use to make people happy almost always becomes a source of disorder in the hands of the selfish. and corruption. Gold, this dangerous metal that the vulgar envy digs under his feet a precipice that he can only avoid with difficulty and the more he advances in this maze, the more he loses hope of ever getting out of it. The wise man who knows how to curb his desires dedicates the fruit of his privations to public utility. Gold becomes in his hands a precious source and misfortune a consolation, the weak a support and the sick an assured remedy. This metal can therefore be used,

If in the previous grade we diverted your attention to a purely moral object, if then we told you that the philosophical stone is only the fulfillment of duties, we wanted to make sure of the use you would make of the great riches. that we will try to provide you. This ordeal was all the more essential denying the wicked the knowledge of these important secrets. Only the children of the true light can claim it because only they can use it wisely.

While waiting for you to be given the instruction you need, we are going to tell you with what pleasure we see you sitting among us. Go west and you will receive proof of our esteem for you.

The M:. ceremonies takes the recipient to the West. The Souv:. announced that we will applaud at his reception.

The announcement made is applauded by the battery of the rank. The recipient thanks. His thanks are covered. The Souv:. has him replaced at the head of the southern column and invites the F:. speaker to explain to him the system of the great work. What this excellent brother does in these terms:

NEW DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEM OF THE GREAT WORK

O you!, whose sincere desire is to make yourselves useful to humanity, listen to my voice and you will then be able to consult your generous impulses. The more the art that I teach is marvelous and the more it requires not to work in vain and of perseverance and activity and to give in to your impatience I enter immediately into the matter.

Begin to fully understand the instructions given to you in previous grades. Then prepare the mercury and your work will be half done. I do not hide from you that there are still many difficulties to overcome to achieve this first operation which is undoubtedly the most difficult of our work, but remember Excellent Brothers and never forget that great courage does not allow himself to be beaten down by the obstacles he will encounter, that on the contrary he makes it an indispensable duty to surmount them.

By scrupulously following nature's route, you will encounter the same obstacles which she encounters in the course of her operations, and you will surmount them as she surmounts them.

When you have performed this first operation, forget the pain it will have caused you; for what remains is so little that it will be done in time and almost without work. It is thus that a tree, after having endeavored to grow fruit, waits patiently for the sun to ripen it. While waiting for this maturity, all it does is preserve for them that radical humidity which is all the more necessary to them as its should they run out, the sun would burn them instead of ripening them.

However difficult this first outline may be, one nevertheless succeeds in it, when one behaves with careful caution and circumspection. He who follows the paths of nature and only wants to help her is a wise man who succeeds in all his designs, because he forms none that can exceed his strength; on the contrary, the one who claims to constrain nature is a madman who fails in all his projects because he conceives them all above his powers. O you who will be discreet enough to ask nature only what she is in a state to give yourselves, you will deserve to share in his gifts, you are worthy of his liberality. Listen to my words, study my lessons, take advantage of my advice and you will be happy.

Take raw mercury, cook it according to the art, that is to say fix what is volatile in it and volatilize what is fixed in it, make liquid what is dry and dry what is liquid; then you will have in your power the true philosophical mercury. But above all, do not work hastily, hurry slowly; everything needs time.

Our common mother, matter, always regulates her productions according to the annual course of the sun, which is the real father. Take all the necessary precautions and nothing more. The art of making stone derives more from the simplicity of nature than from the eagerness of the artist.

Be often an idle spectator, and occupy yourselves in these moments of inaction only to consider the complaisance that nature has for art and to admire its subjection to the will of the children of science.

As for the regime of fire, take care to proportion the heat to the resistance of the mercury. If it is too weak, it will stagnate rather than cook, if it is too strong, what is volatile will evaporate; so that in either case you will miss your shot and have worked in vain. So study nature, penetrate its most occult secrets in order to come to the knowledge of its central fire, because that is the most difficult part of the art. And when the degree of fire is known to you, work boldly and without fear of error. However for greater safety which prevents you from placing a thermometer in your laboratory? whoever takes every possible precaution is assured of success.

You will know the perfect coction of the stone when the mercury after having blackened, then after whitening will become orange in color and finally the color of fire. You will make a powder of it that you will keep as long as you want without fear of it corrupting, dissolving or evaporating; and this marvelous powder will be useful to you for all that you will undertake.1

Matter is one and from its unity come 3 kingdoms, the mineral, the vegetable and the animal. This is what made Plato say these mysterious words: everything comes from unity and everything returns to unity.

The true philosophers, the worthy children of the three times great Hermès know perfectly this material unique in its principle and triune in its productions. They know it is everywhere and that they cannot take a step without finding it in their path. Also, when they need it they are certain to find it, so everywhere, at hand. But for the rest of men, they see it without knowing it and touch it, without feeling it. How great are the number of those who seek it! and how little of those who possess it!

The greed of wealth, the greed of fraudsters and generally all purely human views, are like so many torches which dazzle men and prevent them from seeing the truth; or like thick veils which conceal from their eyes the pearls and diamonds which surround them and which they continually trample under their feet. My Brother, do you want to achieve this through the knowledge of our philosophy? Do you want to be initiated into our holy mysteries? Begin by stripping yourself of such sordid and mercenary self-interest that oppresses you relentlessly,

Of the 3 regions of nature leave the animal and the plant to the ignorant vulgar and attach yourself only to the mineral. Among so many minerals that nature produces, there is one unique one in which is locked up the great secret. Do not hesitate to pierce its sides and seek in the depths of its entrails this hidden fountain which conceals a water which is your true philosophical mercury. This water is the bath of the elements, it is in it that they are united and mixed by nature and determined to the mineral kind. You will know this mysterious water by its qualities, it is neither hot, nor cold, nor dry, nor humid or rather it is all together hot cold dry and humid. It contains within itself these contrary qualities, it heats without burning, cools without freezing, moistens without wetting and dries without altering. Finally, this water is the philosophical sea, on which the children of light sail without fear of any danger and where the profane never set foot without being shipwrecked; worthy punishment for their temerity.

Having this water which is our mercury, unique principle of our work, as it is of the seven metals, you have everything you need, but before possessing it, you must have this salt which is our mine. Hey! what is this salt, if not this mineral which contains within itself this water of which I am speaking to you and which for this very reason we call Venus hermaphrodite, that is to say, male and female. Indeed she is male because she is sulfur and female because she is mercury. Like sulfur it is hot and dry which suits the male gender. She is cold and wet which relates to the female gender.

Worthy children of the light, never forget these mysterious words: everything comes from unity and everything returns to unity because they contain all our secret; and as matter is divided into 3 kinds, mineral, vegetable and animal, so our mysterious water is composed of 3 parts, a body, a soul and a spirit. Now the composition of our philosopher's stone consists solely in the fact that its principles being well prepared, the body is subdivided into the spirit, and the spirit is fixed in the body, entirely uniting its soul to it; which happens by making the body robust, that subtle and penetrating mind and that soul powerful. Then from this preparation, simple in its effect, but triple in its subject, since it is a question of preparing this body, soul and spirit; as nature never remains at rest until it has achieved its ends, so our matter does not take long to corrupt itself, in order to engender itself anew. Corruption is known in the black color and generation in the white color which is called by allusion to these two colors the crow and the dove. With a little more patience and work, the white color changes to orange then to red and then you possess all that our art has that is most precious. I would not amuse myself here by urging you to make proper use of the advantages of our secrecy, for I am very convinced that it will always be impenetrable to those whose intention is not right. I say more if by the greatest misfortune that can happen to me,

The instruction I have just given you will doubtless not dissipate all your uncertainties. I have put you on the path; it is up to you to stay there and complete a work that I have only sketched out. The great work can only be the fruit of hard work and not the result of maintenance. Listen and take advantage of the slightest clue, an apparently insignificant word excites in us a confused idea and this idea leads to reflections which sometimes produce happy discoveries. These are my F:. truths from which you will later reap the fruits if you persevere both in the practice of the virtues and in the study of the secrets of nature. May the G:. Arch:. hasten the end of your research and make you discover a secret that I cannot fully reveal.



Q: What are you asking?
A: Instructions for achieving the highest perfection.
Q: What right do you have to claim it?
A: The purity of my intentions.
Q: What art can lead to perfection?
A: Self-knowledge.
Q: What more do you want?
A: By reaching perfection I would also like to make myself useful to others by sacrifices.
Q: How can you help them?
A: In two ways. One by providing health to the sick and the other by giving relief to the destitute.
Q: How do you expect to do so many things at once.
A: By the great work.
Q: What is the great work?
A: The great work is science par excellence, the secret of secrets. It is this marvelous operation which purifies bodies, brings mixtures to the highest point of perfection, enlightens minds, elevates understanding, which nature without art or art without nature would undertake in vain.
Q: What does it take to work on the great work?
A: Two things are needed purity of heart and philosophical matter.
Q: What is this material?
A: Philosophical matter is the quintessence of sublunary matter. She is incorruptible and the preserver of the bodies of this world. It is the vegetable principle of all things, the soul of the elements, which preserves the mixtures from corruption and gives them the degree of perfection which suits each species and which can nevertheless be taken from them by the aid of art and be communicated to the three kingdoms of nature. Finally it is this seed of body which descends continuously from heaven to earth and rises again and again.
Q: Is this material divisible?
A: Although one in essence, it can be considered under three aspects and then it is called sun, moon and mercury, which made the philosophers say that three were in unity and that the union of the numbers three and one formed that of four was mysterious.
Q: What is the sun?
A: The sun is the fixed part of matter. It is the male who generates, the agent who determines, the sulfur finally which acting on the mercurial matter gives it the degree of coction necessary to operate successfully.
Q: What is the moon?
A: This daughter of Saturn named Diana, Isis or Venus and who in the operation performs the office of female is a mercurial and volatile water which, united to sulfur or the sun, receives its action.
Q:
A: It is that viscous creamy mineral vapor incombustible dross and congealed in the pores of the earth into a homogeneous liquor. It is a fluid that does not wet. A sperm, a seed, a solvent which prepares the dissoluble body to reach the perfection of the magisterium finally it is an acid salt which easily dissipates in the fire, dissolves the metals and reduces their spirit of power in action.
Q: Where does the material come from?
A: Saturnian water such as that of hot baths, mineral waters or that which filters through the pores of the earth and from which precious stones are formed.
Q: Is only this material needed to compose the great work?
A: In addition to the vase that is sealed during the operation and which must be of glass, the cleanest material for obtaining the subtle, volatile and metallic spirits of matter, it is also necessary to use fire which alone can bring about the various changes. what matter feels.
Q: What kind of fire is this?
A: This fire is certainly not what the vulgar name. Thus it is not this destructive agent which decomposes instead of creating. The only fire we should employ is vaporizing, digesting, continual, subtle, surrounding, surrounded, airy, enclosed, incombustible, energizing, metallic and sulphurous.
Q: How should it be used?
A: By graduating the heat according to the progress of the operation which is divided into four periods. In the first the heat must be that of the sun in December, in the second that of this star in March, in the third that of June and in the fourth that of August this passage must be done little by little but continuously.
Q: How many operations does the construction of a great work require?
A: Twelve
1 calcination 2 freezing
3 fixation 4 dissolution
5 digestion 6 distillation
7 sublimation 8 separation
9 incineration 10 fermentation
11 multiplication 12 projection
these operations are reduced to four main ones:
1 solution 2 ablution
3 fixation 4 reunion
Q: What is calcination?
A: It is the purification and the pulverization of the bodies by means of the external fire which disunites the parts by separating or evaporating the humidity which bound them and made a solid body.
Q: What is freezing?
A: Freezing or coagulation is a hardening of a soft thing by drying out the moisture and fixing the volatile.
Q: What is binding?
A: The action or operation by which one makes fixed a volatile thing of its nature.
Q: What is dissolution?
A: It is the reduction of a body into its first matter, that is to say into its elemental principles.
Q:
A: The action by which one puts a liquid body with a fluid to mix it in whole or in part to extract the tincture from it to dispose them for dissolution, putrefaction to make them circulate and by this means to volatilize the fixed and fix the volatile, by means of a suitable heat.
Q: What is distillation?
A: It is an operation that sublimates all waters and oils.
Q: What is sublimation?
A: It is the purification of matter by means of dissolution and reduction into its principles.
Q: What is separation?
A: It is the effect of the dissolution of the body by its solvent.
Q: What is incineration?
A: It is the action by which one puts little by little mercury on the matter become sulfur either to multiply it, or to make the elixir perfect.
Q: What is fermentation?
A: It is the action of the air on the mixtures which, by becoming rarefied therein, alters their form, disuniting the parts without producing a complete dissolution there, like putrefaction.
Q: What is multiplication?
A: The projection powder, either in quality or in quantity to infinity according to the good pleasure of the artist, it consists of repeating the operation already done, but with exalted and perfected materials, not with raw materials as before.
Q: What is projection?
A: It consists in projecting a small quantity of the projection powder already prepared on the imperfect metals in fusion by means of which it transmutes them into gold or silver according to the degree of its perfection.
Q: What is ablution?
A: It is an operation by which one purifies the matter which is in putrefaction, by means of a continuous fire without interruption until the matter becomes white.
Q: What is the solution?
A: It is the natural or artificial disunity of bodies.
Q: What is the discount?
A: It is the demotion of a thing which has reached a certain degree of perfection to a degree which is less so, as if with bread one made a grain of wheat.
Q: In what ways is the great work beneficial to health?
A: By the composition of an elixir called by some panacea and by others potable gold which purges and cures animals of all their illnesses.
Q: How is this elixir made?
A: From the reduction of matter into mercurial water from which the elixir is extracted, ie an animated spirit. The word elixir comes from E and Lixis, that is to say water because in the work everything is made of this water.
Q: How many species of elixir are there?
A: Three; 1: that of the body which is done by the first rotation which is pushed to black; 2: the perfect elixir which is the result of seven imbibitions until red and 3:
Q: By what signs can one know the progress of the operation?
A: To the various colors that matter takes. There are four main ones. The first is the black which announces putrefaction and is seen on the forty second day at the earliest to make way for the white. To this follows the citrine or orange which designates gold and which is then replaced by the red which is the mark of the royal crown.

There are other colors which are called temporary, such as green which announces the vegetation of matter, gray which comes immediately to black and which precedes white, the peacock's tail color, the Tyrian color or purple which are the index of the perfection of the stone.

These three colors are designated under the emblems of a raven, a dove and a phoenix. They must always appear in the order indicated above, otherwise you would be forced to start the operation again.
Q: Where did you learn all these things?
A: In a council of wise men where only M:s were admitted. Followers.
Q: So you are M:. Follower?
A: Yes, mighty Souv:..
Q: How will you prove it to me?
A: By a sign, by words and by a touch.
Q: Do the sign.
We give it
Q: Give me the lyrics.
A:
Q: Touch the T:. Excellent:. first:. Lieutenant:..
We give it
Q: What did you do to be received M:. Adept?
A: Four things. I showed myself to be selfless, confident, modest and subject to the decrees of providence.
Q: Are you satisfied?
A: Could I not be when success has passed my expectation.
Q: How old are you?
A: Sixteen years.
Q: What time is it?
A: The last hour of the day when the work is finished.

CLOSING OF BUSINESS

All council business having been terminated on Souv:. knocks and says:

Q: Excellent and perfect first:. Lt.:. what do we have left to do?
A: Nothing since the work is at its perfection.
Q: What time is it?
A: The last hour of the day.

The Souv:. said then:

Q: Since it is the last hour of the day and the great work is in its perfection, excellent and perfect lieutenant:. announce to the Subl:. commanders employed in your workshops that I am going to close the board.

The announcement is repeated by the lieutenants.

The Souv:. strikes 4 shots repeated successively by the lieutenants. After hitting 4 others he claps and then he says:

Q: The council is closed let us retire in peace.

EXPLANATION OF THE HERMETIC CROSS

The hermetic cross as it is engraved here is all the more precious as it offers in the most enlightened way all the objects that it is important to know in order to achieve the making of the great work. Without being loaded with mysterious signs it will nevertheless be intelligible only for the true Adepts and the explanation which I give of it cannot perhaps be of greater use to the profane than the writings which they can easily obtain.

Happy children of the light it is for you alone that I write since only you will be able to benefit from it.

For the intelligence of the development that I offer today, it is appropriate to divide the hermetic cross into 4 sections, one to the west, the second to the north, the third to the east, the fourth to the south.

Each section is also indicated by one of the phrases of the moon and divided into two parts: an inner one having the shape of a Greek P ------ and the other that of a cross of Saint Anthony (1).

None of the interior parts seems to me to need commentary to be intelligible and it is only of the others that I propose to speak here (2).

So I pass immediately to the outer part which is to your left and to the west of the cross. The waning moon that we see there is a good enough indication that we want to represent chaos or degenerated nature (3).

Starting from the right of the lower side and following this line to the beginning of the northern part of the cross you will find 16 words or signs all relating to the state of matter before and during the first operation it must undergo to achieve the goal you set for yourself.

The word solution that comes first announces what you must do to dispose of the mixture you intend for the Great Work. The following sign is that of the material which you must use and which in the operation takes on a blue tint.

By following the outline you will find the essential basis of your business. It appears there sometimes in the form of a rounded stone, sometimes in that of a dragon which is agitated with fury. Soon it changes into mercury which, like the Ichneimon, which we know uses skill to overcome the crocodile. Indeed resorting to Musa whose black root re-- if it is incised a juice first white and red. Subsequently turns into pilous water which by the mixture of its constituent parts degenerates into chaos. Then Saturn appears every day, the balance tilts more and more and Osiris is cruelly massacred.

Go to the upper part and prepare for ablution, the second operation by which a hitherto raw and shapeless metal will become purer and lighter, already the mixture takes on a dark hue but it will only satisfy you when it will seem to you of the most beautiful black. From this immensity of corruption you see, instead of the metal you were expecting, coming out of a sepulcher, a raven which, greedily using the salts given to it for food, is transformed into a bull. This one, the head encircled with a crown of Persea, seeks to get rid of both the earthy parts which would retard his progress and the melancholy affections which would torment him and becomes susceptible by his docility to the change that you are preparing for him.

Your matter then acquires malleability, Jupiter like an agile goat who climbs on a steep rock, rises and strikes down Thyphon, his formidable enemy.

The eastern part presents us with the third operation, that of reduction, it is then that the material is purified to form a new metal which, by its price, can compensate you for the pains you have taken. You still only have tin. However, nature becomes the most beautiful white, one in essence, it extends, ferments and grows like a plant to which the most skilful cultivator would give all his money. Like a dove, she rises in the air and abandons in this journey all bilious affection that her stay on earth had made her contract. She sees the lotus and detaches a branch from it which she dips in matter which suddenly becomes the mercury possessed by the only adepts. A wolf comes unites with the dove and both heat the still imperfect metal and render it in the fusion entirely diaphanous. Then you will possess the money and will be able to hope for the next conquest of the fleece of which the ram is the symbol and becomes for Isis a subject of consolation.

The fourth is the last exterior part of the hermetic cross, presenting to you the new operation which must complete the great work. You have found the constituent elements, now you have to fix the volatile parts necessary for its perfection. As soon as matter is red you have acquired supreme power and from then on you can add to the existence of living beings. A man like the Phoenix can, in mortal exhaustion, feel, with the help of your elixir, new blood circulating in his veins and regain that vigor that age or infirmity seemed to have forever robbed him of. Seizing a rod of iron and taking the cenophalus as a guide, fear not the fiercest fire, this bold blow will have produced in you the knowledge of the celestial light which the sun of suns distributes to its chosen ones. Then your strength will be that of the most formidable lion and Horus will fulfill all your wishes.

Finally, the eye that you see in the center is the emblem of divine providence, of that great all-sovereign Architect of all things, of that supreme being who punishes with regret and rewards with profusion; of this unique center to which everything must relate and whose essence is expressed by the word JEHOVAH which he gave himself.

The words you read around this divine emblem announce to you which of his works we seek to imitate. The initials of this mysterious word are pronounced by many Masons who, not understanding its true meaning, make it the basis of four, so to speak, insignificant answers.

Above each of these words is written in Hebrew the nameless word of the Lord.

Notice that everything here is in mysterious number and relative to the quaternary which like a tabernacle contains the square number from which everything was created.

1: the eye in the center represents the unit which multiplied by itself is invariable and can be considered as the first and most perfect square.

2: around this center you will find four quaternaries, one in the shape of the four letters, initials of the central inscription. The second of the four Hebrew characters of the sacred word. The third of the number of the phases of the moon and the fourth of that of the four cardinal points.

3: the small cross or interior cross presents the square of four by the number of the words which are registered there.

4: the cube of four or the number 64 is offered by the number of words and signs contained in the large cross or outer cross.

NOTES

(1): The cross of Saint:. Antoine that we see here may be formed by bringing together four squares and each space which they will occupy will be intended to inscribe the four words or signs that we want to place.
(2): This inner part of the cross has the form of the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet by the rank it holds among the Greek characters. It recalls the square of four mysterious numbers which is --- designated by the words which one reads there.
(3): Everything is symbolic in the description given here, it may nevertheless suffice for those who have the right to hear it.
(4): These answers are made to the rank of Souv:. Pr:. de la R:.---where to recognize you you are asked about your country and about the circumstances of your trip, which you certainly did not do.

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