'completion' of the Craft Degrees
calling themselves ‘the Antients' who had not formed part of the
Grand ‘Lodge of 1717, created in 1751 a rival Grand Lodge, also
manned by aristocrats, which stood for the link with Christianity
and certain other aspects of the old tradition which the
‘Moderns’, loyal to the 1717 Grand Lodge, had tampered with.
The two Grand Lodges vied with each other to recruit provincial
Lodges. To complicate matters here were also what the great Masonic
Heron Lepper called
the ‘Traditioners’ who, while remaining under the jurisdiction
of the London ‘Modern’ Grand lodge, nevertheless did not
follow its lead entirely.
was another, later to prove most important, bone of contention
between the Antients and the Moderns - the
position of a Masonic degree and associated working termed the
Holy Royal Arch. This time it
Modems who objected to something new: some of the Antients had
this fourth degree one of the first mentions of
is in 1746 when a prominent Irish Antient was ‘exalted’ to it.
The Moderns claimed that this was a departure from unalterable
tradition because the old craft, like other guild crafts, had
known only a hierarchy of three degrees — Apprentice,
Journeyman or Fellow, and Master Craftsman. Despite the Moderns’
objections, the Royal Arch ritual grew steadily in popularity.
Perhaps the turning point in the dispute came as a result of
Thomas Dunckerley, a natural son of George II, a keen Mason and a
Traditioner among the Moderns, coming out as an enthusiast for
Royal Arch, to which he was exalted — as
Masons term initiation to the Royal Arch — according
to his own report in 1754. Dunckerley looms large in masonic
history and other prominent Moderns soon came to share his
of their long quarrel, Antients and Moderns were reconciled, the
Duke of Kent, Grand Master of the Antients, giving way to the Duke
of Sussex, Grand Master of the Moderns, who thus became the first
Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England. The Moderns
gave way on Royal Arch, saving face by having it declared
that this was no fourth degree but simply a culmination of the
other three degrees, which completed the making of a Master Mason.
The Antients for their part gave way to the Moderns in accepting
the total de-Christianisation of the brotherhood.
The Union's acceptance of Royal Arch workings is
of great importance~ for it completed
in all essentials the structure of Freemasonry as it exists
today. Just as the Moderns de-Christianised the movement, so with
the acceptance of Royal Arch the Antients succeeded in introducing
the undeniably occult – notably the invocation of the supposedly
rediscovered long-lost name of God.
It is perhaps because the Freemason’s God, as revealed to
Royal Arch Masons, is
so far from being ‘that Religion to which all men agree’ that
it determined that Holy Royal Arch workings should not be
conducted in lodges but separately in ‘Chapters’ under the
control of a Grand Lodge and of Grand Chapter overlap and today
both bodies have their seat at Freemason’s Hall in Great Queen
'The Brotherhood' Stephen Knight: Pages 28-29
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lost name found
- It is important here
to understand that serious occult practitioners have always
had a fascination with 'the lost name of God'. In Aleister
Crowley's infamous book 'Magick' we read on page 200..'Such
a word was indeed the lost tetragrammaton It is said
that at the utterance of this name the Universe crashes into
dissolution. Let the Magician eagerly seek the Lost Word, for
its pronunciation is synonymous with the accomplishment of the
Great Work...The Master Therion has received this Word; it is
communicated by him to the proper postulants, at the proper
time and place, in the proper circumstances.'
||According to the myth mimed in the Holy Royal Arch a crypt is
found in the foundations of the ruined temple in which is
discovered the 'omnific word', the lost name of God. That
name is 'JAH- BUL - ON, which Masonry
declares to mean "I am and shall be Lord in Heaven on High, the Powerful, the Father of all"
The name is regarded as being
so sacred that no Royal Arch Mason may say it aloud by himself but
must have two other Royal Arch Masons present with each saying one
part of this trinity.
In fact the candidate solemnly promises.. 'that I
will not dare to pronounce that Sacred and Mysterious Name which
may now for the first time be communicated to me, unless in the
presence and with the assistance of two or more Royal Arch
Companions, or in the body of a lawfully constituted Royal Arch
Chapter, whilst acting as First Principal'
Referring to Freemasonry's claim that Jah-bul-on
meant 'I am and shall be; Lord in Heaven' the
Church of Scotland doctrinal report stated ..
'To those who are unfamiliar with the original languages, the use made of what purport to be Hebrew and other Ancient Near-Eastern words must seem impressive and doubtless the use of Hebrew letters scattered across the documents adds to the sense of mystery. Much of it, however, is linguistic nonsense which anyone with a minimum knowledge of Hebrew can immediately recognise as such. For example, the explanation of the mysterious compound name JA-BUL-ON in Lecture 3 of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland as being the name of God in three (or four) different languages is totally unjustified.
JA is not Chaldean for "I am", nor is it the Hebrew for "I shall be".
BUL is not the Syriac word for "Lord" or "Powerful" nor is it a compound word made up of the preposition "in" or "on" plus "Heaven" or "On
High". Nor is "ON" an Egyptian word meaning "Father". To conclude, therefore, that this name means "I am and shall be Lord in Heaven on High, the Powerful, the Father of all" is wholly misleading. Furthermore, when Hebrew letters are scattered round the divine triangle the explanations given to them are such that their inaccuracy should be evident to anyone with an elementary knowledge of
name Jah-bul-on is in fact a trinity of names made up from Yahweh -
The God of the Hebrews, baal - the Canaanite deity and osiris -
the Egyptian god of the underworld.. Coil’s
Masonic Encyclopedia (95: 516) and the ‘Masonic Ritual and
(58: 226) admit that “Bul” or “Bel” refers to the Assyrian
deity, and that ‘On” refers to the Egyptian deity Osiris.
in his ‘Freemasonry; An interpretation (16:338 -39), reveals the
goal in this pagan trinity..
this compound name an attempt is made to show by a co-ordination
of divine names..the unity, identity and harmony of the Hebrew,
Assyrian and Egyptian god-ideas, and the harmony of the Royal
Arch religion with these ancient religions. This Masonic ‘unity
of God’ is peculiar. It is the doctrine that the different
names of gods as Brahma, Jehovah, Baal, Bel, Om, On, etc., all
denote the generative principle, and that all religions are
essentially the same in their ideas of the divine”
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1989 it was announced that JAHBULON would soon be dropped from England's
Royal Arch Ritual. ‘Grand
Scribe Ezra’ Higham denied this was in response to recent
Christian condemnations. Journalists later visiting
Freemason’s Hall overheard chortles that junking JAHBULON had
invalidated the book “Inside the Brotherhood’ even before it
was published. However on March 4th Clifford Longley (The Times
religious affairs correspondent) wrote that by replacing JAHBULON
with JHVH -
meaning Jahweh, the Jew’s Holy Name for God -Masonry may be
falling in ‘deeper waters than the Grand Lodge has yet
realised.. While to invoke a false God is idolatry, to invoke the
Name of the True God falsely is
non masons assumed that, it JAHBULON was no longer in the ritual,
Mason’s could at least utter this ‘sacred and mysterious
name’ of God without having their heads cut off. Yet when
England’s fraternal front man was challenged to say it on radio
he refused saying “because I’ve promised not to
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Four times in scripture Jesus is
referred to as the keystone or capstone or cornerstone
(depending on translation)
Yet in this ritual - the completion of
the Craft degrees - the candidate removes the Keystone from
the foundation of the temple in order to let in 'more light'
and 'receive the holy word'
Yet Jesus Christ is not only the
Keystone but also the Light and the Word.
following passage is quoted from the Holy Royal Arch Degree
Principal Sojourner causes candidate to grope (in the darkness of
the vault) and places a scroll into his right hand.
“Is is found”
“What is found?”
“Something like a scroll of vellum or parchment”
“What are its contents?”
“For want of light I am unable to discover”
“...Rise, wrench forth the Keystone,
prepare to receive the light of the Holy Word”
these lines during the lengthy ritual
therefore enlarged the aperture
removing the key-stone..”
secrets of the Royal Arch were only regained by wrenching forth
the keystone thereof..”
This degree actually has the candidate
ritually removing Jesus Christ from the foundation of the Temple.
Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, And it is
marvellous in our eyes'?
Acts 4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
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Major points involved in the Holy Royal Arch degree.
- Hoodwink is placed over the candidates eyes
- The ceremony enacted out centres around a hidden vault that is found during rebuilding
of Solomon's Temple.
- The candidate is lowered down into this vault and told to remove the cornerstone to
allow more light into the vault. A Mason acting as Zerubbabel calls out to the candidate
"Rise, wrench forth the keystone, and prepare to receive the light of the Holy
- The lecture includes the explanation "the secrets of the Royal Arch were only
regained by wrenching forth the keystone thereof"
- The secret regained is the 'Sacred and Mysterious Name of the True and Living God Most
- This rediscovered name for God is revealed as 'JAH BUL ON' It is regarded by Royal
Arch Masons as too holy to be uttered by one person, therefore it needs three masons to
utter one syllable each.
- Masonic writers agree that this is a composite of three gods. JAH for Yahweh. BUL for
Baal. ON for Osiris.
- Degree curse invoked includes "..suffering loss of life by having my head struck
off" (Sometimes "suffering loss of life by having the top half of my head struck
- Candidate is clothed in 'robes of innocence'
- Degree jewel is pinned onto chest, plus a badge and ribbon (sacred emblem)
- Mark known as the 'mysterious triple Tau' is placed on the forehead as a mark of
salvation (referring to Ezekiel 9:4)
- Secret password is 'Ammi Ruhamah'
- Candidate is presented with the working tools of the degree. Sword, trowel, pickaxe,
crowbar & shovel.
- The ritual oath is sealed by kissing the VSL (Bible or other sacred book) four times
through a square & compass and sealed with the words 'So mote is be' (used only in
Freemasonry and Witchcraft)
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