217 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
217 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.XIII May, 1953 No.5
|
||
|
||
POT OF INCENSE
|
||
|
||
by: Unknown
|
||
|
||
Just when the pot of incense became an emblem of the third section of
|
||
the Sublime Degree can not be stated with certainty. It is,
|
||
apparently, and American invention or addition; both McKensie and
|
||
Kenning say that it is not used in the English work. The Monitor of
|
||
Thomas Smith Webb, who worked such ingenious and cunning changes in
|
||
the Prestonian work, gives the commonly accepted wording:
|
||
“The Pot of Incense is an emblem of a pure heart; this is always an
|
||
acceptable sacrifice to the Deity; and as this glows with fervent
|
||
heat, so should our hearts continually glow with gratitude to the
|
||
great and beneficent author of our existence for the manifold
|
||
blessings and comforts we enjoy.”
|
||
Jeremy Cross prints it among the delightfully quaint illustrations in
|
||
the “True Masonic Chart” - illustrations which were from the not
|
||
altogether uninspired pencil of one Amos Doolittle, of New Haven.
|
||
However the Pot of Incense came into American rituals, it is present
|
||
in nearly all, and in substantially the same form, both pictorially
|
||
and monetarily. If the incense has no great antiquity in the Masonic
|
||
system, its use dates from the earliest, and clings to it from later,
|
||
Biblical times, and in Egypt and India it has an even greater
|
||
antiquity.
|
||
In the very early days, as chronicled in the Bible, incense was
|
||
associated more with idolatry than with true worship; for instance:
|
||
Because they have forsaken men and have burned incense unto other
|
||
Gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their
|
||
hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and
|
||
shall not be quenched. (II Chronicles, 25-34).
|
||
To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet
|
||
cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor
|
||
your sacrifices sweet unto me. (Jeremiah 6-20).
|
||
Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, him that
|
||
offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his
|
||
Gods. (Jeremiah 35-48).
|
||
However, when the worship of JHVH (Which we call Jehova) was
|
||
thoroughly established, burning incense changed from a heathenish,
|
||
idolatrous custom to a great respectability and a place in the Holy
|
||
of Holies. Leviticus 12-16, 13 sounds this keynote:
|
||
And he take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar
|
||
before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small,
|
||
and bring it within the vail:
|
||
And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the
|
||
cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony,
|
||
that he dieth not.
|
||
Later, incense was associated with wealth and luxurious living, as in
|
||
the Song of Solomon:
|
||
Who is it that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke,
|
||
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the powders of the
|
||
merchant? (3-6)/
|
||
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the
|
||
mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. (406).
|
||
Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are
|
||
under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of
|
||
Lebanon. Spikenard and saffron; caslamus and cinnamon, with all trees
|
||
of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. (4-14).
|
||
In ancient Egypt incense was much used; sculptures and monuments of
|
||
remote dynasties bear testimony to its popularity. Many a Pharaoh is
|
||
depicted with censor in one hand, the other casting into it the
|
||
oastils or osselets of incense. In embalming the Egyptians used all
|
||
the various gums and spices “except” frankincense, which was set
|
||
apart and especially consecrated to the worship of the Gods.
|
||
In India incense has always been a part of the worship of the
|
||
thousands of Gods and Goddesses of that strange land. Buddhism has
|
||
continued its use to this day as a part of the ceremonies of worship
|
||
- as, indeed, have some Christian churches - and in Nepal, Tibet,
|
||
Ceylon, Burma, China and Japan it is a commonplace in many temples.
|
||
The list of materials which can be incorporated into incense is very
|
||
long; the incense of the Bible is of more than one variety, there
|
||
being a distinction between incense and frankincense , although a
|
||
casual reading of these two terms in many Biblical references makes
|
||
them seem to be any sacrificial smoke of a pleasant odor. Ordinarily
|
||
it was made of various vegetable substances of high pungency;
|
||
opobalsamun, onycha, galbanum and sometimes pure frankincense also,
|
||
mixed in equal proportion with some salt. Frankincense, a rare gum,
|
||
is often coupled with myrrh as an expensive and therefore highly
|
||
admiring and complimentary gift; recall the Wise Men before the
|
||
infant Jesus:
|
||
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child
|
||
with Mary his Mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when
|
||
they opened their treasures, they presented him gifts; gold, and
|
||
frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2-11).”
|
||
Where or how the use of incense arose, of course is a sealed mystery
|
||
as far as evidence goes. Modern science, however, enables a
|
||
reasonable guess to be made.
|
||
Of the five senses, smell is the most closely associated with memory
|
||
and mood. To neither sight nor sound does the emotional part of
|
||
personality respond as it does to odor. The scent of certain flowers
|
||
so surely spells grief to many that they will leave a room in which
|
||
tube roses or lilies fill the air with scent. Certain odors are so
|
||
intimately identified with certain experiences that they become for
|
||
all time pleasant, or the reverse; few who have smelled ether or
|
||
iodoform from personal experience in hospitals enjoy these, in
|
||
themselves not unpleasant smells; any man who has loved outdoor life
|
||
and camping cannot smell wood smoke without being homesick for the
|
||
streams and fields; he who made love to his lady in lilac time is
|
||
always sentimental when he again sniffs that perfume, and the high
|
||
church votary is uplifted by the smell of incense.
|
||
In the ceremonials of ancient Israel doubtless the first use of
|
||
incense was protections against unpleasant odors associated with the
|
||
slaughtering of cattle and scorching of flesh in the burnt offering.
|
||
At first, but an insurance against discomfort, incense speedily
|
||
became associated with religious rites. Today men neither kill nor
|
||
offer flesh at an altar, but only the perfume of “frankincense and
|
||
myrrh.”
|
||
The Masonic pot of incense is intimately associated with prayer, but
|
||
its symbolic significance is not a Masonic invention.
|
||
Psalms 141-2 reads: “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as
|
||
incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”
|
||
Revelations 8-3 reads: “And another angel came and stood at the
|
||
altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much
|
||
incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon
|
||
the golden altar which was before the throne.”
|
||
The association of a sweet smell in the air, which scattered after it
|
||
gave pleasure with prayers to an Unseen Presence is easy to
|
||
understand, even that it arose in primitive minds. Prayer was
|
||
offered and rose on high - so its utterers hoped. It was never seen
|
||
of men. It returned not. Its very giving gave pleasure. These
|
||
statements are as true of burning incense as of prayer.
|
||
What is less obvious, although the ritual is plain enough on the
|
||
subject, is that it is not only incense, but a “pot” which is the
|
||
Masonic symbol. If the sweet savor of incense is like unto a prayer,
|
||
so is the pot from which it comes like unto the human heart which
|
||
prays.
|
||
Now prayer may come from an impure as well as from a pure heart. But
|
||
incense is invariably sweet in smell, and so the pot from which it
|
||
comes is an emblem of a heart pure, sweet and unsullied.
|
||
Just what “purity” is as applied to a heart is a moot question. Very
|
||
unfortunately the word “pure” has been debased - the word is used
|
||
advisedly - in certain dogmas to mean “ignorant” - as a “pure” young
|
||
girl; a “pure” woman. According to this definition a female may be a
|
||
virago, a cheat, a liar, slander her neighbors, steal, even commit a
|
||
murder; but, if she is a virgin, she is “pure.”
|
||
Masonically, the word means nothing of the kind. In 1921 M.W. George
|
||
H. Dern, Past Grand Master of Utah (Now Secretary of War) contributed
|
||
some thoughts on “Monitorial Symbolism of the Third Degree and Its
|
||
Application to Everyday Life” to columns of “The Builder.”
|
||
Originally written for the Committee on Masonic Education of the
|
||
Grand Lodge of Utah, these paragraphs were at once so practical and
|
||
so pungent that the (then) great Masonic Journal gave them wider
|
||
circulation.
|
||
Quoting the Ritual about the Pot of Incense, M.W. Brother Dern said:
|
||
“A sentiment so lofty is not easily applied to the practical, prosaic
|
||
events of a busy day. To have a pure heart is to be true to
|
||
yourself, true to your best ideals, and honest with your thoughts.
|
||
“To Thine Own Self Be True. . . Thou Canst Not Then Be False To Any
|
||
Man.” Living a life of deceit and double-dealing never made anyone
|
||
happy. Riches or pleasures acquired in that way bring only remorse,
|
||
and eventually the soul cries out in anguish for that peace of mind
|
||
which is man’s most precious possession,. and which is the companion
|
||
of a pure heart.
|
||
“Purity of heart means conscientiousness, and that means sincerity.
|
||
Without sincerity there can be no real character. But sincerity
|
||
alone is not enough. There must go with it a proper degree of
|
||
intelligence and love of one’s fellows. For example, a man may
|
||
believe that the emotion of pity and the desire to relieve the
|
||
necessities of others is intrinsically noble and elevating, and he
|
||
indulges in indiscriminate giving, without realizing the evil
|
||
consequences, in the way of fraud, laziness and inefficiency and
|
||
habitual dependence that his ill considered acts produce upon those
|
||
whom he intends to benefit. Again, a man may be perfectly sincere in
|
||
talking about the shortcomings of another, and he may justify himself
|
||
by saying that he is telling nothing but the truth. But, merely
|
||
because they are true is no reason why unpleasant and harmful things
|
||
should be told. To destroy a reputation is no way to aid a brother
|
||
who has erred. Better far overlook his mistakes, and extend him a
|
||
helping hand.
|
||
“Without multiplying examples, let it be understood that the truly
|
||
conscientious man must not simply be sincere, but he must have high
|
||
ideals and standards, and moreover, he must not be satisfied with
|
||
those standards. Rather he must revise them from time to time, and
|
||
that means self-examination, to see if he possesses the love and
|
||
courage that must go with sincerity in order to make progress in
|
||
building character. For in this direction again there must be
|
||
constant progress. To be content with what we have accomplished is
|
||
fatal. As James A. Garfield once said, “I must do something to keep
|
||
my thoughts fresh and growing. I dread nothing so much as falling
|
||
into a rut and feeling myself becoming a fossil.”
|
||
Many words in the ritual have changed meanings since they were first
|
||
used. The Masonic term “profane,” for instance, originally meant
|
||
“without the temple” - one not initiated, not of the craft. Today it
|
||
means blasphemous, which is no part of the Masonic definition of the
|
||
word. “Sacrifice” in our Monitor seems to come under this
|
||
classification.
|
||
In the Old Testament, a sacrifice before the altar was the offering
|
||
of something - burned flesh, burning incense, pure oil or wine -
|
||
which involved the sacrificer giving something valuable to him; the
|
||
sacrifice was an evidence before all men that the sacrificer valued
|
||
his kinship with the Most High more than his possession of that which
|
||
he offered.
|
||
In our ritual the word has lost this significance. The pot of
|
||
incense as an emblem of a pure heart “which is always an acceptable
|
||
sacrifice to the Deity” can hardly connote the idea that a Mason
|
||
desires to keep his “pure heart” for himself, but because of love of
|
||
God is willing to give it up. Rather does it denote that he who
|
||
gives up worldly pleasures, mundane ideas and selfish cravings which
|
||
may interfere with “purity of life and conduct” as set forth in other
|
||
parts of the ritual, does that which is acceptable to the Great
|
||
Architect.
|
||
Masonically, “pure” seems to mean honest, sincere, genuine, real,
|
||
without pretense and “sacrifice” to denote that which is pleasing to
|
||
the most high.
|
||
So read, the Masonic pot of incense becomes an integral part of the
|
||
philosophy of Freemasonry, and not a mere moral interjection in the
|
||
emblems of the third degree. For all of the magnificent body of
|
||
teaching which is self revealed, half concealed in the symbolism of
|
||
Freemasonry, nothing stands out more plainly, or calls with a louder
|
||
voice, than her insistence on these simple yet profound virtues of
|
||
the human heart lumped together in one phrase as “a man of higher
|
||
character” . . .in other words, one with a “pure heart,” “pure”
|
||
meaning undefiled by the faults and frailties of so many of the
|
||
children of men.
|
||
|