8/9/2019 Freemasonry and the Germanic Tradition Pages 42-43

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the body ,of the master in a rubbish pile, and returned atmidnightto remove it to a place west of the temple, where theyburied it in a grave an d planted an acacia plantto mark the spot.Solomon, discovering that the master builder wa s missing andcalled the craftsmen together to investigate. The twelve who hadrecanted of the plot told Solomon about the conspiracy and theking sent them out to search for the culprits. One party

discovered the grave and apprehended the murderers, who weresummarily executed as oath-breakers. Solomon then orderedthebody to be raised and removedfrom the grave. As the body hadbeen buried fo r fifteen days it was in a sate of decomposition.Solomon ordered that since the Master Word had been lost uponthe death of Hiram, that the first word spoken upon the raisingof his body and the first sign made would substitute for the lostones until the originals couldbe rediscovered. Hiram 's bodywa sthen taken to the temple where it was buried near the Holy ofHolies.

The Master Mason ritual generally re-enacts these events with thenotable addition that whenthe body is raised out of its gave the bodyrepresented by the new initiate a hoodwink is removed from his eyesand the one lifting him up (representing Solomon,the Wise) whispers the(substitute) word intohis ear. These latter elements, which extendthelegend into its ritual purpose, providethe experience of rebirth in a newstate of being as a Master Mason.

In many ways the Master Mason ritual is simply one of the manydeath an d rebirth initiationrites found in many cultures aroundth e world.The main purpose of such rites is to provide the initiate with arebirth in anew form and status in life. Often too there is the reception of a newsymbol or teaching. Thefact that the initiate possesses this informationprovides a hidden"certificate" of achievement which, as a"password"allows others who have undergone the same experience to recognize oneanother, while their identities can remain completely secret as far asoutsiders are concerned.

In the history of humanity all initiatory rites, rites of passage, or ritesof transformationas they are often called, followa specific structure .Th emust first occur a separation of the subject (initiate) from his normal orpresent state of existence, then a transformation of the subject takesplace w hile his is in the separate existence, andfinally the subject isreintegrated into the normal environment, but he now exists in a newform or state of being. In rites of death and resurrection, the subject dies,is transformed whilein the realm of the dead and then returned to theworld a "new man." this kind of initiation is very com mon in warriorsocieties. Part of the function there is to teach the w arrior not tofeardeath.

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As the history of Masonry and the history of the myths and legendsof the indigenous peoples of northern Europe became increasing ly well-known in the nineteenth century many scholars, Masonsand non-Masonsalike, saw a striking parallel betweenthe Masonic Master Ritual and themyth of the Norse god Baldur. Some were so struck by it that it becamethe overt underlying myth of the ritual. This myth is recorded in anumber of Old Norse poems and the motifs surroundingthe myth, or one

very close to it, can be found in various artistic pieces from as early as450 CE. In thenineteenth centurythe Baldur myth wa s generally though tof as a "nature-myth" one about a dying god who represented thepowers of nature which "died" in the winter and were reborn in thespring. That such myths exist and are important cannot be denied.However, the Baldur myth is not one ofthese. Th e name Baldurrefers tobravery and boldness, and the myth is more typical of a warrior rite ofpassage th an it is of a cyclical death and return of the powers of the sunand nature in the cycle of the year.

Here is a brief summary of the myth of Baldur:Baldur had dreams which foretold od his coming death. Hisfather Odin went to the realm of the dead to discover the rootsof these dreams and learns that Loki is planning to have Baldurkilled (apparentlyout of jealousy)bu t that he will try to use theblind god, Hodr, as his"patsy." Baldur's mother, Frigg, in aneffort to make Baldur invulnerable to all possible mishaps tries toexact an oath from every substance in the cosmos not to harmthe god. She is successful with all sorts of substances such asmetal, rocks, diseases, and so on only the mistletoe wa soverlooked because it seemed too insignificant. After this thegods began to play a gamewith Baldur and hurled allsorts ofthings at him to attempt to "kill" him, knowing that nothingcould really harm him. Bu t Loki discovers the fact that themistletoe wa s neglected and fashioneda shaft of the little sprig.He then went to the god Hodr and directs him to shoot themissile at Baldur, who is hit by it and falls dead. This myth ofinvulnerabilityis a comm on one in warrior societies.Frigg sendsHermod to the realm of Hel on Odin's eight-legged steed,Sleipnir, to discover Baldur in Hel to see if he could be raised.There Hermod meetsthe goddess Hel Death herself andshe says that if everythingin the wold, livingand non-living,canbe made to weep for Baldur, then he can return. A mbassadorswere sent out to try to exact this action on thepart of allbeings but one giantess named Thokk (thought to beLoki indisguise) refused to do so and therefore Baldur remainedinHel. However, in the process of the "judgment of thegods" the Ragnarok Baldur is avenged by the godVali, whomOdin engendered especially for this purpose. It is explicitly statedin the Voluspa that Baldur does return out of Helafter the world

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