Khurum or CHiram Abiff

This topic has been mentioned in a few threads here at ATS.

And I've decided that the topic deserves it's own thread:

Originally posted by Masonic Light
My personal interpretation of the story is sort of archaic, and probably will not mean much to most people, but it is my belief that the legend is an alchemical allegory, and that Hiram represents a certain energy or force known by the Hindus as "kundalini" and by the Theosophists as "fohat".

I believe that Brother Manly P. Hall shared this view through his insinuations, although I don't think he ever actually came out and said it.

He came out and said it all right.

Zodiacal Course

In this course, we taught the disciple how to awaken the Kundalini by means of Sexual Magic.

The dragons of wisdom are formed with the science of the serpent, and the "tree dragon" is the same wisdom of the serpent.

The Akash is able to circulate through the canal of Sushumna and its two aspects flow through Ida and Pingala. This is the Brahmanic cord.


The two cords, Ida and Pingala, are the two columns, J and B of FreeMasonry, called Jachin and Boaz. Through both nervous canals rise the solar and lunar energies, that, when making contact at the coccyx, awakens "Hiram," the divine fire which constructs the temple (solar bodies) for Solomon (the Innermost).

"Hiram" is also a mantra of the Kundalini.

The "H" is pronounced like a sigh. The "I" is vocalized like this: iiiiiii; and the rest like this: rrrrrrraaaaaaaaammmmmmm.






The fire has seven degrees of power, which are the Seven Degrees of Power of the Fire, the seven steps of knowledge. Sexual Magic converts us into omnipotent dragons of fire.

The fiery Dragon of Divine Wisdom, is not to be confused with the fiery Black Dragon or Red Dragon of the fornicators.

Only with the Life of the Three Primary Forces(of the Ankh), can we achieve the death of the ego:

The Three Traitors

An ancient esoteric symbol of our inner psychology. They are present in the Christian Gospel (Judas, Pilate, Caiaphas), in the Masonic Legend of Hiram Abiff, and are the Three Egyptian Demons who killed Osiris. These Three Traitors are related to our Three Brains and the Three Protoplasmatic Lunar Bodies.

"The first is the Demon of Desire, the second is the Demon of the Mind and the third is the Demon of Evil Will.

The first one is inside the Astral Body. The second one is inside the Mental Body. The third is inside the Body of Will (Causal Body).

All of these three together are the Black Dragon with three heads.

They are also Sebal, Ortelut and Stokin, the three traitors of Hiram Abif. In short, these three unclean spirits are our psychological "I," the ego, the myself." - The Aquarian Message

Manly P. Hall on CH(ir)AM, father of the AEthiopians, Khemetians, Canaanites, Libyans, etc.

Lost Keys of FreeMasonry

FINISH OF THE TABULA SMARAGDINA


In a rare, unpublished old manuscript dealing with early Masonic and Hermetic mysteries, we find the following information concerning the mysterious Universal Agent referred to as "Chiram" (Hiram) :

The sense of this Emerald Tablet can sufficiently convince us that the author was well acquainted with the secret operations of Nature and with the secret work of the philosophers (alchemists and Hermetists). He likewise well knew and believed in the true God.


It has been believed for several ages that Cham, one of the sons of Noah, is the author of this monument of antiquity. A very ancient author, whose name is not known, who lived several centuries before Christ, mentions this tablet, and says that he had seen it in Egypt, at the court; that it was a precious stone, an emerald, whereon these characters were represented in bas-relief, not engraved.


He states that it was in his time esteemed over two thousand years old, and that the matter of this emerald had once been in a fluidic state like melted glass, and had been cast in a mold, and that to this flux the artist had given the hardness of a natural and genuine emerald, by (alchemical) art.


The Canaanites were called the Phoenicians by the Greeks, who have told us that they had Hermes for one of their kings. There is a definite relation between Chiram and Hermes.

Chiram is a word composed of three words, denoting the Universal Spirit, the essence whereof the whole creation does consist, and the object of Chaldean, Egyptian, and genuine natural philosophy, according to its inner principles or properties. The three Hebrew words Chamah, Rusch, and Majim, mean respectively Fire, Air, and Water, while their initial consonants, Ch, R, M, give us Chiram, that invisible essence which is the father of earth, fire, air and water; because, although immaterial in its own invis ible nature as the unmoved and electrical fire, when moved it becomes light and visible; and when collected and agitated, becomes heat and visible and tangible fire; and when associated with humidity it becomes material. The word Chiram has been metamorphosed into Hermes and also into Herman, and the translators of the Bible have made Chiram by changing Chet into He; both of these Hebrew word signs being very similar.


In the word Hermaphrodite, (a word invented by the old philosophers), we find Hermes changed to Herm, signifying Chiram, or the Universal Agent, and Aphrodite, the passive principle of humidity, who is also called Venus, and is said to have been produced and generated by the sea.

We also read that Hiram (Chiram), or the Universal Agent, assisted King Solomon to build the temple. No doubt as Solomon possessed wisdom, he understood what to do with the corporealized Universal Agent. The Talmud of the Jews says that King Solomon built the temple by the assistance of Shamir. Now this word signifies the sun, which is perpetually collecting the omnipresent, surrounding, electrical fire, or Spiritus Mundi, and sending it to us in the planets, in a visible manner called light.

This electrical flame, corporealized and regenerated into the Stone of the Philosophers, enabled King Solomon to produce the immense quantities of gold and silver used to build and decorate his temple.

So when the Honorable Elijah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam said that the Original Black Man is Hiram Abiff, perhaps he was referring to something more along the lines of:

The Secret Doctrine

The "Kings of Light" is the name given in all old records to the Sovereigns of the divine Dynasties. It must be remembered that the words "Light," "Fire," and "Flame" used in the Stanzas (of Dzyan) have been adopted by the translators thereof from the vocabulary of the old "Fire philosophers," in order to render better the meaning of the archaic terms and symbols employed in the original. The Zohar speaks of "Black Fire," which is absolute light, Wisdom.

The transmutation of water into wine in the weddings of Canaan of Galilee:

Alchemy

Alchemy Al (as a connotation of the Arabic word Allah: al-, the + ilah, God) means "The God." Also Al (Hebrew) for "highest" or El "God." Chem or Khem is from kimia (Greek) which means "to fuse or cast a metal." Also from Khem, the ancient name of Egypt. The synthesis is Al-Kimia: "to fuse with the highest" or "to fuse with God."

In Alchemy, it is symbolically stated that there exist Five Atomic Ingredients with a Unitive Cement in order to acquire such fusion: Seed, Honey, Wine, Bread and Milk.

Seed: Represents the Ens Seminis, the masculine and feminine creative energy.

Honey: wisely represents the Bartholin glands or greater vestibular glands. These are two glands located slightly below and on both sides of the vaginal opening in women. They secrete mucus to provide lubrication, especially when the woman is sexually aroused, thus facilitating sexual activity.

Wine: Is the same Ens Seminis, transmuted or elevated to a higher scale of vibration by means of the alchemical transmutation, which is magisterially symbolized in the biblical narration of the transmutation of water into wine in the weddings of Canaan of Galilee.

Bread: it is a clear reference to the Solar Bodies, the Existential Vehicles of the Being; the outcome of the Alchemical Work.

Milk: Symbol of the Developed Virtues.

M.P. Hall was clueless. It is like me writing the about the hidden secrets of Catholicism after only seeing a picture of the Pope on TV.

I have a first edition of Secret Teachings holding up the wobbly end of the leather sofa in my study...a far nobler purpose than it is worthy of

[edit on 25-5-2007 by RWPBR]

Are you serious?


One can only imagine, how much more pathetic would be the state of the average contemporary 'regular' Masonic Lodge, if it were not for the positive-influence of Manly P. Hall's writings.




[edit on 25-5-2007 by Tamahu]

Originally posted by Tamahu
Are you serious?


One can only imagine, how much more pathetic would be the state of the average contemporary 'regular' Masonic Lodge, if it were not for the positive-influence of Manly P. Hall's writings.




[edit on 25-5-2007 by Tamahu]

Are you serious ? Like we need more elitist snobs getting all google eyed over some claptrap written by a 21 space cadet with zero life experiance and still hung up on his adolescent Merlin fantasies.

You suffer under the delusion that Masonry is something it is not and the fact that you defend that assumption with such vigor makes me chuckle.

"Spooky" esoteric types are a fringe group at best...maybe 5%, and most of them stop being active when they figure out it isnt OTO or AMORC, which is really what they were looking for in the first place.

Originally posted by RWPBR
Are you serious ? Like we need more elitist snobs getting all google eyed over some claptrap written by a 21 space cadet with zero life experiance and still hung up on his adolescent Merlin fantasies.

Please actually read Manly P. Hall's works, instead of just making assumptions about him.

Originally posted by RWPBR
"Spooky" esoteric types are a fringe group at best...maybe 5%,

Are you a Shriner?

Better study your lessons:

9. Why does the Devil teach the eighty-Five Percent that a mystery God
brings all this?

ANS. To conceal the True God, which is the Son of man, and make slaves out of
the 85% by keeping them worshipping something he knows they cannot see
(invisible) and he lives and makes himself rich from their labor.
The 85% knows that it rains, hails and snows; also, hears it thunder above
his head, but they do not try to learn who is it that causes all this to happen---by
letting the 5% teach them. He believes in the 10% on face value...


...14. Who is the 85%?

ANS. The uncivilized people; poison animal eaters; slaves from mental death and
power, people who do not know the Living God or their origin in this world,
and they worship that they know not what --- who are easily led in the
wrong direction, but hard to lead into the right direction.

15. Who is the 10%?

ANS. The rich; the slave-makers of the poor; who teach the poor lies --- to
believe that the Almighty, True and Living God is a spook and cannot be
seen by the physical eye.

Other wise known as: The Blood-Suckers Of The Poor.

16. Who is the 5% in the Poor Part of the Earth?

ANS. They are the poor, righteous Teachers, who do not believe in the teachings
of the 10%, and are all-wise; and know who the Living God is; and Teach
that the Living God is the Son of man, the supreme being, the (black man)
of Asia; and Teach Freedom, Justice and Equality to all the human family
of the planet Earth.

Otherwise known as: Civilized People.

Also are: Muslim and Muslim Sons...

and most of them stop being active when they figure out it isnt OTO or AMORC, which is really what they were looking for in the first place.

You suffer under the delusion that Masonry is something it is not and the fact that you defend that assumption with such vigor makes me chuckle.

"Spooky" esoteric types are a fringe group at best...maybe 5%, and most of them stop being active when they figure out it isnt OTO or AMORC, which is really what they were looking for in the first place.

Originally posted by Tamahu
Are you serious?


One can only imagine, how much more pathetic would be the state of the average contemporary 'regular' Masonic Lodge, if it were not for the positive-influence of Manly P. Hall's writings.

Personally, I think Hall, like Pike and Buck, was a great contributor to modern Masonic metaphysical philosophy. The problem I see with all three of these gentlemen's writings is that they often relied too much on lore and legend in their evaluations.

This is not to discredit their actual practical teachings at all, and I think Hall's "Lost Keys" is monumental. But on the flip side, "Secret Teachings" is in very large part fictional.

Originally posted by RWPBR


Are you serious ? Like we need more elitist snobs getting all google eyed over some claptrap written by a 21 space cadet with zero life experiance and still hung up on his adolescent Merlin fantasies.

Actually, Hall wrote throughout his entire life, and lived to be 91.

Also, I'm not sure if the majority of Masons familiar with Hall would agree with your analysis. When he died in the early 1990's, the Scottish Rite Journal, which is the official publication of the Supreme Council, hailed him as Masonry's greatest modern philosopher.




Photo of Illustrious Brother Manly P. Hall, 33rd Degree



[edit on 26-5-2007 by Masonic Light]

Yes Brother Hall wrote all his life but his greatest works were done when he was 21/22. I met him in 1982 at PRS in Griffith Park. I found him to be extremely odd and eccentric... maybe beacuse he was in his 80's
He said a number of times in his talk that what he wrote as a young man was just him parroting what he had read in other books and thought it amusing that some had put so much stock in it... he actually sounded embarrased about it.

I agree he was a prolific philosopher but most of the brothers I have spoken to dont put much stock in his writing. We must move in different circles ML. I have found most esoterics are largely from lodges in large metro areas. Most of the brothers I know out here in the fly over states are pretty grounded. I myself walked the esoteric path for a few years back in the 80's and found it lead me nowhere... but it was an interesting journey.

[edit on 26-5-2007 by RWPBR]

Originally posted by RWPBR
Yes Brother Hall wrote all his life but his greatest works were done when he was 21/22. I met him in 1982 at PRS in Griffith Park. I found him to be extremely odd and eccentric... maybe beacuse he was in his 80's
He said a number of times in his talk that what he wrote as a young man was just him parroting what he had read in other books and thought it amusing that some had put so much stock in it... he actually sounded embarrased about it.

I never had the good fortune to meet Brother Hall in person. I did, however, engage him in a brief but fraternal correspondence shortly before his death, concerning a certain technical point that he mentioned in one of his books.

Brother Hall remained an occultist throughout his entire life, and was a true Adept. It is true that he later distanced himself from some of the things that he wrote concerning history. However, he never recanted any of his esoteric philosophy, but only expanded on them as he gained more experience and maturity. I continue to recommend "The Lost Keys of Freemasonry" to all serious students of the occult, Masonic or otherwise.

I agree he was a prolific philosopher but most of the brothers I have spoken to dont put much stock in his writing. We must move in different circles ML.

That appears to be sort of contradictory. If you don't put much stock in his writings, why do you consider him to be a prolific philosopher?

I have found most esoterics are largely from lodges in large metro areas. Most of the brothers I know out here in the fly over states are pretty grounded. I myself walked the esoteric path for a few years back in the 80's and found it lead me nowhere... but it was an interesting journey.

The esoteric aspect is generally pursued by the more educated (or at least the more "intellectual"). Obviously, not all Initiates fit within this category.

However, after years of study, I can reach no other conclusion that this is precisely what modern Masonry is for. Although you may disagree, I have little doubt that the modern fraternity's greatest purpose was to continue the transmission of Hermetic knowledge after the Rosicrucian Fraternity mysteriously vanished (conveniently, at the same time Masonry became singularly speculative).

This isn't an outlandish early Hall-ish speculation, but the fruit of much research, both within and outside the ritual. In this regard, I also strongly recommend "Rose Croix: A History of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of England and Wales" by Bro. A.F.C. Jackson. Jackson also is no dreamer, but one of England's most noted modern Masonic scholars, and is Past Master of the Quatuor Coronati.

Originally posted by Masonic Light
[

I agree he was a prolific philosopher but most of the brothers I have spoken to dont put much stock in his writing. We must move in different circles ML.

That appears to be sort of contradictory. If you don't put much stock in his writings, why do you consider him to be a prolific philosopher?

No contradiction at all. Prolific means he produced a lot of philosophy.
Mc Donalds is a prolific burger joint but I dont put much stock in them either.

From Websters:
Main Entry: pro·lif·ic
Pronunciation: pr&-'li-fik
Function: adjective
1 : producing young or fruit especially freely : FRUITFUL
2 archaic : causing abundant growth, generation, or reproduction
3 : marked by abundant inventiveness or productivity



[edit on 26-5-2007 by RWPBR]

Peace

Wow this is a very interesting forum. I want to thank you all for contributing to such a worthwhile subject. Peace to everyone here attempting to defend Manly P. Hall, he really did the duty of a civilized person. Some of his views are Eurocentric, however it is expected, we are all people of our circumstance. I will not go forth to say everyone needs to study Hall or that he was the greatest etc. because everyone gets what they suppose to get. Meaning, if some people miss some knowledge, some wisdom or some understanding, that knowledge, wisdom or understanding was not for them. We all get what we are suppose to get.

Manly P. Hall was one of the greatest writers to ever walk the face of the earth. I have read many of his works and I have never read anyone else that can bring so much practicality to the ancient teachings.

Anyways, like I said I am not trying to sound like I am all over the dude's jock because he isn't the type that would want that anyway.

By the way, he wasn't a mason when he wrote his works on masonry. He was given an honorary 33rd degree much later in his life (40's), but he never even got the first 3 in the lodge.

peace

An Unknown Master

Isn't the problem here that there are an infinite number of possible symbolic isomorphisms? It seems to me that the striving for knowledge is the noble part of the journey. It is when we grow weary of striving that we begin to settle for the symbolic meanings we currently understand. To create a work of "interpretation" is really to write an epitaph of your struggle to understand. It says, "This is as far as my endurance will take me."

For example, I have seen educated people reach the level of "race" or "species", and end their striving there, when in fact you can no more separate yourself from others who are less genetically similar than you can separate yourself from your foot. I mean, yeah, you can do it... but at what cost?

[edit on 20-6-2008 by applebiter]

reply to post by applebiter


I think everyone should strive for a balance between learning and doing. All the book-smarts in the world won't help you apply them practically if you don't have experience, and vice versa.

reply to post by JoshNorton


Sorry I'm a bit dense. I understand your sentiment in general terms, and agree. I can't resolve your meaning in this particular context, though. Could you elaborate?

Originally posted by applebiter
reply to post by JoshNorton

 

Sorry I'm a bit dense. I understand your sentiment in general terms, and agree. I can't resolve your meaning in this particular context, though. Could you elaborate?

Just saying at some point you have to stop delving into the infinite possibilities, settle on one that works for you, and go to work with it.

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
Peace to everyone here attempting to defend Manly P. Hall, he really did the duty of a civilized person. Some of his views are Eurocentric, however it is expected, we are all people of our circumstance.

Yes; but he, like Godfrey Higgins, Albert Churchward, Gerald Massey, etc. also admitted many positive things about the First Master Builders, the Original Man, in his writings.


Question: Do you see Tibetan Buddhism to be a conscious Aryan-Brahmin chauvinistic corruption of the Primordial Tantra of the Ku#es(CHamites or CHiramites), Nilotic Dravidians, Candalis, Chandalas, Tchandalas, etc.?

Originally posted by RWPBR
M.P. Hall was clueless. It is like me writing the about the hidden secrets of Catholicism after only seeing a picture of the Pope on TV.

I have a first edition of Secret Teachings holding up the wobbly end of the leather sofa in my study...a far nobler purpose than it is worthy of

I understand the concept of hyperbole.. but really? Manly P Hall was nothing more than a fiction writer without any knowledge at all? Those are some pretty bold words to stand behind. Care to point us to your library of works?

To write off Secret Teachings as "fiction" isn't any better. Unless perhaps you are some sort of "fundamentalist" mason, that takes all of the legends / stories as pure fact... in which case, I would say the concepts of fact/fiction are being misinterpreted.

The point of lore / myth is to tell a story subtle lessons to imply a greater meaning than if the lesson were explained directly - sort of like telling a good joke vs explaining the punchline. When you explain it, it loses all meaning.