DE VERBO MIRIFICO: JOHANNES REUCHLIN AND THE ROYAL ARCH

The point about the RA which I want to discuss involves manipulation of the Divine Name in its Hebrew form, and although it may seem as though I am not talking about Freemasonry at all, I think you will find that, as 1 proceed, your attention will be seized by the similarities between what 1 am writing about and the intentions of those who compiled the RA ritual. In addition, I hope what 1 say will illustrate my contention about the rise speculative Freemasonry and the RA.

Symbolism of the Lodge

It is often said that symbolism is carried too far and this is difficult to deny when I think of Freud and other psychiatrists and psychologists who seem able to find strange and often erotic meanings in all they see. The meanings given to every image based on repetition makes the lay-person feel at a serious disadvantage when they wish to contradict anything that is given a meaning by such “Specialists.” The symbolic object, which is dredged up by the mind, seems to have no great pattern of consistency in the case of psychiatric symbol definition.