The Arcane Schools by John Yarker

P.M., P.Z., P.M.Mk., P.P., etc., Past Selnior Grand Warden of Greece;
Hon. Grand Master of the G. L. of Cuba; Past Gd. Constable or
Mareschal of the Tempi in England; in the A. & A. Rite
Hon. 33^○ in many countries; Grand Master General of
the A. & P. Rite of Masonry, G.H. of the Confederate
Nations 97^○ Grand Master Swedenborgian Rite;
Hon. IX^○ of the Rosicrucian Society;
Etc., Etc.

THE ARCANE SCHOOLS

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

CONSTITUTION, STATUTES, CEREMONIALS, & HISTORY
OF THE A. & P. RITE. Re-arranged.
12mo., Cloth. 1875.

MASONIC CHARGES AND LECTURES, translated from the
French.
8vo., Cloth. Manchester, 1881 (100 printed).

LECTURES OF A CHAPTER, SENATE, AND COUNCIL.
12mo., Cloth. London, 1882.

GENEALOGY OF THE SURNAME YARKER, with the Leyburn
and allied Families,
4to. Manchester, 1882.

RECAPITULATION OF ALL MASONRY, translated from the
French.
8vo., Boards, with symbolic plates. Dublin, 1883 (100 printed).

TWO LECTURES ON HIGH-GRADE MASONRY.
8vo., Wrappers. Liverpool, 1886.

THE CODE OF APEX AND OF THE SAT BHAI. Revised.
16mo. 1886.

CONTINUATION OF THE COMTE DE GABALIS.
(Amsterdam, 175). Bath, 1897.

THE ASSISTANT GENIES & IRRECONCILABLE GNOMES
(1718). Bath, 1897.

CAHAGNET’S MAGNETIC MAGIC. Abridged translation.
Bath, 1898.

REPRINTS OF PAPERS contributed to Ars Quatuor Coronatorum;
THE OLD SWALWELL LODGE AND THE HARODIM. 1902.
THE HAUGHFOOT LODGE. 1903.
ROYAL TEMPLAR CERTIFICATE OF 1779, AND PATENT
OF A RUSSIAN G.L. OF 1815. 1903.
THE VERY ANCIENT CLERMONT CHAPTER. 1904.
AN OLD YORK TEMPLAR CHARTER, 1786, facsimile. 1905.
CAROLUS OF OUR ANCIENT MSS. AND RITUAL OF THE
VEHME. 1906.
ARAB MASONRY-PREHISTORIC. 1906.
ON MASONIC HISTORY - LET US SEEK TRUTH. 1907.
TWO TALMUDIC LEGENDS OF THE 1st TEMPLE. 1908.

For other Literary labours, Books now out of print, and Works still in MS., see List at end of this volume. A few copies of the above works are still in print, particulars and prices of which can be had from

WILLIAM TAIT, 3 WELLINGTON PARK AVENUE, BELFAST, IRELAND.

C O N T E N T S.

                                                                 Page.
PREFACE    .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .    v
INTRODUCTION — GENERAL PLAN OF THE WORK    .   .   .   .   .   .   ix
                PART I. — THE ARCANE SCHOOLS.
Chapter.
   I. ARCHAIC LEGENDS  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .    1
  II. PROTO-ARYAN CIVILIZATION AND MYSTERIES   .   .   .   .   .   20
 III. ARYAN CIVILIZATION AND MYSTERIES .   .   .   .   .   .   .   67
  IV. THE MYSTERIES IN RELATION TO PHILOSOPHY  .   .   .   .   .  100
   V. PHILOSOPHY IN RELATION TO MASONIC RITES  .   .   .   .   .  123
  VI. THE MYSTIC AND HERMETIC SCHOOLS IN CHRISTIAN TIMES   .   .  154

               PART II. — OPERATIVE AND SPECULATIVE.
 VII. RECAPITULATED PROOFS OF ANCIENT MASONRY  .   .   .   .   .  219
VIII. MASONRY IN BRITAIN AND SAXON ENGLAND .   .   .   .   .   .  245
  IX. MASONRY IN NORMAN TIMES  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  295
   X. FREEMASONRY IN MODERN TIMES  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  365

               PART III. — SPECULATIVE REVIVAL.
  XI. ORIGIN OF THE SYSTEM TERMED HIGH-GRADE (ANCIENT) .   .   .  421
 XII. FREEMASONRY IN THE GRAND LODGE ERA (MODERN)  .   .   .   .  491
XIII. FREEMASONRY UNDER THE UNITED GRAND LODGE .   .   .   .   .  521

                  PART IV. — ANCIENT MSS.
APPENDIX —

      SERIES OF CONSTITUTIONAL CHARGES .   .   .   .   .   .   .  537
INDEX  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  567

ERRATA.

PAGE

— 5th line from top, for “was” read “were.”
— 10th line from top, for “term” read “terms.”
— 4th line from top, for “exists” read “exist.”
— 3rd line from top, for “proto-Aryan” read “pre-Aryan.”
— top line, after “the legend is,” read ΗΚΥΡΙΑΕ ΙΣΙΣ ΑΓΝΗ.
— 6th line from top, after “1490 is,” read “ΕΙΣ ΖΗΥΣ ΣΑΡΑΙΣ ΑΠΟΝ ΟΝΟΜΑ ΣΑΒΑΩ ΦΩΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗ ΧΘΩΝ translated One Jupiter, Serapis, Holy Name, Sabaoth, the Light, the Day- Spring, the Earth! ΕΙΣ ΘΕΟΣ ΣΑΡΑΠΙΣ (often abbreviated into Ε. Ο. Ζ.) There is but one God. and he is Serapis. He is also called ΕΙΣ ΖΩΝ ΘΕΟΣ, The one Living God.
— 12th line from top, for “locius,” read “, Socius.”
— 8th line from bottom, for “dani” read “domi.”
— 11th line from bottom, for “last century” read “in the eighteenth century.”
— 20th line from top. for “as last,” read “for in the eighteenth.”
— 12th line from top, for “Henry” read “Hermann.”
— 14th line from bottom, read “ΟΩΝ, και, ο ην, και, ο, ερχομευοσ.”
— 5th line from bottom for “the Parthenon” read “one at Baalbec.”
— 12th line from bottom, for “Tacitus” read “Trajan.”
— 11th line from bottom, for “criminals” read “animals.”
— 18th line from top, for “Octroyie” read “Octroyee.”
— 19th line from top, for “bearing” read “It bears.”
— 9th line from top, for “last” read “the eighteenth.”
— 8th line from bottom, read “oy . . . sunn . . . se sunn . . . donne his faedr.”
— 3rd line from bottom, for “15 inches” read “18 inches.”
— 2nd line from top, for “1685” read “1695.”
— 17th line from top, for “1737” read “1732.”
— 2nd line from top, for “MANETINAETER” read MANET IN AETER . . (NUM.)
— 10th line from bottom, for “last” read “in the eighteenth.”
— 19th line from bottom, add “as” after “Masonry.”
— 8th line from top, for “1905” read “Sept. 24th, 1902.”

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Except for notations added to the history of modification, the text on this diskette down to the next row of asterisks must accompany all copies made of this file. In particular, this paragraph and the copyright notice are not to be deleted or changed on any copies or print-outs of this file. With these provisos, anyone may copy this file for personal use or research. Copies may be made for other individuals at reasonable cost of copying and mailing only, no additional charges may be added. Not for "share-ware" distribution or inclusion in any commercial enterprise.

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Introductory notes to the electronic edition:

This book provides a background necessary to understand elements of the Golden Dawn and O.T.O. initiations, particularly in matters like the inclusion of the Samothraian deities in the former and the details of the lower and middle degrees for the latter. The Western Occult Revival is documented in it’s origins.

Yarker’s thesis is to demonstrate universal and indigenous initiation in symbol and legend throughout the history and places of the world; and, by relating the meanings and practices of ancient and modern Masonry (through the 19th century), to disclose the universal content of the rites and mysteries. The author is more skeptical than most, and there is a distinct flavor of Frazier in the style of presentation. Many Christian traditions are presented in great detail and multiple example to be ignorant glosses of the ancient mysteries.

Theories of lost continents are briefly propounded with open mind, some dated by limits of scholarship of the period: e.g. Yarker did not know that Polynesians traveled thousands of miles by ship, that mid oceanic sea floors spread, etc.

Theosophical legends are used with more restraint than was common in the period.

”Aryan” is used for an imaginary race, common in the period but not as later. “Learned” racist stereotypes of the period are perpetuated, but with considerable more restraint than in other contemporaries. At the time of writing, race and culture were muddled concepts. Since universal “Masonry” is the subject of this work, “Aryan” is better understood in most instances as “possessed of the secrets of illumination” or some such concept.

There is occasional and excessive dependence on philology for evidence, also common in the period of authorship.

In the last chapters of the book, Yarker defends variant Masonry on the grounds of the United Grand Lodge of England being ignorant of many traditions and indifferent to older charters. “York” masonry is upheld as being more traditional.

The Arian and Cabiric races taken for granted in this book are fictional, though based on far more limited actual ancient cultures. At the period in which this work was written, a racist theory of world civilization was current. This theory culminated in anti-Semitism and ultimate atrocity in the second quarter of the 20th century. Caution should be exercised by the reader to distinguish the later excesses of Arianism from the altitude of Yarker’s book. European scholars of the time were themselves a development of history, as such remain today. These racist theories of world history stem, in part, from the earlier religious belief in the age of the world as roughly 5,000 years. For so short a span, a universal and simplistic view of history is a natural concept. With the modern discovery of several millions of years for human tenure alone, a more diverse genesis of history is appropriate. For “Arian”, take empire-building conquerors and invaders. For “Cabiric”, take indigenous pagans or settled people of the soil. The latter is sometimes associated with “natural religion” by Yarker. The various theories and dates must be further adjusted in light of modern archaeology and ethnology.

Scholars and students of European literature will find unusual value in the work. How else may we understand stray references like: “We should look like the two sons of Aymon, who had lost their brother.” — from Chapter XXVIII of “The Three Musketeers” of Alexandre Dumas?

(Spelling varies in the original text for some names and common words. Punctuation also varies from contemporary norms, perhaps representing the oratorical style of breaking long passages more than error in usage. Original typos are also common. An alphabetical list of variant spellings is available for this text.)

— Bill Heidrick

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THE ARCANE SCHOOLS

A REVIEW OF THEIR ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY,
WITH A GENERAL
History of Freemasonry,
AND ITS RELATION TO THE
THEOSOPHIC, SCIENTIFIC, AND PHILOSOPHIC
MYSTERIES.

BY

JOHN YARKER