The Word (New York), Volume 23, June, 1916, Pages 185-191
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter XII
The Great Work
July, 1916, Pages 244-256
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter XIII
Necromancy
August, 1916, Pages 316-320
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Necromancy (cont)
Chapter XIV
Transmutations
September, 1916, Pages 381-384
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter XIV (cont)
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The Word (New York), Volume 21, April, 1915, Pages 55-62
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter VII
The Septenary of the Talisman (cont)
May, 1915, Pages 123-126
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter VIII
Advice to the Imprudent
July, 1915, Pages 250-255
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter IX
The Ceremonial for the Initiates
The Word (New York), Volume 22, February, 1916, Pages 329-336
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter X
The Key of Occultism
Chapter XI
The Triple ChainLast edited by TradeName; 03-19-2020, 01:45 AM.Leave a comment:
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The Word (New York), Volume 20, October, 1914, Pages 56-64
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter III
The Triangles of the Pentacles
November, 1914, Pages 117-128
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter IV
The Conjuration of the Four
December, 1914, Pages 188-192
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter V
The Flaming Pentagram
January, 1915, Pages 250-256
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter VI
The Medium and the Mediator
February, 1915, Pages 314-320
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter VII
The Septenary of the TalismanLeave a comment:
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The Word (New York), Volume 19, May, 1914, Pages 122-127
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Introduction
July, 1914, Pages 244-256
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Introduction
August, 1914, Pages 311-320
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter I
Preparations
September, 1914, Pages 377-384
The Ritual of High Magic
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Chapter II
The Magic EquilibriumLeave a comment:
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The Word (New York), Volume 18, October, 1913, Pages 38-46
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Transmutations
Black Magic
November, 1913, Pages 118-126
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Spells
January, 1914, Pages 240-256
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Astrology
Philters and Drawing Lots
February, 1914, Pages 312-320
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The Philosopher's Stone
The Universal Medicine
March, 1914, Pages 365-384
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Divination
Resume and General Key of the Four Occult Sciences
This is the end of the first volume of Levi's work.Leave a comment:
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The Word (New York), Volume 17, April, 1913, Pages 49-57
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The Magic Equilibrium
May, 1913, Pages 112-116
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The Flaming Sword
June, 1913, Pages 181-190
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Realization
The Initiation
July, 1913, Pages 246-254
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The Kabala
August, 1913, Pages 307-315
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The Magic Chain
September, 1913, Pages 364-377
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The Great Work
NecromancyLeave a comment:
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The Word (New York), Volume 16, October, 1912, Pages 6-28
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
Part I. Dogma. Introduction.
November, 1912, Pages 89-99
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
I. A. The Candidate. Disciplina. Ensoph (The Infinite). Keter (The Crown).
December, 1912, Pages 165-171
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
2. B. The Columns of the Temple
January, 1913, Pages 247-254
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The Triangle of Solomon
February, 1913, Pages 291-299
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The Tetragram
March, 1913, Pages 365-371
Dogma and Ritual of Higher Magic (Haute Magie)
by Eliphas Levi
Translated from the French by Major-General Abner Doubleday
Annotated by Alexander Wilder, M.D.
The PentagramLeave a comment:
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Baphomet brings to mind the French occultist Eliphas Levi, and since I was bemused to find an English translation of his defining work by Major-General Abner Doubleday, I thought I'd post links to its serialization in an American Theosophical journal.
Plans of publication were announced in 1886, but Doubleday's obituary says this didn't happen.
The Path (New York), Volume 1, September, 1886, Page 191
Dogma And Ritual Of High Magism.—-By Eliphas Levi, translated by a fellow of the Theosophical Society, is now in hand for publication as soon as may be convenient. It will be issued in two volumes, about 600 pages, and put at as low a price as possible, $5.00. The Path has taken charge of the issuing of the book, and will receive subscriptions for it. All the illustrations in the French edition will be reproduced.
----end
The Path (New York), Volume 7, March, 1893, Pages 372-374
Faces of Friends
Major-General Abner Doubleday, F.T.S., died at his home in Mendham, New Jersey, on January 26, 1893, of heart failure. He was born on June 26, 1819, at Ballston Spa, N.Y. His father served in Congress during Jackson's Presidency, and his grandfather fought at Bunker Hill and Stony Point. Abner Doubleday was graduated from West Point in 1842, and afterwards served through the Mexican war and later in the Seminole campaign. He was second in command under Major Anderson at Fort Sumter when the last war began, and sighted the first gun fired for its defense on the 12th of April, 1861. During the war he was in continuous active service, and took part in the bloody battle of Gettysburg, and in that military event he was a prominent figure. After the war a series of promotions followed until he was made Brevet Major General on the 13th of March, 1865. Thereafter he was stationed in the South for three years. On the 11th of December, 1873, he was retired from the active list of the U.S. Army at his own request. During succeeding years he wrote many articles relating to the war, as well as two books, Reminiscences of Forts Moultrie and Sumter and Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. His body was carried to New York, where it lay in state, and then was taken to Washington and buried in the National Cemetery, escorted by a guard of honor and receiving a military salute. This is the rough record of a noble and gentle life. The picture printed shows Gen. Doubleday as a young man.
Almost immediately after the Theosophical Society was formed he joined its ranks, attended its meetings, met Mme. Blavatsky and Col. Olcott very often, and on their arrival in India was made the President pro tem, here with William Q. Judge as Secretary, January 17, 1879. He was often at our meetings, and his beautiful voice was heard many and many a time at the Aryan Branch to which he belonged. His name is the second on the roll-book of this Section. A varied experience furnished him with a fund of anecdote of many strange psychical experiences of his own, and these, told with such gentleness and sweetness, could never be forgotten. The spiritualistic journals claim him as one of their number, but as an old and deep student of theosophy he was not one of that cult but a genuine theosophist. A gift from him of over seventy books to the Aryan Branch was the nucleus for its present large library.
A translation into English of the Dogma and Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Levi was made by Gen. Doubleday, and presented to his friend, Bro. Judge, but as yet has not been published. He also translated Levi's Fables and Symbols. Another Theosophical work, yet unfinished, is a complete Index and Digest of the early numbers of The Theosophist. Both of the last named are also in the possession of Bro. Judge.
On the 16th of May, 1879, the famous Dyanand Saraswati Swami wrote to the General from Meerut in India, expressing pleasure at hearing that Bro. Doubleday had been made president pro tem, and sending him brotherly greetings: he also went on to say "I will soon send you the manuscript of three ceremonial degrees based upon Aryan Masonry which will teach western enquirers who may join the Theosophical Society the fundamental principles of primitive Aryan Philosophy". This shows, as said in a former article, that the ritual proposed for the T. S. in the early days was solely for that body and not for the Masons. The Swami further adjures all to have courage and to persevere against every obstacle.
An official letter from the Indian office signed by H. P. Blavatsky and dated the 17th of April, 1880, notified Gen. Doubleday of his election to the office of Vice-President of the Theosophical Society, and is now on flle in the office of the General Secretary. After the organization of the Aryan T. S. in New York he was made Vice-President of that Branch, and continued a member of it to the day of his death. Constantly writing to the office and to members of the Society, no one can with truth say he was other than a member of the Theosophical Society, a believer in Theosophical doctrines, and one who ever tried to follow out the doctrines he believed in. It will be difficult to find another such gentle and sincere character as that of Abner Doubleday.
----end
A later article in another Theosophical journal mentions Doubleday's alleged involvement with creating baseball.
Century Path (San Diego), Volume 8, Part 2, August 13, 1905, Page 270
Major General Abner Doubleday
[...]
It is of interest to note the fact that it is to this stanch Theosophist, well-known army officer and author, that the national game of Base Ball owes not only its name, but also in large degree its development from a simpler sport; or, indeed, according to some writers, its very invention. Mr. Abner Graves, a mining Engineer of Denver, Colorado, has the following to say on the subject:
"The American game of Base Ball was invented by Abner Doubleday of Cooperstown, N. Y., either the spring prior or following the 'Log Cabin and Hard Cider' campaign of General William H. Harrison for the presidency. Doubleday was then a boy pupil of Green's Select School in Cooperstown, and the same who as General Doubleday, won honor at the battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War Doubleday improved 'Town Ball,' to limit the number of players, as many were hurt in collisions. . . . . He also designed the game to be played bv definite teams or sides. Doubleday called the game 'Base Ball,' for there were four bases in it, etc., etc."
It is also of interest to note that another well-known member of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, Mr. A. G. Spalding, of Point Loma, California, is universally known as the patron of the development of Base Ball and athletic sports generally; and it is certainly due to Mr. Spalding that so large a proportion of our American youth have a love for the health-giving and manly games.
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Leave a comment:
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The book containing the Clarkson essay on the Temple Church, with an excerpt about engraved gems.
Architectural Illustrations and Account of the Temple Church, London (London: Thomas and William Boone, 1838), link
by Robert William Billings, Edward Clarkson
Pages 5-6
A few remarks may not be undesirable in this place on the subject of this charge of idolatrous practices. We have in our possession gems, commonly called Basilidian, found in Templars' houses. They carry with them the full evidence of the Gnostic or Egyptian heresy. A jumble of Egyptian and Magian idols appear upon them. The most common symbol is three legs or three arms, united triangularly in a centre. One of the idols has the head of a hawk, holding in one hand the scourge of Osiris, and with his limbs terminating in the folds of a serpent; the mystic letters AO (I breathe) in the oval are its only inscription; but another Gnostic gem exhibits the very idol which they were accused, by Philip le Bel and their French judges, of worshipping. It is that of the calf Bahumeth-—a figure constructed out of the forms of a calf, a beetle, and a man,-—holding between its human fore limbs an open book, and having a female head crowned. It is in fact nothing but a variation of the Egyptian sphynx. They were accused of worshipping this idol, while they denied Christ and trampled on the cross. That the first crusaders were infected with a secret idolatry is in fact clear, from a story which Gibbon laughs at while he relates. He laughs at it because it was unintelligible to him. We refer to the allegation, that the first great army of crusaders were led by a goose and a goat. We have no doubt that they were Manichees or Gnostic standards. The goose in Egyptian symbols, as every Egyptian scholar knows, meant "divine son," or "son of god." The goat meant Typhon or the devil. Thus we have the Manichee opposing principles of good and evil as standards at the head of the ignorant mob of crusading invaders. Can any one doubt that a large portion of this host must have been infected with the Manichee or Gnostic idolatry?
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Another book has a plate with an illustration of an engraved gem similar to one that Clarkson describes.
An Essay on Ancient Coins, Medals, and Gems: As Illustrating the Progress of Christianity (London: Howell and Stuart, 1828), link
by Robert Walsh
Clarkson refers to lectures he gave on the subject of Egyptian pyramids. These unsigned articles seem to be his lectures.
The Classical Journal, Volume 28, September, 1823, Pages 46-53
On the Pyramids of Egypt
December, 1823, Pages 295-305
On the Pyramids of Egypt
Part II
Volume 29, March, 1824, Pages 87-96
On the Pyramids of Egypt
Part III
June, 1824, Pages 266-272
On the Pyramids of Egypt
Part IV
Volume 30, December, 1824, Pages 240-247
On the Pyramids of Egypt
Part V
Volume 31, March, 1825, Pages 166-176
On the Pyramids of Egypt
Part VILeave a comment:
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A London landmark associated with the Templars, the Temple Church, has attracted some attention for the alleged esoteric symbolism incorporated into its architecture.
The Inner and Middle Temple: Legal, Literary, and Historic Associations (London: Methuen & Co., 1902), link
by Hugh Hale Leigh Bellot
Pages 207-210
The Knights Templars and Secret Societies
It now appears to be a well-established historical fact that the Order of the Knights Templars was one of the five great secret societies of the Middle Ages, all of which indulged in Masonic symbols and mysteries. That the Eastern Order of the Assassins and that of the Knights Templars were identical is open to grave question, but the eminent Egyptologist, Mr. Edward Clarkson, does come to the conclusion that a large proportion of the Templars were imbued with the Gnostic and Manichee heresies; that they had adopted the initiations of a corrupted and mingled Freemasonry, such as was used by the latter, and that they were closely related with the Assassins, who occupied strongholds in the immediate neighbourhood of their fortresses in Syria. The chief of the Assassins had adopted the initiations of a secret Freemasonry similarly corrupted, in order to train his fanatical followers for the ambitious purposes at which he unscrupulously aimed. Mr. Clarkson also agrees with Von Hammer that the charges levelled against the Templars by Philip le Bel were mainly true, and that under the mask of poverty the Templars did follow idolatrous doctrines and indulge in idolatrous practices. Such a theory seems naturally entirely inconsistent with the militant Christianity and professed faith of the Templars, the avowed champions of the Christian doctrines, but it must not be forgotten that the protection of the pilgrims on their way to the Holy Sepulchre was a highly lucrative business. The faith of the Templars, or at least of their leaders, may have been but a cloak for the purpose of amassing wealth.
In support of these views Mr. Clarkson traces the architecture of the Temple Church through the Temple of Solomon and the Mosaic Ark to the Great Pyramid, the first great lodge of Egyptian Freemasonry. The six columns in the Round, consisting of four pillars each, and connected with the twelve columns of the exterior circle by arches which produce exact triangles; the four doorways and the eight windows, are the geometric and numerical symbols, which the Gnostics received from the later Platonists, who owned that they derived them from the secret Freemasonry of the Egyptian initiations. The resemblance of these two circular ranges of pillars to the Druidical circles of stones cannot be a mere coincidence. Three primary symbols—-the circle representing the sun, the tau or T-shaped cross eternal life, and the triangle joy—-together with the oval representing the ovum or fecundity, and the square or cube divine truth and justice, are all reproduced in the Temple Church.
At the same time, however, these may be nothing more than survivals of that sun-worship from which have evolved all the great religions of the world. Mr. W. J. Loftie indeed, in his usual superior manner, dismisses poor Clarkson's theory with the "loftiest" scorn!
----end
The scornful dismissal mentioned above,
The Inns of Court and Chancery (London: Seeley and Co. Limited, 1895), link
by William John Loftie
Pages 47-50
The recumbent effigies were the subjects of much futile guessing at the time of the great "restoration," fifty years ago. The mystery which has always enshrouded, and probably will now for ever enshroud, the Templars, covered these figures too, and they became, with the whole church, the prey of the guessers and theorists who, in our day, have turned their chief attention to one of the Egyptian pyramids. There is a most diverting treatise by a Mr. Clarkson, "whose well-known familiarity with the subject of Egyptian masonry, and all the associations with which it is connected, does not call for any comment on my part." So says Billings in the preface to his book on the Temple Church. Clarkson's treatise is intended to answer the question, "Were the Templars gnostic idolaters, as alleged?" The answer he expects to find in the "symbolic evidences of the Temple Church." I have not heard elsewhere of the "symbolic evidences" of the Temple or any other church. The Templars, it seems, had been identified by Von Hammer with the Assassins, and Clarkson thinks his arguments inconclusive. That they may have been accused of such a connection is not unlikely. Having, as he says, cleared the way, he proceeds gravely to show a close association between the Temple Church, the Temple at Jerusalem, the Temple of Solomon, the Mosaic Ark, and, of course, the Pyramids. This astonishing feat is performed by that universal solvent in such problems, Freemasonry. The "close affinity of masonic forms and ideal associations"—-I confess I do not understand the sentence-—has been fully proved, he tells us, by the Irish Round Towers, by Stonehenge, and by the Mexican city of Palenque. It would be wearisome to go much farther. The reader will exclaim that a man who can see "the ideal association" of the Ark of Moses and Mexico can see anything. That was fifty years ago: but not five years ago I came on a new book, written, printed, and published to show that the hieroglyphics on Cleopatra's Needle relate to King David, and contain texts from the Psalms; so we are not, in the aggregate, so very much wiser than they of two generations ago. Mr. Clarkson finds that there are seven inter-columniations in the Round Church. When one of these people reaches anything containing this magical number, we know but too well what he can do with it. There is much about the staircase on the north side and the "little chamber of secret mystery," and other thrilling subjects, and the whole result is, that the reader, who may hitherto have looked upon Billings as a cautious and accurate architectural antiquary, finds him sadly wanting in judgment for admitting such stuff. Who can blame the people of the fourteenth century if they believed the seventy-three Templars in France who confessed, under shocking tortures, that they worshipped the idol Bahumeth? Mr. Clarkson, the Egyptologist, identifies Bahumeth with Behemoth, and both with Apis! After this, we may go on to the monuments. It would not have been right to pass wholly by Clarkson and his mystery, because it partly helps to account for a certain curious, almost superstitious, interest which any one who remembers London fifty years ago will recognise as having existed about the Temple Church. A similar fascination cannot be said to be wholly extinct as to the Great Pyramid. Both have their value in that colossal work, the "history of human error," which Mr. Caxton has not yet published. So we may, I think, contemplate these strange effigies without any misgivings or fears that the men they represent were Assassins, or Bahumethians, or even Freemasons.
Page 91
Spenser:
"There when they came, whereas those bricky towers,
The which on Themmes brode aged back doth ride,
Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers,
Where whilome wont the Templer Knights to bide
Till they decayed through pride."Leave a comment:
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An excerpt from Procopius, the author mentioned by Lewis Spence.
The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, Volume 2, Of the Buildings of Justinian (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1897), link
by Procopius, translated by Aubrey Smith, M.A., annotated by Major-General C. W. Wilson
Pages 138-141
These were the works of the Emperor Justinian in Cilicia. At Jerusalem he built a church in honour of the Virgin, to which no other can be compared. The inhabitants call it the 'new church.' I shall describe what it is like, prefacing my account by the remark that this city stands for the most part upon hilly ground, which hills are not formed of earth, but are rough and precipitous, so as to make the paths up and down them as steep as ladders. All the rest of the buildings in the city stand in one place, being either built upon the hills, or upon flat and open ground; but this church alone stands in a different position; for the Emperor Justinian ordered it to be built upon the highest of the hills, explaining of what size he wished it to be, both in width and in length. The hill was not of sufficient size to enable the work to be carried out according to the Emperor's orders, but a fourth part of the church, that towards the south wind and the rising sun, in which the priests perform the sacred mysteries, was left with no ground upon which to rest. Accordingly those in charge of this work devised the following expedient: they laid foundations at the extremity of the flat ground, and constructed a building rising to the same height as the hill. When it reached the summit, they placed vaults upon the walls and joined this building to the other foundations of the church; so that this church in one place is built upon a firm rock, and in another place is suspended in the air-—for the power of the Emperor has added another portion to the (original) hill. The stones of this substruction are not of the size of those which we are accustomed to see: for the builders of this work, having to contend with the nature of the ground, and being forced to raise a building equal in size to a mountain, scorned the ordinary practices of building, and betook themselves to strange and altogether unknown methods. They cut blocks of stone of enormous size out of the mountains which rise to vast heights in the neighbourhood of the city, cunningly squared them, and brought them thither in the following manner: they built waggons of the same size as these stones, and placed one stone upon each waggon. These waggons were dragged by picked oxen, chosen by the Emperor, forty of them dragging each waggon with its stone. Since it was impossible for the roads leading into the city to take these waggons upon them, they made a passage for them by cutting deeply into the mountains, and thus formed the church of the great length which it was the Emperor's pleasure that it should have. After they had built it of a proportional width they were not able to put a roof upon it. While they were inspecting every grove and place which they heard was planted with tall trees, they discovered a thick wood, producing cedars of enormous height, with which they made the roof of the church, of a height proportional to its length and width. These were the works which the Emperor Justinian constructed by human power and art, though assisted by his pious confidence, which in its turn reflected honour upon himself, and helped him to carry out his design. [...]
----end
Links to some other publications of the Palestine Pilgrim's Text Society. The Society was founded in 1884, and Sir Charles Wilson was elected to the first council.
The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, Volume 1 (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1897), link
The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, Volume 4 (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1897), link
The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, Volume 5 (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1896), link
The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, Volume 9 (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1897), link
The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, Volume 13 (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1897), linkLeave a comment:
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An excerpt which quotes from an 1865 work, Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, which contains the earliest mention of the columns in the Stables of Solomon being used to hitch horses that I could find.
A Handbook for Travellers in Syria and Palestine, Part 1 (London: John Murray, 1868), link
by John Murray (Firm)
Pages 117-119
Capt. [Charles William] Wilson's description of these remarkable vaults is so important that I here insert it. “The entrance to the subterranean vaults, called ‘Solomon's Stables’ by Franks, and Al Masjed al-Kadim (the old mosque) by Moslems, is through a hole, broken in the crown of one of the arches, near the south wall of the Haram, between the Aksa mosque and the Cradle of Jesus. The piers of that portion of the vaulting east of the Triple Gateway are a reconstruction with old material, which is much worn as if it had been exposed to the weather for some time; all of the stones have drafted margins; in some cases the draft was found on all four sides, in others on two, but in most on only one. One of the piers is made of a huge lintel or door-jamb, the reveal of which is filled up with small stones. . . . . In the masonry of the piers may still be seen the holes by which the Crusaders fastened their horses when the place was used as a stable. The level of the floor of the vaults is 38 ft. 3 in. below that of the Haram above. The arches are semicircular, 11 ft. 5 in. span, 5 ft. 9 in. rise, and neatly finished with plain chiselled stones. The divergence of the eastern wall, which makes an obtuse angle with the southern, has necessitated a slight splay in the aisles, each of which opens out towards the north.” (Notes [on Jerusalem], p. 37.)
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The occult writer Lewis Spence speculated that the Templars first worshipped Baphomet in these vaults. He also mentioned a Greek historian who may have written about the building of the vaults.
An Encyclopędia of Occultism: A Compendium of Information on the Occult (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1920), Page 391
by Lewis Spence
The vast subterranean vaults under the temple hill at Jerusalem were probably used as a secret meeting-place by the Templars during their occupation of the Holy City, and it was perhaps there that the strange Eastern rites of Baphomet (q.v.) which they later affected were first celebrated. In his Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill the Rev. James King says, "On the occasion of a visit to the Noble Sanctuary, the author had an opportunity of examining the ancient masonry inside the wall at the south-east corner, as well as the vast subterranean vaults popularly known as Solomon's stables. A small doorway, under a little dome at the south-east corner, admits by a flight of steps to a small chamber known as the Mosque of the Cradle of our Lord, from the existence of a hollowed stone which somewhat resembles a cradle, and a tradition that the Virgin Mary remained in this chamber for some time after her purification in the Temple. Passing through the chamber, the spacious vaults, which extend over an acre of ground, are reached. These subterranean substructures consist of one hundred square piers arranged in fifteen rows, each pier being five feet wide and composed of large marginal drafted stones, placed singly over each other. The rows are connected by semi-circular arches, the intercolumniations of which range from ten to twenty-three feet. The floor of these vaults is about forty-feet below the Haram Area, and more than a hundred feet above the great foundation corner-stone. They are called Solomon's Stables by the Franks. But the Moslems call the place, Al Masjed al Kadim, that is, The Old Mosque. These vaults were used as stables by the Frank kings and the Knights Templar, and holes in which rings were fastened can still be traced on some of the piers.
Since the floor of Solomon's Stables is upwards of a hundred feet above the foundation stone, it seems highly probable that there exists another system of vaults below, for the vast space from the rock upwards is not likely to be filled with solid earth.
Some allusion seems to be made to these vaults in the writings of Procopius, a Greek historian of the sixth century. He was born at Caesarea, in Palestine, about 500 A.D., and as a young man went to Constantinople, where his eminent talents brought him under the notice of the Emperor Justinian. In 529 A.D. Justinian built a splendid church on the Temple Hill, in honour of the Virgin Mary, and in the writings of Procopius there is a full and detailed account of the edifice. The historian relates that the fourth part of the ground required for the building was wanting towards the south-east; the builders therefore laid their foundations on the sloping ground, and constructed a series of arched vaults, in order to raise the ground to the level of the other parts of the enclosure. This account is eminently descriptive of the subterranean vaults at the south-east portion of the Haram, and, according to Mr. Fergusson, the stone-work of these vaults certainly belongs to the age of Justinian.
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William Tipping was an artist commissioned to draw illustrations for a new edition of Josephus. The first volume has a preface with a long section on the vaults.
The Jewish War, Volume 1 (London: Houlston and Stoneman, 1851), link
by Flavius Josephus
Pages xiv-xxxiii
The Vaulted Halls and Passages Beneath the Mosque El Aksa
The Jewish War, Volume 2 (London: Houlston and Stoneman, 1851), link
by Flavius Josephus
In an account of their researches in Jerusalem in 1867-70, Sir Charles Warren and Major Claude Conder refer to these vaults as the "Stables of Solomon."
The Survey of Western Palestine: Jerusalem (London: The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1889), link
By Sir Charles Warren, Claude Reignier Conder
Pages 43-44
The first distinct account of the so-called Stables of Solomon--the great vaults in the southeast angle of the Haram—-is that of Theodoricus, writing in 1172 AD. John of Wirtzburg says they would hold 2,000 horses. The holes through which the Templars’ horse-halters were passed are still to be seen in the piers of these great vaults, and the Single Gate appears to have been the Crusading southern entrance to the stables.
Pages 163-164
SOLOMON'S STABLES.
These vaults are in part ancient and in part a reconstruction, probably about the time of Justinian. The floor is somewhat above the bed of the Great Course, so that, except at the south-east angle, the whole of the outside wall enclosing these vaults is of later date than the epoch of drafted stones.
The name of Solomon’s Stables is of mediaeval origin; the Moslems call them El Masjid el Kadim (The Old Mosque). They were used as stables by the Crusaders, and the holes in the piers by which the horses were fastened may still be seen.
Exclusive of the double tunnel of the Triple Gate there are 13 rows of vaults of a variety of spans, from 11 feet to 25 feet east and west; north and south the spans average 11 feet 6 inches.
The vaults splay out from south to north, on account of the south-east angle being more than a right angle.
In the south-east angle are the remains of some rough rubble work attached to the ancient wall, and these appear to be the remains of a massive semicircular arch.
The piers of the vaults are made out of old material, from stones that probably at one time formed part of the south wall; nearly all these piers have drafted margins on one side; in some cases on four sides, and in others on two. These vaults extend from the south-east angle to the Triple Gate, on the south side, and for about 170 feet to north on the east side.
It is surmised that Solomon’s Palace occupied this site; but this is a matter of speculation.
----end
Princes Albert Victor and George visited the vaults while on a world tour.
The Cruise of Her Majesty's Ship "Bacchante", 1879-1882, Volume 2 (London: Macmillan, 1886), link
By Prince Albert Victor (Duke of Clarence and Avondale), George V (King of Great Britain)
Pages 582-583
Then into the mosque el Aksa, where we examined the fine pulpit of carved woodwork given by Saladin in 1187 after he took Jerusalem from the Crusaders. This mosque was originally Justinian’s Basilica of the Virgin. The remains of the five aisles can be seen, and many of the pillars and capitals are of that date, 530 A.D. Then down to the vaults beneath, where the Herodian thick round pillars of the “ Double Gate" are still remaining. These are the only portion of the actual Temple on which our Lord's eyes rested that is still standing. The lintel has been strengthened by the insertion of two side pillars. Then down through the little “ mosque of Jesus ” in the extreme south-east corner of the area, which, as seen from the outside yesterday, was “the pinnacle of the Temple." Here the Moslems show a marble niche of Roman work now lying horizontally on its back, the hollow scoop of which they have named the Cradle of Jesus; His bath and the bed of the Virgin used also to be exhibited here. Then turning through a door on the right-hand side we go into the “ Stables of Solomon," where Sir Charles \Vilson showed us the inside of the“ Triple Gate.” This vast substructure was built by Justinian in {"532 A.D. to obtain a flat platform above (the arches would not sustain any heavy superstructure), out of many older drafted stones: one pillar has been a lintel before it was set on end. The Crusaders stabled their horses here and their iron rings still remain, and it was they who called the place the stables of Solomon. The entrance to these lofty vaults from the exterior seems to have been on the south through the Single Gate. The later work at the Double Gate, and at the Prophet's Gate, and the Triple Gate, is of J ustinian's time, he also built the Golden Gate when he repaired the “ Solomon’s Stables.” There are remains of older work in the south-east angle, under the Cradle of Christ, which mark the original vaults of Herod’s temple. These vaults are probably altogether to the south of the platform which supported Solomon's Temple, the foundations of whose southern wall would possibly still be found, if excavations were ever allowed. Looked out of one of the Herodian windo\vs at the south-east corner, where a mass of masonry has fallen quite recently off the wall outside into the Kedron valley. On remounting to the Temple enclosure we went round outside the mosque of Aksa and saw at the east end the traces of the apse added by the Knight Templars to J ustinian’s church.
----end
In the 1990's the vaults were cleared and converted into a mosque. A couple of youtube videos.
Solomon's Stables on the Temple Mount: The History and the Destruction
Marwani Masjid | Underground al-Aqsa Compound | Jerusalem
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Account of a fire at Catherwood's panorama.
The New York Herald, July 30, 1842, Page 2, Column 5
City Intelligence
Destruction of the Rotunda by Fire
A few moments after the cloning of this building in Prince street,
last evening at half past nine o'clock, it was discovered to
be on fire, and in less than half an hour, owing to the
combustible state of the paintings and other materials in it,
the interior was entirely consumed including the splendid
panoramas of Jerusalem and Tbebes. In addition to this
loss by Messrs. Catherwood and Jackson, the owners, the
former met with an almost invaluable loss in the total destruction
of a large portion of his ancient relicts [sic] and original
paintings, obtained and produced while on
his visits to Mexico and surrounding country. The
walls of the building remain standing,
although the heat was so severe that they cracked
open in several places. The inside of the building, with
the circular wall enclosing the flames after the roof had
fallen in, presented the appearance of an immense fiery furnace.
Mr. Catherwood had left the building but a short
time previous to the fire, and had secured the place from
damage as was supposed. A story was told among the
crowd that the building was struck by lightning, but a
gentleman who was standing on the corner of Prince
street, when the flames were discovered informed us that
such was not the fact. The presumption is that it caught
from some spark issuing from the lights inside that had
been used in the course of the evening at the exhibition.
The total loss is estimated at over $20,000, but a very
small portion of which is insured. The building, as well
as its contents, we understand, belonged to Messrs Catherwood
and Jackson, who are the sole sufferers. We trust
the liberality of our citizens will cause it to rise like a
Phenix from its ashes.
The New York Herald, August 16, 1842, Page 4, Column 1
Why is Mr. Catherwood, since the burning of his Panoramas,
like an orphan child?
Because he has no Pa-nor-a-ma.
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Catherwood in company with John Lloyd Stephens visited ruins in Guatemala and Mexico. An account of their findings prompted Major Noah to discourse on his pet theories on the Hebrews and the Canaanites in the Americas.
Vermont Telegraph, July 22, 1840, Page 175, Column 4
Antiquities of America
We learn from the New York
Express, that Mr. Stephens, U.S. Charge to
Guatemala, and Mr. Catherwood, of the
Panorama, have met with the most
encouraging success almost at the outset of
their researches for antiquities in Central
America. At Qunagua [?] they made the
following discoveries:--Boston Press
[...]
The New York Star, (edited by Mr.
Noah, a Hebrew) offers the following
comments upon the above facts:
The people of this country must be
prepared for extraordinary developments
in researches throughout Central America,
Peru and Mexico. We must as a nation
relinquish our unbelieving propensities,
our uniform practive of doubting everything
which we cannot exactly comprehend,
and believing all things to be a hoax
or a humbug excepting men or a silver
dollar, and prepare ourselves by a proper
study and discipline of mind to know and
to believe that this new world, so called--
the discovery of a few centuries--was
settled by the descendants of Peleg, and that
the statues above described, together with
the altars and obleisks, the temples at
Palenoue, the hieroglyphics, the acqueducts,
viaducts and military highways, are from
the same people who built Tyre, Babylon,
the Tower, the Pyramids and Carthage--
the Phoenicians! who, driven down
the Mediterranean by Joshua, after they
had circumnavigated Africa, visited Britain
and the Western Islands, found themselves,
nearly 4000 years ago, in the Gulf
of Mexico, and there made their settlements--
speard over the Peninsula to the
Pacific Ocean and to Cape Horn. Let
our people be prepared for something yet
more starting--the downfall of the
powerful people who build these cities. Let
them be prepared to to believe that 1500
years after the Phoenicians had settled in
America, the nine and a half tribes of
Israel, after the capture of Samaria, took
their departure for an "unknown country,"
and after taking in their train the Tartars
and Chinese disposed to follow, crossed at
Bhering's Straits [sic] and passed down on the
Pacific side until they reached the isthmus
of Darien, and there they came
suddenly upon the Canaanites and destroyed
them a second time, and in the
new world and with them destroyed their
temples and their Pagan altars, as they
were ordered to do by the Almighty
wherever they found them. Let our
people know that the red men spread over
this continent are the descendants of what
was called the lost tribe, who bear, at
this day, the proofs in their religion,
language and ceremonies, of their early origin.
----end
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Volume 1 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1843), link
By John Lloyd Stephens
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Volume 2 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1843), link
by John Lloyd Stephens
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