Manly P Hall

Manly P Hall


https://yadi.sk/d/gSkJP5Bfpz2FU


The philosophers of Greece and Egypt divided the life of the sun during the year into four parts;
therefore they symbolized the Solar Man by four different figures. When He was born in the winter
solstice, the Sun God was symbolized as a dependent infant who in some mysterious manner had
managed to escape the Powers of Darkness seeking to destroy Him while He was still in the cradle of
winter. The sun, being weak at this season of the year, had no golden rays (or locks of hair), but the
survival of the light through the darkness of winter was symbolized by one tiny hair which alone
adorned the head of the Celestial Child. (As the birth of the sun took place in Capricorn, it was often
represented as being suckled by a goat.)
At the vernal equinox, the sun had grown to be a beautiful youth. His golden hair hung in ringlets on his
shoulders and his light, as Schiller said, extended to all parts of infinity. At the summer solstice, the sun
became a strong man, heavily bearded, who, in the prime of maturity, symbolized the fact that Nature at
this period of the year is strongest and most fecund. At the autumnal equinox, the sun was pictured as an
aged man, shuffling along with bended back and whitened locks into the oblivion of winter darkness.
Thus, twelve months were assigned to the sun as the length of its life. During this period it circled the
twelve signs of the zodiac in a magnificent triumphal march. When fall came, it entered, like Samson,
into the house of Delilah (Virgo), where its rays were cut off and it lost its strength. In Masonry, the
cruel winter months are symbolized by three murderers who sought to destroy the God of Light and
Truth.