Hiram Abiff: The Three Ruffians

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The Widow's Son

"(From 4º  - Secret Master Lectrue) Q. Who does a brother represent, presenting a mark and receiving assistance?

A. Our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, who was a poor man, but for his regular and upright deportment, his great skill in architecture and the sciences, became eminently distinguished among the craftsmen."-Duncan's Ritual And Monitor Of Freemasonry by Malcolm C. Duncan

"Hiram the Builder is the profound symbol of manhood laboring for immortality, and all the different points of the legend are simply clustered around it, only to throw out the symbol in bolder relief. The legend is of itself inert—it is the symbol of the Master Workrnan that gives it life and true meaning."-An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry by Albert Gallatin Mackey

"King Hiram, of Tyre, the descendent of Cain, who selected Hiram Abiff, the son of a widow, (as all Free Masons are called because of the relation of their divine progenitor with Eve)." - Freemasonry And Catholicism By Max Heindel pg. 21

“THE MASONIC LEGEND has points of variance from as well as agreement with the Bible story. It states that Jehovah created EVE, that the Lucifer Spirit SAMAEL united with her but that he was ousted by Jehovah and forced to leave her before the birth of her son Cain, who was thus THE SON OF A WIDOW. Then Jehovah created ADAM, to be the husband of Eve, and from their union Abel (Later, known as Sons of Seth) was born. Thus from the beginning there have been two kinds of people in the world. One begotten by the Lucifer Spirit Samael (Sons of Cain) and partaking of a semi-divine nature imbued with the dynamic martial energy inherited from this divine ancestry, is aggressive, progressive, and possessed of great initiative, but impatient of restraint or authority whether human or divine.“ –  Freemasonry And Catholicism By Max Heindel pg. 18

"Hiram Abif being the Son of a Widow."-An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry by Albert Gallatin Mackey

"Every Master was the "widow's son". He was the continuation of the Master-line that had apparently been broken,with the death of the first Grand Master Hiram Abiff. In the initiation drama he had been assigned the role of Hiram Abiff whose mantle thus assumed became the central feature of the candidates role in the secret society. In that same role he would emulate Abiff who had died rather than give up the secrets of the Master Mason. In that role he would thwart the effects of the attack by three assassins who had wanted those secrets badly enough to kill, not caring that the murder of Hiram Abiff meant an end to the building of the unfinished temple."- Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry by John J. Robinson Pg. 270

"before he (Hiram) expired he hid the hammer and disc upon which he had inscribed the Word. This was never found until ages later when Hiram, “the widow’s Son,” was reborn as Lazarus and became the friend and pupil of the Lion of Judah, who raised him from death through initiation. When the hammer was found it had the shape of a cross, and the disc had become a rose. Therefore he took his place among the immortals under the symbolical name Christian Rosenkreuz" - Freemasonry And Catholicism By Max Heindel pg. 41

"Now according to our ancient traditions upon the slain Hiram's rod was the full name of Deity, or perhaps the first and most important syllable. His rod was essential not only in forming the ineffable word but in completing the right angle."-The Lost Word By Bro. Arthur C. Parker

"Typhon, the Queen of Ethiopia, and the seventy-two conspirators (against Osiris) represent the three destructive powers, preserved to modern Freemasonry as the murderers of the Master Builder. They are ignorance, superstition, and fear, (the state, the church and the mob) the destroyers of all good things.”– Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians, by Manly P. Hall pg. 149

"To the mystic Christian Mason, CHiram. represents the Christ who in three days (degrees) raised the temple of His body from its earthly sepulcher. His three murderers were Cæsar's agent (the state), the Sanhedrin (the  church), and the incited populace (the mob)."-The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall pg. 77-81

"Hiram Abif represents intelligence, liberty and truth, and was struck down by a blow to the neck with a rule, representing the suppression of speech by the church; then he was struck in the heart with the square, representing the suppression of belief by the State; and finally he was struck on the head by a maul, representing the suppression of intellect by the masses. Freemasonry thus equates the Church, the State,and masses with tyranny, intolerance, and ignorance.” - BEHOLD A PALE HORSE" Milton William Cooper pg 77

"In his Ancient Freemasonry, Frank C. Higgins reproduces the Masonic apron of a colossal stone figure at Quirigua, Guatemala. The central ornament of the apron is the three Passion nails, arranged exactly like the British broad arrow. That three nails should be used to crucify the Christ, three murderers to kill CHiram Abiff, and three wounds to slay Prince Coh, the Mexican Indian Osiris,(and John F. Kennedy) is significant"-The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall

"This interpretation is borne out in the higher Degrees of sublime Masonry. Thus, in the thirty-second, or Degree of Prince of the Royal Secret, according to the Continental nomenclature, the following analogies are explained: "The symbolical mystery of the death of (Hiram Abiff) represents that of the Messiah; for the three (blows) which were given to him at the three gates of (the Temple) allude to the three points of condemnation against Christ at three separate places, viz.: before Caiaphas. Herod, and Pilate. It was from the last that he was led to that most violent and excruciating death. The three (blows) were given with the three (tools, i.e., gauge, square, and gavel). These are symbols of the blow on the cheek of Christ, the flagellation, and the blow with the spear. Some substitute for the latter, but with less propriety, the crown of thorns. The brethren assembled around the grave of (Hiram Abiff) is a representation of the disciples lamenting the death of Christ. The Word, which was said to be lost, was pronounced upon the cross, which the Jews could not comprehend. The false brethren are represented by Judas, who proved false to his Master; and the sprig of cassia represented the cross, of which wood it is said to have been composed."--Historical Landmarks, vol. ii. p. 176."-Duncan's Ritual And Monitor Of Freemasonry by Malcolm C. Duncan

Hiram Abiff, the chief architect of King Solomon’s Temple, who was murdered by three ruffians during an unsuccessful attempt to force him to divulge the Master Masons Lost Word.

"These three may be called thought, desire, and action. When purified and transmuted they are three glorious avenues through which may manifest the great life power of the three kings, the glowing builders of the Cosmic Lodge manifesting in this world as spiritual thought, constructive emotion, and useful daily labor in the various places and positions where we find ourselves while carrying on the Master's work. These three form the Flaming Triangle which glorifies every living Mason, but when crystallized and perverted they form a triangular prison through which the light cannot shine
and the Life is forced to languish in the dim darkness of despair, until man himself through his higher understanding liberates the energies and powers which are indeed the builders and glorifiers of
his Father's House."- The Lost Keys of Freemasonry or The Secret of Hiram Abiff by Manly P. Hall

"When man can mold his thoughts, his emotions, and his actions into faithful expressions of his highest ideals then liberty is his, for ignorance is the darkness of Chaos and knowledge is the light of Cosmos."- The Lost Keys of Freemasonry or The Secret of Hiram Abiff by Manly P. Hall

"This rough, uncut ashlar has three dimensions, representative of the three ruffians who at this stage are destroyers of the fourth dimensional life concealed within the ugly, ill-shaped stone."- The Lost Keys of Freemasonry or The Secret of Hiram Abiff by Manly P. Hall

"Even in the legend of Hiram , it is at high noon that he is stricken down and slain."- Magick In Theory And Practice by The Master Therion Aleister Crowley

"The attack on Tipereth (and John F. Kennedy) is to be regarded as a reference to the 'Fall', death of Hiram at high noon, etc. etc." - The Tao King by Aleister Crowley

"The rule of the Ancient Mysteries was, and still is in other systems, that twelve years of preparation should elapse before the last great spiritual experience was permitted that brought the candidate to the Light at his centre and qualified him for Mastership, though less sufficed in appropriate cases. As the result of his purification and labours he had become an illuminate and he was mystically said to be twelve years old . From a rough ashlar he had become a polished perfect cube, a stone meet for building into the "holy city" which we are told lieth foursquare and has twelve gates that are always open. For all the parts of his organism were now equalised and balanced, and all his gates (or channels of intercourse with the divine world), no longer shut and clogged by the darkness of his former impurities, lay open for the passage through them of the true Light. In Masonry, this condition is called the "hour of high twelve"; and he who has attained it will be, like Hiram Abiff, in constant communion with, and adoration of, the Most High ."-Masonic Initiation W.L. Wilmshurst pg.32

"Having been struck by Libra (the state), Scorpio (the church), and Sagittarius (the mob), the sun (CHiram) is secretly home through the darkness by the signs of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces and buried over the brow of a hill (the vernal equinox)." -The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall pg. 77-81

"(From 14º - Perfect Elu Initiation) Senior Grand Warden — Joabert, Stolkin, Terry, Morphey, Alycuber, Dorson, Herim, Berthemar, Tito, Zerbal, Benachard and Tabor, the first nine were those who were elected to search for the traitor Jubelum (Akirop), one of the assassins of Hiram Abiff."-Scotch Rite Masonry Illustrated: The Complete Ritual of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite by Sovereign Grand Commander, 33 & Jonathan Blanchard pg. 341

"OBED

The Hebrew word meaning serving One of nine favored officials, selected by Solomon after the death of Hiram Abiff."-An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry by Albert Gallatin Mackey

"(From 10º - Elu of the Fifteen Initiation) Brother Joabert, in the legends of masonry, the greatest enemy of Hiram or Truth is called Akirop, or Jubelum. He had two companions to whom various names have been given. You, brother Joabert, have pursued and destroyed them all three. They represent, first, ignorance or darkness, second, superstition or error, third, egotism or ambition.

In the legend or mythology of the Persians, they were Ahiriman’ or the evil principle attended by darkness and chaos. In the mysteries of the Egyptians, they were Typhon the enemy and assassin of Osiris assisted by Serapis and Amenthis. Among the Greeks they were Titan, Python and Chimera.

Many myths of the overthrow of the enemies of man and nature were invented. Now it is Jupiter, seconded by Apollo and Pan. Now it is Ormuzd, aided by the Amshospands and Szeds. They all agree in fixing the period of the victory in the zodical sign of Capricornus, when the sun begins his ascension and when nature resumes her work of annual reproduction. In the degree of Elect of Nine of which you have passed, you have learned that Jubelum (Akirop) one of the ruffians, was killed in a cave. That skeleton in the East is a representation of him, with a setting maul with which he was armed when he knocked down Hiram Abiff. His head Solomon had embalmed in order to be exposed until the other two were found out.

Six months after Akirop was killed, Bengabee one Solomon’s Intendants, made inquiry in the country of Cheth, tributary to Solomon, when he learned that Jubela, (Guibs) and Jubelo, (Gravelot) the two other  assassins had retired there, thinking themselves safe."-Scotch Rite Masonry Illustrated: The Complete Ritual of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite by a Sovereign Grand Commander, 33 Jonathan Blanchard pg. 199-200

"...the names Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum... The French word jubé means a "rood. screen," the screen in a medieval church which stood at the entrance to the chancel, the area east of the nave that included the choir. In those days a large crucifix was mounted on the rood screen, so-called because rood is an ancient Saxon word for cross.

It was in front of this jubé, this screen and crucifix, that the public penance set by the priest was often carried out. Rather than a typical current penance of a dozen Hail Marys, the medieval penance might mean hours of prayer, or even a beating, with bare knees on rough stone. More to the point, in religious orders such as the Knights Templar, it was at the jubé that the physical punishments or penances of monks and friars were effected, including the whippings prescribed by their rules. The jubé was the site of public punishment of Sin. This meaning lives today in the French colloquial term venir à jubé, literally "to come to the jubé," which is defined as to submit, to get one's just desserts. 'It is in that sense of punishment and retribution that the word jubé  lives on in Masonic ritual. To, memorialize the fates of the three attackers of Hiram Abiff, who were duly punished for their crime and sin by the judgment of King Solomon, the originators of the allegory might have called them Jube One, Two, and Three, but chose to differentiate by using the feminine, masculine, and neuter suffixes by naming them Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum. The collective term, the Juwes, undoubtedly began as the Jubes. With no English equivalent, the names of Those·Who-Were-Punished point directly to a French-speaking order and to a medieval time frame."- Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry by John J. Robinson Pg. 227