Hiram Abiff: A Solar Deity

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"Mythically Hiram is the Sun, a symbol of the Logos ; mystically he is the perfect Initiate, the Grand Master. The myth was not intended to add to the facts of history, but, as De Witte points out, "to illustrate a philosophical or religious truth."-Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry : Charles H. Vail, Rev 32 pg. 206

"The Hiram Legend and the Master's Degree are derived from the Mysteries. They are the latest expression of the old Sun Myth and the Ancient Rite."-Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry : Charles H. Vail, Rev 32 pg. 203

"Masonry's ceremonies, symbols and the celebrated legend of Hiram in the Master Mason's degree were directly borrowed from the "Ancient Mysteries", or the secret worship of Baal, Osiris or Tamuz." Edmond Ronayne - "The Master's Carpet" [p.7]

"the Atlanteans of old worshipped the rising sun, but also how the modern Mason symbolizes this sun as Hiram the highborn who, when he rises to the top of the temple, places a golden stone upon it and raises to life all things in man.." - Anatomy of Man Manly P. Hall pg. 36

"73. "In an astronomical connection, Hiram is the representative of the Sun, the symbol of his apparent progress, which appearing at the south gate, so to speak, is smote downward and more downward as he advances to ward the west, which passing, he is immediately vanquished and put to death by darkness, represented, in following the same allegory by the spirit of evil; but, returning, he rises again, conqueror and resurrected." * Reybold,

(This is why it is said  a Master Mason is traveling in the east to find the source of illumination.)

74. "Khurum, therefore, improperly called Hiram, is Khur-om, the same as Her-ra, Hermes, and Heracles, the personification of Light and the Sun, the Mediator, Redeemer and Savior. "

75. "It is merely absurd to add the word, 'Abif,' or ' Abiff,' as part of the name of the architect. Abin
(which we read Abif) means 'of my father's.'.......
1 formerly one of my father 's 'servants' or 'slave. ' " ** Albert Pike, "Morals and Dogma."-Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry by Dr. R. Swinburne Clymer pg 61

"..the later Jewish High Priests constructed the allegory of Solomon's Temple -- a building which never had a real existence, any more than had King Solomon himself, who is simply, and as much a solar myth as is the still later Hiram Abif, of the Masons, as Ragon has well demonstrated. Thus, if the measurements of this allegorical temple, the symbol of the cycle of Initiation, coincide with those of the Great Pyramid, it is due to the fact that the former were derived from the latter through the Tabernacle of Moses." - The Secret Doctrine [[Vol. 1, Page]] 314-315 By Helena Blavatsky

"In Masonry the sun has many symbols. One expression of the solar energy is Solomon, whose name SOL-OM-ON is the name for the Supreme Light in three different languages. Hiram Abiff, the CHiram (Hiram) of the Chaldees, is also a solar deity, and the story of his attack and murder by the Ruffians, with its solar interpretation,"-The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall

"Whereas CHiram represents the active physical light of the sun, SOLomon signifies its invisible but all-powerful, spiritual and intellectual effulgency."-The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall

"From the Cosmic angle or view point we note again that Solomon’s Temple is the Solar Universe and Hiram Abiff, the Grand Master, is the Sun which travels around the twelve signs of the Zodiac," - Freemasonry And Catholicism By Max Heindel pg. 31

"COMPANIONS, THE TWELVE

George F. Fort says that "the twelve Companions of Master Hiram correspond unquestionably to the twelve zodiacal signs, or the twelve months of the year. The groundwork of this tradition is a fragment of ancient natural religion, common to both Oriental and European nations; or, more properly, was derived from identical sources. The treacherous Craftsmen of Hiram the Good are the three winter months which slew him. He is the sun surviving during the eleven consecutive months, but subjected to the irresistible power of three ruffians, the winter months ; in the twelfth and last month, that luminary, Hiram, the good, the beauteous, the bright, the sun god, is extinguished" (The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry, page 408)."-An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry by Albert Gallatin Mackey

"In the Semitic story of the year, common to all, in closely related forms, the marriage of the male and female principles occurred annually at the awakening of vegetation and the mating season of the animal kingdom. Then Horus, the spirit of fertility, represented by the position of the sun in the zodiacal sign of the Ram, called Ammon, united with Virgin Nature, personified by the position of the earth in the sign of Virgo goddess of, the grain harvest, holding in her hand the sheaf of wheat called by the Hebrews shibboleth, in the midst of which glistens the brilliant star named Abib (now termed spica Virginis), which gave its name to the month of the Passover. The name Horus-Ammon is the same as Khurum and Churam (translated "Hiram") among the Phenicians"-The Beginning Of Masonry by F Higgins pg. 74

Alexandrian coins of the Caesars. Showing Hermes on the Ram, entering the year as Harpocrates and leaving it for the underworld as Serapis. Later forms of Horus and Osiris

"We often hear the expression, "riding the goat" or "climbing the greased pole." This is of symbolic import to those who have eyes to see, for when man masters his lower animal nature he can say honestly that he is "riding the goat;" and if he cannot ride the goat, he cannot enter the temple of initiation. The greased pole which he must climb refers undoubtedly to the spinal column; and it is only when the consciousness of man climbs up this column into the brain that he can take the degrees of Freemasonry." Anatomy of Man Manly P. Hall pg. 34

Within the name itself  Hiram Abiff, can be found high ram above, which might be referring to the martyred sun being discovered by Aries the ram. This could give us an insight to the astronomical key behind Hiram riding the goat.


For more on the solar connections to Hiram Abiff go to:

The Hiramic Legend (The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall)