The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1872-09-07
Lodges i'm Upper Rooms.
BY DIR. A. G.. MACKEY.

Thepractice of holding Masonic Lodg-
eS in the upper rooms of houses Isl uni
verSal, that i'll all my experience have
no knowledge of Il single instance in
which Lodge has been holden in room
on the first floor Of the building. The
most apparent reason for this is, that
security from being OverScen and over
heard may be thus obtained, and hence
Lodge (p. A. that "a Masonic hall
should be isolated, and, if possible, sur
rounded with lofty walls.
AS, however, such situation, in large
towns, where Masonry is usually prac-
ticcd, can seldom be obtained with con-
vCnienCe to the. brethren, the Lodge
should be formed i'll an upper story"
This, as Il practical reason, will be, per
hapS, sufficient to MasOnS in general.
But to those who are more curious, it
may be we'll to say, that for this custom
there is also a mystical reason of great
antiquity.
Gregory, in his "NOteS and Obscrva-
tons on some Passages of Scripture,1
| GG1, p. ~ says, 1.-THE upper rooms in
| Scripture were places i'll that part of the
| house which was highest from the ground
set apart by the Jews for their private
toward SOlOmOn'S Temple" This room
received, in the Hebrew language, the
appellatiOn of Aliiah, which has been
translated by the Greek, bupcro0n, and
| improperly by the Latin, cTNdculum
The Hebrew and the Greek hoth have
the signiticati0n of an upperrOOm while
the Latin appellative would give the
idea Of Il dining-rOOm or place for eat
ing, thus taking away the sacred char
acter OF the apartment. The Allah was
really Il secret chamber or recess in the
upper part of the house, devoted to re-
| ligiOus uses. Hence, the wise men or
rabbiS of Israel are called by the Tai
mudists beni Alijali, or the sons of the
upper or secret rOom.0 And so, in Psalm
civ, 2, 3, the PSalmist speaks Of God as
stretching Outthe hcavcnsl like acurtain,
and laying the beams of his chambers i'll
the waters, where, III the original the
word here translated, chambers" is the
plural of Aliiah, and should more prop
erly be rendered "his secret chambers:'' .
an allusiOn, as DR.. Clarke thinks, to the
holy of hOlies of the tabernacle. Again,
i'll Ii Chronicles, iX: 3, 4, it is said that
the Queen Of Sheba had seen the wisdom
of Solomon, and the house that he had
bullt-hlS provisions, servants, and cup
bearers, "and his ascent by which he
went up into the house of the Lord
there was no more spirit in her. The
Word which our tTanslatOrs have rem
dcred "his ascent" is again this word
Alijah, and the passage should be rem
dered his secret chamber" or "uppel
room :" the one by which, through a pri.
vate way, he was enabled to pass into
the temple.
On the advent of Christianity, thi.
Jewish custom Of wOrshipping privately
in an upper room was adopted by the
apostles and disciples, and the New Tes
lament contains many instances of the
, practice, the word Allah being, az
have already remarked, translated by
the Greek bNperOOn, which has a simila'
meaning. Thus in Acts i: 13, we find thu
apostles prayingin an upper room; ant
again, in the XXth chapter, the disciple
: are represented as having met at Ephe
sUs IN an upper room, where Pete
preached to them. But it is unneces
sary to multiply instances of this usage
- The evidence is complete that the Jews
t and after them the primitive Christians
performed their devOtiOns in uppe
I: rooms. And the care with which Aliial
9 buperOon, or upper chamber, is alway
' used to designate the place of devotion
t abundantly indicates that any Othe
= | place. NOtltl udNC Uecn COuSluGfcQ lnl
t proper.
: Hence we may trace the practice G
= holding Lodges in upper rooms to thi
r ancient custom and that, again, haspe1
n haps some connection with the sacre
S character always given by the ancient
|. to high Places so thatit issaid, in GU
n Masonic lectures, that our ancient bret1
Il rem met on the highest hills. And a.
|, though the reason there assigned is tha
: they might guard against surprise
:. we should remember that this is but til
u latter thought of some modern rituals
d 1t is much better to refer to the Ions
" established principles of symbolism, an
q to seek the true derivation of this Gus
e tom OF meeting i'll Npper rooms in til
e mystical signiticati0n of superior hOl
o ness, which was always given to hia
7, places. because there, as HutchinsO
2, says, "it was supposed that the Spirit
=, God was peculiarly tlifftlsed." The H,
S brews, as well as all other ancient n;
e tiOns, We're accustomed to worship G
'e the "highest hills,n and sacrifices Offere
is on these elevated places were deemC
1t to be most acceptable to the deity
d whom they were offered. The hOldin
IT OF Our Lodges in Hpper rooms is thus
II remnant of that ancient superstition
= symbolism. The isolation and securi
IL is the practical explanation, but the II
,e credness OF III elevation is the symbol
\, idea,