Glossary
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Alphabetically Arranged with
Cyclopedic Meanings and Bible References
Naked
- unclothed
In Scriptural
symbology, nakedness denoted sin, and clothing,
protection. But the symbolism of Freemasonry on this subject is
different. There, to be "neither naked or clothed" is to make
no claim through worldly wealth or honors to preferment in Freemasonry, where
nothing but internal merit, which is unaffected by the outward appearance of
the body, is a recommendation for admission. Nakedness a symbol of
poverty and of lack in claims for preferment... Jas.
2:15 - Rev. 3:17
Naphtali
- my wrestling
The fifth son of Jacob, and
the tenth point of the ancient English Lectures, referring to the investiture
of the lambskin. Symbolizing this point when Moses said, "Oh Naphtali" satisfied with favor and full of the blessings of the Lord, possess
thou the west and the south.
Gen. 49:21 - Deut. 33:23
Nazareth
- a branch
This is the
city of Galilee in which Jesus Christ spent his childhood and much of his
life; hence he was often called Jesus of Nazareth, or the Nazarene. In
the Rose Croix, Nazareth is a significant word; Jesus is designated as "Our
Master of Nazareth" to designate the origin and nature of the dogmas of the
Order. Matt. 2:23 -
Luke 1:16.27 - Matt. 21:11
Nebuchadnezzer
Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the Chaldeans, a nomadic race, who descended
from their homes in the Caucasian mountains and overwhelmed the countries of
Southern Asia.
He was the founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire,
and among his conquests was the Jewish nation of Judah. The Jewish king
Jehoiakim was slain, his son Jehoiachin was made a petty king in his place;
after a reign of three years he was displaced by his uncle Zedekiah.
Zedekiah distinguished himself by vice and hypocritical rebellions against
Nebuchadnezzar, until the Chaldeans laid siege of Jerusalem for eighteen
months, leveled it to the ground, pillaged and utterly destroyed the Temple,
and carried captive to Babylon the inhabitants of the Judean Kingdom.
These events are commemorated in the first section of the Royal Arch Degree. 2
Kings 24 and 25th Chapters.
Neophyte
Greek,
meaning newly planted. In the primitive church, it signified one
who had recently abandoned Judaism or Paganism and embraced Christianity; and
in the Roman Church those recently admitted into its communion are still so
called. Hence it has also been applied to the young disciple of any art
or science. In Freemasonry the newly initiated and uninstructed
candidate is sometimes so designated.
Neoplatonism
A
philosophical school, established at Alexandria in Egypt, which added to the
theosophic theories of Plato many mystical doctrines borrowed from the
East. The principal disciples of this school were Philo-Judaeus,
Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Proclus, and Julian the Apostate. Much
of the symbolic teaching of the advanced Degrees of Freemasonry has been
derived from the school of Neoplatonists, especially from the writings of
Iamblichus and Philo-Judaeus.
Nevada
silver
A stainless
metal alloy with the appearance of silver.
Ne
Varietur
Latin, meaning Lest
it should be changed. These words refer to the Masonic usage of
requiring a Brother, when he receives a Certificate from a Lodge, to affix his
name, in his own handwriting, in the margin, as a precautionary measure, which
enables distant Brethren, by a comparison of the handwriting, to recognize the
true and original owner of the Certificate, and to detect any imposter who may
surreptitiously have obtained one.
Nickel
plate
Nickel
transferred to the surface of another metal, usually brass, by electrolysis.
Nickel
silver
A silver-white
alloy consisting principally of copper, zinc and nickel. Since 1914
known as nickel silver. Also called German silver.
Niello
Deep-line
engraving on gold or silver with the lines filled with a mixture of copper,
lead and sulphur in borax, fired and polished, forming a type of black enamel.
Noachidę
The descendants
of Noah. A term applied to Freemasons on the theory, derived from the
"legend of the Craft," that Noah was the Father and founder of the
Masonic system of theology. And hence the Freemasons claim to be his
descendants, because in times past they preserved the pure principles of his
religion amid the corruption of surrounding faiths.
Nodders
Ceramic figures
with counterbalanced heads pivoted by inserting a metal pin through the neck,
that fits into depressions below the inside of the body top. The head is
suspended by the pins in the depressions, with enough weight below the
pins (sometimes a spring), so that the head swings back and forth.
Apparently originated in Europe about 1850, and still being produced today,
mostly in plastic, in Japan. EXAMPLE
North
The north is
Masonically called a place of darkness. The sun in his progress through
the ecliptic never reaches farther than 23°28' north of the equator.
A wall being erected on any part of the earth farther north than that, will
therefore, at meridian, receive the rays of the sun only on its south side,
while the north as a symbol of darkness will be entirely in shadow at the hour
of meridian.
Northeast
Corner
Masonic
legend and ritual recognize the northeast corner as the proper place for
laying the corner-stone in an edifice; symbolically this corner represents the
beginning of the laying of the corner-stone of the spiritual superstructure
which every true Mason must build. Here, in the Northeast Corner,
ceremonies and instructions, the initiate commences the moral and intellectual
task of erecting a spiritual temple in his heart. The corner-stone is
emblematic of a "well-tried, true, and trusty" Masonic character which he
begins now to build -- the squareness of its surface, emblematic of morality;
its cubical form, emblematic of firmness and stability of character; the
peculiar finish and fineness of the material, emblematic of virtue and
holiness. In consecrated language of symbolism the newly admitted
Apprentice is instructed in a life of integrity and stability of conduct, of
truthfulness and uprightness of character, and of purity and holiness in all
human relations. Isa. 30:18-21 - Matt.
7:13,14 - 1 Cor. 3:16-17 - St. Mark 12:10
N.S.
Abbreviation for
Nickel Silver.
Numbers
The symbolism
which is derived from numbers was common to the Pythagoreans, the Cabalists,
the Gnostics, and all mystical associations. Of all superstitions, it is
the oldest and the most generally diffused. Allusions are to found to it
in all the systems of religion; the Jewish Scriptures, for instance, abound in
it, and the Christian shows a share of its influence. It is not,
therefore, surprising that the most predominate of all symbolism in
Freemasonry is that of numbers. The doctrine of numbers as symbols is
most familiar to us because it formed the fundamental idea of the philosophy
of Pythagoras. Yet it was not original with him, since he brought his
theories from Egypt and the East, where his numerical symbolism had always
prevailed. Iamblichus tells us (On the Pythagorean Life, 28) that
Pythagoras himself admitted that he had received the doctrine of numbers from
Orpheus, who taught that numbers were the most provident beginning of all
things in heaven, earth, and the intermediate space, and the root of the
perpetuity of Divine beings, of the gods and of demons. From the
disciples of Pythagoras we learn, for he himself taught only orally, and left
no writings, that his theory was that numbers contain the elements of all
things, and even of the sciences. Numbers are the invisible covering of
beings as the body is the visible one. They are the primary causes upon
which the whole system of the universe rests; and he who knows these numbers
knows at the same time the laws through which nature exists.
Numeration
By Letters
There is a
Cabalistical process especially used in the Hebrew language, but sometimes
applied to other languages, or instance, to the Greek, by which a mystical
meaning of a word is deduced from the numerical value of the words which it is
composed, each letter of the alphabet being equivalent to a number.
Numismatics
The science,
study, or collecting of coins, orders, decorations, medals, paper money, and
similar objects. Phaleristics is a category or subset of numismatics.
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