rmer are Celtic, the latter Gothic. But the fact that in
both the mistletoe was a sacred plant affords a violent presumption that
there must have been a common point from which both religions started.
There was, as I have said, an identity of origin for the same ancient and
general symbolic idea.

MITHRAS. He was the god worshipped by the ancient Persians, and celebrated
in their Mysteries as the symbol of the sun. In the initiation in these
Mysteries, the candidate passed through many terrible trials, and his
courage and fortitude were exposed to the most rigorous tests. Among
others, after ascending the mystical ladder of seven steps, he passed
through a scenic representation of Hades, or the infernal regions; out of
this and the surrounding darkness he was admitted into the full light of
Elysium, where he was obligated by an oath of secrecy, and invested by the
Archimagus, or High Priest, with the secret instructions of the rite,
among which was a knowledge of the Ineffable Name.

MOUNT CALVARY. A small hill of Jerusalem, in a westerly direction, and not
far from Mount Moriah. In the legends of Freemasonry it is known as "a
small hill near Mount Moriah," and is referred to in the third degree.
This "small hill" having been determined as the burial-place of Jesus, the
symbol has been Christianized by many modern masons.

There are many masonic traditions, principally borrowed from the Talmud,
connected with Mount Calvary; such as, that it was the place where Adam
was buried, &c.

MOUNT MORIAH. The hill in Jerusalem on which the temple of Solomon was
built.

MYRTLE. The sacred plant in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and, as symbolic of
a resurrection and immortality, the analogue of the acacia.

MYSTERIES. A secret worship paid by the ancients to several of the pagan
gods, to which none were admitted but those who had been solemnly
initiated. The object of instruction in these Mysteries was, to teach the
unity of God and the immortality of the soul. They were divided into
Lesser and Greater Mysteries. The former were merely preparatory. In the
latter the whole knowledge was communicated. Speaking of the doctrine that
was communicated to the initiates, Philo Judaeus says that "it is an
incorruptible treasure, not like gold or silver, but more precious than
everything beside; for it is the knowledge of the Great Cause, and of
nature, and of that which is born of both." And his subsequent language
shows that there was a