Encyclopedia Masonica

The pronunciation which means, I am that I am, and is one of the pentateuchal names of God. It is related in the third chapter of Exodus, that when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and directed him to go to Pharaoh and to the children of Israel in Egypt, Moses required that, as preliminary to his mission, he should be instructed in the name of God, so that, when he was asked by the Israelites, he might be able to prove his mission by announcing what that name was; and God said to him, Eheyeh, or I am that I am; and he directed him to say, "I am hath sent you." Eheych asher eheyeh is, therefore, the name of God, in which Moses was instructed at the burning bush.

Maimonides thinks that when the Lord ordered Moses to tell the people that Eheyeh sent him, he did not mean that he should only mention his name; for if they were already acquainted with it, he told them nothing new, and if they were not, it has not likely that they would be satisfied by saying Rich a name sent me, for the proof would still be wanting that this was really the name of God; therefore, he not only told them the name, but also taught them its signification. In those times, Sabaism being the predominant religion, almost all men were idolaters, and occupied themselves in the contemplation of the heavens and the sun and the stars, without any idea of a personal God in the world. Now., the Lord, to deliver his people from such an error, said to Moses, "Go and tell them I am that I am hath sent me unto you," which name Eheyeh, Signifying Being, is derived from, Heyeh, the verb of existence, and which, being repeated so that the second is the predicate of the first, contains the mystery. This is as if He had said, "Explain to them that I am What I am: that is, that My Being is within Myself, independent of every other, different from all other beings, who are so alone by virtue of My distributing it to them, and might not have been, nor could actually be such without it." So that denotes the Divine Being Himself, by which He taught Moses not only the name, but the infallible demonstration of the Fountain of Existence, as the name itself denotes.

The Cabalists say that Eheyeh is the croum or highest of the Sephiroth, and that it is the name that was hidden in the most secret place of the tabernacle.

The Talmudists had many fanciful exercitations on this word rend, and, among others, said that it is equivalent to Ore, meaning the Almighty, and the four letters of which it is formed possess peculiar properties. The letter X is in Hebrew numerically equivalent to 1, and 8 to 10, which is equal to 11; a result also obtained by taking the second and third letters of the holy name, or is and 1, which are 5 and 6, amounting to 11. But the 5 and 6 invariably produce the same number in their multiplication, for 5 times 5 are 25, and 6 times 6 are 36, and this invariable product of is and 1 was said to denote the unchangeableness of the First Cause. Again, I am commences with R or 1, the beginning of numbers, and Jehovah, with 10, the end of numbers , which signified that God was the beginning and end of all things.

The phrase Eheyeh asher eheyeh is of importance in the study of the legend of the Royal Arch system. Years ago, that learned Freemason, William S. Rockwell, while preparing his Ahiman Rezon for the State of Georgia, undertook its use in the veils.

The Encyclopedia Masonica exists to preserve the wealth of information that has been generated over the centuries by numerous Masonic authors. As Freemasonry is now Speculative and not Operative, the work of a Mason is now conducted in the quarries of symbolism, literature, history and scholasticism. Freemasonry encourages intellectual exploration and academic achievement in its members and many Masons over the years have taken up this calling. The result has been that an incredible amount of philosophy, symbolic speculation and academic insights have been created. However, as Freemasonry teaches, human knowledge is frail and fragile. It is easily lost in the turnings of the ages and unforeseen catastrophes can result in great setbacks to human knowledge.

For too long these great works have sat on forgotten shelves, gathering dust and concealing the light that could be shed on the darkness of our ignorance. The Encyclopedia Masonica has been created to act as an ark, sailing through time, to ensure that future generations of Freemasons have access to the same knowledge that inspired the Brethren that came before them. It will contain the works of such Masonic Luminaries as Albert G. Mackey, Manly Palmer Hall, G.S.M. Ward, Albert Pike and many others. The Encyclopedia Masonica is a living work and the volunteers of Universal Co-Masonry will continue to labor until the most comprehensive Masonic reference work the world has ever seen has been created. The Encyclopedia Masonica is open to any who wish to use it and will remain open so that the treasures contained within may increase the wealth of all those who seek its wisdom.