It might be freemasoned but you never know. Hopefully you can find out more on how to read it.

Thanks, I can actualy make out a sentance here or there.

Maybe you might like reading the Bhagavad Gita instead?

are you sure its THAT old? i mean it doesnt look that old, just in bad condition, and its printed really smooth and what not.. it looks more computer then an older style typing/press to me =/

It was printed on acid paper, I can tell by the way the pages smell that its one of the oldest things in my library.

from what I can find its from around 1870

Interesting find...let me know if you ever get the result. X3

http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/04.....he-memory.html

I've never seen a bible with the "@" sign in it. lol xD

If you do get the result, do tell ;D

Ive never seen another one with high math symbols in it either. :P

I'm prety sure the +| means "the"

@ signs in the modern form weren't put into type set until the 1800s. Also, this is very obviously written in english. Although hard to read, some areas can be made out:

In a progressive mural scene, divided into different (something)

you are not the pilot

Your past regular department



It is def a form of shorthand that is written instead of calligraphic.

I am guessing i am going to show my utter Geek status here and say
This looks like the book that Sent Fred Burkle to Pylea in the Angel series. I feel like if i try to read it i am going to open a portal to somewhere.

Uh... I don't know any of those names, sorry.

Older TV show About a Vampire with a soul as detectivey type comedy. was great show. they found a book at one point that was all written without vowels. when people read from it on a psychic hot spot it opened gates between worlds and well hilarity ensued.

or the book Dr.Who found and was reading, which sent the tardis to a singularity

I really have to find the series and watch ALL of it someday

Now that I think about it there was something similar in an episode of Dr. Who.

OHHHH i figured it out! IT IS IN SHORTHAND! an old form of record keeping used by stenographers. back when they still took dictation and had to write as fast as someone talked. they invented this language which would then later be expanded on when writing it to the permanent records or letters.

from what I could decipher, its a book given to young men or initiates.

thats looks almost exactly like the stuff i have in a book of shorthand from the late 1800s

google results indicate something called Ecce Orienti from around 1870

Alright everyone, heres the latest clue provide me by someone on the reddit furs chatroom on furnet.

http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/04.....he-memory.html

aparently something happened around 1920 to make them stop printing things?

Yeah, it's written in a Freemason Code/Cipher. Been used for awhile now and at one time was frowned upon in Masonry circles due to the chance it could be decoded, but now most initiates into Masonry will likely learn the rituals with these codes for memorization. Haven't read this script since I learned it going through early ranks in Masonry but, I might give it a go here if you're still interested in learning what it says.

Form my initial scan through, this is a part of the the Fellow Craft Oath (2nd degree). Little different than I learned it, but Masonry changes the oaths slightly every so often. *continues reading*

"My brother, being advanced to the second degree, I congratulate you on your performance.
Masonry is a progressive moral science, divided into different degrees; and, as its principles and mystic ceremonies are regularly developed and illustrated, it is intended and hoped that they will make a deep and lasting impression upon your mind..." Yadda yadda, "Such is the nature of your engagements as a Fellow Craft, and to a do of observe them you are bound to the strongest ties of fidelity and honor."

This is from the Worshipful Master part of the Fellow Craft degree ceremony, told to the one being raised to the degree. Why I thought it was odd, I learned the initiate side of the oath, not this part. And yes, I kept out the middle cause well, I'm still bound by the oath, think I gave out enough without risk of being killed. You can figure the rest out on your own.

What, I believe you have there is not a bible, but rather a lodge's book of ceremonies that would be in the possession of the lodge head master to memorize degree ceremonies and rites. It's contemporary official title eludes me, but it's nothing really more than a book of rites and degrees.

from what I have discovered since posting this is it's a copy of King Solomon And His Followers, from the late 1800s. There are online copies available, hopefully by making this writing available openly we can further the development of our country as a nation of conscience.

Well, in that regard, Masonry is starting to make a resurgence and I can only see that as a good thing in the end. Though I don't approve of releasing the intimate details and rites of Masonry to the general populace due to the fact that part of the honor and privilege of being a Mason is access to the ritual and history that is otherwise sequestered to the general populace, I do promote that those interested pursue the Craft. I can only speak of positive experiences since joining the fraternity and a sense of swelling pride. There's little else you can do that connects you on such a level with those that founded our nation, as well as mankind as a whole.

I frankly believed that if the US returned to its Masonic roots once again, we only be better for it. Pity groups such as the likes of the Tea Party and others have perverted our history to such a degree that its doubtful we'd recover to a meaningful level. But one can always hopes as more young men are initiate into the Craft we can start to rebuild.

If you're interested I'd suggest contacting your local lodge and find out about getting sponsored and attending any public lodge functions. See what we're really about, I can assure you that it would surprise you.

Word of warning though, some lodges in our nation are no longer regular. If they promote a religious faith (namely the use of Jesus or other specifically named religious figure outside of the neutral term of god refereed to as "The Great Architect of the Universe"), stay the well clear of them. Those are not true lodges and are likely to bring with them trouble.

thanks for the info, there is one in my town but unfortunately the doors are only open when I'm at work, so i could only leave a note perhaps. Though I'm not sure if I'm interested in joining, as I had alot of disapointment with scouts many years ago, and I prefer a solitary practice to any structured group. A pity that this book was only carried by one out of a group, instead of all participants, theres alot of things I disagree with in regards to government in general so it's unlikely I'll part with this untill I've made sense of it all.

I would never join I don't think but if they're just kind of like 'secular' in the sense of not 'atheism' I think people jump to conclusions with the word secular, but google says "denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis" then erm yes, I think certain things should not be the /business/ of a church to say whether it affects someone's spirituality one way or the other

!!!!!!!