From the book
Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry
R. Swinburne Clymer · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPurity is an inward condition of rectitude and preparation.
- In Ancient Mystic Oriental MasonryThe soul is originally described as pure in the Degrees.
- In this editionPure and white have broader uses than ritual purity.
- A place to readD.15: … “Deity, and in its original essence is all purity, truth, and wisdom, is an axiom which” …
Meaning
Purity is an inward condition of rectitude and preparation. The white garment is a visible sign meant to express that condition.
Use in the book
The soul is originally described as pure in the Degrees. Later comparisons collect Christian clothing, ritual garments, and the Masonic apron around innocence and renewal. The color acquires significance through an explanation of the wearer's intended life.
The article on investiture makes clothing part of admission, while the moral argument demands that the outward appearance correspond to conduct.
Places to read
- Degrees of the Mystic Oriental Rite · Block 15… “Deity, and in its original essence is all purity, truth, and wisdom, is an axiom which the disembodied learn, when the powers of memory are sufficiently awakened to perceive the states” …
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 96“300. "In the Apocalypse a white stone was the reward promised by the Spirit to those who overcame; and in the same mystical book the apostle is instructed to say, that” …
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 97… “early ages of the (true) Christian Church a white garment was always placed upon the catechumen who had been recently baptized, to denote that he had been cleansed from his former” …
- Masonic Symbolism · Block 101… “esteemed regenerate; and he was invested with a white garment and apron as a symbol of his newly attained purity.”
In this edition
Pure and white have broader uses than ritual purity. Their concordance locations identify spelling, leaving the reader to judge the sense.
Reading the argument
A garment can mark a claimed change without demonstrating that it has occurred. The introduction's distinction between outer ceremony and inner initiation supplies the relevant control: purity must be assessed through the life, rather than inferred solely from dress.
purity
“purity” — 16 occurrences in 15 text blocks: I.21; D.15; M.38; F.73, 87, 91, 99, 132; S.34, 36, 92, 97, 100–101, 105.
pure
“pure” — 12 occurrences in 12 text blocks: M.68, 70; F.72, 91, 99, 132, 155, 158; S.11, 18, 23, 86.
white garment
“white garment” — 2 occurrences in 2 text blocks: S.97, 101.
white
“white” — 18 occurrences in 15 text blocks: M.53; F.67, 80; S.72, 93, 95–98, 100–102, 152; R.29; N.80.