Grand Lodge
Foundation of. (See Freemasonry.) Grandier, Urbain: Urbain Grandier, a canon of the French church, and a popular preacher of the town of Loudun in the district of Poiriers, was in the year 1634 brought to trial upon the accusation of magic. The first cause of his being thus called in question was the envy of his rival preachers, whose fame was eclipsed by his superior talents. The second cause was a libel falsely imputed to him upon cardinal Richelieu. Grandier, besides his eloquence, was distinguished for his courage and resolution, for the gracefulness of his figure, and the extraordinary attention he piad to the neatness of his dress and the decoration of his person, which last circumstance brought upon him the imputation of being so much devoted to the service of the Graterakes fair. About this time certain nuns of the convent of Ursulines at Loudun (q.v.) were attacked with a disease which manifested itself by very extraordinary symptoms, suggesting to many the idea that they were possessed with devils. A rumour was immediately spread that Grandier, urged by some offence he had conceived against these nuns, was the author, by the skill he had in the arts of sorcery, of these possessions. It unfortunately happened that the same capuchin friar who assured cardinal Richelieu that Grandier was the writer of the libel against him, also communicated to him the story of the possessed nuns, and the suspicion which had fallen on the priest on their account. The cardinal, seized with avidity on this occasion of private vengeance, wrote to the counsellor of state at Loudun, to cause a strict investigation to be made into the charges, and in such terms as plainly implied that what he aimed at was the destruction of Grandier. The trial took place in the month of August, 1634; and, according to the authorised copy of the trial, Grandier was convicted upon the evidence of Astaroth, a devil of the order of Seraphims, and chief of the possessing devils, of Easas, of Celsus, of Acaos, of Cedon, of Asmodeus of the order of thrones, of Alex, of Zabulon, of Naphthalim, of Cham, of Uriel, and of Achas of the order of principalities, and sentenced to be burned alive. In other words, he was convicted upon the evidence of twelve nuns, who, being asked who they were, gave in these names, and professed to be devils that, compelled by the order of the court, delivered a constrained testimony. The sentence was accordingly executed, and Grandier met his fate with heroic constancy. At his death an enormous drone fly was seen buzzing about his head, and a monk, who was present at the execution, attested that, whereas the devils are accustomed to present themselves in the article of death to tempt men to deny God their Saviour, this was Beelzebub (which in Hebrew signifies the God of flies), come to carry away to hell the soul of the victim.
Graterakes, Valentine : An Irish mesmerist born in the county of Waterford in 1628. In 1662, he dreamed that he had received the gift of healing by laying on of hands. He ignored the dream, but as it occurred again on several occasions, he made an experiment upon his wife which was quite successful. He practised the laying on of hands for practically all diseases, and in 1666 went to London where he was summoned to court. Whilst there he healed many persons, but the insults of the courtiers proved too much for him and he was forced to withdraw to a house near London, where he continued his cures. In his Critical History of Animal Magnetism Pechlin says, "Amongst the most astonishing cures which history records, are those of an Irish gentleman in London, Oxford, and other cities of England and Ireland. He himself published in London in 1666 a full account of them. 'Val. Graterakes, Esq., of Waterford, in the kingdom of Ireland, famous for curing several diseases and distempers by the stroak of his hand only: London, 1660.' "
Pechlin believes that no doubt whatever can be entertained of the reality of his cures, as they are related in his own work; and they are, therefore worthy of being translated into all languages. Pechlin caused a number of letters and testimonials to be printed, which place the veracity and the character of Graterakes in the clearest light. In the first place, Joh. Glanville, the author of Scepsis Scientifica, in which he treated all learning and human science as open to doubt, and who was also a chaplain to Charles II., says in a letter that Graterakes was a simple, amiable, and pious man, a stranger to all deceit. The same testimony was given to him by George Rust, Bishop of Dromore in Ireland. The bishop says that he was three weeks at his house, where he had an opportunity THE ROUND TABLE OF KING ARTHUR.
From the Original, preserved in the Court-House of the Castle at Winchester 13 Lunations. "SANGREALE" or "HOLY GRAIL." 2= "Sun-Moon." ("Light-Dark.") 26 Knights.
LUNATIONS.
Royal Seat.
SUN. "PHALLOS." 26. "Siege Perilous 25.
A L L. 24. 1.
XU 23 22 Κ.. 21, XI 20 dilcony morus Siamwok Sbersite Ssoter Spellens Show Sechende Sormonet Stequre Stremebr Slubuns Sallymore. Smordre his has prily 14 y bury to Tour k knights 2. deuloke 19.
J 18. delyens round table ot 17.
I. 16.
IX 15. 10. 14. 11. 13. 12.
H.
F.
VIII VI G.
VII This is me Saolohollt Sloncelot Sgoney Spribole Sluonell Station Sgurethe Sordetrece Sit brous Steintermal Shicone 6.
D. 7.
IV و E.
V 3. 4.
C.
III B.
II 12 (Twin)-Knights. (1 Place, each Knight; for Mystic Lunation.") I each, 24 1 Knight, 2 Places.
Total, 26 5.
These are the 8.
Mystic Guards of the Holy the - SANGREALE," or HOLY GRAAL or GRAEL Natural-Supernatural.
Mysterious Tau.
TRADITION, that Judas Iscariot left the Table at the words of the Saviour-"What thou doest. do quickly !" and had no portion in the Last Rite. (Refer below.) A.
I. Saint Matthew.
B.
II. Saint James.
C.
III. Saint Simon.
D.
IV. Saint Peter.
E.
V. Saint James (of Alpheus).
F.
VI. Saint Bartholomew.
G.
VII. Saint Philip.
H.
VIII. Saint Libœus.
I.
IX. Saint Andrew. 1.
X. Saint Thomas.
K.
XI. Vacant.
L.
XII. Saint John. "After the sop, Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly!' Now no man at the table knew for what intent He spake this unto him. "He" (Judas) "then having received the sop, WENT IMMEDIATELY OUT. AND IT WAS NIGHT. S. JOHN, Chap. xiii., vers. 27, 28, 30 SEAT OF THE HOLY GRAIL AT THE ROUND TABLE [ face p. 188 of observing his sound morals, and the great number of his cures of the sick. Through the simple laying on of hands he drove the pains to the extremities of the limbs. Many times the effect was very rapid and as if by magic. If the pains did not immediately give wa way, he repeated his rubbings, and always drove them from the nobler parts to the less noble, and finally into the limbs.
The Bishop relates still further :-“ I can as eyewitness assert that Graterakes cured dizziness, very bad diseases of the eyes and ears, old ulcers, goitre, epilepsy, glandular swellings, scirrhous indurations, and cancerous swellings. I have seen swellings disperse in five days which were many years old, but I do not believe by supernatural means; nor did his practice exhibit anything sacred. The cure was sometimes very protracted, and the diseases only gave way through repeated exertions; some altogether resisted his endeavours."
It appeared to the bishop that something healing, something balsamic flowed from him. Graterakes himself was persuaded that his power was an especial gift of God. He healed even epidemic complaints by his touch, and on that account he believed it his duty to devote himself to the cure of diseases.
To the bishop's may be added the testimonies of two physicians, Faireklow and Astel, who very assiduously inquired into the reality of his cures. "I was struck," says Faireklow, "with his gentleness and kindness to the unhappy, and by the effects which he produced by his hand." 66 Astel says, " I saw Graterakes in a moment remove most violent pains merely by his hand. I saw him drive a pain from the shoulder to the feet. If the pains in the head or the intestines remained fixed, the endeavour to remove them was frequently followed by the most dreadful crises, which even seemed to bring the patient's life into danger; but by degrees they disappeared into the limbs, and then altogether. I saw a scrofulous child of twelve years with such swellings that it could not move, and he dissipated merely with his hand the greatest part of them. One of the largest, however, he opened, and so healed it with his spittle." Finally Astel says that he saw a number of other cures, and repeats the testimonies of Rust and Faireklow on the character of Graterakes.
The celebrated Robert Boyle, President of the Royal Society of London, says:-" Many physicians, noblemen, clergymen, etc., testify to the truth of Graterakes' cures, which he published in London. The chief diseases which he cured were blindness, deafness, paralysis, dropsy, ulcers, swellings, and all kinds of fevers." Finally, it is said that 'he laid his hand on the part affected, and so moved the disease downwards."
Graterakes was undoubtedly one of the most celebrated of the early mesmerists, and there is no question that the science owed considerable popularity to his cures. There was nothing of the charlatan about him, and he appears as an unaffected and simple person, whose whole desire was to make the best of the gift which he had received.