SYMBOLISM, SCIENCE OF.  To what has been said in the text, may be added the following apposite remarks of Squier:  “In the absence of a written language or forms of expression capable of conveying abstract ideas, we can readily comprehend the necessity, among a primitive people, of a symbolic system.  That symbolism in a great degree resulted from this necessity, is very obvious; and that, associated with man’s primitive religious systems, it was afterwards continued, when in the advanced stage of the human mind, the previous necessity no longer existed, is equally undoubted.  It thus came to constitute a kind of sacred language, and became invested with an esoteric significance understood only by the few.”—­The Serpent Symbol in America, p. 19.

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TABERNACLE.  Erected by Moses in the wilderness as a temporary place for divine worship.  It was the antitype of the temple of Jerusalem, and, like it, was a symbol of the universe.

TALISMAN.  A figure either carved in metal or stone, or delineated on parchment or paper, made with superstitious ceremonies under what was supposed to be the special influence of the planetary bodies, and believed to possess occult powers of protecting the maker or possessor from danger.  The figure in the text is a talisman, and among the Orientals no talisman was more sacred than this one where the nine digits are so disposed as to make 15 each way.  The Arabians called it zahal, which was the name of the planet Saturn, because the nine digits added together make 45, and the letters of the word zahal are, according to the numerical powers of the Arabic alphabet, equivalent to 45.  The cabalists esteem it because 15 was the numerical power of the letters composing the word JAH, which is one of the names of God.

TALMUD.  The mystical philosophy of the Jewish Rabbins is contained in the Talmud, which is a collection of books divided into two parts, the Mishna, which contains the record of the oral law, first committed to writing in the second or third century, and the Gemara, or commentaries on it.  In the Talmud much will be found of great interest to the masonic student.

TEMPLE.  The importance of the temple in the symbolism of Freemasonry will authorize the following citation from the learned Montfaucon (Ant. ii. 1. ii. ch. ii.):  “Concerning the origin of temples, there is a variety of opinions.  According to Herodotus, the Egyptians were the first that made altars, statues, and temples.  It does not, however, appear that there were any in Egypt in the time of Moses, for he never mentions them, although he had many opportunities for doing so.  Lucian says that the Egyptians were the first people who built temples, and that the Assyrians derived the custom from them, all of which is, however, very uncertain.  The first allusion to the subject in Scripture is the Tabernacle,