Masonic Symbolism, context, and visual literacy

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So I think the time has come for a series of posts on interpretation of Symbols. Before starting I want to say that I'm forever indebted from the author of code144.com for publishing his notes about the Norman Hall of the Philadelphia Masonic Temple, cause that's what got me started researching Coral Castle and freemasonry and its symbolism many years ago. The goal of this tutorial is to provide, only through the analysis of symbols, a suggestion about: the connection between Freemasonry and religion (mostly Christianity but also Judaism & Islam) the role of the Bible in Masonic work. Requirements: reading "How to use your Eyes" by James Elkins ability to observe & make associations No books about masonic symbolism will be used (guess why). After following through the notes, you will be able to understand the symbolism in the attached image, which allegedly contains "all the secrets of freemasonry fair for everyone to read and see". Note: I'm not a freemason.

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The Tendrils / Acanthus / Rinceaux Description This decorative element carries the name of parts of a plant, the Vitis, (that is grapevines, fig. A0) from which it derives. In art and architecture it is otherwise called "Rinceau" or "Arabesque" when it's used on Temple fronts, simas, and capitals of romanesque structures and columns.  It seems to have made its first appearance (at least in this form, and in the western world) in ancient Greece where it accompanied another decorative motive, that of "Open and closed Palmettos" (fig. A1). The Norman Hall, in Philadelphia's Masonic Temple, contains symbolism that has to do with magnetism - this has first been established by J. Stride of code144.com The ceiling and the walls are full of tendrils (fig. A2). The history of Freemasonry is known to be interwoven with that of religion since the beginning of time: monotheism has first appeared in Egypt, and the amount of Egyptian elements in Masonic "culture" and art is staggering. Christian Cathedrals (of any confession), Monasteries, and Jewish temples have a lot of symbolic elements in common with the Lodges, and even today entire religions germinate within the circles of Masonic Lodges (Jeovah Witnesses, Mormons, Scientology, etc.), and one of the artistic elements that seems to have accompanied "the builders" (Freemasons) throughout the centuries in the construction of cathedrals, monasteries (fig. A3), temples, and mosques (fig. A4) seems to be the tendrils. Actually, not only they are omnipresent but they also have very relevant positions like in fig. A6. Why is this? Observations The tendrils are omnipresent in visual arts because, as John DePew pointed out earlier than anyone (I think), they represent "the blueprints of magnetic energy". John DePew never really expanded a full discourse on what he meant, but his visual work is remarkable. A simple guess on what he meant is that tendril-like shapes are really everywhere in the natural world: in the shape of a thumb (once you extend it), in the shape of your spine, in the body of your dog (the dog is a highly magnetic animal), the shape of your eyebrows, the shape of the Collarbone (or Clavicle, which means "little key" - alchemy 101 anyone?), and a million other things. In the area of music the tendrils appear in string instruments like the Harp or the ancient Cithara, or otherwise they're carved as holes in the soundbox of bowed string instruments like the Violin, where they're called "F-holes". In art the tendrils tend to appear on flat surfaces or lines that meet at an angle. Seeing them between surfaces that meet at 90° over an arch is very common. When the surfaces/lines have a gap in the middle, the tendrils are often seeing going against one another as if they two forces going against other while they swirl (read: magnetic current) (fig. A5), while when the surfaces are separated by a gap or are on either side of an artifact (usually a circle) the tendrils act as standalone decorative elements instead (fig. A7, A8). Continues to part 2...

A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12 A13

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...part2

Often the gap between the surfaces (or the spot where surfaces meet) and where the Tendrils seem to run to meet each other (but sometimes they are omitted) is exalted or filled by various decorative elements: royal symbols: the shield of a royal family for example, or emblem of a society (fig. A8, A9) or a crown (fig. A20,  A21). sacred symbols: the lamb of God (A12), a cross (fig. A10, A11) other geometric symbols: a star (usually 6-pointed or 8-pointed), a star of david, a more or less stylized flower or fleur de lis (fig. A13, A14 or A6 let's see if you can find it) or a circle, or wheel (fig. A30 behind the face of Mary, around the wheel, and on the throne) cosmic symbols: shapes that look like analemmas all tied together (fig. A8 in the bottom row, A16) water symbols: a shell (fig. A15) fantasy or astrological symbols: gargoyles, dragons (fig. A17), a serpent, or a lion (fig. A18) often depicted having a Tendril for tail (or a serpent/scorpion's tail) other magnetic animals: a turkey (thanksgiving anyone?) (fig. A19) Sometimes some symbols merge into other symbols: for example the analemma-like shapes seem to describe the shell which sits under the arch where the two Tendrils run, and is actually split in two parts: the two sides of the shell part and the tendrils appear to be part of the shell so as to suggest that they have a relationship with water (fig. A15). It's also important to notice that often there is a ribbon that ties the tendrils together (fig. A20, A21, A22, A28). A note on the crown The meaning of the crown in the context of a Cathedral (fig. A20) is easily deduced (kingdom of god etc.) but it's otherwise necessary to say, at the cost of giving an anticipation, that in fig. A21 the crown represents the Sun: this is suggested by the fact that the ribbon that keeps together the tendrils resembles the path that the Sun follows during a day (moving over an arch from East to West with a brief movement to the South at midday). Observations on the Ribbon The ribbon appears to be: loosely tied and gently falls below the gap-area(remember that the gap-area is usually an arch): this ribbon is usually made of leaves (fig. A12, A13), red fruits, or otherwise of textile usually of red color. tightly tied in the spot where the Tendrils meet (fig A10, A22, A23, A24, A27, A26, A28). A note on fig. A25 this is a photo from the Norman Hall of Philadelphia's Masonic Temple. The whole Norman Hall has motives made of tendrils and in  this particular figure the tendrils seem to describe a space that's delimited by four flowers. At the center of such space there is a another flower seemingly blooming. A note on fig. A22, A26 and A27 Fig. A22 is from the Norman Hall of Pennsylvania Masonic Temple. Fig 26 and 27, the terracotta plates, are from some museum (can't remember which one) on the Etruscan civilization. They all contain tendrils. However, the terracotta plates have also another framed image (beside the tendrils) portraying what seem to be four droplets of water or four lances that press into a point. As they press into a point, at the center of the space there is a shape that resembles the blooming flower of fig. A25 which is also from the Norman Hall. continues to part 3...

A14 A15 A16 A17 A18 A19 A20 A21 A22 A23 A24 A25 A26 A27 A28 A29 A30

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...part 3

Conclusions Could it be that the tendrils of fig. A27 and A26 are related to fig. A25 ? Something that suggests a relationship is the use of colors: both images seem to use two colors, red and blue, in an alternate and regular fashion between the shapes that make up the drawing. Blue and red are the colors that are conventionally used to represent North and South. Could it be that those droplet-like shapes that are converging into a point are actually magnets? And could it be that in fig. A27 and A26 the tendrils are also magnets or represent magnetic fields in some way?  If they were, perhaps the number of droplets that are enclosed in the tendrils could be significant. The terracotta plates from the Etruscans really look like a "rosetta-stone" of the symbolism of the tendrils: it's seems that they have to do with magnetism. They actually look like Q-magnets (fig. A31, A32) and another similar layout of magnets with same poles all squashed together (fig. A33). Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrupole_magnet Could it be that Etruscans not only knew Q-magnets and their characteristics, but also they knew what actually happens inside the space where the magnetic fields meet? Suppose for a minute that a magnetic field was divided in certain sections, like light (of the rainbow) is divided in 7 colors. Could it be that the Etruscans knew exactly how many N/S individual magnets there are in each field that is generated when two magnets are squashed together? A note on fig. A29 Fig. A29 represents a Flywheel (just like the wheel in fig. A30), and that will be the object of the next post. In the figure we can see the opened and closed palmettos possibly symbolizing the NN-SS-NN patterns of the flywheel, and tendrils on the side that run towards each other creating a shell, so there is water at the two sides of the flywheel. Try to go to these coordinates with Google Maps and study the layout of the satellite image: 41.9107° N, 12.4764° E, that's the place where fig. A13 is from. In the next po posts I'll tackle also masonic symbols embedded in urban architecture.

A31 A32 A33

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The flywheel This a known element from Ed's work. I'll try to touch all the topics necessary for a (presumably) correct understanding of the machine. About the flywheel we know the following: the magnets are alternate NN-SS-NN with like poles squashed on the wheel there is a rim on it which descibes the shape of a clover, so to speak, with 4 bolts that have square heads and mark a square on the wheel. the wheel is concave and has holes in it as if it has to (temporarily) contain a liquid. next to the wheel there is a pole Masonic design First off, since we have established the connection between Freemasonry and Ed's work it's worth checking out Philadelphia's Masonic Temple for clues: the alternate pattern of "circles and squares" on the outer rim matches the NN-SS-NN pattern of magnets the green and brown squares within the circle match the clover shape of the flywheel the green square inside the circle matches the position with the 4 square head bolts the gavel and chisel (which you should remember from the "Masonic man" illustration) confirm the masonic fingerprint the four corners of the outer square are occupied by two lines joined together (remember this for the end) Flowers, palmettos, birds This image matches the flywheel the NN-SS-NN alternate pattern, however there is an important detail: the alternate pattern of NN-SS-NN magnets is represented by open & closed flowers. the open & closed flowers (which look like palmettos) are connected by a series of ear-shaped yellow lines that end with curls (as in fig. A24, just strip the leaves off to see them). Also, the frame of the "Masonic Man" illustration is comprised of those curls. They are magnets. Join the dots to reveal a picture in the frame. in fig. G4 (it's called "Tutankamun's Alabaster" and allegedly portrays the Egyptian god Hapi uniting upper Egypt with lower Egypt during the Nile's floods) notice how tall the flowers and the vase are (like Ed's sweet 16). Also notice the open & closed flowers, like the open & closed flowers & palmettos (as in fig. G3, A29, and G5, G6 below). Notice that there is a bird on top of the vase. Continued to part 2...

G1 G2 G3 G4

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...part 2

Circles, edges, tendrils, shells in fig. G5 the wheel has 2 outer rims. One carries a wave pattern and the other (the outer rim) carries a pattern of leaves similar to the loose ribbon (as in fig. A12 and A13). in fig. G6. the flywheel is inside a circle of open and closed palmettos and tendrils on either side converge to generate a shell (as in fig. A15). in fig. G7 the design of leaves that go around the flywheel substitutes the converging tendrils, and the shells are substituted by two semicircles that look like half of the flywheel in fig. G8, inside the circle, three chairs are aligned as an edge (as in fig. G9). in fig. G10 the circle holds 3 Fleur de Lis (Fleur de Lis = 2 tendrils tied by a ribbon = Q-magnet). in fig. G10 still, notice also the wave/energy pattern in the circle, and the H-points on the outer circle. in fig. G11 there is a flywheel withe alternate patterns (to the right of the cross). Continues to part 3...

G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11

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...part 3

The Bible (fig. G12) the flywheel is designed with ear-shaped magnets (fig. G12) at the top there is a bird (an eagle or falcon) with wings held at an angle (α, Α) as in fig. A6 the sima, or G4 or the triangles in "Masonic man". at the bottom there are two serpents whose tails touch each other (ω, Ω) as the tendrils in fig. G16. winged disc and serpents in fig. G13, G14 and G15 (notice the ribbon in G15) in fig. G13 the disc is an eye (could the iris be full of magnets?) The chakra, the hip bone, more on circles the line of the circle is broken by a gap (there's a slice with a different pattern) (fig. G17 or fig. G19) (Ptolemy anyone?) in fig. G18 the circle described by hip bone is cut where the Sacrum connects. In that circle the bladder sits (water). alternate NN-SS-NN pattern, tendrils, and triangles in fig. G16 (East gate of Sanchi Stupa, India) alternate pattern NN-SS-NN in fig. G17 (dharmachakra from the 8th century, the wheel of life, Thailand) alternate pattern NN-SS-NN and tendrils (crab within the wheel) in fig G.27 (two mesoamerican deities infuse life back again into a dead person) Continues to part 4...

G12 G13 G14 G15 G16 G17 G18 G19

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Part 4...

Misc observations & clues in fig. G20 the dome and the bell tower are Ed's flywheel and the pole in fig. G21 the flywheel/Jesus is next to the arch, with red & blue spikes, and 4 animals are around it (the creatures of St. John's vision, which are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio/Eagle, Aquarius). The Dendera Zodiac (fig. G26) has a similar layout. Also Notice the tendrils/leaves across the arch has an alternate pattern. in fig. G22 the square has 4 burned corners/holes in fig G21 the dome is surrounded by four domes/semi-domes. Likewise in fig. G23 the man stands on a square base. In fig. G2 the stained glass has four corners. The hip bone in fig. G18 has two big tips and two small tips (hint: Winter/Summer, Fall/Spring). Same as a Cosmati Pavement. in fig. G23 the man (Enoch) holds a jar with a dragon in it and three flowers come out of it. A bell tower is in the back. The base touches the water which flows between two doors. Fig. G28 completes the picture. in fig. G24 (Surp Kevork, Aleppo): grapes on a cross. in fig. G11 the western Orthodox Cross has 2 lines above and one oblique in the middle (North & South meet in a magnet oblique from East-West - check the Gates at Coral Castle). in fig. G11 the cross sits over an arch (as in fig. A10, A11), and below it there is a window with a spinning pattern decoration. in fig. G25 notice Isis (Mary) holding the child (Horus / Jesus) and the circle enclosed in the horns of the bull (like in the Moon Fountain is enclosed in the horns/crescents). Hats of Egyptian gods have to do with magnetism/electricity as (partially) suggested by the awesome godelectric.org. Conclusion how can the same artifacts and shapes appear in a Greek-Roman floor mosaic, on two carpets very far from each other (Russia, France), on Buddhist/Hindu monuments of the 2th and 8th century, on the face of a Monastery in Kosovo (that's a UNESCO World Heritage site), on an Armenian monument in Syria, and in one of the oldest temples in Egypt? And in the old art of south america, just like the architecture of Cathedrals, or arcane drawings too, or even in a Bible and in religions that still carry notions about the body's energy/spirit system. There is surely something universal and timeless about these shapes. It's not just about electricity.

G20 G21 G22 G23 G24 G25 G26 G27 G28

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The checkered floor This is such a no brainer, but just for the sake of completeness... It appears literally everywhere: in lodges (fig. F1), cathedrals (fig. F2), mosques (under the carpets, duhh), and ancient temples (fig. F3). It represents "the duality of the world" (yeah right) and also magnetism: just lay down & connect a bunch magnets on a flat surface and see. Obvious. But if all matter/space is made of individual N/S magnets like Ed says, would it be possible to isolate one (not the higgs boson, lol!)? And since all the symbols suggest that we're looking for an energy that has three streams, how to go about assembling it? The floor comes in aid: lay down a square frame (or a circle) of tiles all on the same sides. What happens to the space within? Can you imagine it in 3D? Individual magnets that are trapped within closed spaces automatically change their orientation to match with their neighbors (as the tablet in fig. A27). Also, the individual magnets that enter the iron (or a stone?) from separate streams recombine naturally with their neighbors. Rotating. Try to imagine 3 wheels rotating next to each other. Wouldn't they produce friction? Now look back at the floor of the "Masonic Man" illustration. Do new meanings emerge? Can you slay the bull like Mithras now, or canst thou unbind the sweet influence of the Pleiades?

F1 F2 F3

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The Column and the Arch (PMH) Observations in fig. C1 (Philly Temple), special tendrils whose meaning I'll expose later. in fig. C2 (the Trajan column 40-tons-each slabs): rotation, ribbons connect the angles at the base. in fig. C3 (Commodus, son of Trajan) the sphere of fixed stars with the zodiac belt at the base, the horns with tendrils/grapes (Cornucopia/Taurus) wrap the waist enclosing two eagles with wings tied by a ribbon. Also a lion's skin/head (Mithras) and the lion's paws (Roarrrr, lol) are tied on his chest. He holds a club that recalls the myth of Hercules. in fig. C4: right side:  tendrils at the base, column with a rotating pattern left side: tendrils in the rotating pattern, while the base: the Bull (Mithras & the bull, Moon fountain, Isis with horns, Shells on two sides of the Flywheel etc.) the Bird (Eagle/Falcon - Scorpio) the Sun (Horus, Mithras, Attis, Jesus, yadda yadda) the Crescent with the star (Islam anyone?) in fig. C5 rotating tendrils pattern in fig C6 shells with a reference to Q-magnets/squashed fields. in fig. C9 columns connected by crouching Lions and double-headed eagles in fig. C8, C9, C10 all archs use the same patterns in fig. C11 and C12 the ribbons connect 3 special points on the arch (check fig. A30). Notice the two squares with 45° offset. in fig. C13 a summary by nature: the dental arch is developed first in the fetus. Also the roundness of the jawbone relates to the rise of canine teeth (fig. C14). fig. C14 summarizes all the elements. fig. C15 and C16 (Pythagoras) display the proportions between the "Spheres" and Earth's size (Pi/Tau). The waves meet at the sphere of Sol (G). Possibly at Saturn's too? fig. C18 and C19 (below the Earth) display the Y-shape with which Ed portrayed himself in ABIEH's "At work" Conclusion Manly P. Hall in his "The secret teachings of all ages" tells about the Y-shape: "the famous Pythagorean Υ signified the power of choice and was used in the Mysteries as emblematic of the Forking of the Ways. The central stem separated into two parts, one branching to the right and the other to the left. The branch to the right was called Divine Wisdom and the one to the left Earthly Wisdom." Ed says that when magnets come out of the metal (or another source) part of them goes into Earth and part into space (N & S?). Also, it seems that light runs over the arms of a Y-shaped frame that arrive to the East & West of Earth. Maybe I should try with wood.... Anyway, since this is Symbolism 101 tutorial I'll leave up to you to research all the other connections. One last note: to understand the Royal Arch symbolism just refer Mithraism. Happy decoding.

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18

Gardener

Wow! Nice posts! I gotta go through this tomorrow on a desktop PC. On mobile it’s all too small to read and see anything.

Very nice. Thanxs

royalblue

Crooks

I see your true colors

Gardener

@all please calm down. Thank you very much.
Let’s keep on the topic and let’s stay “normal”. I mean cultivated. Thanxs