Later, Ben Sira uses language that more directly evokes the common iconographic depictions of the All-Seeing Eye:. The theme of the divine gaze is found in the New Testament as well. The Letter to the Hebrews says:. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
The Eye of God became a popular theme in the art of the Late Renaissance, usually appearing surrounded by rays of light in reference to the words of Ben Sira. The Eye was often depicted as contained within a triangle, with the three sides of the triangle referring to the three divine persons of the Trinity. During this period, the symbol appears frequently in church architecture and religious paintings. It also is found extensively in emblem books. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, small books containing symbolic engravings and short poems were extremely popular in Europe.
Filled with allegorical images that required effort to understand, these books made prodigious use of the All-Seeing Eye as a symbol of the awareness of God. Whether from the biblical references, the artistic and architectural examples, or the frequent depiction in emblem books, it is easy to see that the All-Seeing Eye would have been a familiar symbol to the early Freemasons.
The earliest example of such a symbol just might be on a personal seal of Bro. Robert Moray — , a Scottish soldier and natural philosopher who was initiated into the Craft in A partial wax impression of one of his seals is in the shape of a circle, with an eye at the center, radiating in every direction to the circumference.
Was it a Masonic reference? There is no way to be certain, but some historians find it quite possible. The symbol appears in an unmistakable way in the engraved frontispieces of two books of Bro.
Each depicts the All-Seeing Eye with rays descending. The example, which is particularly well-drawn, seems to show a group of Freemasons on their way to the lodge under the protection of the divine gaze. One of the Templar-Mason theory's many veins suggests that some Templars survived the order's 14th-century destruction by taking refuge in Scotland, where they hid a fabulous treasure beneath Rosslyn Chapel as seen in The Da Vinci Code.
The treasure, and the Templar tradition, were eventually passed down to the founders of Freemasonry, the story goes. In fact, there was Templar treasure, Nicholson said, but it ended up in other hands long ago.
The King of France was bankrupt, and the Templars had lots of ready cash. It's long been suggested that powerful Freemasons embedded Masonic symbols in the Washington, D.
The Lost Symbol is expected to prominently feature "Masonic mapping," detecting pentagrams and other symbols by connecting the dots among landmarks. But there's no Masonic message in the city's street plan, Tabbert said. For starters, Pierre L'Enfant wasn't a Mason. And, Tabbert asked, why would Masons go to the trouble of laying out a street grid to match their symbols? But there isn't one. Maybe it's the impressive list of prominent Freemasons—from Napoleon to F.
But Kinney, the Masonic historian, paints a picture of a largely decentralized group that might have trouble running anything with much efficiency. Kinney noted that the U. Each of these largely independent organizations oversees its many local blue or beginner lodges and has little real coordination with other grand lodges. Internationally, Masonic lodges not only don't speak with a single voice but sometimes refuse to even recognize each other's existence.
Also, many Masons are independent minded and tend to resist edicts from above, Kinney said. There is no such entity. But Masons stress that their organization is not a religion, that is it has no unique theology and does not represent a path for believers to salvation or other divine rewards. Even so, to be accepted into Freemasonry, initiates must believe in a god—any god.
Christians may be in the majority, but Jews, Muslims, and others are well represented in Masonic circles. At lodge meetings religious discussion is traditionally taboo, Kinney and Tabbert said. But some religious leaders believe that Masonic rituals and beliefs—with its temples, altars, and oaths—do constitute an opposing faith.
And the Masonic refusal to rank one religion above the others hasn't always been popular. A Catholic declaration approved by Pope John Paul II, for example, said that "Catholics enrolled in Masonic associations are involved in serious sin and may not approach Holy Communion. And among the ranks of Freemasons are 9 signers of the Declaration of Independence and 13 signers of the Constitution.
But Freemasonry—born in Britain, after all—had adherents on both sides of the conflict. Tabbert, of the George Washington Masonic Memorial, said Masonic groups allowed men on both sides of the revolution to come together as brothers—not to promote a political view, which would be against Masonic tradition. Contrary to The Lost Symbol, you don't have to drink wine from a skull to become a ranking Freemason. How do you think Beyonce had a hit album without advertising it?
Horned beast things symbolize the devil. Juicy J's tricked out chariot has a horned animal figurine. According to Illuminati Watcher , " you see this horned god symbolism all over the music industry, and it represents the sacrificing of the youth to these deities that the Illuminati worship. And snakes are probably an Illuminati symbol too. You know, Garden of Eden, apples, etc. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword.
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