is the “unfinished pyramid” topped by the “all-seeing eye” – found in the Great Seal of the United States as seen on the reverse of the dollar bill – a Masonic symbol.’
The website goes on to say that the all-seeing eye inside a triangle first appeared in the 1500s in the Catholic Renaissance art, where the eye represented God and the triangle represented the trinity. The symbol is not exclusive to one organisation but has been used by many over the centuries to represent God.
One thing that is very Masonic, however, is secrecy. ‘It is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the fraternity,’ the website states. ‘Freemasonry teaches its philosophy to its members through symbolism, and secrecy is actually a symbol of honour.’
The website explains this by saying that the original medieval stonemasons kept their skills and practices secret so that their livelihood would be protected and no Tom, Dick or Harry could set themselves up as a stonemason without being a member of the fraternity. This was to ensure only qualified men were employed. ‘Likewise, passwords and secret signs were developed so members of the guild in different parts of the country could recognise each other, even if they had never met.’
Today’s Freemasonry has kept this tradition of secrecy. According to the website, ‘If a person can’t be trusted to keep a simple secret like a password or a handshake, his word isn’t really trustworthy. He is not an honourable person.’
Besides testing to see if someone is a Freemason or if they are trustworthy, the Masons have other secrets concerning the ceremonies and rituals of initiation into the brotherhood. ‘Others are more personal and different for each Freemason,’ the website suggests. ‘Like all initiatic experiences in the world, the real secrets of Freemasonry are the effects its teachings and ceremonies have on the individual, and how he applies them to his life.’ [257]
The initiate’s journey, like all such journeys, had begun at the first degree. On that night, in a ritual similar to this one, the Worshipful Master had blindfolded him with a velvet hoodwink and pressed a ceremonial dagger to his bare chest, demanding: ‘Do you seriously declare on your honour, uninfluenced by mercenary or any other unworthy motive, that you freely and voluntarily offer yourself as a candidate for the mysteries and privileges of this brotherhood?’
‘I do,’ the initiate had lied.
‘Then let this be a sting to your consciousness,’ the master had warned him, ‘as well as instant death should you ever betray the secrets to be imparted to you.’
At the time, the initiate had felt no fear. They will never know my true purpose here.
T HE L OST S YMBOL
In the book Brown alleges that many high-ranking government officials are Freemasons and the website tells us that 14 US presidents have been Masons, Gerald Ford being the most recent. ‘Ronald Reagan was made an honorary 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason, which has no real Masonic standing,’ the website states. ‘Bill Clinton was a member of the Masonic youth group, the Order of DeMolay, as a teenager, but never became a Mason; neither George H.W. Bush, nor George W. Bush are Freemasons; Barack Obama is not a Freemason.’
Brown hopes that readers will use his novel as a stepping stone for finding out about some of the ideas and themes he’s included in the book. ‘My hope is that readers will be so fascinated with the plot line that they can’t possibly stop and they read the entire novel,’ Brown said. ‘Then they go back and say, “In this scene, could this possibly be true? Could this ritual look like this?” and then go and do their own research.’ [258]
As with his other books Brown reveals information – mostly symbols and codes that might hitherto only have been known to scholars – to the masses in an entertaining way. One of those pieces of information is the circumpunct, more commonly known as a
The website goes on to say that the all-seeing eye inside a triangle first appeared in the 1500s in the Catholic Renaissance art, where the eye represented God and the triangle represented the trinity. The symbol is not exclusive to one organisation but has been used by many over the centuries to represent God.
One thing that is very Masonic, however, is secrecy. ‘It is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the fraternity,’ the website states. ‘Freemasonry teaches its philosophy to its members through symbolism, and secrecy is actually a symbol of honour.’
The website explains this by saying that the original medieval stonemasons kept their skills and practices secret so that their livelihood would be protected and no Tom, Dick or Harry could set themselves up as a stonemason without being a member of the fraternity. This was to ensure only qualified men were employed. ‘Likewise, passwords and secret signs were developed so members of the guild in different parts of the country could recognise each other, even if they had never met.’
Today’s Freemasonry has kept this tradition of secrecy. According to the website, ‘If a person can’t be trusted to keep a simple secret like a password or a handshake, his word isn’t really trustworthy. He is not an honourable person.’
Besides testing to see if someone is a Freemason or if they are trustworthy, the Masons have other secrets concerning the ceremonies and rituals of initiation into the brotherhood. ‘Others are more personal and different for each Freemason,’ the website suggests. ‘Like all initiatic experiences in the world, the real secrets of Freemasonry are the effects its teachings and ceremonies have on the individual, and how he applies them to his life.’ [257]
The initiate’s journey, like all such journeys, had begun at the first degree. On that night, in a ritual similar to this one, the Worshipful Master had blindfolded him with a velvet hoodwink and pressed a ceremonial dagger to his bare chest, demanding: ‘Do you seriously declare on your honour, uninfluenced by mercenary or any other unworthy motive, that you freely and voluntarily offer yourself as a candidate for the mysteries and privileges of this brotherhood?’
‘I do,’ the initiate had lied.
‘Then let this be a sting to your consciousness,’ the master had warned him, ‘as well as instant death should you ever betray the secrets to be imparted to you.’
At the time, the initiate had felt no fear. They will never know my true purpose here.
T HE L OST S YMBOL
In the book Brown alleges that many high-ranking government officials are Freemasons and the website tells us that 14 US presidents have been Masons, Gerald Ford being the most recent. ‘Ronald Reagan was made an honorary 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason, which has no real Masonic standing,’ the website states. ‘Bill Clinton was a member of the Masonic youth group, the Order of DeMolay, as a teenager, but never became a Mason; neither George H.W. Bush, nor George W. Bush are Freemasons; Barack Obama is not a Freemason.’
Brown hopes that readers will use his novel as a stepping stone for finding out about some of the ideas and themes he’s included in the book. ‘My hope is that readers will be so fascinated with the plot line that they can’t possibly stop and they read the entire novel,’ Brown said. ‘Then they go back and say, “In this scene, could this possibly be true? Could this ritual look like this?” and then go and do their own research.’ [258]
As with his other books Brown reveals information – mostly symbols and codes that might hitherto only have been known to scholars – to the masses in an entertaining way. One of those pieces of information is the circumpunct, more commonly known as a
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