Guide to understanding

The Old Charges, the Regius (1390) and the Cooke manuscripts (1440) also mention these arts: “There are seven liberal arts, through wich all the sciences and techniques of this world were invented and one is the foundation for all of them: Geometry”.

The texts mention them in this order:

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  Grammar- the art that teaches us to speack correctly.
  
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  Rhetoric- the art that teaches us to speack gracefully.
  
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  Logic- the art that teaches us to make the difference between true and false
  
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  Arithmetic- the science that teaches us the art of the numbers and how to calculate.
  
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  Geometry- art that teaches us how to measure all things and how to calculate weights.
  
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  Music- the art of singing through notes
  
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  Astronomy- the art that shows us the path of the Sun and the Moon.
  

Saint Augustin stated during his time that all seven arts contained the basic knowledge necessary for man and his evolution.

In order to maintain the connection with the letter G we shall start examining Geometry first, after which we will discuss the remaining 6 Arts.

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  Geometry:
  

The great philosohper therefore transmits to the world the fact that Geometry is the science of the builder, the mason. In the Old Charges, Geometry is considered the fundamental system from which all intellectual, moral and spiritual approaches come from. In Freemasonry, Geometry allows the Universe to be measured, being the only discipline that concerns universal building. Through the letter G, Geometry enters a sacred state of trinity: God- Geometry-Freemasonry.

Geometric figures and shapes: triangle, square, circle, cross, sprial, pyramid, sphere,etc are all bearers of great symbolical semnification like this ancient egyptian saying states:

“And there is truly nothing more philosophical, more esoteric than Geometry. And he who will search, within its theories, the hidden metaphysics, shall enter a beautiful garden”.

Plato discovered that there are five solids which are regular, convex polyhedrons. Their faces are congruent, regular polygons, with the same number of faces meeting at each vertex. They were named: The Five Platonic Solids

In Plato`s vision, the Cube represents the Earth, the Icosahedron is Water, the Octahedron is Air, the Tetrahedron is Fire and the Dodecahedron represents the Cosmos.

The first reference in a book concerning Masonry appears in “A Defence of Masonry” (1730). The author refers us to Proclus in Euclid. In that reference, Proclus says that a point moving generates a line, a line moving in a direction not parallel to itself, generates a superficies and a superficies moving in the same way generates a solid. Thus the stuff of the point is the fabric of the line, the stuff of the line is the fabric of the superficies, and the stuff of the superficies is the fabric of the solid. Since Proclus was the last of the classica neo-Platonists, and the reference is in a work that is among the literature of the Renaissance Hermetic/Cabbalistic tradition, one is led to think that the letter G is a neo-platonic reference to Deity.(Daniel Beresniak 1997 Symbols of Freemasonry).

Daniel Beresniak also mentions that in the Middle Ages, the teaching of geometry cleared the way for objective thought. Until that time, all knowledge had been handed down from an authority: an affirmation was considered to be true because it had been declared by priests who were recognised by the establishment. The expressions: “Magister dixit” (The Master has said it) and “Roma locuta, causa finita” (Rome has spoken, the case is closed) were meant to put a stop to any debate and eliminate doubt or the need for proof. Only one kind of knowledge could not be taught in this way: Geometry. A theory about the properties of a shape can only be accepted when it has been verified using reason, and a square and compasses. The teaching of geometry implies therefore the recognition of students as people who are able to think rationally and find meaning on their own. Such teaching creates and structures critical faculties and objective analysis. Most importantly, it develops the desire to prove the truth of a proposition.

As mentioned before, the adoption of the Square and Compasses as a central symbol of Freemasonry came from the notion that intellectuals of the time saw in the Order a place where they could escape persecution from the Church or the State.

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  Grammar
  

In Irene Mainguy`s vision Grammar`s: morphology, syntax and style refers to the Three Columns (Three Orders of Architecture) and their symbolism: Wisdom, Strength, Beauty

(Irene Mainguy 2004 La Symbolique maconnique du troisiem millenaire p 228)

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  Rhetoric
  

“To transmit is the most beautiful and noble duty of the Freemason” (Claude Darche,2007, Vade-mecum du Compagnon p 42)

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  Logic
  

In Rene Guenon`s definition, Logic is a special science(art) because it represents the study of the conditions of human understanding. It is in direct connection with metaphysics representing “the specific application of the principles of the Universal Order.” (Rene Guenon, 1939 Introduction generale a l`etude des doctrines hindous).

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  Arithmetic
  

The science of numbers is known as Numerology. In Antiquity three numbers were considered sacred: 3, 7 and 12. It must be mentioned that their sum (22) is the number of major arcanes in Tarot and also the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet (Corinne Morel 2005, Dictionnaire des Symboles, Mythes et Croyances).

The Kabbalah and Tarot blend together through numerology aswell as through Astrology and Alchemy, each of them being an entry point for a Higher Knowledge, notion that is at the core of Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry.

In the symbolism of the first 10 numbers exists the whole esoteric essence of arcane knowledge consequently Rosicrucian and Masonic teachings (Lucien Gerardin 2004, Le Mystere de Nombre).

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  One(1)- In the vision of Carole Sedillot and Elisabeth Zana (2007 ABC du Symbole) it presents itself in a shape of a straight, vertical line with an angle facing up. It suggests man`s standing position, a line that connects the Earth with the Heaven. The number has the same appearance in every language.
  

For L. Gerardin ONE-Unity is previous to the number because all numbers derive from it while it not derives from any other number, as an unborn God. (Lucien Gerardin, 2004, Le Mystere de Nombres)

One is divine by excellence, the fundamental essence of all things and beings. It is Adam, androgynous, man and woman unseparated in their unity.

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  Two(2) – Is the even principle with which the Geometry of the line starts(2+2=2x2). It is the first digit that separates from unity, symbolising all dualities: inspiration-expiration, Heaven-Earth, good-bad, the Two Pillars (Jachin and Boaz).
  

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  Three(3)- Is the evolution of two, an escape from duality to the mystery of trinity.(inspiration and exhalation become respiration,birth-life-death, hell-earth-heaven, man-woman-child, the three dimension, triangle, the Father-the Son-the Holy Ghost) (Carole Sedillot,2000, ABC du Symbole).
  

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  Four(4) is the symbol for Earth, stability, solidity. It is matter;front/back/left/right, 4 seasons, 4 cardinal points, 4 gospels. It is the square and the cross.
  

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  Five(5) is Man. He has 5 fingers at one hand, 2 hands+2 feet+1 head. It is the the human translation of the Divine World (1+4=5) when you add up divine unity (1) and Earth (4).
  

Pierre Delmas proposes a demonstration reffering to the presence of 5 in the biological structure of the human DNA. He states the fact that one DNA filament measures cca 2.40 m and each of the 46 chromosomes contains 5 cm of DNA.

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  Six(6) represents stability, balance, (the world was created in 6 days). It oscilates between God and Evil. In its positive value it inclins towards God while in its negative value it symbolises the Antichrist in the Bible(666).
  

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  Seven(7) is a sacred number and represents abundance. (7 planets, 7 days of the week, 7 virtues, 7 deadly sins, Cain took revenge 7 times, 7 demons came out of Mary Magdalene.(C.Sedillot 2000 ABC du Symbole p 342-343).
  

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  Eight(8) is realisation, the kabbalistic balance, the baptising of christians. It is a cosmic number, sum of two squares 4+4. The octogonal shape is for C.Sedillot and E. Zana a symbol of ressurection (The 8^th day-Day of the Ressurection).
  

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  Nine(9) represennts reintegration, hierarchy. It is the number which at the end of the process it becomes itself again. (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9=45; 45 is composed from 4 and 5; 4+5=9).
  

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  Ten(10) Is Pythagora`s Tetraktys. It is the Universe, totality (10 fingers, 10 Sephirots in the Kaballa) (Luc Benoist 2003 Signes, Symboles et Mythes).
  

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  Music- Comes from the greek “mousike” which also comes from the latin “mousa” which means the eterior development of a principle (Claude Darche 2007, Vade-mecum du Compagnon p 46).
  

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  Musica coelestis-the harmony of the angel choruses.
  
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  Musica mundana- music of the spheres, present in the evolution of stars, movement of elements and succession of seasons.
  
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  Musica humana –harmony between the soul and the body (reason and sensibility)
  
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  Musica instrumentalis-i initiation of nature through art
  

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  Astronomy/Astrology
  

At around 1800 B.C. the babylonian priests had the task to schedule the affaris and events of the kingdom according to the movement of the stars.

They noticed that the appearance of the sky changes throughout the seasons and the Moon needs 28 days to regain its aspect from the beginning of the cycle; the succession of the phases of the moon was split into four groups of seven days; seven stars(planets) were visible with the naked eye in the time of the ancien babylonians: Sun (Sunday), Moon (Monday), Venus (Friday/Veneris in latin), Mercury (Wednesday/Dies Mercurii in latin) Mars, (Tuesday/Martis in latin), and Saturn (Saturday).

The same babylonians noted that seen from Earth, the Sun, Moon and other stars seemed to move around our planet forming an elipse. Along this fictional line they placed 18 constellations which were then reduced to 12: Aries, Libra, Taurus, Scorpio, Gemini, Sagitarrius, Cancer, Capricorn, Leo, Aquarius, Virgo, Pisces.

With the signs of the zodiac, Astrology becomes a system, a structure, a science. The science that studies planets: Astronomy becomes Astrology when it involves individual future predictions. The developments of the two, in close connection with each other made possible the measuring of time, the invention of time measuring devices aswell as observing and predicting special natural phenomenons: floods, earthquaques, eclipses, climate changes.

Astrology lost its religious character throughout time; being strongly connected with Astronomy, it was close to becoming a science but faced reprecusions from the Church because it was seen as an alternative to the almighty will of God. Astronomers tried to mae a compromise in their relationship with the Church stating that “Astra inclinant, non necessitant”/ “The stars balance, don`t determine”.

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  HERMES TRISMEGISTUS or “thrice-greatest Hermes” is a legendary rather than historical figure, the purported author of the Hermetic Corpus, a series of sacred texts that are the basis of Hermeticism.
  

Occidental and arab alchemy aswell as other teaching are syntetized within the famous Tabula Smaragdina ( Emerald Tablet) a text attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and discovered in his tomb. It was highy regarded by European alchemists as the foundation of their art and its Hermetic tradition.

The layers of knowledge in the Emerald Tabled have been associated with the creation of the Philosopher`s Stone, laboratory experimentation, phase transition, the alchemical magnum opus, the ancient, classical element system and the correspondance between macrocosm and microcosm.

A translation by Isaac Newton is found among his alchemical papers that are currently housed in King`s College Library, Cambridge University.

All that is divine (above) materialises (below). The big infinite, Macrocosm is in close connection with the small infinite, Microcosm both being in interdependence. (Caroline Sedillot 2000 ABC du l`Alchimie).

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  PYTHAGORAS “In the Universe, all is number and harmony”
  

Pythagoras becomes “the man of his age” which he leaves his mark on with his revolutionary way of thinking. In the Old Charges, the Pythagoreic Order is quoted oftenly, as being one from which Freemasonry claims its descending. Pythagoras is mentioned as the one who introduced Freemasonry in Europe. (Irene Mainguy,2004 La Symbolique maconnique du troisiem millenaire p 242)

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  Tetraktys
  

2 * * 2=Rupture of Unity

3 * * * 3=1+2=Trinity

4 * * * * 4=Material,terrestial creation

1+2+3+4=10=1+1=1 One God

A prayer of the Pythagoreans shows the importance of the Tetractys (sometimes called the Mystic Tetrad”).

"Bless us, divine number, thou who generated gods and men! O holy, holy Tetractys, thou that containest the root and source of the eternally flowing creation! For the divine number begins with the profound, pure unity until it comes to the holy four; then it begets the mother of all, the all-comprising, all-bounding, the first-born, the never-swerving, the never-tiring holy ten, the keyholder of all"

Pythagora`s teaching places man in the centre of the concerns, it is a reflection on the human action directed towards self-knowledge and elevation; Irene Mainguy proposes that this self-knowledge should be seen as a philosophy but also a cosmology, a means for interior realisation. (Irene Mainguy,2004, La Symbolique maconnique du troisieme millenaire)

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  IMPORTANT MASONS THROUGHOUT HISTORY:
  

18^th century proeminent Masons include the German philosopher Goethe and the Frenc writer Voltaire.

The Enlightenment spread to North America where several “fouding fathers” were Freemasons including:Benjamin Franklin,John Hancock, George Washington, and Theodore Roosevelt

18^th century architects who are known to have been Freemasons include Sir John Soane and Claude Nicholas Ledoux.

The 19^th century: Sources mention state a number of Napoleon`s brothers were Masons but there is no strong evidence to state that he also was a Mason.Characters such as: Marat, Winston Churchill, Giussepe Garibaldi and Simon Bodivar were also part of Freemasonry.

James Watt-the inventor of steam power and Edward Jenner-who first used vaccinations for smallpox.

20^th century Holliwood: Cecile B Demille, Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, Al Johnson and Houdini.

The builder of the Eiffel Tower-Alexandre Gustav Eiffel who built it to celebrate the centennial of the French Revoluiton also built the armature for the Statue of Liberty. The design of the statue was the creation of another French Freemason, Frederic Bartholdi

Writers: Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, Jonatha Swift (author of Gulliver`s Travels)

Musicians: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Haydn, Louis Armstrong and possibly Ludwig van Beethoven.

Other important figures: King Edward VII, King Edward VII, George Bush Sr, Geore Bush Jr, Barack Obama(confirmed by sources within the Order), Buzz Aldrin

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  Freemasons and the Media
  

A key role in understanding the connection between Freemasonry and pop icons of today`s media is Fritz Lang`s 1927 movie “Metropolis” which despite being launched more than 80 years ago is increasingly relevant as many of its predictions are becoming reality. We will look at the underlying occult message of the film and the usage of its imagery in the acts of pop stars such as Lady Gaga, Madonna, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue and others.

The full movie can be found here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebejt0Pja8c

Movie Analysis:

The Workers:

The movie opens by showing the workers in their city, situated deep below the earth`s surface. They are shown dressed alike, walking in line with their head bowed down in submission and resignation. Throughout the movie, the “human cattle” is depicted as being physically and mentally exhausted and highly impressionable.

The workers labor in a monstrous machine, an enormous industrial complex where they must accomplish repetitive and dehumanizing tasks. At one point, the machine is compared to Moloch, the ancient Semitic deity honored by human sacrifices

The tasks assumed by the workers are purely mechanical, necessitating absolutely no intellectual capabilities making them nothing more than an extension of the machine.

While the workers live in a hellish underground dystopia, the thinkers evolve in a gleaming utopia, a testimony of human achievement but which could not function whithout the existence of the Machine (Moloch). In the same time, the Machine would not exist whitout the need to sustain the city. We find here a dualistic relation where two opposite entities exist in mutual dependance, a concept that has deep meaning.

Here we see a reference to the hermetic axiom “As Above, So Below” described in previous sections.Also notice the triangle shape of the writing.

Joh Fredersen, the Demi-God

The city was founded, built and is run by the autocratic Joh Fredersen. As the creator and only ruler of Metropolis, Fredersen is likened to the Gnostic demiurge, a demi-god who is creator and ruler of the material world. Notice how he is holding a compass in his left hand.

Joh`s son, named Freder, who, like all sons of “the thinkers” was enjoying a life of luxury, discovers the harsh reality of the workers from down under. Wanting to experience the worker`s reality first-hand, Freder descends to the lower level and trades places with a worker, Freder therefore becoming a Christ-like figure, a savior who descends from above. He also becomes enamoured with Maria, a saintly young woman from the proletariat.

Maria

Maria is a charismatic woman who is highly admired hy her fellow workers. Understanding their suffering and despair, and knowing that a rebellion is inevitable, she preaches peace and patience, prophesying the coming of a “mediator”, who could become the “heart between the head (the thinkers) and the hand (the workers)”

At one point, Maria tells the story of the tower of Babel, upon which would be written:

“Great is the world and its Creator! And great is Man! “

This statement present in ancient Mystery Schools as it taughts the idea that men have the potential to become gods through enlightenment.

“As regards to Masonry, Babe of course represented a Masonic enterprise and early expositors reaped full benefit from the facts. They remembered that the people, who were of ‘one language and one speech’ journeyed from the East to the West, like those who have been tried and proved as Master Masons. When they reached an abiding place in the land Shinar, it is affirmed that they dwelt therein as Noachide, being the first characteristic name of Masons. It was here that they built their high tower of confusion. Out of evil comes good, however, and the confusion of tongues gave rise to the ‘ancient practice of Masons conversing without the use of speech”

-Arthur Edward Waite, A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and of Cognate Instituted Mysteries: Their Rites, Literature and History, Volume I

However, says Maria, “one man`s hymns of praise became the other man`s curse”. In other words, the monument showing the greatness of the human spirit was built with the blood and sweat of workers who knew nothing of the Thinker`s grand vision. The film portrays this idea by naming Joh Fredersen`s headquarters-The New Tower of Babel

Upon learning that the workers are planning an uprising, Joh Federsen seeks the advice of Rotwang, an inventor and scientist. Although his work utilizes the latest of technologies, he is said to live “in a small house overlooked by the centuries” symbolically meaning that the scientist`s knowledge descended from ancient traditions; the basement of his house has a secret trap door leading to 2000 year-old catacombs, further alluding to his mysterious. condition. Furthermore, the front door of his house bears a pentagram, an important symbol for Freemasonry aswell as Pythagoreans.

Further on in the movie, the inventor proudly presents to Fredersen his latest invention, the Machine-Man, which he considers to be the “Man of the Future”. The android has the faculty of taking the form of any person and, says Rotwang, “no one will be able to tell a Machine Man from a mortal!”. The transhumanist dream was, apparently, already present back in the early 1920s.

Frederesn then tells Rotwang to give the Machine-Man the likeness of Maria in order to use her credibility and charisma to spread corruption among the workers.(Notice the inverted pentagram right above the Machine-Man`s head.If the pentagram faces up It represent healing, geometrical perfection and the five elements while the opposite stands for corruption of those principles.)

This is when some similarities between the pop-cultures and Machine-Man version of Maria start to appear.

Beyonce Kylie Minogue

Lady Gaga Janelle Monae

Returning to the movie,Rotwang tells the completed andoid: “I want you to visit those in the depths, in order to destroy the work of the woman in whose image you were created”.

The Maria android is then sent to Yoshiwara, a man`s club, where she performs erotic dances. In one of her acts, she is portrayed as Babylo, the Great Harlot from the Apocalypse.(“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, having a golden cup in her hand” She is held up by the seven deadly sins.

This scene has a great resemblant in more modern media.

Madonna-Material Girl

The programmed Maria performs mesmerizing dances in front of an avid public, causing men to fight, to lust, to be jealous and to commit the rest of the deadly sins. Amongst her fellow workers, Maria acts as an “agent-provocateur”, inciting the working men to riot and giving Joh Fredersen reason to use force against them. She is basically acting against the best interest of the public and for the interest of the elite.

The workers ultimately realize that they have been mislead by the android. Believing she`s a witch, they find robot-Maria and burn her at the stake.

The movie finishes with this caption:

The essence of the movie is basically a message to the elite, a tip to keep the masses in check: in order to keep the oppressed content, you must capture their heart. That is what the media accomplish.

A direct way of putting it is “Let`s send the workers back to the depths where they belong, but with the addition of a mediator, who will be the link between the workers and the thinkers”. The movie is intrinsically “elitist”, as it still calls for the existence of an elite group of people holding most of the resources and managing a working class. In the end, the workers-and Freder- were duped to believe that their conditions would change. In fact, the status-quo remained and Joh even got his naïve son to give the elite a friendly image while reporting everything happening in the depths, resulting in thighter surveillance and control.

Mass media manipulates the masses` thought and feelings on a daily basis, tricking them into loving their oppression. Popular culture is the entertainment branch of mass media and pop music is the fun way to communicate the elite`s message to the youth. References to Metropolis in pop music are abundant for those who know where and how to look.

The movie can be classifed as made “by the elite, for the elite”. It presents a solution that does not distub the status-quo. It is also filled with Masonic symbolism and contains many other symbols referring to ancien Mysteries which were meant to be decoded by proper initiates.

Source: http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/the-occult-symbolism-of-movie-metropolis-and-its-importance-in-pop-culture/

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  CONCLUSION:
  

In researching for the topic, I found out that it is quite difficult to find academic resources regarding the Freemasonry and especially, their implication in the media therefore by presenting the reader with a description of the Main masonic symbols and theire signifance, he can then try and form a personal and objective opinion.

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  BIBLIOGRAPHY:
  

Beresniak, Daniel, Rites et Symboles de la Franc-Maconerie, 1995

Beresniak, Daniel, Symbols of Freemasonry, 1997

Centini, Massimo, Symbolisme Esoterique-CODE, 2006

Dachez, Roger, Histoire de la Franc-Maconnerie francaise, 2009

Darche, Claude, Vade-mecum du Compagnon, 2007

Garibal, Gilbert, ABC de la Franc-maconnerie, 2006

Gibet, Le Livre de L`Apprenti, 2006

Guenon, Rene, Etudes sur la Franc-Maconnerie et le Compagnonnage, 2000

Hodapp, Christopher, Freemasons, 2005

MacNullty, Charles, Freemasonry:Symbols, Signs, Significance, 2006

Mainguy, Irene, La Symbolique maconnique du torisieme millenaire, 2008

Morel, Corinne, Dictionnaire des Symboles, Mythes et Croyances, 2005

Pike, Albert, Morals and Dogma, 2004,

Richard Roger, Dictionnaire Maconnique, 2002

Schure, Edouad, Les Grands Inities, 2009

Sedillot, Caroline, ABC de l`Alchimie 2000

Verdun, Jean, La Realite Maconnique, 2007