Wednesday, July 15, 2009

"Lost Symbol" and the D.C. Street "Secrets"

The latest clue dropped on the Lost Symbol twitter stream seems to retread what some Anti-Masons believe are the "evils" of Freemasonry found in the D.C. layout. (you may now cough and say bologna or some equivalent word)

The clue states:

38.909561,-77.043471 38.897611,-77.036562 38.909663,-77.029457 38.902508,-77.050118 38.902426,-77.022877 38.909561,-77.043471

It is rather obvious that this clue is GPS coordinates but to what? If you put them into Google Maps, you will see the connection.


View Larger Map

Connect the Circles and you will see the PENTAGRAM!!! (pause for effect)

Sadly, this myth has been found throughout Anti-Masonic texts to point to some sort of nefarious plot to take over the world. To get the record straight, here is the article from the fantastic Grand Lodge of BCY encyclopedia on Masonry.

But wait, there's more!!!

The next clue given out later in the day states:

"Levi’s goat: a symbol used to accuse the righteous of evil deeds"

Levi's goat was a symbol of the supposed "Baphomet" which some Anti-Masons believe is a deity revered by Freemasons, another complete untruth. With the connection of "Baphomet" and the upside-down pentagram, Anti-Masons have concocted a symbol for the ages, the supposed devil's head in the street plan of Washington, D.C. Again, the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon has great material concerning the Myth of Baphomet or Eliphas Levi.

However, I feel more encouraged from this latest clue. If we assume that Dan Brown is using Freemasonry as a part of his book, then we are the "righteous" party. We can hope that this clue points to a kinder portrayal, not accurate mind you, but a portrayal about us being a group of good men. However, let's not have Dan Brown present his story as our story. We will have people asking individual Masons about the Craft which is why I think we need every Mason to prepare himself for the questions. Millions if not billions of people will read this book, we need to be ready for it. SO start coming up with your way to describe our Craft. I believe we can do it, it will just take practice and aforethought.

7 comments:

Esquire said...

"Levi's goat" is a reference to the scapegoat of Leviticus chapter 16 in the Old Testament. I don't think it has anything to do with the "baphomet" of Templar lore.

Millennial Freemason said...

I actually think there is a double meaning in this clue and they seem to relate to each other as has been found in most of the clues released on the same day. Eliphas Levi, a former Catholic priest who started to follow the esoteric, attempted to combine the image of Baphomet with that of a goat. The image can be found on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphas_Levi This image has been superimposed onto the supposed planned upside-down pentagram in the street plan of D.C. and has been the discussion of many Anti-Masons.

This famous image of Baphomet was then applied to the posters for Leo Taxil's Anti-Masonic tract and talks that he released. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxil_hoax

Millennial Freemason said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Millennial Freemason said...

I should also say that Baphomet was never mentioned by the Templars but instead the derogatory name of Muhammad, Mahomet. The French soldiers held a common but false belief that Muslims believed that Muhammad was a god. So when the Templar Knights were confessing to worshiping Mahomet, it was like swearing allegiance to Islam. This name was later converted to Baphomet in southern France and became a name associated with the devil.

Nick

lightseeker said...

I say 'so what' to people that talk about masonic influence in city layouts. I mean what significance does it really have other than a 'Kilroy was here' like drawing on a wall. Even doctors have been known to sign their patients during operations, to leave their college frat letters for the next doctor who goes wrist deep into his patient! Graffiti on a grand scale I say! If I were a city planner and a mason during the devlopment of a new city I would probably do something similar!

Christopher Hodapp said...

Yep.
We also have Baghdad all sewed up. See here now.

Anonymous said...

New York Times bestselling novelist Thomas Greanias addressed all this in THE ATLANTIS PROPHECY, except that he painted the Masons in a neutral to positive light. Looks like Brown is copping Greanias's focus on the locations of the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument and White House. Wonder if Brown will also ape the astronomical alignments of those landmarks to the stars.