ab origine fama
THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA ONE-DOLLAR BILL A brief summary of facts
The Obverse is on the right side (the eagle), while the Reverse
is on the left side (the pyramid).
Man is an
enigmatic creature having a dual nature, temporal and spiritual. His
institutions reflect the multiple facets of his complex and varied
mental processes. He is at once occupied with the routine of satisfying
the basic human needs for food, clothing, and shelter and the less
tangible and more varied spiritual and social needs. His viewpoints are
as varied as the individuals, subject not only to the external changes
of environment but to self-created internal changes. Man alone has
within himself any considerable power of thought or imagination. One
facet of man's behavior to come out of his imagination, superstition,
spiritual groping, and reasoning is symbolism.
Signs, pictures,
objects, emblems, words, numerals, music, or any means of conveying
ideas from one individual to another become the vehicle of symbolism or
symbols. Certain of man's activities lend themselves more readily to
symbolism than others. The ritual of Freemasonry is especially rich in
symbols - familiar things that convey a hidden meaning to the initiated.
Philosophic Masonry is the heir to the symbolism practiced in the
ancient mysteries, the Hebrew Cabal, and medieval Rosicrucian societies.
In this present age, where material things engross almost every
waking hour, symbolism has lost much of its fascination, but this was
not so in the eighteenth century when the [American] revolutionary
heroes pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to
the erection of the new nation. As the crisis moved toward its climax
the ideals for which they fought began to assume symbolic form. Late in
the afternoon of July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress resolved,
that Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson be a committee to
prepare a device for a Seal of the United States of America. On
August 20 the committee reported its design to Congress; but the report
was tabled, and for three years and a half no further action was taken.
On March 25, 1780, the report of the first committee was referred to a
new committee consisting of James Lovell, John Morin Scott, and William
Churchill Houston. This committee received artistic assistance from
Francis Hopkinson. A new design was reported on May 10 or 11, 1780, but
debate was followed by recommital to the committee with no further
progress for two more years. In the spring of 1782, a third
committee, composed of Arthur Middleton, John Rutledge, and Elias
Boudinot with the assistance of William Barton, A.M., reported a third
design for a Seal to Congress which was also found not satisfactory. On
June 13, 1782, Congress referred all of the committee reports to Charles
Thomason, Secretary of Congress. Thomason prepared a design from these
reports and submitted it to Barton who suggested a few changes on June
19, 1782. Thomason immediately wrote his report to Congress and
submitted it on June 20, 1782; the report was accepted the same day and
thus the design of the Great Seal was fixed. It is described as follows:
ARMS: Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules; a
chief, azure; the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle
displayed proper, holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and in
his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows,1 all proper, and in his beak a scroll,
inscribed with the motto: E PLURIBUS UNUM. CREST: Over the
head of the eagle, which appears above the escutcheon, a Glory, or,
breaking through a cloud, proper, and surrounding thirteen stars,
forming a constellation, argent, on an azure field. REVERSE: A
pyramid unfinished. In the Zenith, an eye in a triangle, surrounded with
a Glory proper. Over the eye these words: ANNUIT
COEPTIS2. On the base
of the pyramid the numerical letters MDCCLXXVI. And underneath the
following motto: NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM.3
Among those who helped design the
Great Seal of the United States the following are known to have been
Masons: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, William Churchill Houston,
and William Barton. Whether they drew heavily upon Freemasonry in this
work it is impossible to assert but when an informed Mason examines the
Great Seal here is what he sees.
On the obverse is an eagle whose dexter wing has thirty-two feathers, the
number of ordinary degrees in Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The sinister
wing has thirty-three feathers, the additional feather corresponding to
the Thirty-Third Degree of the same Rite conferred for outstanding
Masonic service. The tail feathers number nine, the number of degrees in
the Chapter, Council, and Commandery of the York Rite of Freemasonry.
Scottish Rite Masonry had its origin in France; the York Rite is
sometimes called the American Rite; the eagle thus clothed represents
the union of French and American Masons in the struggle for Liberty,
Equality, and Fraternity. The total number of feathers in the two wings
is sixty-five which, by gematria, is the value of the Hebrew phrase YAM
YAWCHOD (together in unity). This phrase appears in Psalm
133 as follows: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity, and is used in the ritual of
the first degree of Freemasonry. The Glory above the eagle's head is
divided into twenty-four equal parts and reminds the observer of the
Mason's gauge which is also divided into twenty-four equal parts and is
emblematic of the service he is obligated to perform. The five pointed
stars4 remind him of
the Masonic Blazing Star and the five points of fellowship. The
arrangement of the stars in the constellation to form overlapping
equilateral triangles and the Star of David calls to the Mason's mind
King David's dream of building a Temple, to his God, the Companions who
rebuilt a desecrated Temple, and the finding of the Word that was lost.
The gold, silver, and azure colors represent the sun, moon, and
Worshipful Master, the first that rules the day, the second, the night,
and the third, the Lodge. While silver, connected with the letter Gimel
or G and being surrounded on an azure ground by a golden Glory, reminds
the Mason of the letter G, a most conspicuous furnishing of a proper
Lodge room. The shield on the eagle's breast affirms by its colors,
Valor (red), Purity (white), and Justice (blue), and reminds the Mason
of the cardinal virtues. The value of these colors, by gematria, is 103,
the value of the phrase EHBEN HA-ADAM (the stone of Adam)
and suggests the perfect ashlar, or squared stone, of
Freemasonry. One hundred and three is also the value of the noun BONAIM,
a Rabbinical word signifying builders, Masons. Thus the
national colors spell out, by gematria, the name of the fraternity. The
scroll in the eagle's beak, bearing the words E PLURIBUS UNUM (Out
of Many, One) reminds him also of the unity which has made
brothers of many.
On the reverse, is the All Seeing
Eye5 within a
triangle surrounded by a golden Glory. Besides the obvious Masonic
significance of this design, it has a cabalistic value of seventy plus
three plus two hundred, equaling two hundred and seventy-three which is
the value of the phrase EHBEN MOSU HABONIM (the stone which the
builders refused) familiar to all Royal Arch Masons. It is also
the value of the Hebrew proper noun HIRAM ABIFF, the architect of
Solomon's Temple and the principal character of the legend used in the
Master Mason degree. The triangle is isosceles, formed by two right
triangles having sides of five, twelve, and thirteen units in length,
illustrating the 47th Problem of Euclid. The triangle also represents
the capstone of the unfinished pyramid and reminds the Mason of the
immortality of the soul and that in eternity he will complete the
capstone of his earthly labors according to the designs on the
trestle-board of the Supreme Architect of the Universe. The unfinished
pyramid cannot fail to remind him of the unfinished condition of the
Temple when tragedy struck down its Master architect.
The blaze
of Glory found on either side of the Great Seal cannot fail to remind
the Mason of the Great Light in Masonry which is the rule and guide to
faith and practice and without which no Masonic Lodge can exist. It
reminds him that only more light can dispel the pall of ignorance in
which he stumbles until he enters the Celestial Lodge where all light is
given.
Hiram's Oasis & Kena
Computer Club Noted by Tomaso Vialardi di
Sandigliano, SGIG Scottish Rite, Past Master of the Torrione Lodge of
Research Copyright © 1999___________________1 There is a legend that accompanies
the 13 arrows. On July 4th, 1744, the great Iroquois chief Gunasedago
met with colonists in what is now Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There, he
represented the interests of his people in the Six Nation Confederacy
and their desire to live in harmony with the colonists. Minutes were
taken from this meeting to Philadelphia to be printed. The owner of the
printshop was Benjamin Franklin. While setting the type he was greatly
impressed by the reported wisdom of the Native Americans and their
system of self-government. He chose to meet with them directly. Upon
arriving, Franklin was presented with a gift by the chief. It was a
single arrow. While Franklin pondered its meaning and significance, the
chief snatched it back, cracked it over his knee, and handed the broken
arrow back to his startled guest. Suddenly, the chief knocked it from
Franklin's hand, reached behind himself, and presented 13 arrows. Again,
while Franklin pondered the meaning and significance of this gift, the
chief snatched them back and cracked them over his knee. This time the
arrows remained unbroken. The chief presented Franklin with these 13
unbroken arrows (seen in the left talon of the eagle) indicating that if
the 13 colonies were united, they would be less likely to be broken by
the British. Gunasedago had reinacted the same symbolic gesture that
Deganawidah and Hiawatha used to establish the Iroquois Confederacy some
time before the coming of Columbus to the New
World.2 God
looks favorably upon our undertakings. You also may note that E PLURIBUS
UNUM and ANNUIT COEPTIS are each 13 letters long.3 A New Order of the
Ages.4 The
five-pointed star is borrowed from French heraldry.5 The light of the body is the
eye: if therefore thine eye be single, the whole body shall be full of
light and No man can serve two masters Matthew 6:22,
24.
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