The Gates Connection: National Treasure: Book of Secrets

I did a bit more research on the Masonic connections surrounding the new National Treasure movie yesterday. First, a brief recap:

1. The content of page 47 of the Book of Secrets is left as an unanswered mystery at the end of the movie.
2. Masonry and especially Scottish Rite Masonry makes several references to Euclid’s 47th problem also known as the Pythagorean Theorem.
3. The Scottish Rite’s degree lectures were re-written by Albert Pike who is mentioned throughout the movie.
4. The first reference I found to Euclid’s 47th problem in Morals and Dogma , (the Scottish Rite lectures by Albert Pike), was in the 20th degree lecture. The second reference was found in the 25th degree. In the movie, Patrick Gates and Ben Gates have the following dialog:
"I haven't talked to your mother in 25 years."
"No dad, it's been 32."
5. 32 is the number of degrees in Scottish Rite masonry. The additional reference to 25 led me to review the lecture for that degree yesterday.
6. 47 is the number of degrees between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer.

These two latitudes are associated with the equinoxes and with St. John the Baptist Day and St. John the Evangelist’s day. The movie was released on December 21st, the winter equinox.

After reading three pages into the lecture of the 25th degree I found the following quote:

”The Galaxy, Macrobius says, crosses the Zodiac in two opposite points, Cancer and Capricorn, the tropical points in the sun’s course, ordinarily called the Gates of the Sun.”

The capitalization above is Albert Pike’s. The underlining is mine. How’s that for a possible Gate’s family tie-in for the fourth movie? Will it turn out that the Gates’ ancestor knew Albert Pike?

One last note: the title of the 25th Scottish Rite degree is “The Knight of the Brazen Serpent”. Remember the snake pictograph on the wooden plank found in the Resolute desk?

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