Copasetic Flow

A recent post in this blog reviewed an article in the most recent issue of "Scottish Rite Journal" by Richard Fletcher that revealed further Masonic links to National Treasure: Book of Secrets . I recently communicated with Brother Fletcher via e-mail and he pointed out that Mount Rushmore, the setting for the final scenes of the movie, has even more Masonic connections. As discussed here , two of the presidents on Mount Rushmore are Masons, Washington and Roosevelt. But, that's not all. Brother Fletcher says: "The concluding scenes of the movie take place at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. The movie makes no reference to the sculptor but both Gutzon Borglum, who was the sculptor of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, and his son Lincoln Borglum were Freemasons. Following the death of his father, Lincoln Borglum was assigned the task of completing the Mount Rushmore Memorial. Gutzon Borglum was raised in Howard Lodge #35 in New York City and served as its Mas...

Several movies like, National Treasure, Book of Secrets have popularized Masonic imagery. The page 47 mystery and its Masonic ties are highlighted here ... y aquí . This Masonic Patent, (click the image for a larger picture), is representative of the Masonic initiates experience. Masons attend a series of initiations called degrees. There are three initial degrees that an initiate attends before they are a full fledged Master Mason. These are the Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason degrees. Each of these initiations consists of a similar ceremony, each with it's own unique symbolism that imparts some new Masonic lesson. The symbolism of the three initial degrees of Freemasonry with some overlap are shown in the tree highlighted areas of the patent. Much of the source material for these posts will come from the California Grand Lodge's degree manuals . Notice the highlighted text at the bottom of the patent. The degree manual fort the EA has this to say...

The picture below is of an old, circa 1887, Masonic Patent. The story goes that Masons used to present these to gain access to lodges they visited in their travels. The next several posts will point out some of the symbolism of this patent, and what it means. First though, has any reader seen this patent in their lodge? It portrays the York Rite degrees as the viewers eyes move from top to bottom. I'd like to find out what regions of the country this patent may have been used in.

Boulder had a lot of beautifully varied weather this week. The blog went a little picture heavy to capture what was going on up here. Here's a summary. Most of the pictures were taken on Dakota Ridge and in Sanitas Valley. For more detail, see the post links: Monday, everything was covered with snow! By Tuesday, things were warming up and a cloud was pulling moisture from one of the area lakes. We had a gorgeous sunrise as well. Wednesday, the clouds were almost gone. Thursday, the fox was out playing By Friday, it was so warm, even the manikins were going topless. Which led to thoughts of the sunny Grecian Isle of Samothraki and the Sanctuary of the Great Gods

Last Autumn I visited the small island of Samothraki, Greece in the northeastern Aegean Sea. The island is beautiful with rocky beaches, mountains, dense forests, and natural waterfalls all packed into a small space. View Larger Map But, what initially drew my attention to it was the Sanctuary of the Great Gods . Alexander the Great's mother and father met there during a initiation. I wanted to find out if there were any links between modern-day Masonic ceremonies and the ritual initiations performed there. The site is beautiful! The layout doesn't fit with the east-west layout of today's lodges. Almost every building on the site was situated north-south. Of course, with the gorgeous views of the sea to the north, who could blame them! This site of temples and meeting halls is also where the "Winged Victory" statue was found. The statue "Winged Victory", which now resides in the Louvre was found on Samothraki and recently featured in the movie Ange...

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Top Ten Masonic Connections to National Treasure Page 47 1. Euclid's 47th problem is mentioned throughout Masonic Ritual 2. Albert Pike who is mentioned throughout the movie re-wrote all the Scottish Rite Masonic lectures in a book titled Morals and Dogma. 3. There is an exchange between Ben and Patric Gates: "It's been 25 years since I talked to your mother." "No, Dad, it's been 32." There are 32 degrees in Scottish Rite Masonry. The 25th degree contains the second mention of Euclid's 47th problem. The 32nd degree also mentions Euclid's 47 problem. 4, The movie was released on December 21st, St. John the Evangelist's Day. St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist are considered to be two patrons of freemasonry. 5. The 25th degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry is titled "Knight of the Brazen Serpent". There was a serpent on the plank found in the Resolute Desk. 6. St. John the Bap...

I’ve written about National Treasure: Book of Secrets and its connections to Freemasonry for my last several posts . The rich history of the Masonic fraternity and it’s interconnectedness to the formation of the United States of America make it a fun topic to explore. You should also consider exploring Masonic lodges in the real world! These buildings and the organizations that inhabit them can be breathtaking. I’ve never been to a lodge that wasn’t happy to show an interested person around. Below are a few lodges that I’m familiar with. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : This building is incredible! There are seven different lodge rooms and each one is more awe-inspiring and opulent than the next. There is a web based tour of the building at: Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania Tour . The link will land you on a page that has links to all the lodge rooms. The rest of the tour is worth taking as well. But, if you're anywhere near Philadelphia...

Presidentes, Albañilos, y National Treasure: Book of Secrets I´m learning Spanish. Bilingual posts seem like good practice. Please comment with any corrections. One of my brothers sent me an interesting article that was recently published in the Washington Post: Freemasonry, Eager to Step from Cultural Shadows The informative, well written article relates among other things that the first scene of National Treasure : Book of Secrets was filmed in the grand auditorium of the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. Besides George Washington, there is at least one other Masonic president featured in the movie: Theodore Roosevelt . Roosevelt's profile is featured prominently on Mount Rushmore of course. But, that's not Roosevelt's only connection to the National Park system. It turns out that his administration managed to set aside more than 42 million acres for national forests, parks, and wildlife refuges. During a recent visit to the Grand Maso...

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V One of my brothers sent me an interesting article that was recently published in the Washington Post: Freemasonry, Eager to Step from Cultural Shadows The informative, well written article relates among other things that the first scene of National Treasure: Book of Secrets was filmed in the grand auditorium of the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. Besides George Washington, there is at least one other Masonic president featured in the movie: Theodore Roosevelt . Roosevelt's profile is featured prominently on Mount Rushmore of course. But, that's not Roosevelt's only connection to the National Park system. It turns out that his administration managed to set aside more than 42 million acres for national forests, parks, and wildlife refuges. During a recent visit to the Grand Masonic Lodge of New York in Manhattan, one of the janitors showed me the desk where Roosevelt signed at least one of the documents ...

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V 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 l...