The Master Game

by Graham Hancock

  M. W. Calvin O. Bond, Grand Master of Masons

  P. W. Robert G. Singer, Deputy Grand Master

  M. W. Arthur Markwich, Masonic Anniversary Chairman

  August 5, 1984 24

  At the original ceremony on 5 August 1884 Grand Master William Brodie was asked why the Masonic fraternity had been called upon to lay the cornerstone of the Statue of Liberty. He replied: No other organisation has ever done more to promote liberty and to liberate men from the chains of ignorance and tyranny than Freemasonry.25

  One could say the same down the ages of the Gnostics and the Hermeticists in their original Alexandrian context in Egypt and later in their Cathar and Renaissance incarnations of the Middle Ages. All along the object of these subversive religions, whether taught by Valentinus or Mani, Bruno or Campanella, has indeed been to liberate mankind ‘from the chains of ignorance and tyranny’.

  A short diversion: In God We Trust

  We tend to forget, or not fully appreciate, the quasi-religious fervour of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, acting as if they were inspired, indeed directly guided, by ‘Divine Providence’. Through the whole sequence of events that led to the War of Independence and the signing of the Constitution there was a clear understanding among the main protagonists, especially George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, that they were working under ‘Divine Providence’ and that the creation of the new nation was to be under the ‘patronage’ of God. More specifically, they saw ‘America’ as part of a ‘Divine Plan’ for mankind.

  The question, therefore, that needs to be asked – nay, begs to be asked – is which ‘God’ did the Founding Fathers have in mind? Because there has to be a very strong possibility that the god whose patronage they felt themselves to be under was not the Christian deity in any conventional sense, but rather the ‘Grand Architect of the Universe’ – that uniquely ‘Masonic God’ represented by the letter ‘G’ on the Masonic aprons of Washington, Franklin and others who played such a crucial role on the creation of the United States.

  The notion that the American Republic and its people were under the direct protection and guidance of heaven is immediately apparent in the Great Seal of the United States – featuring the famous symbol of the pyramid with the ‘Eye of Providence’ set in the capstone hovering above it. Variants of this striking symbol have been used to invoke the presence of the Almighty since at least the time of the ancient Egyptians – for whom it was the eye of the sun-god watching over mankind. The motto on the Great Seal, Annuit Cœptis, ‘He [God] favoured our undertakings’, should be enough to confirm this point.

  There are, too, the various inspirational speeches made by Washington, Franklin and other Founding Fathers which leave no doubt that they believed they were fulfilling God's Plan in the creation of the Republic and the drafting of the Constitution. For example, when the Constitutional Convention could not reach consensus on the draft, Franklin made an impassioned plea for divine help: God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? I … believe this and also that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel … I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its Blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business.26

  On 3 October 1789, just a few months after the French populace stormed the Bastille and set in motion the creation of the First Republic on European soil, George Washington issued a proclamation to ‘assign Thursday the 26th Day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being …’ … that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection of the People of this country … to enable us all, whether in public or private sanctions … to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows best.27

  The day of ‘rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks’ became, of course, Thanksgiving Day which, since 1863, has been a national holiday celebrated by Americans each November on the fourth Thursday of the month. It is undoubtedly the case that ceremonies of this kind had been held before 1789, but the proclamation marked the first time that ‘Thanksgiving’ was sanctioned as official government policy. It is worth reiterating that Washington clearly did not have in mind a ‘harvest festival’, as many now mistakenly believe Thanksgiving to be, but a religious feast to give thanks to God for his ‘kind care’ and ‘His Providence’ to the nation and its people. Subsequently Washington's 1789 proclamation was echoed by several other presidents.28

  The notion that the United States of America has been somehow selected by God for special care is also expressed in the motto ‘In God We Trust’, introduced in 1863 and approved to be stamped on 1 cent, 2 cents and 3 cents coins of the currency. Later in 1955 the motto was put on all currency coins and notes, and in July 1956 it was declared the official motto of the USA.

  Admittedly, the notion of a nation favoured by God in accordance with some great divine plan is nothing new. Throughout history it has been the norm for kings and queens to believe that they had a divine right to rule and that their nations were under special divine protection. Such ideas were so entrenched in the European psyche that it literally took the beheading of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette of France to demonstrate to the masses that their rulers were mortals who could be subjected to the same law as the lowliest citizens.

  Yet in America, despite the absence of a royal family, it seems that the concept of ‘divine right’ has been entangled in politics from the very beginning, and, more recently – from the Arab and Muslim point of view at least – in foreign policy. Even though the US’s massive economic and military support for Israel may not seem unusual or problematic to some Americans, the fact is that most Muslims and Arabs see it as a ‘crusading alliance’ to retain the Holy Land under Judeo-Christian control. The more extreme Islamists, as we show in Chapter Twenty, go even further and characterise it as a ‘Masonic-Zionist alliance’.

  Now let's return to the ‘talisman’ of New York Harbor, that grand ‘Lady Liberty’, and see what else may be coaxed out of her …

  Another ancient Egyptian goddess lends her seven-pointed star

  In view of the ‘Isis’ connection with Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty, we could not help noticing that there was something rather curious about the date of 5 August which was chosen for the important cornerstone ceremony.

  Isis, we know, was identified with the star Sirius – a fact that was much discussed at the time of Bartholdi in Masonic circles and, especially, in lodges in France and the United States. In Chapter One we also saw that Sirius held a special fascination for French Freemasons and even more so for Masonic astronomers such as Lalande (who was a prominent member of the Franco-American Nine Sisters lodge in Paris). Lalande's interest had been focused on the mystique surrounding the heliacal (dawn) rising of Sirius which, to Freemasons, evoked ideologies of spiritual ‘rebirth’ and the ‘raising’ of the initiated into the mysteries.29 Given that Bartholdi was a Freemason, had travelled extensively in Egypt, had worked closely with the Freemason Eiffel, had also been in close contact with Garibaldi and his ‘Egyptian’ type of Freemasonry, and had taken a keen interest in ancient Egyptian monuments, it would, we think, be perverse to imagine that he would have been unfamiliar with the heliacal rising of Sirius and its intense ‘rebirth’ symbolism. Indeed what better association than the heliacal rising of the star of Isis could be found to lock auspicious events in the sky to the construction on the ground of a ‘temple’ dedicated to freedom and intended to serve as the beacon of hope for a new life in a new land built on the lofty virtues of Freemasonry?

  In the early days of ancient Egypt in the th
ird millennium BC the heliacal rising of Sirius took place close to the summer solstice which (in our modern, ‘Gregorian’ calendar) falls on 21 June. When Egypt became a Roman province in 30 BC, however, the precession-cycle of our planet's axis had caused the heliacal rising of Sirius to ‘slip’ relative to the summer solstice so that it took place nearly one month later, that is around 20 July. When Bartholdi visited Egypt in the 1860s, the heliacal rising of Sirius had slipped even further behind the summer solstice, and from the latitude of ancient Heliopolis near Cairo would have been observed on the morning of 5 August.30

  Now it is a well-established fact that in ancient Egypt, the cornerstonelaying ceremony of temples, known as the ‘stretching of the cord’, had been performed since time immemorial by a priestess impersonating the goddess Seshat – whose symbol was a seven-pointed star which she wore over her head. Seshat was known as the ‘Lady of the Builders’, a title that established her as the protector of temple-builders, architects and masons. Interestingly, she was also the wife of Thoth, the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom who provided the prototype of Hermes Trismegistus – the much revered patron of esoteric and occult traditions, including Freemasonry. There is a very high probability that in ancient Egypt the stretching-of-the-cord ceremony was performed at dawn at the time of the heliacal rising of Sirius.31 Considering this, and Seshat's seven-pointed-star headdress, we have to wonder at Bartholdi's decision to place a seven-pointed star over the head of his statue of ‘Liberty’, and also at the choice of 5 August for the statue's cornerstone ceremony.

  If we look even deeper into the symbolism that Bartholdi and others involved might have had in mind, the possibility must be considered that the seven-pointed star on the head of the Statue of Liberty is also there because it has esoteric connotations and sinuous links to the Egyptian goddess Isis. We have already seen how Scottish Rite Freemasons, particularly in France, variously associated the symbolism of Tarot card XVI, known as the ‘Star’, with the symbolism of the star of Isis i.e. Sirius. Is it not surprising, therefore, to discover that a seven-pointed star is often shown above the head of the woman who features on this card pouring water out of jug into a river – surely a clear metaphoric pictogram of the links between Isis, the star and the inundation of the Nile which took place at the heliacal rising of Sirius?

  The ‘Egyptian’ Freemasonry that Bartholdi was especially associated with was introduced to France by Cagliostro who created the famous ‘Isis’ lodge in Paris (see Chapter Sixteen). Egyptian Freemasonry was immensely popular in Alsace, where Cagliostro spent much time with the local Masons and where, in Strasbourg, he met and was sponsored by the Cardinal de Rohan. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that in his celebrated ‘Egyptian Rite’ Cagliostro was particularly fascinated with the number seven which he directly equated with the ‘Blazing Star’ of the Masonic lodges and, consequently with the ‘star of Isis’ i.e. Sirius.32 And although the Blazing Star of the Freemasons is usually five pointed, Cagliostro insists that the Masons are mistaken, and that this symbol should have seven points, exactly as seen on the head of the Statue of Liberty. When asked by one of his adepts about the meaning of the Blazing Star, Cagliostro replied: This star is the emblem of the Great mysteries revealed in supernatural philosophy and it is a new proof of the blindness and ignorance of modern Masons, because it ought to be terminated by 7 points or 7 angles, and you shall never see it represented in any lodge except by 3, 5 or 6 angles …33

  An obelisk for New York

  At around the same time that the Statue of Liberty was being erected on Bedloe's Island an original ancient Egyptian obelisk was brought to New York's Central Park. This obelisk, which bears inscriptions dedicated to Pharaoh Thutmosis III (1479 – 1425 BC), is one of a pair that originally stood at Heliopolis in ancient times; the other stands today at London's Victoria Embankment. The obelisk eventually destined for Central Park was brought from Heliopolis to Alexandria in 12 BC, during the reign of Augustus Caesar, to adorn the entrance of the Caesarium temple near the great eastern harbour, right opposite the Pharos lighthouse on the northern side of the bay.34 And from there, after a further eighteen centuries had passed, it was finally taken to New York.35

  As was the case with the Statue of Liberty (as well as the ‘London Obelisk’),36 the whole complicated operation that brought the ‘New York Obelisk’ to New York was Masonic through and through. The man with overall responsibility for the project, a naval engineer, Henry Honychurch Gorringe, was a staunch Freemason who had been initiated in New York at the Anglo-Saxon Lodge No. 137.37 Indeed, even Dr. Martina D’Alton, who wrote the official account of the New York Obelisk for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, could not avoid stating that: The Freemasons had a strong presence in New York. Almost to a man, all those involved in bringing [the obelisk] to America were members – Gorringe, Schoeder, Vanderbilt and Hurlbert, as well as the mayor, commissioner of police, and others in city politics …38

  It seems that the original idea of bringing an obelisk to New York had come from the Egyptian Khedive Isma'il himself. The occasion had been the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869. Finding himself next to William Hurlbert, the editor of the New York World newspaper, the khedive suddenly blurted out that he would like to send an obelisk as a gift to the government of the United States.39 Hurlbert, a Freemason, would have immediately recognised in this gesture a sort of polite ‘Masonic handshake’ from the khedive, who also was a Freemason.40

  Indeed, the Masonic influence went further than that. A few months before the opening of the Suez Canal, Khedive Isma'il's uncle, Prince Halim Pasha, had been elected Grand Master of the Rite of Memphis, which practiced pseudo-Egyptian rituals using a system of ‘92 higher degrees’.41 Halim Pasha also served as the official Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Egypt.42

  Gorringe arrived in Egypt in October 1879 with a Freemason colleague, Lieutenant Seaton Schroeder, to take delivery of the obelisk. The khedive had entrusted Solutore Avventure Zola (who had replaced Prince Halim Pasha as Grand Master of the Rite of Memphis in 1874)43 with the task of handing over the gift to the Americans.44 It was reported at the time that when Gorringe finally had the obelisk lowered onto the sandy beach at Alexandria, there was great excitement. The many Freemasons in the party had noticed ‘Masonic emblems’ – a trowel, a builder's square and an architect's triangle – carved into the base of the ancient pedestal.45 It seems that Gorringe was ‘struck with the symbolism [and] decided to take the pedestal, steps, and foundation to the New World and reposition them as they had been.’46

  Perhaps we should mention as well that Gorringe had only a few years before been ‘struck’ by something else. He was convinced that he had discovered ‘Atlantis’ in the Azores while working with the United States Coast Survey in 1876 – a ‘discovery’ which earned him a personal congratulatory message, no less, from President Ulysses S. Grant.47

  The obelisk finally reached New York and: On October 9th 1880, a parade of nine thousand Freemasons marched up Fifth Avenue, bands blaring, to Greywacke Knoll for a grand and solemn cornerstone ceremony.48

  The ceremony itself took place the next day, 10 October 1880, when Jesse B. Anthony, the Grand Master of the New York Masons, did the honours to ‘link the origins of Freemasonry to ancient Egypt.’49

  We spoke earlier of the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. In its case the ceremony of the laying of the cornerstone was performed in May 1923 by President Coolidge using the same trowel that George Washington himself had used 130 years earlier when he had laid the cornerstone of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.50

  The George Washington Masonic Memorial is thus the third of three significant Masonic monuments in the United States (the other two being the Statue of Liberty and the New York Obelisk) which all exhibit intense symbolic links to the ancient city of Alexandria in Egypt – a city which was universally associated in antiquity with the Pharos lighthouse and the goddess Isis-Pharia.

  Philadelphia, the ‘City of Bro
therly Love’

  Although the foundation of Washington, DC took place in 1793, the city was not occupied by the government until the end of President John Adams's term in 1801. During the two terms of George Washington's presidency, spanning the period from 1789 to 1797, the seat of government, and thus the capital of the young United States, were located in the city of Philadelphia – a name that literally means the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ or, perhaps more appropriately, ‘City of the Love of the Brotherhood’. This name, to say the very least, has a strong Masonic ring to it. But then that is hardly surprising when we realise, as we shall see later in this chapter, that it was in Philadelphia that colonial Freemasonry first flourished in the Americas.

  The story of Philadelphia, and its brief spell as the US’s first capital, is the stuff that Hollywood producers dream of. It all began in England in 1681, when King Charles II was confronted with an old and nagging debt due to a certain Admiral William Penn and now payable to the admiral's son and heir, William.