The Master Game

by Graham Hancock

  40 For a full account of Pythagoras in Egypt, see Schwaller de Lubicz, op. cit., p. 259.

  41 See also Genesis 4 – 20.

  42 Pick & Knight, op. cit., p. 32.

  43 Ibid., pp. 32 – 3.

  44 Ibid.

  45 Naudon, op. cit., p. 64.

  46 Ibid., p. 72.

  47 Ibid., p. 74.

  48 Ibid., pp. 74 – 6.

  49 François Ribadeau-Dumas, Cagliostro: homme de lumière, Editions Philosophiques, Paris, 1981, p. 25.

  50 Gérard Galtier, Maçonnerie égyptienne, Rose-Croix et Neo-Chevalerie: Les Fils de Cagliostro, Editions du Rocher, Paris, 1989, p. 29.

  51 Ibid. p. 35; Masonic historians, however, still do not seem to be able to agree where had taken place Cagliostro initiation into Freemasonry. They venture two places, Malta in 1767 (Gastone Ventura, Masonic Rites of Memphis and Misraim, Atanòr, Rome, 1986) or London in 1777 (Galthier, op. cit., p. 30).

  52 Ribadeau-Dumas, op. cit., p. 35.

  53 Ibid., p. 39.

  54 Pernety is often accredited for creating the so-called Swedenborgian Rite of Freemasonry. When he was fifty years old, Pernety left the Benedictine order and settled at Avignon. There he directed his earlier alchemical interests into Freemasonry and created the so-called Rite Hermétique. He then moved to Berlin and became librarian to Frederick II. In Berlin Pernety translate the works of Swedenborg, the Swedish theologian and alleged founder of the New Jerusalem Church.

  55 Ribadeau-Dumas, op. cit., p. 50; Naudon, op. cit., p. 92.

  56 In 1781, Fredrick II was initiated into the Order of The Golden Rose Cross, a German Rosicrucian order, by Johann Woller and Johann Bischoffwerder, two Rosicrucians who were to become Fredrick's closest advisors (McIntosh, op. cit., p. 95 – 6). The esoteric name given to Fredrick II during the initiation rituals was ‘Ormesus Magnus’. The Order of the Golden Rose Cross, according to the origins it gave itself, was allegedly created in Egypt, at Alexandria, by an Egyptian sage called ‘Ormissus or Ormus’ (Galtier, op. cit., p. 164), which is the ‘second name’ given to the imfamous Priere de Sion (M. Baigent, H. Lincoln & R. Leigh, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, p. 123). Ormus, as we shall see later, was also the name given to the founder of the Masonic Rite of Memphis. According to Masonic author Clara Miccinelli, the name ‘Ormus’ appeared as early as 1753 in a private letter written by Prince Raimondo di Sangre de Severo, a Freemason, to the Baron de Tchoudi in Paris (C. Miccinelli, E dio Creo L’Uomo e la Massoneria, ECIG, Genova, 1985, p. 73).

  57 Ribadeau-Dumas, op. cit., p. 51.

  58 Ibid. In 1758 Pernety had published a treatise with the ambitious title of ‘The Egyptian and Greek Fables Unveiled and Linked to the same Principles, with an Explanation of the Hieroglyphs and the War of Troye’, which gives us a fair indication what his ‘science of Nature’ was.

  59 Galtier, op. cit., p. 36.

  60 Ibid. See also Manly P. Hall, Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians: Crata Repoa, Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, 1965, pp. 81 – 102.

  61 Galtier, op. cit., p. 36; see also Hall, op. cit., p. 73.

  62 Naudon, op. cit., p. 91.

  63 Ridley, op. cit., pp. 110 – 21.

  64 Ibid., p. 129.

  65 Naudon op. cit. p. 91

  66 Galtier, op. cit., p. 19.

  67 Naudon, op. cit., p. 229.

  68 Pierre Chevalier, Histoire de la Franc-Maçonnerie française, Librairie Fayard, Paris, 1974, vol. I, pp. 258 – 9.

  69 J. E. Manchip White, Ancient Egypt in Culture and History, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1970, p. 107. Herodotus gives 70 days (Histories, book II, section 85), which is more in line with ancient Egyptian practice.

  70 Genesis 50:1 – 3. The duration of the Flood was also 40 days (Genesis 7:4, 8:6).

  71 Chevalier, op. cit., pp. 256 – 62.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE NEW CITY OF ISIS

  1 Ribadeau-Dumas, op. cit., p. 165.

  2 Chevalier, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 261.

  3 Ibid. See also Gisèle & Yves Hivert-Messeca, Comment la Franc-Maçonnerie vint aux femmes, Editions Devry, Paris, 1997, p. 148.

  4 Naudon, op. cit., pp. 228 – 30.

  5 An excellent article on Cagliostro can be seen in Henry Evans, ‘Masonry and Magic in the Eighteenth Century’, The Master Mason, June 1927.

  6 Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. Fr. 12420 c. 1402 fol. XVI; ms. Fr. 598, c. 1403 fol. XVI.

  7 Baltrušaitis, op. cit., p. 63.

  8 L. M. Tisserand, Les Armoiries de la ville de Paris, Paris 1874, chapter 3, ‘Formation du sceau ou des armoiries de Paris’, p. 61; also Baltrušaitis, op. cit., p. 63.

  9 Jacques le Grant, Sophologium, Paris, 1475; also see Baltrušaitis, op. cit., p. 61.

  10 Jean Lemaire de Belges, Les Illustrations de Gaule et Singularitez de Troye, Paris 1512; also see Baltrušaitis, op. cit., p. 59.

  11 Baltrušaitis, op. cit., p. 58, plates 1 & 6.

  12 Jacques du Breul, Théâtre des Antiquitez de Paris, Paris, 1612.

  13 André Favyn, Histoire de Navarre, Paris 1612.

  14 Baltrušaitis op. cit. p. 89

  15 Phaure, op. cit., pp. 19 – 20 (map).

  16 Ibid., p. 84 (map).

  17 Ibid.

  18 Ian Wilson, Jesus The Evidence, Pan Books, London, 1984, pp. 136 – 7. See also Freke & Gandy, op. cit., pp. 41 – 2.

  19 From Edward Carpenter, Pagan & Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning, BiblioBazaar, Charleston, SC, 2009, pp. 50 – 51: The Jesus-story, it will now be seen, has a greater number of correspondences with the stories of former sun gods and with the actual career of the Sun through the heavens – so many indeed that they cannot well be attributed to mere coincidence or even to the blasphemous wiles of the Devil! Let us enumerate some of these. There are (1) birth from a virgin mother; (2) the birth in a stable (cave or underground chamber); and (3) on 25 December (just after the winter solstice). There is (4) the Star in the East (Sirius) and (5) the arrival of the Magi (the ‘Three King's); there is (6) the threatened Massacre of the Innocents, and the consequent flight into a distant country (told also of Krishna and other sun gods). There are the Church festivals of (7) Candlemas (2 February), with processions of candles to symbolize the growing light; of (8) Lent, or the arrival of spring; of (9) Easter Day (normally on 25 March) to celebrate the crossing of the Equator by the Sun; and (10) simultaneously the outburst of lights at the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. There is (11) [ the Crucifixion and death of the Lamb-God, on Good Friday, three days before Easter; there are (12) the nailing to a tree, (13) the empty grave, (14) the glad Resurrection (as in the cases of Osiris, Attis and others); there are (15) the twelve disciples (the Zodiacal signs); and (16) the betrayal by one of the twelve. Then later there is (17) Mid-summer Day, 24 June, dedicated to the birth of the beloved disciple John, and corresponding to Christmas Day; there are the festivals of (18) the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August) and of (19) the Nativity of the Virgin (8 September), corresponding to the movement of the god through Virgo; there is the conflict of Christ and his disciples with the autumnal asterisms, (20) the Serpent and the Scorpion; and finally there is the curious fact that the Church (21) dedicates the very day of the winter solstice (when any one may very naturally doubt the rebirth of the Sun) to St. Thomas, who doubted the truth of the Resurrection! …

  In the cathedral, the congregation faces the east in order to pray. It does not face Jerusalem but the east i.e. the direction of the sunrise. This direction of prayer is almost certainly derived from ancient pagan solar cults. In Christian worship the meaning is somewhat changed. Christ's has many attributes of the ancient sun-god, but he is also the Messiah who has come and who will return, another analogy of the death and rebirth of the sun-god in ancient myths. East is the place of sunrise, of solar rebirth, of the coming of light. In mystical religions the east symbolises spiritual enlightenment and divinity.

  20 Norman Lockyer, The Dawn of Astronomy, Cassell & Co., London, 1894, p. 120.

  21 Habachi,
op. cit., pp. 155 – 6.

  22 Lockyer, op. cit., pp. 98 – 106.

  23 Much later, in 1973, the astronomer Gerald S. Hawkins disagreed with Lockyer and asserted that the Karnak Temple had not been aligned to the summer solstice sunset but rather to the winter solstice sunrise which took place 26° 55’ south-of-east (See Gerald Hawkins, Beyond Stonehenge, Arrow Books, London, 1977, chapter 11 ‘Amon-Ra’, pp. 193 – 218; see also Ronald L. Reese, ‘Midwinter Sunrise at Karnak’, in Sky & Telescope, March 1992, p. 276). Hawkins is best known for his work on the astronomical alignments of Stonehenge. Hawkins, however, did not carry out actual astronomical observations at Karnak as did Lockyer. He obtained his orientation angle from survey maps at the Franco-Egyptian Research Centre at Luxor and, like Lockyer before him, calculated the position of the sunrise/set at the solstice rather than actually observe it (Hawkins was in Egypt in May, a month before the summer solstice). A few years later the astronomer Ed Krupp confirmed Hawkins's values from actual observations of the sunrise at the winter solstice from the Karnak Temple (E. C. Krupp, Echoes of Ancient Skies, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994, pp. 253 – 7). Hawkins argued that Lockyer's conclusions were wrong, since the Theban Hills in the distance made it such that the setting sun at the summer solstice could not be properly seen through pylons of the temple. But although it is true to say that the Theban hills in the west present an obstacle to us from a practical viewpoint, this reasoning cannot be applied to the ancient Egyptians's religious viewpoint. To them such physical obstacles were not an impediment, viz., for example, the so-called false door made of solid stone often found in tombs and through which the soul of the deceased was imagined to pass. Egyptian astronomer-priests – and especially those assigned to the sun-cult – had been observing the sunrise and sunset at the solstices long before the construction of Karnak, and there is no question that they would have been acutely aware of its maximal and minimal declinations. And so the conclusion by Hawkins that the Theban Hills invalidates the alignment towards the summer solstice sunset is not tenable when placed in the religious context of the ancient temple builders (Hawkins, op. cit., p. 198). Hawlkins commends Lockyer's on the accuracy of his survey at Stonehenge, but says that ‘his survey of the Amon-Ra temple was not.’ Hawkins refers to the report by army engineer P. J. G. Wakefield, who performed a theodolite survey at Karnak for Locker on 21 June 1891. And although it is true that Wakefield reported that the Sun could not be seen from any of the points on the axis of the temple marked by Lockyer, he did add that he placed the theodolite at the entrance of Pylon 2 and that he was ‘able to see a portion of the setting sun, the remainder being hidden behind the south wall of the great pylon (Pylon 1).’ Now the Sun's diameter is about 0.5°, which means that it could be ‘shifted’ a further 0.5° to the north along the horizon, it would be seen between along that part of the axis running from Pylon 1 to Pylon 2. In c. 1500 BC the Sun was, in fact, 0.5° further north due to the obliquity of the ecliptic at the time. This suggests to me that the orientation of the Karnak Temple might be closer to 26° than the 26° 55’ quoted by Hawkins which he got off the map of the Franco-Egyptian Centre. Indeed, Lockyer reported that according to Lepsius and other Egyptologists, the angle was ‘26° or 26° 30” north-of-west. When E.C. Krupp went to verify this, he did so on the winter solstice, and thus could only verify the alignment at the other end of the temple through the so-called Temple of Ré-Horakhti and the ‘High room of the Sun’. In my opinion another survey should be made on 21 June to ascertain the statement of army engineer P. J. G. Wakefied. I did, in fact, observe the sunset on June 21, 2003; my conclusion is that the builders aimed at the sunrise on the winter solstice, but also knew that the sunset at summer solstice would take place in the reverse direction. And although it is true that the latter does not fall on the axis alignment but a little short towards the west, it is obvious that the intention was there.

  24 R. Wells, ‘Ré and the Calendar’ in A. J. Spalinger (ed.), Revolution in Time: Studies in Ancient Egyptian Calendrics, Van Siclen Books, San Antonio, TX, 1994, p. 19. Ron Wells calculated that at c. 3500 BC the star Sirius would have risen at exactly the same spot as the winter solstice sunrise. His computations assume a ‘level horizon and no refraction’. My own calculations show that as seen from the latitude of Cairo today, it would have been seen rising about 29.5° south-of-east. However, in c. 3300 BC, at the foundation date of Dynastic Egypt, it would have risen some 28° south-of-east (Azimuth 118°). A simple calculation shows that at that epoch Sirius had the same declination as the Sun at winter solstice i.e. about – 24° (that is, 24° south of the celestial equator), and thus performed exactly the same path at the Sun at the winter solstice. It was, quite literally, a ‘second sun’ seen at night in the place of the winter solstice sun.’ The epoch 3300 BC is extremely significant in that it marks the historical begin of Dynastic Egypt, when the whole country was unified under one kingdom.

  25 In Roman times the goddess Isis was closely identified and even merged with the Roman goddess Ceres, the Greek Demeter. See Batrusaitis, op. cit., p. 70. See also Fraser, op. cit., pp. 383 & 393. See also Marie-France Arnold, op. cit., pp. 87 – 8: ‘The Romans did not call her [Isis] “mother of the wheat and of nature” as did the ancient Egyptians, but they venerated her and made offerings to her…a shrine was built in the city of Paris at the exact spot where Christians would later build Notre Dame de Paris. In 1711, while digging a crypt under the cathedral destined for the burial of bishops this shrine was discovered …’ Anne Baring & Jules Cashford, in their book The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image (Arkana, London, 1993), showed that the concept of ‘Notre Dame’ in France, especially for the so-called Black virgins, has an esoteric association to the Egyptian goddess Isis (pp. 586 & 647). See also further Baltrušaitis, op. cit., pp. 24 – 40.

  26 Phaure, op. cit., pp. 56 – 7.

  27 Ribadeau-Dumas, op. cit., p. 167.

  28 Fauche, op. cit., p. 32.

  29 Ibid.

  30 Grand Larousse Encyclopédique, vol. 3, p. 261a.

  31 Naudon, op. cit., p. 95.

  32 Faucher, op. cit., p. 27; see also Galtier, op. cit., p. 30.

  33 Ribadeau-Dumas, op. cit., p. 294.

  34 Ibid., p. 200

  35 Manly P. Hall, ‘Rosicrucian and Masonic Origins’, in Lectures on Ancient Philosophy and Introduction to the Study and Application of Rational Procedure, The Hall Publishing Company, Los Angeles, 1929, pp. 408 – 9.

  36 See Antoine Court de Gébelin, Monde primitif analysé et comparé avec le monde moderne, book 8, Paris, 1773 – 1783.

  37 Ribadeau-Dumas, op. cit., p. 167 – 8.

  38 Ibid. p. 168.

  39 Ibid. p. 199.

  40 Joscelyn Godwin, The Theosophical Enlightenment, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1994.

  41 Ribadeau-Dumas, op. cit., p. 199.

  42 Naudon, op. cit., p. 129.

  43 Adam Weishaupt cited in Nesta H. Webster, Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, Book Tree, San Diego, CA, 2000, p. 215.

  44 Mackey & Haywood, op. cit., p. 474.

  45 Thomas Jefferson to Reverend James Madison, January 31, 1800, in Library of Congress, The Thomas Jefferson Papers, available at: www.memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@ lit(tj090050)).

  46 Noble E. Cunnigham Jr, In Pursuit of Reason: the Life of Thomas Jefferson, Ballantine Books, New York 1988, opening page.

  47 Naudon, op. cit., p. 129. The order was apparently exposed in a most curious way. One of its leaders, Jacob Lang, while walking back home during a bad storm, was struck by lightning. Subversive documents were found on his body and taken to the elector of Bavaria, prompting him to launched an investigation into the Illuminati.

  48 For source data see www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry02.html. .

  49 The ‘eye’ in a ‘glowing triangle’ was used in medieval times to denote ‘God’ and can be seen on the covers of many biblical manuscripts (see an example in Manly P. Ha
ll's The Secret Teachings of All Ages, The Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, 1998, p. xcviii). Robert Fludd's works (1574 – 1637) is full of the glowing triangle-pyramid symbol, although he often replaces the ‘eye’ with other symbols or the words for ‘god’ (see Godwin, Robert Fludd: Hermetic Philosopher and Surveyor of two Worlds). German alchemists and Cabalists used the ‘eye in the pyramid’ symbol profusely in the early 18th century (J. Ritman (ed.), The Silent Language, The Symbols of Hermetic Philosophy, In de Pelikaan, Amsterdam 1994, pp. 59 & 75).

  50 Godwin, Athanasius Kircher, p. 8.

  51 Iversen, op. cit., p. 105, plate XIX.

  52 Naudon, op. cit., p. 122.

  53 The first design of The Great Seal was in July 1776 by Pierre-Eugène Simitière. A drawing made in 1776 by pencil on paper by Thomas Jefferson exists in the Library of Congress. The ‘eye in the triangle’ can clearly be seen on the top of the Seal. The first committee's choice for the Great Seal, which met on 20 August 1776, was: A shield with emblems of the six European cultures that migrated to America: three for Britain (English rose, Scottish thistle, Irish harp) and three for continental Europe (French fleur-de-lis, German eagle, Belgic lion). Supporting the shield: the Goddess of Liberty, who holds a spear and wears the Phrygian cap, and the Goddess of Justice with her balance. Crest: ‘The Eye of Providence in a radiant Triangle whose Glory extends over the Shield and beyond the Figures.’ Motto: ‘E PLURIBUS UNUM.’

  54 The Great Seal First Committee was formed in the afternoon of the 4 July 1776. It comprised Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Pierre-Eugène Simitière. Each member proposed various ideas. Franklin's idea was ‘Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his Hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharaoh who is sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his Head and a Sword in his Hand. Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses, to express that he acts by Command of the Deity.’ Motto: ‘Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.’ There were several ‘committees’ formed in the course of the next six years. The third and final committee was formed on 4 May 1782. Hardly a month before in Paris, on 12 April 1782, a series of peace talks had begun between the United States and Britain. America was represented by Benjamin Franklin. The US urgently needed an official sign of sovereignty and coat-of-arms for the signing of the peace treaty. The so-called Third Committee consisted of Chairman Arthur Middleton and John Rutledge, both of South Carolina, Elias Boudinot of New Jersey and Virginia's Arthur Lee. William Barton, a twenty-eight years old artist well-versed in the science of heraldry, came up with two complex designs which were graphic interpretation of the official written description that precisely defines the design as follows: Obverse: On the breast of the American bald eagle is a shield with thirteen vertical white and red stripes beneath a blue chief. In the eagle's right talon is an olive branch, and in his left a bundle. In his beak is a scroll inscribed with the motto ‘E Pluribus Unum’. Over the head of the eagle, a Golden Glory is breaking through a cloud, and surrounds a constellation of thirteen stars on an azure field.