Chapter 7 - Serpents, Stars and Suns
So the student of history has to discover the hidden meanings behind the symbols in the Masonic literature and in the secret initiation ceremonies to understand the Masonic Order.
One of the first symbols that needs to be examined is the symbol of the serpent, also called a snake or dragon.
Manly P. Hall wrote that the use of this symbol is as old as early man when he wrote this in his book entitled, THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES: "Among nearly all these ancient peoples the serpent was accepted as a symbol of wisdom..." 131
Here Mr. Hall states that the serpent was a symbol of "wisdom." It will be remembered that Lord Maitreya, the future New Age leader, also claimed to possess "wisdom."
Mr. Hall continued: "Serpent worship in some form has permeated nearly all parts of the earth."
"The serpent is the symbol and prototype of the Universal Savior, who redeems the world by giving creation the knowledge of itself and the realization of good and evil." 132
And then Mr. Hall links the serpent with the Ancient Mysteries previously discussed. He continues with the comment that the serpent was worshipped by the priests of that religion: "The priests of the Mysteries were symbolized as a serpent, sometimes called Hydra." 133
He then pointed out that the Ancient Mysteries have been passed on to various other cultures, and that they have been brought forward to the present day: "The Serpent Kings [notice that Mr. Hall capitalized the two words, as one would do for a deity or for royalty] reigned over the earth.
It was these Serpent Kings who founded the Mystery Schools which later appeared as the Egyptian and Brahmin Mysteries... The serpent was their symbol... They were the true Sons of Light, and from them have descended a long line of adepts and initiates duly tried and proven according to the law." 134
Another writer, Wilfred Gregson, informed his readers why Mr. Hall capitalized the two words "Serpent Kings" when he wrote: "One symbol of great prominence throughout all ancient civilizations is the snake of serpent, where it has symbolized 'Divine Wisdom.'" 135
So. Mr. Hall had reason to capitalize the words, because he had discovered that the serpent represented divinity.
Notice also that Mr. Gregson, even though he chose not to capitalize the word "serpent," confirmed that Mr. Hall's use of the capital letter was correct when he stated that there was a connection between "Divine Wisdom" and the serpent.
Mr. Hall made the same connection in these comments: "The serpent is true to the principles of wisdom, for it tempts man to the knowledge of himself." 136
A serpent is "often used by the ancients to symbolize wisdom." 137
The symbol of the serpent has another concealed truth, according to Kenneth Mackenzie. He identified that truth in this quote when he described a Brazen Serpent: "It was a type of Mediator, and a promise of redemption."
The word Brazen is defined as "bold, or impudent." And Impudent is defined as "shamelessly bold or disrespectful."
It will be remembered that Lucifer was an anoited cherub in heaven, who fell because he sought godly power. The story is covered in Isaiah 14: 12-14 of the Old Testament: "How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground...
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
... I will be like the most High."
Therefore, it can be safely said that Lucifer would be considered to be "shamelessly bold" and "disrespectful."
It appears that the Brazen Serpent could be Lucifer!
Another author, John Anthony West, wrote a book entitled, SERPENT IN THE SKY, in which he also connected the serpent with "wisdom." He wrote: "... the serpent represents intellect, the faculty by which man discriminates. There is a higher and a lower intellect.
Thus, symbolically, there is a serpent that crawls, and the higher intellect, that which allows man to know God - the heavenly serpent, the serpent in the sky." 138
The somewhat veiled worship of this serpent in the sky inside the Masonic lodges was alluded to by another Masonic writer, Kenneth Mackenzie, in his book entitled, THE ROYAL MASONIC CYCLOPAEDIA. He wrote this: "Among the charges preferred against the Order of Knights Templar, for which Jacques de Molay suffered martyrdom, was that of worshipping an idol or image called Baphomet.
It has been suggested that Baphomet is none other than the Ancient of Days, or Creator.
More cannot be said here without improperly revealing what we [meaning we Masons] are bound to hele, conceal and never reveal." 139 So, according to this Mason, the snake or serpent is somehow a symbol of the subject of the Masonic worship, and apparently this fact is the secret that the Masons cannot reveal to the rest of the world.
A Christian minister, Reverend Alexander Hislop, wrote a book that included some discussion on the subject of serpent worship. In that book, entitled TWO BABYLONS, he explained that serpent worship was not something that is recent in time. It was an ancient practice.
"Along with the sun [this symbol will be discussed later,] as the great fire-god, and, in due time, identified with him, was the serpent worshipped. In the mythology of the primitive world, the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun.
... as the sun was the great enlightener of the physical world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual, by giving mankind the 'knowledge of good and evil." 140
He then discussed a coin minted in Tyre, the center of the ancient Phoenician culture. (This coin was also the subject of an article in the September, 1986 issue of The Good News magazine.) It depicted a serpent entwined around a tree stump. To the left of the stump stood an empty cornucopia, and to the right a flourishing palm tree. The snake on the coin is the symbol of the powerful god whom the Romans called Aesculapius. The name means "the man-instructing snake, or the "snake that instructs man."
The article then reported: "In mythology, Aesculapius was believed to be the child of the Sun, and thus the 'enlightener' of mankind.
As the legend goes, Aesculapius was ultimately struck down by a thunderbolt thrown by an angry Zeus, king of the gods, and cast into the underworld." 141 The tree stump represented the fallen "god" and his ruined kingdom. In the mythologies of many ancient civilizations, the image of a fallen tree was used to symbolize the cutting off of a great god or hero, someone cut off in the midst of their
power. The snake on the coin was shown twisting itself around the dead stump, exerting its power in an attempt to restore his fallen kingdom.
The cornucopia is an ancient symbol of plenty, but it was empty on the coin. This has been
interpreted as meaning that the abundance had been cut off because the great "god" has been cut off, However, the implication is that the horn of plenty will return when the fallen "god" is restored to his "rightful" position.
The palm tree shown on the coin is a well known symbol of victory. So it appears that the coin was minted to depict the anticipated return of the fallen snake-god to the world.
The Bible talks about a fallen serpent in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, verse 9. However, in this case, the snake is connected to another symbol of the serpent: "a great dragon."
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan..."
Is the serpent worshipped in the Ancient Mysteries and a symbol in the Masonic ceremonies a symbol of Satan, the devil? As has already been discussed, there is indeed evidence that this is the case.
Another symbol that needs to be analyzed is the star.
On the page opposite page 124 in Mackey's ENCYCLOPAEDIA is a drawing illustrating the "symbols of Freemasonry."
Included in the twenty or so Masonic symbols is a drawing of a shooting star.
It can be fairly claimed that a blazing or shooting star would be one that was on the move inside the universe. One of the directions it could move would be towards the earth. If itwas moving towards the earth, it could be called a "falling star.
Lucifer is a "fallen angel," according to Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet, who wrote this in Isaiah 14:12: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer..."
Notice that Isaiah also said that Lucifer fell from heaven.
And other parts of the Bible report that he fell to the earth.
So, it is conceivable that the symbol of the "falling" or "blazing" star could be a symbol of Lucifer.
A variety of authors have used their writings to discuss the star as a symbol. Professor Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Illuminati, was one who explained what he considered the star to be a symbol of: "... the Flaming Star is the Torch of Reason." 142
Mr. Mackey wrote that the star: "was a symbol of God."
He then connected the blazing star to another symbol when he wrote: "The Blazing Star... refers us to the sun..." 143
And then he connected it with the secret initiation ceremonies inside the Masonic lodge: "In the Fourth Degree of the same Rite [the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry] the [Blazing Star] is again said to be a symbol of the light of Divine Providence pointing out the way of truth." 144
And Mr. Hutchens, the Masonic writer who has authored the recent book on Masonry, further interpreted the symbol of the star: "The star as a type of the myriad suns that light other countless systems of worlds is an emblem of that Masonic Light in search of which every Mason travels -- the correct knowledge of the Deity, and of His laws that control the universe." 145
Closely allied with the symbol of the star is the symbol of the sun. Albert Pike identified it with the worship of the past in this collection of quotes from his writings: "The worship of the sun became the basis of all the religions of antiquity." 146
"... thousands of years ago, men worshipped the Sun... Originally they looked beyond the orb to the invisible God... They personified him as Brahma, Amun, Osiris, Bel, Adonis, Malkarth, Mithras, and Apollo. Krishna is the Hindu Sun-God." 147
"... the Gauls worshipped the Sun under the name of Belin or Belinis." 148
"The sun is the ancient symbol of the life-giving and generative power of the Deity. The Sun was His manifestation and visible image." 149
"The Sun is the hieroglyphical sign of Truth, because it is the source of Light." 150
So, Mr. Pike identified the sun as a symbol of a deity that should be worshipped. He chose to capitalize the first letter in the word, the "s," as one would in recognizing the name of a deity.
Albert Mackey repeated Mr. Pike's contentions with comments like these about "sun worship:"
"... [it was] the oldest and by far the most prevalent of all the ancient religions. Eusebius says that the Phoenicians and the Egyptians were the first who ascribed divinity to the sun."
"Hardly any of the symbols of Masonry are more important in their signification or more extensive in their application than the sun as the source of material light, it minds the Mason of that intellectual light of which he is in constant search.
The sun is then presented to us in Masonry first as a symbol of light, but then more emphatically as a symbol of sovereign authority." 151
So, the sun was a symbol of something that only the believers in the religion known as the Ancient Mysteries understood.
These believers, called adepts, certainly knew that the people would not accept their mystery religion, so they had to conceal it from them. So the task became one of creating a religion around a belief that they knew the people would accept, because it would make some sense, at least as far as the adepts would explain it. But their basic purpose was to create a popular religion as a cover for their secret worship.
The secret religion would be built around a belief in the sun.
The sun would be a perfect thing to build a religion around because of its basic nature. It is very visible, and has a very important role in man's life. It rises in the morning (it appears to be born) and then sets during the evening, (it appears to die) and then appears to be "born again" the next morning. It also appears to wander in the sky, setting further north (or south) each night. It then returns back to any given position twice a year.
So the sun appears to have a major birth or death twice each day and twice each year.
It would be very easy for the adepts to explain to the people that only something bigger than mankind, a god, had the ability to die and come back to life. So, the adepts would teach the people that they had to pray to the god or it would choose not to return. They encouraged a worship of the sun so that it would return to mankind again, either once a day, or once every six months.
Albert Pike confirmed this view with this explanation of why early man worshipped the sun: "To them [meaning early man]... the journeyings of the Sun, were voluntary and not mechanical..." 152
So early man considered the sun to be something that moved voluntarily. In other words, the sun did not have to return each morning. Man must have quickly determined that since the sun did not have to return, man should start asking it to return. Man certainly must have figured out just how important the sun was to his life and well-being and he certainly must have determined that if the sun chose not to return, all of mankind would perish. So it was an easy jump from a belief that the necessary sun
was an entity that chose to move across the daytime sky, to a belief that it would return only if man prayed to it to return.
But there is something even more interesting to be considered that Pike didn't explain with that comment.
Obviously, to make the new religion work, the believers would have to be able to predict the movements of the sun. It wouldn't be too long before some of the common people would start noticing that the sun was neither an actual being nor a god to be worshipped, but something that moved according to precise laws. If the common people figured that out, they would not need the adepts who had computed the sun's periodic cycles. So, to keep their power intact, they would teach the people that if they did not accommodate their wishes, they would make certain that the sun did not return. They could even predict, as their measurements became more sophisticated, the exact time and date when the moon would go between the sun and the earth, causing the sun to "disappear."
They could then fool the people into believing that they were the cause of the disappearance. They could then explain to the people that if they did not continue to pay them sort sort of tribute, they would not intercede in their behalf, and the sun would not reappear.
To keep the minds of the common people away from figuring out that the whole religion was a scam, the adepts would conduct beautiful and ornate ceremonies around the worship of the sun. And they would expect the people to pay them for the elaborate rituals. And to make their rituals valid, the adepts would always claim that the sun obeyed their prayers, thereby convincing the people of their need to keep the adepts around. The people would continue to pay tribute to these adepts as long as they appeared to be successful.
Now, if the adepts knew that the sun was a symbol of something that the people would not support, such as a belief that Lucifer, the devil, was the god that they worshipped, they would have to continue with their charade, so that the people would not decide to stop worshipping. Because if the people figured it out, they would no longer support their activities. They would have to keep their beliefs from the people, and conceal their secret worship in hidden symbols.
So sun worship as a religion prospered.
Mr. Hutchens discussed that position in his book: "In the Tabernacle the brethren, clothed in black, mourn Osiris, who is representative of the sun, of light, of life, of good and beauty. They reflect upon the way the earth may again be gladdened by his presence.
Mr. Pike connected the sun to Osiris, mentioned by Mr. Hutchens as worthy of being mourned: "The three lights at the Altar [inside the Masonic Temple] represent Osiris, Isis and Horus. Osiris was represented by the Sun." 154 Mr. Mackey went a little further and informed his readers that: "Osirus was the sun..." 155
In his book entitled, INTRODUCTION TO FREEMASONRY, Carl H. Claudy, the author, himself a Mason, connected the sun worship with the ceremonies inside the Masonic Lodge: "The lodge... sets him [meaning the initiate] upon the path that leads to Light but it is for him to...
travel the winding path to the symbolic East." 156
The physical sun rises in the east, and the Masons explain that their search for light begins in the east. And notice that Mr. Claudy capitalizes the word "East," apparently in reverence to the spot where they believe that this god resides.
The Masons tell the world that they circumambulate (defined as walking around) the Temple floor during their initiation ceremonies. Mr. Claudy explains why this rite is performed: "When the candidate first circles the lodge room about the altar, he walks step by step with a thou- sand shades of men who have thus worshipped the Most High by humble imitation.
Thus thought of circumambulation is no longer a mere parade but a ceremony of significance, linking all who take part in it with the spiritual aspirations of a dim and distant past." 157 He further instructs
his readers as to why this ceremony is part of their ceremony: "Early man circled altars on which burned the fire which was his God, from east to west by way of the south [notice that the north is not included in the ceremony.
The significance of that omission will be discussed later.] Circumambulation became a part of all religious observances."
In another part of his book, entitled INTRODUCTION TO FREEMASONRY, Mr. Claudy reported that this style of walking was traceable to the ancient religions of the past. He wrote: "Circumambulation... was in the ceremonies of ancient Egypt." 158 So, this practice of the modern Masons is based upon the ancient religious practices of the Ancients.
So the Masons are telling us that early man walked around in a circle because he was worshipping the sun. Then they tell us that they are doing it for the same reason.
There are reasons that the north as a location to be visited in their walk around the temple floor is not included in their initiation rites, and six of the great Masonic writers have told us why this is so.
Captain William Morgan offered his readers this explanation with this comment from his book: "... we, therefore, Masonically, term the north a place of darkness." 159
Mr. Mackey confirmed that statement in his book: "The north is Masonically called a place of darkness." 160
And Mr. Pike confirmed the comments made by the other two Masons with this declaration: "To all Masons, the North has immediately been the place of darkness, and of the great lights of the Lodge, none is in the North." 161
And Kenneth Mackenzie added his confirming thoughts: "The North was always esteemed a place of darkness." 162
Mr. Hutchens became the fifth Masonic writer to confirm this detail: "As in other degrees, the closing ritual provides a summary of the lessons taught in the degree. We hear in the West the eagles gather and the doom of tyranny is near. In the South, truth struggles against error and oppression. In the North, fanaticism and intolerance wane. In the East, the people begin to know their rights and to be conscious of their dignity and that the sun's rays will soon smite the summits of the mountains." 163
Mr. Hutchens informed his readers that the North was where "fanaticism and intolerance" resided. What he meant by this and what the symbol of the North represents will be explored in later paragraphs of this study.
And the sixth Masonic writer who confirmed that the North was a place of darkness was Carl Claudy, who wrote this in his book entitled, INTRODUCTION TO FREEMASONRY: "... the place of darkness, the North." 164
And the reason the Masons do not include the North in their rites is found in the Bible in Isaiah 14:13: "I [meaning Lucifer] will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north."
The God of the Bible sits in the North, and Lucifer hopes one day to acquire the throne of God for his throne. But, until then, the "North is a place of darkness."
But, while the north is an excluded territory, the east is the "place of light," and is to be revered. Mr. Hutchens tells his readers why that is so: "... the East -- the source of light and thus knowledge." 165
Albert Mackey quotes Etienne Francois Bazot, a French Masonic writer in his ENCYCLOPAEDIA: "The veneration which the Masons have for the East... bears a relation to the primitive religion whose first degeneration was sun-worship." 166
Rex Hutchens then tells his readers that the Masons deploy lights around the Lodge room during the initiation ceremony for the 25th degree, called the Knight of the Sun. He writes: "The ceiling should be decorated to represent the heavens with the moon, the principal planets and the constellations Taurus and Orion. A single powerful light, a great globe of glass, representing the sun, is in the South.
In a physical sense the greater light comes from the sun and the transparencies provide lesser light...
symbolically, the sun or great light is the Truth and the lesser lights are man's symbolic representation of Truth." 167 Mr. Mackey further discusses this Rite of Circumambulation, as he calls it, in his ENCYCLOPAEDIA. He says that the rite: "... exists in Freemasonry.
... the people always walked three times round the altar while singing a sacred hymn. In making this procession, great care was taken to move in imitation of the course of the sun." 168
He then assisted the reader with understanding this practice in the Masonic temples: "This Rite of Circumambulation undoubtedly refers to the doctrine of sun-worship..." 169
However, in another of the books that he wrote, Mr. Mackey directly states that the rite is connected to sun worship.
This is what he wrote in a book entitled, MANUAL OF THE LODGE: "The circumambulation among the pagan nations referred to the great doctrines of Sabaism or sun worship." 170
Sabaism is defined by Mr. Mackey in his ENCYCLOPAEDIA as: "SABAISM: The worship of the sun, moon and stars, 'the host of heaven.' It was practiced in Persia, Chaldea, India and other Oriental countries, at an early period of the world's history." 171
He then added this rather cryptic comment: "... and although the dogma of sun-worship does not of course exist in Freemasonry, we find an allusion to it in the Rite of Circumambulation which it preserves..." 172
One can understand what Mr. Mackey meant by that comment: the Masons do not worship the sun, they worship the Sun!
So he was telling the truth, but concealing it in a symbolic language.
Mr. Hutchens then volunteered the information that in the 12th of the 32 degrees the Rite of Circumambulation is preserved. He writes: "In all the Scottish Rite Degrees thus far, the candidate has made twenty-one prescribed circuits around the altar; this degree adds seven for a total of twenty-eight.
This practice, called circumambulation, is derived from the ancients and existed among the Romans, Semites, Hindus, and others.
It is thought to have been a rite of purification.
The sun was believed to travel around the earth; the initiates imitated the movement of the sun when they made circuits around the altar." 173
Furthermore, in the ninth degree, other symbols of the sun are involved in the ceremony. Mr. Hutchens tells his readers: "After the obligation is taken, the nine candles of yellow wax are lit.
Yellow is representative of the sun, hence light and knowledge." 174
In the tenth degree, further symbols representing the sun are utilized, according to this author: "There are three sets of five lights: the wax is yellow, meaning knowledge and also, as the color of the sun, represents the Deity." 175
Other clues that the sun and the serpent are both known symbols of the Masonic Lodge are given by the titles of two of the 32 degrees inside the Masonic Lodge.
The 25th degree initiate is called a Knight of the Brazen Serpent, and the 28th degree initiate is called a Knight of the Sun.
There is another symbol of the sun inside the Masonic Lodge. The Worshipful Master, the equivalent of the President of the Lodge, sits in the east side of the temple. We are told why that is: "The Worshipful Master represents the sun at its rising, the Senior Warden [another officer of the Lodge] represents the sun at its setting, and the Junior Warden [still another officer of the Lodge] represents the sun at meridian [the half-way point.]" 176
Other individuals and organizations besides the Masonic Lodges are also involved, in varying degrees, with sun worship, or with an acknowledgement that the sun plays a central role in their understanding of the nature of the world.
Elizabeth Clare Prophet has been described as being a leader in the New Age Movement, and she has written this in a newsletter she publishes called THE COMING REVOLUTION: "the healing of the nations begins with the healing of ourselves. We must draw forth from the Great Central Sun -- that eternal Light with which we were anointed from the beginning." 177
Adolf Hitler, the head of the German government prior to and during World War II, and who was directly responsible for the murder of over 50 million people, was also a sun worshipper.
Very early in his life, he joined a secret organization called the Thule Society. And forty years after the war, some historians are finally delving into its strange beliefs.
Two of these writers, Michel Bertrand and Jean Angelini, have produced a book entitled, THE OCCULT AND THE THIRD REICH, and one of their conclusions is: "In the Nazi cosmology the sun played a prime role... as a sacred symbol of the Aryans, in contrast to the feminine and magical symbolism of the moon, revered by the Semitic peoples."
The Nazi Party was the name of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, the party that Mr. Hitler joined. It became the controlling party of the German government prior to and during the war.
... the Fuhrer [German for leader, in this case meaning Mr. Hitler] saw in the Jewish people, with their black hair and swarthy complexion, the dark side of the human species, while the blond and blue-eyed Aryans constituted the light side of humanity. Hitler undertook to extirpate [meaning to eliminate] from the material world its impure elements... to lead it back to glory." 178
But sun worship, as the Masons point out, is not new.
The Bible talks about it as well.
Ezekiel was an Old Testament prophet writing sometime during the period of 571 to 592 B.C. He tells about how he was taken by God to see a practice occurring near the Temple.
This is what he wrote in Ezekiel 8:15-16: "And He [the Lord God] brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and they worshipped the sun toward the east."
And Ezekiel points out that the Lord God considered this practice "an abomination."
There is another reference to sun worship in the Old Testament, this time in Deuteronomy 17: 2-4, 7. That reference reads as follows: "If there be found among you,... man or woman...
that... hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven...
and it be true... that such an abomination is wrought in Israel... so thou shalt put the evil away from among you."
So the God of the Bible has made it clear that sun worship is something that He does not want His creatures practicing.
The Bible even went so far as to say, in both instances, that He considered the practice to be an "abomination" or an "evil."
But to show just how far this practice has invaded the Christian community, the following "prayer" was offered up at a recent funeral in a local Christian church: "Now you will feel no rain, for your Mother, the earth, will fold her arms around you.
Now you will feel no cold, for your Father, the Sun, will always warm you."
Sun worship continues.
Because some Christian churches pray to the Sun god in their church services.
And don't understand who they are praying to.
Simply stated, the Sun god that they were praying to is Lucifer!
So the student of history has to discover the hidden meanings behind the symbols in the Masonic literature and in the secret initiation ceremonies to understand the Masonic Order.
One of the first symbols that needs to be examined is the symbol of the serpent, also called a snake or dragon.
Manly P. Hall wrote that the use of this symbol is as old as early man when he wrote this in his book entitled, THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES: "Among nearly all these ancient peoples the serpent was accepted as a symbol of wisdom..." 131
Here Mr. Hall states that the serpent was a symbol of "wisdom." It will be remembered that Lord Maitreya, the future New Age leader, also claimed to possess "wisdom."
Mr. Hall continued: "Serpent worship in some form has permeated nearly all parts of the earth."
"The serpent is the symbol and prototype of the Universal Savior, who redeems the world by giving creation the knowledge of itself and the realization of good and evil." 132
And then Mr. Hall links the serpent with the Ancient Mysteries previously discussed. He continues with the comment that the serpent was worshipped by the priests of that religion: "The priests of the Mysteries were symbolized as a serpent, sometimes called Hydra." 133
He then pointed out that the Ancient Mysteries have been passed on to various other cultures, and that they have been brought forward to the present day: "The Serpent Kings [notice that Mr. Hall capitalized the two words, as one would do for a deity or for royalty] reigned over the earth.
It was these Serpent Kings who founded the Mystery Schools which later appeared as the Egyptian and Brahmin Mysteries... The serpent was their symbol... They were the true Sons of Light, and from them have descended a long line of adepts and initiates duly tried and proven according to the law." 134
Another writer, Wilfred Gregson, informed his readers why Mr. Hall capitalized the two words "Serpent Kings" when he wrote: "One symbol of great prominence throughout all ancient civilizations is the snake of serpent, where it has symbolized 'Divine Wisdom.'" 135
So. Mr. Hall had reason to capitalize the words, because he had discovered that the serpent represented divinity.
Notice also that Mr. Gregson, even though he chose not to capitalize the word "serpent," confirmed that Mr. Hall's use of the capital letter was correct when he stated that there was a connection between "Divine Wisdom" and the serpent.
Mr. Hall made the same connection in these comments: "The serpent is true to the principles of wisdom, for it tempts man to the knowledge of himself." 136
A serpent is "often used by the ancients to symbolize wisdom." 137
The symbol of the serpent has another concealed truth, according to Kenneth Mackenzie. He identified that truth in this quote when he described a Brazen Serpent: "It was a type of Mediator, and a promise of redemption."
The word Brazen is defined as "bold, or impudent." And Impudent is defined as "shamelessly bold or disrespectful."
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It will be remembered that Lucifer was an anoited cherub in heaven, who fell because he sought godly power. The story is covered in Isaiah 14: 12-14 of the Old Testament: "How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground...
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
... I will be like the most High."
Therefore, it can be safely said that Lucifer would be considered to be "shamelessly bold" and "disrespectful."
It appears that the Brazen Serpent could be Lucifer!
Another author, John Anthony West, wrote a book entitled, SERPENT IN THE SKY, in which he also connected the serpent with "wisdom." He wrote: "... the serpent represents intellect, the faculty by which man discriminates. There is a higher and a lower intellect.
Thus, symbolically, there is a serpent that crawls, and the higher intellect, that which allows man to know God - the heavenly serpent, the serpent in the sky." 138
The somewhat veiled worship of this serpent in the sky inside the Masonic lodges was alluded to by another Masonic writer, Kenneth Mackenzie, in his book entitled, THE ROYAL MASONIC CYCLOPAEDIA. He wrote this: "Among the charges preferred against the Order of Knights Templar, for which Jacques de Molay suffered martyrdom, was that of worshipping an idol or image called Baphomet.
It has been suggested that Baphomet is none other than the Ancient of Days, or Creator.
More cannot be said here without improperly revealing what we [meaning we Masons] are bound to hele, conceal and never reveal." 139 So, according to this Mason, the snake or serpent is somehow a symbol of the subject of the Masonic worship, and apparently this fact is the secret that the Masons cannot reveal to the rest of the world.
A Christian minister, Reverend Alexander Hislop, wrote a book that included some discussion on the subject of serpent worship. In that book, entitled TWO BABYLONS, he explained that serpent worship was not something that is recent in time. It was an ancient practice.
"Along with the sun [this symbol will be discussed later,] as the great fire-god, and, in due time, identified with him, was the serpent worshipped. In the mythology of the primitive world, the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun.
... as the sun was the great enlightener of the physical world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual, by giving mankind the 'knowledge of good and evil." 140
He then discussed a coin minted in Tyre, the center of the ancient Phoenician culture. (This coin was also the subject of an article in the September, 1986 issue of The Good News magazine.) It depicted a serpent entwined around a tree stump. To the left of the stump stood an empty cornucopia, and to the right a flourishing palm tree. The snake on the coin is the symbol of the powerful god whom the Romans called Aesculapius. The name means "the man-instructing snake, or the "snake that instructs man."
The article then reported: "In mythology, Aesculapius was believed to be the child of the Sun, and thus the 'enlightener' of mankind.
As the legend goes, Aesculapius was ultimately struck down by a thunderbolt thrown by an angry Zeus, king of the gods, and cast into the underworld." 141 The tree stump represented the fallen "god" and his ruined kingdom. In the mythologies of many ancient civilizations, the image of a fallen tree was used to symbolize the cutting off of a great god or hero, someone cut off in the midst of their
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power. The snake on the coin was shown twisting itself around the dead stump, exerting its power in an attempt to restore his fallen kingdom.
The cornucopia is an ancient symbol of plenty, but it was empty on the coin. This has been
interpreted as meaning that the abundance had been cut off because the great "god" has been cut off, However, the implication is that the horn of plenty will return when the fallen "god" is restored to his "rightful" position.
The palm tree shown on the coin is a well known symbol of victory. So it appears that the coin was minted to depict the anticipated return of the fallen snake-god to the world.
The Bible talks about a fallen serpent in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, verse 9. However, in this case, the snake is connected to another symbol of the serpent: "a great dragon."
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan..."
Is the serpent worshipped in the Ancient Mysteries and a symbol in the Masonic ceremonies a symbol of Satan, the devil? As has already been discussed, there is indeed evidence that this is the case.
Another symbol that needs to be analyzed is the star.
On the page opposite page 124 in Mackey's ENCYCLOPAEDIA is a drawing illustrating the "symbols of Freemasonry."
Included in the twenty or so Masonic symbols is a drawing of a shooting star.
It can be fairly claimed that a blazing or shooting star would be one that was on the move inside the universe. One of the directions it could move would be towards the earth. If itwas moving towards the earth, it could be called a "falling star.
Lucifer is a "fallen angel," according to Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet, who wrote this in Isaiah 14:12: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer..."
Notice that Isaiah also said that Lucifer fell from heaven.
And other parts of the Bible report that he fell to the earth.
So, it is conceivable that the symbol of the "falling" or "blazing" star could be a symbol of Lucifer.
A variety of authors have used their writings to discuss the star as a symbol. Professor Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Illuminati, was one who explained what he considered the star to be a symbol of: "... the Flaming Star is the Torch of Reason." 142
Mr. Mackey wrote that the star: "was a symbol of God."
He then connected the blazing star to another symbol when he wrote: "The Blazing Star... refers us to the sun..." 143
And then he connected it with the secret initiation ceremonies inside the Masonic lodge: "In the Fourth Degree of the same Rite [the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry] the [Blazing Star] is again said to be a symbol of the light of Divine Providence pointing out the way of truth." 144
And Mr. Hutchens, the Masonic writer who has authored the recent book on Masonry, further interpreted the symbol of the star: "The star as a type of the myriad suns that light other countless systems of worlds is an emblem of that Masonic Light in search of which every Mason travels -- the correct knowledge of the Deity, and of His laws that control the universe." 145
Closely allied with the symbol of the star is the symbol of the sun. Albert Pike identified it with the worship of the past in this collection of quotes from his writings: "The worship of the sun became the basis of all the religions of antiquity." 146
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"... thousands of years ago, men worshipped the Sun... Originally they looked beyond the orb to the invisible God... They personified him as Brahma, Amun, Osiris, Bel, Adonis, Malkarth, Mithras, and Apollo. Krishna is the Hindu Sun-God." 147
"... the Gauls worshipped the Sun under the name of Belin or Belinis." 148
"The sun is the ancient symbol of the life-giving and generative power of the Deity. The Sun was His manifestation and visible image." 149
"The Sun is the hieroglyphical sign of Truth, because it is the source of Light." 150
So, Mr. Pike identified the sun as a symbol of a deity that should be worshipped. He chose to capitalize the first letter in the word, the "s," as one would in recognizing the name of a deity.
Albert Mackey repeated Mr. Pike's contentions with comments like these about "sun worship:"
"... [it was] the oldest and by far the most prevalent of all the ancient religions. Eusebius says that the Phoenicians and the Egyptians were the first who ascribed divinity to the sun."
"Hardly any of the symbols of Masonry are more important in their signification or more extensive in their application than the sun as the source of material light, it minds the Mason of that intellectual light of which he is in constant search.
The sun is then presented to us in Masonry first as a symbol of light, but then more emphatically as a symbol of sovereign authority." 151
So, the sun was a symbol of something that only the believers in the religion known as the Ancient Mysteries understood.
These believers, called adepts, certainly knew that the people would not accept their mystery religion, so they had to conceal it from them. So the task became one of creating a religion around a belief that they knew the people would accept, because it would make some sense, at least as far as the adepts would explain it. But their basic purpose was to create a popular religion as a cover for their secret worship.
The secret religion would be built around a belief in the sun.
The sun would be a perfect thing to build a religion around because of its basic nature. It is very visible, and has a very important role in man's life. It rises in the morning (it appears to be born) and then sets during the evening, (it appears to die) and then appears to be "born again" the next morning. It also appears to wander in the sky, setting further north (or south) each night. It then returns back to any given position twice a year.
So the sun appears to have a major birth or death twice each day and twice each year.
It would be very easy for the adepts to explain to the people that only something bigger than mankind, a god, had the ability to die and come back to life. So, the adepts would teach the people that they had to pray to the god or it would choose not to return. They encouraged a worship of the sun so that it would return to mankind again, either once a day, or once every six months.
Albert Pike confirmed this view with this explanation of why early man worshipped the sun: "To them [meaning early man]... the journeyings of the Sun, were voluntary and not mechanical..." 152
So early man considered the sun to be something that moved voluntarily. In other words, the sun did not have to return each morning. Man must have quickly determined that since the sun did not have to return, man should start asking it to return. Man certainly must have figured out just how important the sun was to his life and well-being and he certainly must have determined that if the sun chose not to return, all of mankind would perish. So it was an easy jump from a belief that the necessary sun
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was an entity that chose to move across the daytime sky, to a belief that it would return only if man prayed to it to return.
But there is something even more interesting to be considered that Pike didn't explain with that comment.
Obviously, to make the new religion work, the believers would have to be able to predict the movements of the sun. It wouldn't be too long before some of the common people would start noticing that the sun was neither an actual being nor a god to be worshipped, but something that moved according to precise laws. If the common people figured that out, they would not need the adepts who had computed the sun's periodic cycles. So, to keep their power intact, they would teach the people that if they did not accommodate their wishes, they would make certain that the sun did not return. They could even predict, as their measurements became more sophisticated, the exact time and date when the moon would go between the sun and the earth, causing the sun to "disappear."
They could then fool the people into believing that they were the cause of the disappearance. They could then explain to the people that if they did not continue to pay them sort sort of tribute, they would not intercede in their behalf, and the sun would not reappear.
To keep the minds of the common people away from figuring out that the whole religion was a scam, the adepts would conduct beautiful and ornate ceremonies around the worship of the sun. And they would expect the people to pay them for the elaborate rituals. And to make their rituals valid, the adepts would always claim that the sun obeyed their prayers, thereby convincing the people of their need to keep the adepts around. The people would continue to pay tribute to these adepts as long as they appeared to be successful.
Now, if the adepts knew that the sun was a symbol of something that the people would not support, such as a belief that Lucifer, the devil, was the god that they worshipped, they would have to continue with their charade, so that the people would not decide to stop worshipping. Because if the people figured it out, they would no longer support their activities. They would have to keep their beliefs from the people, and conceal their secret worship in hidden symbols.
So sun worship as a religion prospered.
Mr. Hutchens discussed that position in his book: "In the Tabernacle the brethren, clothed in black, mourn Osiris, who is representative of the sun, of light, of life, of good and beauty. They reflect upon the way the earth may again be gladdened by his presence.
Mr. Pike connected the sun to Osiris, mentioned by Mr. Hutchens as worthy of being mourned: "The three lights at the Altar [inside the Masonic Temple] represent Osiris, Isis and Horus. Osiris was represented by the Sun." 154 Mr. Mackey went a little further and informed his readers that: "Osirus was the sun..." 155
In his book entitled, INTRODUCTION TO FREEMASONRY, Carl H. Claudy, the author, himself a Mason, connected the sun worship with the ceremonies inside the Masonic Lodge: "The lodge... sets him [meaning the initiate] upon the path that leads to Light but it is for him to...
travel the winding path to the symbolic East." 156
The physical sun rises in the east, and the Masons explain that their search for light begins in the east. And notice that Mr. Claudy capitalizes the word "East," apparently in reverence to the spot where they believe that this god resides.
The Masons tell the world that they circumambulate (defined as walking around) the Temple floor during their initiation ceremonies. Mr. Claudy explains why this rite is performed: "When the candidate first circles the lodge room about the altar, he walks step by step with a thou- sand shades of men who have thus worshipped the Most High by humble imitation.
Thus thought of circumambulation is no longer a mere parade but a ceremony of significance, linking all who take part in it with the spiritual aspirations of a dim and distant past." 157 He further instructs
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his readers as to why this ceremony is part of their ceremony: "Early man circled altars on which burned the fire which was his God, from east to west by way of the south [notice that the north is not included in the ceremony.
The significance of that omission will be discussed later.] Circumambulation became a part of all religious observances."
In another part of his book, entitled INTRODUCTION TO FREEMASONRY, Mr. Claudy reported that this style of walking was traceable to the ancient religions of the past. He wrote: "Circumambulation... was in the ceremonies of ancient Egypt." 158 So, this practice of the modern Masons is based upon the ancient religious practices of the Ancients.
So the Masons are telling us that early man walked around in a circle because he was worshipping the sun. Then they tell us that they are doing it for the same reason.
There are reasons that the north as a location to be visited in their walk around the temple floor is not included in their initiation rites, and six of the great Masonic writers have told us why this is so.
Captain William Morgan offered his readers this explanation with this comment from his book: "... we, therefore, Masonically, term the north a place of darkness." 159
Mr. Mackey confirmed that statement in his book: "The north is Masonically called a place of darkness." 160
And Mr. Pike confirmed the comments made by the other two Masons with this declaration: "To all Masons, the North has immediately been the place of darkness, and of the great lights of the Lodge, none is in the North." 161
And Kenneth Mackenzie added his confirming thoughts: "The North was always esteemed a place of darkness." 162
Mr. Hutchens became the fifth Masonic writer to confirm this detail: "As in other degrees, the closing ritual provides a summary of the lessons taught in the degree. We hear in the West the eagles gather and the doom of tyranny is near. In the South, truth struggles against error and oppression. In the North, fanaticism and intolerance wane. In the East, the people begin to know their rights and to be conscious of their dignity and that the sun's rays will soon smite the summits of the mountains." 163
Mr. Hutchens informed his readers that the North was where "fanaticism and intolerance" resided. What he meant by this and what the symbol of the North represents will be explored in later paragraphs of this study.
And the sixth Masonic writer who confirmed that the North was a place of darkness was Carl Claudy, who wrote this in his book entitled, INTRODUCTION TO FREEMASONRY: "... the place of darkness, the North." 164
And the reason the Masons do not include the North in their rites is found in the Bible in Isaiah 14:13: "I [meaning Lucifer] will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north."
The God of the Bible sits in the North, and Lucifer hopes one day to acquire the throne of God for his throne. But, until then, the "North is a place of darkness."
But, while the north is an excluded territory, the east is the "place of light," and is to be revered. Mr. Hutchens tells his readers why that is so: "... the East -- the source of light and thus knowledge." 165
Albert Mackey quotes Etienne Francois Bazot, a French Masonic writer in his ENCYCLOPAEDIA: "The veneration which the Masons have for the East... bears a relation to the primitive religion whose first degeneration was sun-worship." 166
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Rex Hutchens then tells his readers that the Masons deploy lights around the Lodge room during the initiation ceremony for the 25th degree, called the Knight of the Sun. He writes: "The ceiling should be decorated to represent the heavens with the moon, the principal planets and the constellations Taurus and Orion. A single powerful light, a great globe of glass, representing the sun, is in the South.
In a physical sense the greater light comes from the sun and the transparencies provide lesser light...
symbolically, the sun or great light is the Truth and the lesser lights are man's symbolic representation of Truth." 167 Mr. Mackey further discusses this Rite of Circumambulation, as he calls it, in his ENCYCLOPAEDIA. He says that the rite: "... exists in Freemasonry.
... the people always walked three times round the altar while singing a sacred hymn. In making this procession, great care was taken to move in imitation of the course of the sun." 168
He then assisted the reader with understanding this practice in the Masonic temples: "This Rite of Circumambulation undoubtedly refers to the doctrine of sun-worship..." 169
However, in another of the books that he wrote, Mr. Mackey directly states that the rite is connected to sun worship.
This is what he wrote in a book entitled, MANUAL OF THE LODGE: "The circumambulation among the pagan nations referred to the great doctrines of Sabaism or sun worship." 170
Sabaism is defined by Mr. Mackey in his ENCYCLOPAEDIA as: "SABAISM: The worship of the sun, moon and stars, 'the host of heaven.' It was practiced in Persia, Chaldea, India and other Oriental countries, at an early period of the world's history." 171
He then added this rather cryptic comment: "... and although the dogma of sun-worship does not of course exist in Freemasonry, we find an allusion to it in the Rite of Circumambulation which it preserves..." 172
One can understand what Mr. Mackey meant by that comment: the Masons do not worship the sun, they worship the Sun!
So he was telling the truth, but concealing it in a symbolic language.
Mr. Hutchens then volunteered the information that in the 12th of the 32 degrees the Rite of Circumambulation is preserved. He writes: "In all the Scottish Rite Degrees thus far, the candidate has made twenty-one prescribed circuits around the altar; this degree adds seven for a total of twenty-eight.
This practice, called circumambulation, is derived from the ancients and existed among the Romans, Semites, Hindus, and others.
It is thought to have been a rite of purification.
The sun was believed to travel around the earth; the initiates imitated the movement of the sun when they made circuits around the altar." 173
Furthermore, in the ninth degree, other symbols of the sun are involved in the ceremony. Mr. Hutchens tells his readers: "After the obligation is taken, the nine candles of yellow wax are lit.
Yellow is representative of the sun, hence light and knowledge." 174
In the tenth degree, further symbols representing the sun are utilized, according to this author: "There are three sets of five lights: the wax is yellow, meaning knowledge and also, as the color of the sun, represents the Deity." 175
Other clues that the sun and the serpent are both known symbols of the Masonic Lodge are given by the titles of two of the 32 degrees inside the Masonic Lodge.
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The 25th degree initiate is called a Knight of the Brazen Serpent, and the 28th degree initiate is called a Knight of the Sun.
There is another symbol of the sun inside the Masonic Lodge. The Worshipful Master, the equivalent of the President of the Lodge, sits in the east side of the temple. We are told why that is: "The Worshipful Master represents the sun at its rising, the Senior Warden [another officer of the Lodge] represents the sun at its setting, and the Junior Warden [still another officer of the Lodge] represents the sun at meridian [the half-way point.]" 176
Other individuals and organizations besides the Masonic Lodges are also involved, in varying degrees, with sun worship, or with an acknowledgement that the sun plays a central role in their understanding of the nature of the world.
Elizabeth Clare Prophet has been described as being a leader in the New Age Movement, and she has written this in a newsletter she publishes called THE COMING REVOLUTION: "the healing of the nations begins with the healing of ourselves. We must draw forth from the Great Central Sun -- that eternal Light with which we were anointed from the beginning." 177
Adolf Hitler, the head of the German government prior to and during World War II, and who was directly responsible for the murder of over 50 million people, was also a sun worshipper.
Very early in his life, he joined a secret organization called the Thule Society. And forty years after the war, some historians are finally delving into its strange beliefs.
Two of these writers, Michel Bertrand and Jean Angelini, have produced a book entitled, THE OCCULT AND THE THIRD REICH, and one of their conclusions is: "In the Nazi cosmology the sun played a prime role... as a sacred symbol of the Aryans, in contrast to the feminine and magical symbolism of the moon, revered by the Semitic peoples."
The Nazi Party was the name of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, the party that Mr. Hitler joined. It became the controlling party of the German government prior to and during the war.
... the Fuhrer [German for leader, in this case meaning Mr. Hitler] saw in the Jewish people, with their black hair and swarthy complexion, the dark side of the human species, while the blond and blue-eyed Aryans constituted the light side of humanity. Hitler undertook to extirpate [meaning to eliminate] from the material world its impure elements... to lead it back to glory." 178
But sun worship, as the Masons point out, is not new.
The Bible talks about it as well.
Ezekiel was an Old Testament prophet writing sometime during the period of 571 to 592 B.C. He tells about how he was taken by God to see a practice occurring near the Temple.
This is what he wrote in Ezekiel 8:15-16: "And He [the Lord God] brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and they worshipped the sun toward the east."
And Ezekiel points out that the Lord God considered this practice "an abomination."
There is another reference to sun worship in the Old Testament, this time in Deuteronomy 17: 2-4, 7. That reference reads as follows: "If there be found among you,... man or woman...
that... hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven...
and it be true... that such an abomination is wrought in Israel... so thou shalt put the evil away from among you."
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So the God of the Bible has made it clear that sun worship is something that He does not want His creatures practicing.
The Bible even went so far as to say, in both instances, that He considered the practice to be an "abomination" or an "evil."
But to show just how far this practice has invaded the Christian community, the following "prayer" was offered up at a recent funeral in a local Christian church: "Now you will feel no rain, for your Mother, the earth, will fold her arms around you.
Now you will feel no cold, for your Father, the Sun, will always warm you."
Sun worship continues.
Because some Christian churches pray to the Sun god in their church services.
And don't understand who they are praying to.
Simply stated, the Sun god that they were praying to is Lucifer!
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