We
would like to credit the Author of this piece but unfortunatly we don't
have any details, as it was a re-posting of a re-posting etc..
THE
ONE DOLLAR NOTE:
The
Great Seal of the United States can be easily viewed on the back of
a one-dollar bill. Although the colors mentioned in this article won't
be visible, it is still an easily obtained reference point for your
convenience. The OBVERSE is on the right side (the eagle), while the
REVERSE is on the left side (the pyramid) of the instrument.
------------------------------------------------------------
Man is an enigmatic creature having a dual nature, temporal and
spiritual. His institutions reflect the multiple facets of his complex
and varied mental processes. He is at once occupied with the routine
of satisfying the basic human needs for food, clothing, and shelter
and the less tangible and more varied spiritual and social needs. His
viewpoints are as varied as the individuals, subject not only to the
external changes of environment but to self-created internal changes.
Man alone has within himself any considerable power of thought or imagination.
One facet of man's behavior to come out of his imagination, superstition,
spiritual groping, and reasoning is symbolism.
Signs, pictures, objects, emblems, words, numerals, music, or any means
of conveying ideas from one individual to another become the vehicle
of symbolism or symbols. Certain of man's activities lend themselves
more readily to symbolism than others. The ritual of Freemasonry is
especially rich in symbols - familiar things that convey a hidden meaning
to the initiated. Philosophic Masonry is the heir to the symbolism practiced
in the ancient mysteries, the Hebrew Cabal, and medieval Rosicrucian
societies.
In this present age, where material things engross almost every waking
hour, symbolism has lost much of its fascination, but this was not so
in the eighteenth century when the [American] revolutionary heroes pledged
their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the erection
of the new nation. As the crisis moved toward its climax the ideals
for which they fought began to assume symbolic form. Late in the afternoon
of July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress
"resolved, that Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson be
a committee to prepare a device for a Seal of the United States of America."
On August 20 the committee reported its design to Congress; but the
report was tabled, and for three years and a half no further action
was taken. On March 25, 1780, the report of the first committee was
referred to a new committee consisting of James Lovell, John Morin Scott,
and William Churchill Houston. This committee received artistic assistance
from Francis Hopkinson. A new design was reported on May 10 (or 11),
1780, but debate was followed by recommital to the committee with no
further progress for two more years. In the spring of 1782, a third
committee,
composed of Arthur Middleton, John Rutledge, and Elias Boudinot with
the assistance of William Barton, A.M., reported a third design for
a seal to congress which was also found not satisfactory. On June 13,
1782, Congress referred
all of the committee reports to Charles Thomason, Secretary of Congress.
Thomason prepared a design from these reports and submitted it to Barton
who suggested a few changes on June 19, 1782. Thomason immediately wrote
his report to Congress and submitted it on June 20, 1782; the report
was accepted the same day and thus the design of the great seal was
fixed. It is described as follows:
ARMS: Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules; a chief, azure;
the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed proper,
holding in his
dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a bundle of thirteen
arrows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll, inscribed with the motto,
"E PLURIBUS UNUM."
For the CREST: Over the head of the eagle, which appears above the escutcheon,
a glory, or, breaking through a cloud, proper, and surrounding thirteen
stars,
forming a constellation, argent, on an azure field.
REVERSE:
A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a triangle, surrounded
with a glory proper. Over the eye these words, "ANNUIT COEPTIS."
On the base of
the pyramid the numerical letters MDCCLXXVI. And underneath the following
motto, "NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM."
Among those who helped design the Great Seal of the United States the
following are known to have been Masons:
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, William Churchill Houston, and
William Barton. Whether they drew heavily upon Freemasonry in this work
it is impossible to assert but when an informed Mason examines the Great
Seal here is what he sees:
On the obverse is an eagle whose dexter wing has thirty-two feathers,
the number of ordinary degrees in Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The sinister
wing has thirty-three feathers, the additional feather corresponding
to the Thirty-Third
Degree of the same Rite conferred for outstanding Masonic service. The
tail feathers number nine, the number of degrees in the Chapter, Council,
and Commandery of the York Rite of Freemasonry. Scottish Rite Masonry
had its origin in France; the York Rite is sometimes called the American
Rite; the eagle thus clothed represents the union of French and American
Masons in the struggle for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. The total
number of feathers in the two wings is sixty-five which, by gematria,
is the value of the Hebrew phrase YAM YAWCHOD (together in unity). This
phrase appears in Psalm 133 as follows: "Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity," and is
used in the ritual of the first degree of Freemasonry. The glory above
the eagle's head is divided into twenty-four equal parts and reminds
the observer of the Mason's gauge which is also divided into twenty-four
equal parts and is emblematic of the service he is obligated to perform.
The five pointed stars remind him of the Masonic Blazing Star and the
five points of fellowship. The arrangement of the stars in the constellation
to form overlapping equilateral triangles and the Star of David calls
to the Mason's mind King David's dream of building a Temple, to his
God, the Companions who rebuilt a desecrated Temple, and the finding
of the Word that was lost. The gold, silver, and azure colors represent
the sun, moon, and Worshipful Master, the first that rules the day,
the second, the night, and the third, the lodge. While silver, connected
with the letter Gimel or G and being surrounded on an azure ground by
a golden glory, reminds the Mason of the letter G, a most conspicuous
furnishing of a proper lodge room. The shield on the eagle's breast
affirms by its colors, valor (red), purity (white), and justice (blue),
and reminds the Mason of the cardinal virtues. The value of these colors,
by gematria, is 103, the value of the phrase EHBEN HA-ADAM (the stone
of Adam) and suggests the perfect ashlar, or squared stone, of Freemasonry.
One hundred and three is also the value of the noun BONAIM, a
Rabbinical word signifying "builders, Masons." Thus the national
colors spell out, by gematria, the name of the fraternity. The scroll
in the eagle's beak, bearing the words E PLURIBUS UNUM (of many one)
reminds him also of the unity which has made brothers of many.
On the reverse, is the All Seeing Eye within a triangle surrounded by
a golden glory. Besides the obvious Masonic significance of this design,
it has a cabalistic value of seventy plus three plus two hundred, equaling
two hundred and seventy-three which is the value of the phrase EHBEN
MOSU HABONIM (the stone which the builders refused) familiar to all
Royal Arch Masons. It is also the value of the Hebrew proper noun HIRAM
ABIFF, the architect of Solomon's Temple and the principal character
of the legend used in the Master Mason degree. The triangle is isosceles,
formed by two right triangles having sides of five, twelve, and thirteen
units in length, illustrating the 47th Problem of Euclid. The triangle
also represents the capstone of the unfinished pyramid and reminds the
Mason of the immortality of the soul and that in eternity he will complete
the capstone of his earthly labors according to the designs on the trestle-board
of the Supreme Architect of the Universe. The unfinished pyramid cannot
fail to remind him of the unfinished condition of the Temple when tragedy
struck down its Master architect.
The blaze of glory found on either side of the Great Seal cannot fail
to remind the Mason of the Great Light in Masonry which is the rule
and guide to faith and practice and without which no Masonic lodge can
exist. It reminds him that only more light can dispel the pall of ignorance
in which he stumbles until he enters the Celestial Lodge where all light
is given.
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