Much later, in fact in the 20th century, a whole week was set aside by United States law as being special; it is known as ‘Constitution Week’. It runs from 17 September until 23 September, coinciding absolutely with the period of the Demeter ceremonies in Athens and Eleusis.
As to why all of this should be important to the creation of the American Constitution is not at all difficult to see. Until the Constitution was signed, the United States was not really a legal entity. In other words, it might be suggested that despite the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent war with Britain, the states were still a British dependency.
This tie to Britain had to die officially before the new republic could be born, and that is what the Constitution represented. No period of the year could be more significant for this undertaking. What is more, the planets Mercury and, of course, Venus, rose before the Sun on 17 September 1787 – they were ‘exalted’ ahead of dawn. For an astrologer this happening, with both planets in the zodiac sign of Virgo, would represent a veneration of the goddess of rebirth (Venus), in her own zodiac sign (Virgo). It was also a trumpeting of the fact to the world (Mercury also in Virgo). Venus itself is representative of death and rebirth because it constantly alternates from being a morning star to an evening star and then back again. In other words it ‘dies’ and is ‘reborn’ in each and every one of its orbits around the Sun.
The signing of the Constitution took place around the middle of the day, by which time the planets Mercury and Venus were directly overhead, which is known as the midheaven. To any astrologer, and particularly to one who was an adherent of the ‘mysteries’ and of Venus, there could be no more auspicious time for such an undertaking as the signing of the American Constitution.
Undoubtedly some people reading this explanation will shout ‘coincidence’ so, just in case they do, let us also look at another pivotal moment in the birth of the United States. This time we will address the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol in Washington DC – the place where democracy would be discussed, where laws would be decided and where presidents would be forced to capitulate to the will of the people – an essential and even a crucial component of democracy.
The laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol took place on 18 September 1793. How and why Washington DC came into existence we will deal with presently, but it is a fact that, with great ceremony and attended by a positive bevy of Freemasons from a number of different lodges, the cornerstone was laid by George Washington on that Wednesday in 1793. Washington wore his Masonic apron, as frequently depicted in paintings of the event.
Once again the event took place during that most important week in which the rites of Demeter had been celebrated in Athens and Eleusis. Once again, on that morning, the Sun and Mercury were in the zodiac sign of Virgo, but preceding them both and almost as far away from the Sun as it can get, as a morning star, was Venus, which rose a full 170 minutes before dawn.
What better or more auspicious start could there have been for the very home of American democracy?
A New Goddess for a New Nation
Presiding over all this new activity was a concept of ‘Liberty’, which was much more than just a word for freedom. As the Founding Fathers must have known very well, Liberty was originally a Roman goddess named ‘Libertas’, a goddess much loved by freed slaves and those who had been released from imprisonment. Her symbol was the Phrygian cap, the soft conical hat worn by the revolutionaries of France, but in statues she stood in splendour, with the torch of freedom held high. Any doubt about Freemasons not being aware of the connection between Liberty and the Goddess is blown away when one takes the journey from Washington DC to New York, where the huge Statue of Liberty stands to this day – a gift to the United States of America from the Freemasons of France.
Many other Freemasonic ceremonies, at different times and in different parts of the world, carry the same astronomical and astrological symbolism as the signing of the American Constitution and the laying of the foundation stone of the Capitol. As a result, we can be certain that although this specific week in September is not generally held as being special or significant by Freemasons today, it certainly was as recently as the 18th century. But we can find no mention of the fact in newspaper reports or other descriptions of either ceremony, so it is likely that although those organizing the events knew exactly what they were doing, the public did not, and it seems likely that only ‘certain’ Freemasons were in on the secret.
We had seen this information as being extremely interesting and informative as far as Freemasonry and its origins were concerned, and there was a strong Venus connection between Freemasons and the ancient megalithic system. All the same, it was entirely possible that this connection was simply a coincidence. After all, many civilizations and groups have venerated Venus, yet they showed no knowledge of megalithic geometry or mathematics. The likelihood of a ‘direct’ connection was massively increased because we had found megalithic measurements and geometry applied to the ground plan of Washington DC.
We knew that Washington DC is replete with Masonic symbolism and planning, and even its position geographically spoke legions about the true beliefs of the Freemasons that planned it. The new capital of the United States would straddle the border of two states, these being Maryland and Virginia. Although both states had apparently been named after European royals it might easily be suggested that both names carry immense symbolism in terms of the Goddess who was venerated at the time of the signing of the Constitution and the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol. Mary is a relatively modern name for the Goddess, in her guise as the Virgin Mary, and of course the name Virginia speaks for itself.
What is more, the district that would house the city of Washington DC was called ‘Columbia’. The origins of this name are somewhat lost or obscured. The standard explanation is that it is an allusion to Christopher Columbus, the mariner and explorer erroneously supposed to have been the first European to find the New World. The name in association with the British possessions in North America came about in 1738 in a copy of the British monthly The Gentleman’s Magazine. At that time, reporting of parliamentary business in Britain was not allowed and so writers of the day often used subterfuge in order to get across to readers what was actually taking place in Parliament. One such writer was Samuel Johnson, who regularly wrote for The Gentleman’s Magazine.
In order to get round the national censorship, Johnson reported on the parliamentary proceedings, not of Britain, but of Lilliput, a fictitious kingdom created in Gulliver’s Travels by the writer and satirist Jonathan Swift. It was Samuel Johnson who first coined the word ‘Columbia’ to describe territories of Empire in the Americas. The word first appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine of June 1738.9 It has been assumed that Johnson, if indeed he was the one to coin the word ‘Columbia’, was merely paraphrasing the name of Christopher Columbus, though of course it has to be remembered that Columbus never actually set foot on the mainland of the United States, having never gone further west personally than the West Indies. But there is no definitive proof that it is his name from which ‘Columbia’ derives – re- membering also that this sailor’s name in his native Genoese was actually Christoffa Corombo and in Spanish, Cristóbal Colón (he was employed by Queen Isabella of Spain).
Another explanation occurs to us, though we have never seen it suggested by anyone else. If we go back to the source of the name of Columbus we find it directly associated linguistically with the name of a Catholic saint – St Columba, who flourished in the 6th century. It is generally believed that St Columba took his name from the Latin columba which means ‘dove’. The dove has an ancient pedigree and has, from time out of mind, been associated with various versions of the Goddess. The earliest recorded and most telling references to the dove as actually representing the Goddess come from Minoan Crete, where an ‘absence’ of an actual portrayal of the Goddess herself in many sanctuaries is replaced by the presence of doves. Later Hellenic goddesses retained thi
s association with the dove, which then passed to Rome as a companion of the goddess Venus.
In view of what happened regarding Columbia we think it highly likely that the name ‘Columbia’ probably had deliberate feminine overtones from the very start. But whether or not this was the case, it wasn’t very long before there was a definite association between Columbia and a female deity. This association had certainly been made before the District of Columbia came into existence in 1791. It wasn’t alone because there are at least 13 locations in the United States named Columbia. Very quickly Columbia was closely associated with Liberty, another goddess name, originally ‘Libertas’, who to the Romans had a special function to perform amongst freed slaves. Americans took Columbia to their hearts and she is to be seen in many sculptures and on a wealth of popular and patriotic posters
So we have the peculiar situation of the name ‘Columbia’ (a name for the Goddess) being given to a district situated on the border of Virginia and Maryland – the names of which are derived from the two most fundamental and powerful aspects of the female godhead.
And if all of this is not enough we discover that the shape of the District of Columbia, as surveyed in 1791, is a diamond, with its points at the cardinal points. The diamond has always had strong associations with female divinity, since time began, being a symbolic representation of the vagina. In the case of Washington DC there is one particular location, as close as makes no difference to the very centre of this diamond, that proved to be of the most pivotal importance to our research and which is dealt with in detail in the next chapter.
Astronomical Alignments
No discussion regarding the Freemasonic credentials of Washington DC would be complete without mention of David Ovason, author of The Secret Zodiacs of Washington DC.10 Ovason is an astrologer and is therefore likely to notice deliberately engineered patterns in historical architecture that any ordinary historian might miss – if such patterns can be shown to have a cosmological resonance. As we have previously suggested ‘we’ may not believe in astrology these days but many of our forebears certainly did and therefore to ignore the possibilities of astrology, simply because of a modern prejudice, might be said to be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. We may just as well say we don’t believe in oracular prophecy these days so we will ignore the presence of Delphi or any of the other ancient sites where oracular prophecy took place.
Ovason turned his attention to the ground plan of Washington DC and many of its monuments and their decoration. He noticed a great many instances of zodiacs being created in and around Washington, and across a long period of time. After a great deal of research regarding the astronomical credentials of Washington DC, Ovason came to the same conclusion that occurred to us: those planning and building Washington DC showed a great regard for astronomy and astrology and had a special interest in the zodiac sign of Virgo and in the planet Venus. Partly thanks to the observations of David Ovason it occurred to us that the whole orientation of the city might well have been planned with this specific interest in the sign of Virgo in mind.
One of the most important areas in Washington is the National Mall. This is a long tract of green space occupied by some of Washington’s most important civic buildings. It runs west from the Capitol and eventually reaches the Washington Monument about 2 km away. It then continues west to the Lincoln Memorial. The whole distance from the steps of the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial is quoted as being 3 km.
The Washington Monument, a huge obelisk more or less due west of the Capitol, was erected between 1848 and 1884. It is the tallest building in Washington DC, being 169.294 m in height. Anyone standing on the steps of the Capitol and looking west could not fail to see the Washington Monument. Because the line between the Capitol and the Washington Monument runs east to west, the Washington Monument cannot avoid being the setting point of the Sun at two particular times of year.
At the latitude of Washington DC the Sun sets well north of west in midsummer and far south of west in midwinter. But only on two evenings each year does it set at absolutely due west – at the spring and autumn equinoxes. In the case of the autumn equinox, which occurs around 21 September each year, the Sun, as it sets in Washington, is said by astrologers to be at the 29th degree of the zodiac sign of Virgo.11
This means that the Capitol and the Washington Monument are ‘aligned’ in such a way that one of the only two times in the year that the Sun sets perfectly behind the Monument, as seen from the Capitol, occurs during that crucial period in which the Sun occupies the zodiac sign of Virgo. Of course it is also the case that on that same day (the autumn equinox) the Sun ‘rises’ in Virgo, an event that could be observed from the Capitol by simply turning around to face east.
It might therefore be suggested that the whole orientation of Washington DC was designed with the zodiac sign of Virgo in mind.12
The current form of rationalism that is at the heart of modern academia is good and valuable, although it does have some very well-informed critics as regards its almost total rejection of fuzzier human qualities. However, it would be a serious error to assume that this approach to logic is the only one, or even the best one. For example, the medieval approach to intellectual reasoning would be seen as wild and undisciplined if measured against today’s yardstick. Equally, the gentlemen scholars of the 18th and early 19th century were entirely open to the intermeshing of the esoteric with the exoteric. Whatever one’s view of the desirability of such a thing – it remains a fact that any historian worth their salt has to understand fully. To project pure modern rationalism into the minds of scientists such Newton or Franklin, for example, would be foolish indeed.
We have found that the Megalithic Second of arc was used to create a web for the positioning of key structures, and that the surface layout was astronomical. Now there is powerful evidence suggesting that Masonic-based astronomy was also woven into the fabric of the design for the new capital of the United States of America.
In today’s world, architects and civic designers sketch ideas drawn from nowhere on their pads or their computer screens to create pleasing or exciting shapes that will win awards. For the most part they have little or no understanding of, nor interest in, the power of symbolism.13 Since the Thornborough henges were built, through Stonehenge, the pyramids, Solomon’s Temple, Rosslyn and on to the city of Washington – symbolism was a fundamental driver.
However, we were soon to find that this determination to celebrate prehistoric values had not disappeared after the time of Founding Fathers. Far from it.
Chapter 14
•
THE PROPORTIONS OF THE GODS
A New Stonehenge
Having found that Washington was planned using Megalithic Degrees of arc to connect its major points and buildings, we decided that, for thoroughness, we should check out some of the more recent structures that grace the city. In all probability the whole original idea of the megalithic connections would have been lost over the years, so we did not expect to find anything as recent as the 20th century that would lock into the pattern; but we were very wrong.
One of the most significant structures in Washington, and the military power base of the entire United States, lies just across the Potomac in Arlington, Virginia. This is the Pentagon – the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. Interestingly, this is one building that has created its own symbolism, becoming a term for the US military command. People these days speak of ‘the Pentagon’ when referring to the Department of Defense rather than when merely referring to the building itself.
Chris carefully measured the distance from the centre of the Ellipse to the centre of the Pentagon. He entered the resulting figure in metres into his calculator and stared in disbelief as he looked at the result. The centre of the Pentagon has been carefully placed 10 Megalithic degrees from the centre of the all-important Ellipse – that is 10 × 366 MY. The accuracy across such a distance was stunningly impressive.
Chris called Al
an immediately on Skype and told him what he had just found.
‘What?’ Alan exclaimed. ‘That’s absolutely crazy … downright weird.’ Alan opened up Google Earth on his PC and quickly zoomed into the two points to check this most unlikely result. ‘My goodness. You’re right,’ Alan replied. ‘What about other distances from the Pentagon?’ he asked.
‘I’ve just found this fit and called you. Of course we need to check for any other potential connections,’ Chris replied.
But Alan was already busy measuring the most obvious next possible connection point – The Capitol.
‘Good … grief!’ Alan’s voice was raised more than a few decibels. ‘From the centre of the Pentagon to the dome of the Capitol building is 15 × 366 MY – a beautiful 15 Megalithic Seconds of Earth polar circumference. Exactly half as far again as the Ellipse centre.’
‘I think we just lost any possible argument for coincidence – which actually would have been somehow more reassuring,’ Chris replied as he checked out Alan’s measurement. ‘There’s another interesting point here … Just look at the angle of the line from the centre of the Pentagon as it heads for the dome of the Capitol.’ Chris went on. ‘The Pentagon has been placed at what looks like an arbitrary angle but the megalithic line to the Capitol perfectly bisects the side that faces the river – and that looks as though it is the main entrance.’
Before the Pyramids: Cracking Archaeology's Greatest Mystery Page 20
