Viral Mythology

by Marie D. Jones

  Opus Dei got some bad press in Dan Brown’s blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code, and is not really out to destroy the Priory of Sion and forever hide from public view the bloodline of Christ. At least that’s what they tell us. The Catholic Church formed the organization in Spain in 1928 with Pope Pius XII’s approval as an order for those who wanted to embrace celibacy, and a strict and devoted path to sanctity. Whether or not they have higher ambitions, only the order knows for sure.

  Our main interest, though, lies in two secret societies that are most alleged to have been engaged in the ritualistic transmission of information, especially spiritual knowledge and truth, over centuries, and continue to do so in the present day.

  Rosicrucians

  The practice of alchemy, or the transmutation of base metals into gold, may have been at the heart of the origins of Rosicrucianism. Said to have originated in the 1600s, after a series of three published documents influenced a group of German Protestants, the Rosicrucian order is one of the biggest and most influential secret societies in history. The term comes from the name Christian Rosenkreuz, a legendary alchemist who traveled all over the world gathering secret truths and knowledge. The three documents this order was based upon are the Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis (The Fame of the Brotherhood of RC), the Confessio Fraternitatis (The Confession of the Brotherhood of RC), and The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz anno 1459. The first refers to the story of Rosenkreuz (Rose Cross) as a traveling doctor and alchemist, the second to a secret alchemist brotherhood that sought to change European politics and philosophy, and the third to a chemical wedding of a king and queen at a Castle of Miracles. This chemical wedding was most likely a reference to the strong influence of alchemy in Rosicrucian teachings, but not the alchemy of metals and gold. Rather, this was about the spiritual transmutation of the human into an enlightened soul, which followed a similar process.

  Figure 6-2: The Temple of the Rosy Cross is a powerful symbol of Rosicrucianism. This image dates from 1618, by Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens.

  Though original members opposed Roman Catholicism, they were open to both Protestant and Lutheran teachings, and their symbol was the “Rosy Cross” that spoke of Christian mystical influences, as well as Hermetica, the ancient Egyptian-Greek wisdom texts of the second and third centuries AD of the teacher and sage Hermes Trismegistus, which may have been responsible for the high interest in alchemy. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, as the period between 1614 and 1620 AD was called, saw the publication of hundreds of books and documents heavily influenced by, or critical of, Rosicrucianism. Though many members claim their order is older than Freemasonry, and point to the 18th degree of Scottish Rite Masonry called the Knight of the Rose Croix as proof, that is still up for debate, but the two groups do share some commonalities, including degrees of initiation or membership.

  The oldest known Order in the United States is the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis (Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, or FRC), founded by Paschal Beverly Randolph in 1858, which claims roots to the original Fraternity instituted in Germany in 1614. Today’s Rosicrucian landscape is filled with groups that may or may not be directly related to the original, but continue to uphold its main teachings and structure. Though not quite as secret today—there is a Website and anyone can sign up for teachings and trainings, including women—the actual mystery tradition remains a part of our history that turned the tide of thought, art, culture, politics, and religion into a more spiritual, and inner-directed one, for those who chose to follow it.

  One of the key teachings of Rosicrucian enlightenment and truth focuses on alchemy, including the pursuit of the formula for the legendary Philosopher’s Stone and Elixir of Life, which were the Holy Grail to Western alchemists. The Philosopher’s Stone was thought to be a very common substance, perhaps a tincture or powder, as it is referred to in alchemical writings, which could transmute base metals into gold, silver, and other precious metals. This base substance could also be at the root of the Elixir of Life that would render perfect a human soul, cure disease, and bring about spiritual enlightenment. The quest for this stone occupied alchemists throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and into the 17th century; they experimented for days on end in laboratories seeking the elusive substance. Their experimentations served to add to our body of knowledge of chemistry, metallurgy, and even pharmacology, even though none are thought to ever have stumbled upon the Elixir or the Stone.

  Alchemical Pursuits

  In the Hermetic and later Rosicrucian wisdom teachings, this same process was to be pursued in a spiritual sense and, with the right lessons and training and rites and initiations, one could move up levels of transformation and reach that pinnacle of enlightenment, that inner Philosopher’s Stone, and find a powerful Elixir of Life that could do all the same things the physical elixir was alleged to do: give back our youth, make us live far longer, and have far more vigor and verve.

  Alchemy is both an art and a science, maybe also a philosophy, then, with roots in all three and is now recognized as a “proto-science” to today’s modern chemistry and medicine, albeit one that included an awful lot of mythology, magic, and religion. Unlike today’s stringent adherence to the scientific method, alchemy allowed for the inclusion of the hidden and invisible powers and forces at work that could bring about inner perfection even as the outer perfection of the base metals was the visible goal. During the darker parts of the Middle Ages, the practice of alchemy in a laboratory setting gave the sense of a real scientific pursuit, and may have been a perfect deflector away from the mystical aspects under the watchful eyes of authority figures who probably didn’t want men learning how to become divine. The devotion to pursuing this alchemical transformation was an obsession to many, but to the church and political power figures at the time it was a dangerous attempt to usurp their own control and make obsolete the religious institutions that insisted one could not know the divine, or be the divine, or achieve truth without the aid of priests and popes and other middlemen.

  When it came to the use of alchemy in Rosicrucian teachings, one man was thought to best represent the cause of the spiritual approach to this mysterious science. Thomas Vaughn, a Magus of the Rosicrucian Order, was a 17th-century Welsh adept who wrote many alchemical treatises under the pseudonym Eireneus Philalethes, including the noted Lumin de Lumine, which documented how alchemy was a part of physical, mental, and spiritual reality. He wrote of the Quintessence of the Divine Life, an invisible spiritual substance that permeated all of life (think chi or the Force) and all form, and that the Philosopher’s Stone was also a “touchstone” that had the power to bring about spiritual transmutation and purify the adept’s body and spirit. This substance, which he called “The Medicine,” could cure disease and even bring the sick back from the brink of death, and was manifested in every plane of consciousness. To Vaughn, this was the Great Secret, the gold that came from the basest of metals. He wrote in Lumin de Lumine, “I have made the Stone, but do not possess it by theft, but by the gift of God. I have made it and daily have it in my power, having formed it with my own hands. I write the things that I know.”

  His works included other notable alchemical texts, including An Open Entrance to the Shut Palace of the King, filled with alchemical symbolism, truth, and scientific discovery, referring in the text again to a “Medicine Universal, both for prolonging life and curing all diseases.”

  Freemasons

  In his book General History of Freemasonry, Robert Macoy, a 33rd degree Mason, wrote about the importance of the ancient secret societies and schools as being powerful influences on contemporary intellect and posterity: “It appears that all the perfection of civilization, and all the advancement made in philosophy, science and art among the ancients are due to those institutions which, under the veil of mystery, sought to illustrate the sublime truths of religion, morality, and virtue, and impress them on the hearts of their disciples.”

  The ancient mystery schools passed down, via their adepts
and initiates, the knowledge and truths and keys to wisdom that could help a man find union with the one God, and find beauty and dignity of the soul, as well as the promise of eternal life. Only later in history, when greed and power entered many of these very traditions, infiltrating them, and disrupting and perverting their original true aims and goals, did these secret societies take on a more sinister tone.

  Freemasonry has been accused of both.

  What was once a loose fraternal organization of stonemasons back in the Middle Ages who were said to meet after working hours to eat and talk in a lodge set up near a particular building site, Freemasonry has gone from small lodges and labor groups to the huge and more philosophical, even esoteric, sprawling entity it is today, retaining its mystery along the way. Though some claims suggest the Grand Masonic Lodge of Freemasonry was created around 1717, others cite Masonic origins as far older, even deep into the Middle Ages when various lodges came together into Grand Lodges in England, Scotland, Ireland, and the United States much later, around 1730, when the first American lodges sprung up in Pennsylvania, spreading beyond the state after the end of the American Revolution.

  Masonic rites and traditions may vary a little according to the country of origin, but in general, to be a real, bona fide Mason, you had to be recommended by another Mason and rise through three main degrees: Entered Apprentice—basic membership; Fellow Craft—intermediate degree of knowledge; and Master Mason—necessary for taking part in Masonic activities. Scottish Rite Masonry has 33 degrees. Note the importance of the number three, which was considered a powerful and sacred number in Masonic thought. Masons have their own special signs, symbols, handshakes, and even clothing worn by members, although again these can differ a bit from region to region, and in the original Anglo-American form, exempt women from joining, ban all political discussions and commentary, and demand a belief in a Supreme Being or Great Architect of the Universe. The more liberal Continental Freemasonry does allow women, does allow political discourse, and promotes separation of church and state and religious freedom, even non-belief.

  Figure 6-3: The Square and the Compass is the most well-known symbol of Freemasonry. The G is said to symbolize God, or Gnosis. Image courtesy of MesserWoland.

  Most Masonic rituals, principles, and activities are the same, though, focusing on the powerful symbolism of stonemason tools as part of the rituals and rites, and the teaching of morals, brotherly love (not sisterly, unless you are in the liberal branch!), virtue, and truth. As a member progresses through the degrees, he learns to be a more moral human being, understands himself and others better, and in general improves his relationship with God, the Supreme Being.

  That is the generic description of Freemasonry, but many conspiracies exist that paint a darker picture of the secret society as a powerful entity involved in modern religion, politics, and the future of humanity, and not always for the benefit of the populace. This paints a far different picture of the “operative masonry” of the real stonemasons of the Middle Ages who were artisans and craftsmen.

  Ancient Artisans

  In The Secret History of Freemasonry, author and Freemason Paul Naudon writes of the less-known connections between Masons and Templars, and how both may have originated from the “collegia,” or college of artisans, of ancient Rome. The goal of these organizations was the transmission of knowledge and information about a sacred tradition that originated before Christianity, to modern times. This transmission occurred in the rituals, rites, and symbolism of the traditions. Naudon also cites the ecclesiastical association of builders that were formed by Benedictine bishops in the early Middle Ages, along with the Cistercians and the Templars, as well as trade-based freemasonry as origin sources from which the tradition emerged.

  Naudon points out the differences between operative Freemasonry, which was the older and more labor-oriented, and speculative Freemasonry of later times, which adopted more religious and philosophical elements. Rituals and teachings were not written down, and were orally transmitted, making it difficult to pinpoint what was done and what it meant. But many rituals used symbolism said to be associated with sacred geometry, most notably of that of the Temple of Solomon and of Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, which is steeped in Masonic symbols. The Temple of Solomon, which was begun by David and then completed by Solomon as a worship place of the Eternal One and the house of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tablets of the Law, was thought in medieval times, Naudon writes, as a symbol of God’s true temple on both the Universal/Divine plane, and that of Man, who was “the reduced form of the Universe to which Christ’s incarnation had conferred a level of grandeur or some value sequel to it. The temple was the symbol of both the universal macrocosm and the human microcosm.”

  As above, so below—again the Hermetic belief that found its way into many secret mystery schools.

  Solomon’s Temple

  The symbolism of the legend of the Temple of Solomon is key to Masonic teachings and thought. When King Solomon, son of David, set out to build the Temple in the year in Jerusalem in 950 BC, an event described in the biblical Book of Kings, he hired to work with him one Hiram Abiff, who said he knew the secret of the temple. When Abiff was kidnapped and threatened with death if he did not cough up the secret, he refused and was murdered. King Solomon got word of his murder and ordered a group of Masons to search for Abiff’s body and the alleged secret of the temple. Legend has it that the Masons he sent were not successful, so King Solomon established a new Masonic secret, believed to be the word Mahabone, meaning “the Grand Lodge door opened,” a password now used to enter the third degree of Masonry.

  “AND he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.” (II Chron. 17.)

  The Temple porch contained two great copper or bronze pillars called “Boaz and Jachin,” which were said to have guarded the temple and were adorned with important symbols. Boaz is said to mean “strength,” and Jachin, “to establish,” and many scholars wonder if these pillars refer to the two kings responsible for the Temple, David and Solomon. These pillars are now often found in reproductions in most Masonic lodges, having taken on a legendary status even separate from the Temple itself.

  Rosslyn Chapel

  Another rather legendary site to Masons, and to Templars as well, is Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. Although again steeped in legend, the Chapel was built around 1440 AD by William Sinclair, the 1st Earl of Caithness, a man sometimes said to be of direct lineage to Christ in conspiracy circles, as one of three places of worship in the Roslin, Midlothian region of Scotland. Many architectural features allege a Masonic or Templar influence or symbolism, including the “Master Pillar” and “Apprentice Pillar” at the east end of the chapel, named from a legend of an 18th-century master mason and his young apprentice. The master mason lacked faith that his apprentice could handle the task of carving the column without aid of an original design, but when the apprentice did indeed carve the original design sight unseen, the master got angry and killed the apprentice. As punishment, the master mason’s face was carved across the apprentice pillar so the master would spend eternity gazing upon it.

  Other symbols such as the hand placements of various figures depicted suggest Masonic symbolism, as might a carving that shows a blindfolded man led forward by a noose held by another figure wearing a mantle like those of the Templars, similar to how an initiate is inducted into Freemasonry. Because the chapel was built in the 15th century, and earliest records of Masonic lodges date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, some suggest the Masonic imagery was added later when known freemasons may have been among the workers hired to restore the church. Adding to the mystery is another William Sinclair, who later became the first Grand Master of the Lodge of Scotland and the first in a long line of Sinclair Masons, but who wasn’t the same Sinclair that built the chapel in the first place.

  Of course, all of these co
nnections have been questioned and many even debunked, but the legendary connections continue, thanks in part to Rosslyn’s prevalence in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and subsequent suggestions that the Templar treasure was buried under Rosslyn, along with the head of Christ, the Holy Grail, and other such items that may have included a piece of the actual crucifixion cross itself. None of these items have been found.

  There does remain, however, an incredible mystery encoded within the Chapel in the form of 213 protruding stone cubes that are carved into the pillars and arches with various patterns on them. At the end of each arch is an angel playing some type of musical instrument. No one knew the meaning of these cubes, or the patterns they made, but a father and son team may have discovered their purpose.

  The cubes, they say, are a musical score encoded in the 600-year-old chapel. Tommy J. Mitchell and his son, Stuart, studied the cubes for 27 years before they found that there were actual tonalities and pitches that matched the symbols on each cube, creating what they call a harmonic and melodic progression. The symbols first had to be deciphered and were found by the researchers to be part of the cymatics music system known as “Chladni patterns,” a study of wave phenomena associated with physical patterns produced through interaction of sound waves in a medium.

  The “song” the cubes played out sounded to the Mitchells like a melodious nursery rhyme and they named it “The Rosslyn Motet.” Though there were no accompanying lyrics to be found that might explain the song, we might recall the common belief of many secret societies and wisdom schools: as above, so below.

  Any Great Architect would tell you that the language of the universe is mathematics, which are the force behind harmonics and music.