From Pentagram to Pyramid
Just Now Revealed Regardless of what is presented on some of the anti-Masonic websites, which use opening lines like "Just now revealed", etc, I have traced interest in the Washington DC map controversy back to 1992, and the publishing of a pamphlet by Ed Decker, entitled The Question of Freemasonry. As far as I can tell this is what has caused the current "cut and paste" anti-Masonic fire storm on the wwweb. In his book, Decker points to what he says are Masonic symbols and signs in the Washington DC map. I have written Decker and asked where he came up with the idea about the pentagram, compass and square, but he won't answer me on the subject. It seems to me that more people would have come to similar conclusions (especially during the anti-Masonic movement of the 1840's), since the map has been in print for over 220 years. Of course, there is the possibility that the meaning of the symbols to non-Masons has evolved over the years. Here is a reproduction of an image from page 32 of that work, in which we see the now infamous inverted pentagram, and the compass and square (west of the Capitol Building). The black rectangle at the top of the image is the House of the Temple, home of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rites Masons, which, prior to the War Between the States, had been located in Charleston, South Carolina (at 33 degrees north latitude). As one continues to research the subject of DC map symbols, one finds, almost without exception, that Masons (and masonic apologists) invariably deny their existence, while anti-Masons (mainly fundamentalist Christians) characterize the symbols as Satanic and Magical in nature. While any two lines (or rays) meeting at 90 degrees can be construed as a "square", and those forming an angle less than ninety degrees might be seen as depicting a "compass", the supposed appearance of these in the DC map are a little less than convincing. Try matching the square corner of a piece of paper or an index card to the "square" in the image above; it's not square. Also the legs of the compass are way too long to work well, ie., the scale is not right. The Pentagram The (inverted) Pentagram north of the White House, on the other hand, is quite compelling, and hard to dismiss, no matter what it's rationale. When most authors introduce the pentagram in the map, they tie it to an attempt to depict Masons as Satanists. From an anti-Masonic point of view, the pentagram in the DC map is a pagan symbol synonymous with the goat's head or Baphomet figures (both of which are, like the modern idea of the Devil, mythological descendents of Pan), and is meant to be understood to symbolize both materialism and explicit sexuality. The phallic nature of the Washington Monument is usually invoked here. Others mention the 16th Tarot Trump Card (numbered XV since the first card is numbered 0), which appears in forms almost identical to the goat's head and Baphomet images. [You will note that the numbering of streets at DC, begins at 0 at the Capitol Building, and that the White House lies on the axis created by 16th Street.] Still, others point to this curious statue of George Washington, which bears an amazing resemblance to the Baphomet figure. Venus A much more elegant mythological figure, who expresses the same notions and sexual characteristics as Pan, is Venus, who is associated with the pentagram in two ways. The first being that, as seen from the earth, the orbit of Venus traces 5 pointed stars in the sky every 8 years. The second way Venus is related to the pentagram derives from a story know as "The Judgement of Paris" from mythology, which narrates the cause of the Trojan War. As the story goes- the evil goddess of Discord, named Eris, was the only deity not invited to the wedding of King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, so she threw a golden apple into the banquet feast marked "for the fairest". While all of the godesses wanted the prize, the field was eventually narrowed to three, those being, Venus (Aphrodite), Juno (Hera) and Minerva (Pallas Athena). Jupiter (Zeus) refused to be the judge, but he sent for Paris, who lived on Mt. Ida near Troy, and who was said to be an excellent judge of beauty. Each of the three offered Paris bribes; Juno promised to make him lord of Europe and Asia; Minerva that he would lead the Trojans to victory against the Greeks; and Venus promised that the fairest woman in the world would be his. The fairest woman was of course, Helen of Troy, who Venus presented to Paris, after he gave her the golden apple. Those of you who have read Dan Brown's book "The DaVinci Code", will recall the the bulk of the book takes place in Paris, that the code word in the book turns out to be a 5 letter word- "a-p-p-l-e", and that he speaks of Venus in relationship to the pentagram and the sacred female. Phi If you cut an apple in two crosswise you get a pentagram, which as you can see (below) is naturally divided into line segments that produce the phi ratio, which is connected with the Fibbonacci series. Phi is the limit that the Fibonacci series approaches. You have of course heard a lot of "hoopla" in relationship to the pentagram and numbers like 666 (which is the total of the first 36 positive integers which make up the 6x6 Magic Square of the Sun, where all columns and rows add to 111), and once again, this comes from the Fundamentalist Christian side of the aisle. Here is something from John Michell's "View Over Atlantis" that sums up the other viewpoint: "It is inconsistent to relate moral principles to numbers, for numerical relationships are precise and unalterable while morals are neither, being simply mores, customs adapted by general consent in reponse to the circumstances at a particular time and place. No number, in itself is exclusively representative of a moral quality, whether negative or positive, for every natural principle has it's own rightful place in the Universe. A true cosmology must encompass every created element. In other words, numbers and geometric figures, in themselves, are neither good nor evil, but are rather the basis for the Natural Order of things in the physical Universe. Continue

From Pentagram to Pyramid

Just Now Revealed
Regardless of what is presented on some of the anti-Masonic websites, which use opening lines like "Just now revealed", etc, I have traced interest in the Washington DC map controversy back to 1992, and the publishing of a pamphlet by Ed Decker, entitled The Question of Freemasonry. As far as I can tell this is what has caused the current "cut and paste" anti-Masonic fire storm on the wwweb.
In his book, Decker points to what he says are Masonic symbols and signs in the Washington DC map. I have written Decker and asked where he came up with the idea about the pentagram, compass and square, but he won't answer me on the subject. It seems to me that more people would have come to similar conclusions (especially during the anti-Masonic movement of the 1840's), since the map has been in print for over 220 years. Of course, there is the possibility that the meaning of the symbols to non-Masons has evolved over the years.

Here is a reproduction of an image from page 32 of that work, in which we see the now infamous inverted pentagram, and the compass and square (west of the Capitol Building). The black rectangle at the top of the image is the House of the Temple, home of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rites Masons, which, prior to the War Between the States, had been located in Charleston, South Carolina (at 33 degrees north latitude).
As one continues to research the subject of DC map symbols, one finds, almost without exception, that Masons (and masonic apologists) invariably deny their existence, while anti-Masons (mainly fundamentalist Christians) characterize the symbols as Satanic and Magical in nature.

While any two lines (or rays) meeting at 90 degrees can be construed as a "square", and those forming an angle less than ninety degrees might be seen as depicting a "compass", the supposed appearance of these in the DC map are a little less than convincing. Try matching the square corner of a piece of paper or an index card to the "square" in the image above; it's not square. Also the legs of the compass are way too long to work well, ie., the scale is not right.

The Pentagram
The (inverted) Pentagram north of the White House, on the other hand, is quite compelling, and hard to dismiss, no matter what it's rationale. When most authors introduce the pentagram in the map, they tie it to an attempt to depict Masons as Satanists.
From an anti-Masonic point of view, the pentagram in the DC map is a pagan symbol synonymous with the goat's head or Baphomet figures (both of which are, like the modern idea of the Devil, mythological descendents of Pan), and is meant to be understood to symbolize both materialism and explicit sexuality. The phallic nature of the Washington Monument is usually invoked here.

Others mention the 16th Tarot Trump Card (numbered XV since the first card is numbered 0), which appears in forms almost identical to the goat's head and Baphomet images. [You will note that the numbering of streets at DC, begins at 0 at the Capitol Building, and that the White House lies on the axis created by 16th Street.]

Still, others point to this curious statue of George Washington, which bears an amazing resemblance to the Baphomet figure.

Venus
A much more elegant mythological figure, who expresses the same notions and sexual characteristics as Pan, is Venus, who is associated with the pentagram in two ways. The first being that, as seen from the earth, the orbit of Venus traces 5 pointed stars in the sky every 8 years.
The second way Venus is related to the pentagram derives from a story know as "The Judgement of Paris" from mythology, which narrates the cause of the Trojan War. As the story goes- the evil goddess of Discord, named Eris, was the only deity not invited to the wedding of King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, so she threw a golden apple into the banquet feast marked "for the fairest". While all of the godesses wanted the prize, the field was eventually narrowed to three, those being, Venus (Aphrodite), Juno (Hera) and Minerva (Pallas Athena). Jupiter (Zeus) refused to be the judge, but he sent for Paris, who lived on Mt. Ida near Troy, and who was said to be an excellent judge of beauty.
Each of the three offered Paris bribes; Juno promised to make him lord of Europe and Asia; Minerva that he would lead the Trojans to victory against the Greeks; and Venus promised that the fairest woman in the world would be his. The fairest woman was of course, Helen of Troy, who Venus presented to Paris, after he gave her the golden apple.
Those of you who have read Dan Brown's book "The DaVinci Code", will recall the the bulk of the book takes place in Paris, that the code word in the book turns out to be a 5 letter word- "a-p-p-l-e", and that he speaks of Venus in relationship to the pentagram and the sacred female.

Phi
If you cut an apple in two crosswise you get a pentagram, which as you can see (below) is naturally divided into line segments that produce the phi ratio, which is connected with the Fibbonacci series. Phi is the limit that the Fibonacci series approaches.

You have of course heard a lot of "hoopla" in relationship to the pentagram and numbers like 666 (which is the total of the first 36 positive integers which make up the 6x6 Magic Square of the Sun, where all columns and rows add to 111), and once again, this comes from the Fundamentalist Christian side of the aisle. Here is something from John Michell's "View Over Atlantis" that sums up the other viewpoint:
"It is inconsistent to relate moral principles to numbers, for numerical relationships are precise and unalterable while morals are neither, being simply mores, customs adapted by general consent in reponse to the circumstances at a particular time and place. No number, in itself is exclusively representative of a moral quality, whether negative or positive, for every natural principle has it's own rightful place in the Universe. A true cosmology must encompass every created element.
In other words, numbers and geometric figures, in themselves, are neither good nor evil, but are rather the basis for the Natural Order of things in the physical Universe.

Continue