Liberty Enlightening The World

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La Liberté Éclairant le Monde
(Liberty Enlightening the World)
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, 1886, France

Of all the symbols illustrating feminine iconography in a "Masonic" form undoubtedly the most conspicuous is The Statue of Liberty. Presented by the citizens of France to the citizens of the United States, to celebrate the centenary of American independence. It may, more particularly, be seen as a Masonic project.

Celebrating the ideal of Liberty, (i.e., Free, as in Free-masonry), which, especially within France and together with Equality and Fraternity, are considered to be particularly aligned with Freemasonry, the statue is officially called Liberty Enlightening the World. As such, it follows ancient images of the goddess as lightbearer or Lucifera (originally a complementary rather than a diabolical appellation), as depicted in Classical images and, more particularly, as the patron goddess of the New World, Columbia (as depicted on the Columbia Pictures emblem, below).

We read that, during the Masonic ceremony commencing work on the pedestal, the G.M., M.W. Bro. William A. Brodie. posed a question: 'Why call upon the Masonic Fraternity to lay the cornerstone of such a structure as is here to be erected?' His answer, which is as true today as it was then, was: 'No institution has done more to promote liberty and to free men from the trammels and chains of ignorance and tyranny than has Freemasonry.'

On the same occasion, despite being a project devised and driven by Freemasons on both continents, Deputy G.M., R.W. Bro. Lawrence, in his address felt he needed to encompass those beyond the Craft in the great work, declaring, 'As Masons, we cannot appropriate to ourselves alone the lessons which this monument will teach. Not only to us, but to all men will it appeal'

Upon completion and to the strains of La Marseillaise and Hail Columbia, Brother Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the skilled craftsman to whose genius the work owed its being, in an act reminiscent of the unveiling of a goddess in the Ancient Mysteries, unveiled the statue, revealing at once his mother's face (the model), the Masonic Marianne, the goddesses Columbia and Asherah and the Light-bearer, as Liberty Enlightening the World. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, stands a prototype in Paris (below) forever facing the statue in New York.

The text of the commemorative plaque reads:

AT THIS SITE ON AUGUST 5, 1884, THE CORNERSTONE OF THE PEDESTAL
OF THE STATUE OF “LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD" WAS LAID WITH
CEREMONY BY WILLIAM A. BRODIE, GRAND MASTER OF MASONS IN THE
STATE OF NEW YORK. GRAND LODGE MEMBERS, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
UNITED STATES AND FRENCH GOVERNMENTS, ARMY AND NAVY OFFICERS,
MEMBERS OF FOREIGN LEGATIONS, AND DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS WERE
PRESENT. THIS PLAQUE IS DEDICATED BY THE MASONS OF NEW YORK IN
COMMEMORATION OF THE 1OOTH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT HISTORIC EVENT.

Reminiscent of the text accompanying Masonry Helping Humanity, is Emma Lazarus' poem The New Colossus, long associated with The Statue of Liberty, in which she wrote:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

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Gillam, Statue of Liberty designed by Bartholdi. Drawing

W. Kirk MacNulty, Freemasonry: Symbols, Secrets, Significance,
Thames & Hudson Ltd., London, 2006, p.288

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The Statue of Liberty
A Masonic Goddess from Top to Bottom

[Excerpt - Friends of the American Revolution - Linked Above]

One of the many proofs of Freemasonry’s cult of liberty, and furthermore of its deep influence upon our culture and mentality, is the Statue of Liberty. This colossus in New York’s harbor was conceived by Freemasons, financed by Freemasons, built by Freemasons, and installed by Freemasons in a Freemasonic ceremony. The poem about “the huddled masses” inscribed on its base was written by American Jewess, Emma Lazarus.