Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2011 19:20:07 GMT 10
Liberty Englightening the World (Statue of Liberty)
Dedicated on 28 October (first day of the six days of Isia,
a festival of Isis, celebrating her search for and recovery of Osiris) 1886
STATUE OF LIBERTY
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).
We read that1, 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 (pictured) forever facing the statue in New York.
The text of the commemorative plaque in New York reads:
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).
We read that1, 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 (pictured) forever facing the statue in New York.
The text of the commemorative plaque in New York 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 100th anniversary of that historic event.Others are not blind to the masonic significance. Thus we read of it2 as The Statue of Liberty — A Masonic Goddess from Top to Bottom and our opponents tell us it celebrates the Masonic cult of liberty3; something few Masons would deny. However, to our opponents ours is the wrong sort of liberty, one which condones following any self-indulgent whim: but then, they would say that wouldn’t they? In this they forget that ours is first and foremost a peculiar system of morality and our freedom is one which prioritizes obedience to strict conscience rather than to external conventions and imposed authorities.
1. Robert C. Singer, "Masonry and the Statue of Liberty,"
www.masonicworld.com/education/files/artaug01/Masonry%20and%20the%20statue%20of%20liberty.htm
2. 21stcenturycicero.wordpress.com/american-icons/the-statue-of-liberty-a-masonic-goddess-from-top-to-bottom/
3. www.biblebelievers.org.au/mason6.htm
