In the Beginning…  

The history of Philippine Masonry may be likened to the history of the first Grand Lodge. On the Feast of St. John the Baptist in 1717, four of the pre-existing Masonic lodges in Great Britain organized what became the first Grand Lodge of the world. On December 19, 1912, three lodges that were chartered under the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of California finally succeeded in establishing the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippine Islands, the forerunner of what is now officially known as the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines.
  
Masonry existed in England long before the creation of the first Grand Lodge, so was Philippine Masonry already alive even before the formation of the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands. In 1856, for example, Primera Luz Filipina, the first Masonic lodge in the Philippines, was formed by Jose Malcampo y Monge, a naval captain who subsequently became Governor General of the Philippines. Primera Luz was chartered by Gran Oriente Luisitano and admitted only Spaniards in its fold. Subsequently, three other lodges were established one after the other: the first by the Germans, the second by the British consul in Nagtahan, and the third by the Spaniards in Pandacan.
  
Not only that, Dr, Serafin Quiazon, head of the National Historical Institute of the Republic of the Philippines, while researching in London on the British trade with the Philippines, stumbled upon a significant piece of historical data. Guissippe Garibaldi, that brilliant Italian revolutionary whom President Abraham Lincoln offered a command in the United States Army during the American Civil War, captained a vessel that anchored in Manila Bay sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century. There is little doubt that the tenets of the Craft landed with Garibaldi in the sandy beaches of the Philippine Islands during that period.
  
The Filipino Patriots Embrace the Tenets of Freemasonry Abroad…
  
It was the influx of the students who pursued higher studies in Europe, among them Marcelo H. del Pilar from Bulacan, Graciano Lopez Jaena from Iloilo, the Luna brothers from Ilocos, Galicano Apacible from Batangas, Domingo Panganiban from Camarines Norte, Jose Alejandrino from Pampanga, Tomas Arejola from Camarines Sur, Ariston Bautista from Manila, Julio Llorente from Cebu, and the country’s foremost hero, Jose Rizal from Laguna, that made a conglomeration of Masonic patriots from the entire archipelago. In 1886, some of them joined Lodge Solidaridad No. 53 in Barcelona, Spain, while others joined Lodge Revoluccion, and, exposed to the tenets of the fraternity, established local lodges upon their return to the islands. Nilad Lodge was formed first on January 6, 1891, and, in no time, several lodges mushroomed in Manila and its environs, even reaching as far as Zamboanga in the southern backdoor. By 1893, they had succeeded in establishing the Grand Regional Council under the leadership of Ambrocio Flores. Three years later, the Philippine Revolution conflagrated an armed rebellion that was initiated by the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio. Bonifacio’s organizational skills and the secret codes that he employed were said to have been copied from the Masonic secret rules and procedures. These ultimately led to the downfall of the nation’s conquistadors who for more than three centuries wielded the stick without dangling any carrot over the subjects of the entire archipelago.
  
It can be said, however, that Masonry during those tumultuous and rebellious years was in suspended animation. The “hawks,” among them Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo, became Katipuneros; the “doves,” which included among others, Jose Rizal, Numeriano Adriano and the thirteen martyrs of Cavite were herded in the dungeons and ultimately shot at Bagumbayan. A third group called the “chameleons” or balimbings, simply changed their coats and did what they thought best, be pliant as a bamboo and swing to the rhythm of nature, wherever the wind blows.
  
The Americans Enter the Political and the Masonic Scenes…
  
Then came the American conquerors that hounded the self-proclaimed Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo and his ragtag band to the boondocks. Many of these Philippine Masons, already sporting their avowed roles as “Rebolucionarios,” were at their wits’ end, eluding the pursuing Gringos. What the Filipinos did not realize was that these soldiers were led mostly by Masons: Generals Arthur MacArthur; John J. Pershing who was then but a captain, a Shriner and who answers to the monicker “Black Jack Pershing;” Harry Bandoltz; and James G. Harbord; the last two named generals later forming the forerunner of the Philippine Constabulary or the present-day Philippine National Police (PNP).
  
The Country As A Free-For-All Masonic Jurisdiction…
  
The surrender of General Aguinaldo effectively ended the armed insurrection against the Americans and also resulted in a field day for the different Grand Lodges and appendant bodies of the Masonic fraternity. Early to make their presence felt were the American Military Lodge led by the United States Volunteers from North Dakota, the Knights Templar, and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri, a lodge composed of Negro soldiers from the United States. These were immediately followed by the Grand Lodge of California through the creation of what is called “The Sojourners Club” and thereafter was followed by creation of Manila Lodge No. 342, Cavite Lodge No. 350 and Corregidor Lodge No. 386
  
On the local front, first to reorganize was Grand Master Ambrocio Flores who attempted to establish the Filipino Grand Orient in 1899. This was followed by the Gran Oriente Espanol through the reactivation of Modestia Lodge No. 199, the Grand Orient of France that was introduced by Dr. Trinidad Pardo H. de Tavera, the Philippine Grand Orient that was established by Jose Utor y Fernandez, and the Grand Lodge of Scotland that established Lodge Perla de Oriente 1034 in Manila and Cebu Lodge No. 1106 in the Visayas. Gran Oriente de Espana also came into existence and so did Gran Oriente Luisitano Unido, making the country a conglomeration of several Masonic disciplines and jurisdictions.
  
Furthermore, the Americans brought to the fore several appendant organizations, notably the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, the Mystic Shrine and the Order of the Eastern Star. Even the Chinese secret societies composed of Chinese Masons who claimed kinship with the worldwide fraternity entered the picture. All these complemented and co-existed with one another.
  
The Formation of the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands…
  
Invariably, confusion ensued. The Americans kept membership in their lodges to themselves; the Filipinos clamored for recognition, until, finally, the three American lodges that were chartered under the constitution of the Grand Lodge of California sought dispensation from their Mother Grand Lodge to form their own and thus established in 1912 what came to be the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands. Their respective Lodge numbers were also changed and became Manila Lodge No. 1, Cavite Lodge No. 2 and Corregidor Lodge No. 3, respectively.
  
Masonry Silently Works by the Sidelines…
  
It is interesting to note that Masonry worked in mystic ways. Unknown to many, Generals Harry H. Bandholtz and Gary G. Harbord took Manuel Luis Quezon into their protective wings and gave him his political start in Tayabas by helping him get elected an Assemblyman. It was most reasonably because of his close association with the two that encouraged Quezon to join the Masonic fraternity by petitioning for membership at Sinukuan Lodge No. 273 in 1907. His appointment as Resident Commissioner in Washington would later serve as guiding light in his future Masonic endeavors when he was refused admission in a lodge in the United States on the ground that his lodge in the Philippines was clandestine. At about the same time that Quezon was initiated into the mysteries of Masonry, Rafael Palma petitioned for membership at Bagong Buhay Lodge 291 while Juan Sumulong joined a lodge of Gran Oriente de España and later became member of Bagumbayan Lodge No. 4 under the jurisdiction of the newly-formed Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands; three illustrious Freemasons who were all admitted to the Philippine bar and would make their respective presence felt in the corridors of power of the American-guided government.
  
The Polarization of the Brethren into Two Main Bodies…
  
The existence of lodges under several jurisdictions became as confusing as would two amateur players playing chess with so many boisterous kibitzers watching the game on a chessboard. The California Lodges recognized the Scottish Lodges but did not accept brethren from the Filipino Lodges. The Scottish Lodges maintained relationship with both the American and Filipino lodges but completely ignored the black-skinned Prince Hall lodges. Until finally the Masonic field polarized into only two main bodies, the Grand Lodge of the Philippine Islands composed of the white-skinned Americans, and the Regional Grand Lodge which consists of the brown-skinned Indios of the land.
  
Merging Into One Masonic Roof…
  
It is doubtful whether Masonry in the Philippines could have achieved easy unification and harmonious relationship without the combined talents of Governor Francis Burton Harrison and Manuel Luis Quezon. Harrison was appointed Governor General in the Philippines and had publicly acknowledged that he owed his appointment to Quezon. The Governor was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on July 11, 1916 and brought with him his pro-Filipino inclination to the Masonic world. It was therefore inevitable that the fusion gained headway on both sides and when the election for Grand Master was held for the first time under the fused bodies in 1917, the Americans who were easily outnumbered, were surprised to see MW William H. Taylor reelected during the first year of fusion. It was also the start of what would later amount to a Rigodon de Honor of electing a Grand Master, much like the checkered floor of King Solomon’s Temple; if it is white this year, then it should be brown next time. Una sin otra were the Spanish words for it.
  
Growth, Expansion, and the Role of Filipino Masons…
  
The years that followed the unification registered impressive growth for the Craft. In four years time starting in 1918, thirty-eight lodges were established. The Filipinos that were elected Grand Masters, alternating with the Americans every two years, was led by Manuel L. Quezon. MW Quezon was followed by Rafael Palma, Quintin Paredes, Wenceslao Trinidad, Francisco Afan Delgado, Teodoro M. Kalaw and Vicente Carmona, in succession. These illustrious gentlemen were also quite active in the corridors of power. At this point and time, most of the notable political figures were Freemasons. It was therefore no wonder that Monsignor Michael O’Doherty wrote in his diary in 1917 shortly after his installation as Archbishop of Manila, “Masonry is a menace. Osmena, (the incumbent Speaker of the House) is the only government official of any standing who is not a Mason here in Manila.”
  
The Nation Gains Independence…
  
The 1935 Constitution led to the granting of the country’s Commonwealth status and ultimately her independence. This Philippine independence was gained largely through the efforts of Masons. No wonder, the names Manuel L. Quezon, Rafael Palma, Quintin Paredes and Manuel L. Roxas alternated in shuttling to and from the United States to lobby for the untangling of the country’s umbilical cord with the United States. When the election of the Constitutional Convention delegates were tallied, 42 out of 202, or 21 percent of the total, were Masons.
  
The War Years…
  
Wars always inflict destruction not only to the country and its people but more so to the Masonic fraternity whose tenets would not allow them to stay idle by the sidelines. Masonic records were destroyed and countless of its sons were either incarcerated or suffered heroic deaths. Topping the list is MW Jose Abad Santos who was executed by the Japanese government for non-cooperation. Grand Master John Robert McFie, RW Jose P. Guido, Deputy Grand Master and RW Antonio Ramos, Junior Grand Warden, also became casualties. So did many more of its sons.
  
Rebuilding From the Ashes…
  
It is a truism that after the storm is peace. Lodges were rehabilitated, new ones were added and, progressively, the tenets of the Craft were indelibly imprinted in the country’s history unnoticed by many as it vaulted through the 21st Century.
  
Freemasonry…
  
The sheer lack of drum-beaters within the Craft does not allow that the sterling qualities of members go unnoticed. A major factor that influence this situation is the generally subdued attitude of the members themselves. Except for the brethren who are in the know, the public does not realize that Freemasonry and its adherents always play important roles in the nation’s history.
  
The two EDSA revolutions have produced Freemasons from both sides of the political fence whose names, because of the lapse of time, will no longer be mentioned.
   
The Recent Political Turmoil- Results updated to March 1, 2007

But the political turmoil that rocked the country that was caused by the allegation that the nation’s president won through dubious means  has shown several members of the Craft unflinchingly doing their duties on both sides of the political fence. Eight brothers whose sterling qualities are admirable may indirectly be mentioned.
  
At the other side
  
A brother from Salug Valley No. 216 and the whistle blower who produced the tapes that rocked the entire country, a former Deputy Director of the National Bureau of Investigation, whose dedication to the cause he believed in is beyond compare. What happened to him, his whereabouts and the status of the cases filed against him are unknown.
  
A brother from Luzon No. 57-the Philippine Army’s Brigadier General who sacrificed his expected pension six days before retirement by honoring the Senate investigation on the alleged election irregularities in Mindanao and even subjected him to court martial for his heroic deed.  A case was filed against him at the military tribunal but media has since been ominously silent on the status of the case.
  
From the Philippine National Police
  
From Bontoc No.140-the Director of the PNP who walks the tight rope doing police functions to the best of his abilities, cognizant of the constitutional rights of his fraternal brothers at the other side that these are duly protected.  He has since retired as PNP Chief and after retirement was appointed head of the National Irrigation Administration.
  
From. Pampanga No. 48- the Deputy General of the PNP for the National Capital Region who is in charge of the peace and order in the entire metropolis and whose ending statement when interviewed over the radio is invariably “May God bless us all always,” debunking the myth that Freemasons are Godless.
 
Word has it that he was recently appointed ambassador to Indonesia.

 From Congress
  
From Jacobo Zobel Memorial No. 202- The debonair Chairman of the Public Information Committee whose finesse and fair play at conducting the investigation is indeed admirable. His political fortunes still reverberating, it would be safe to guess that he is running for reelection on his seat at Congress.
  
From. Kutang Bato No. 110- The Chairman of the Justice Committee, who formerly was both Justice, and Public Works and Highways secretary, adeptly steered the proceedings exonerating the lady president from impeachment charges and thus eluded being thrown to the wolves at the upper branch of the Legislature called the Senate.
    His present preoccupation is undermined but if his stint at Congress has not yet reached the final third term, may again present himself as a candidate for reelection in his home province.

At the Judiciary
  
From Hiram Lodge No. 88- a past Grand Master and revered elder in the Fraternity whose appointment as the most eminent jurist of the judicial branch, being the most senior member at the bench was thought certain, was bypassed by the appointing authority using the political maneuver called revolving-door -policy. Although publicly admitting he was hurt, he accepted calmly the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and promptly continued his work at the bench doubly aware that the All Seeing Eye never sleeps and that he will ultimately be vindicated by God Almighty.    
And finally, from the Executive Branch    
The Fraternity’s immediate past Grand Master, member of  Alfonso Lee Sin No. 158  whose indispensable duty as Secretary of Public Works and Highways require that he performs without fanfare at the sidelines and also to do the tasks and biddings that his superior dictates.

On December, 2006, he was finally appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court thus vindicating his case and finally reached the apex of his illustrious career at the bench.

In February 2007, he was appointed Secretary of the Department of National Defense by the country’s president thus pole vaulting from the Department of Public Works and Highways to the more awesome task of defending the nation’s citizenry

This brief history, first written in 2002, updated in 2006 and again revised to cover significant events to March 2007,  can never end for as the earth rotates upon its own axis each day, worthy brothers also etch out daily their own accomplishments that bring honor and glory to this ancient and honorable Fraternity.

In the two centuries of their formal existence the Knights Templar served under 23 Grand Masters. It is Jacques de Molay however, whom is best known with the possible exception of the orders founder, Hughes de Payens.

It is generally considered that Jacques de Molay was born in the year 1244 in an area called Vitrey, Department of Haute Saone, France. Little is known of his childhood, but what is known is that in 1265 at the age of twenty-one, he joined the Knights Templar. As in Freemasonry today, twenty-one years of age was the youngest a candidate for admission into that Order of knighthood could be.

Like many that sought out the order of the Temple, de Molay joined seeking the thrill of battle with the infidel. In his later years he reflected on how he and his fellow knights silently grumbled about then Grand Master William of Beaujeu and his pacific attitude towards the Mamlukes who at that time occupied the Holy Land. It seemed that the young Templars were not found of King Edward’s truce with the enemy, for it did little to add their blood to the Templar’s swords.

De Molay rose through the ranks quite quickly and spent a great deal of time in Britain. He was first appointed the position of Visitor General and latterly to the post of Grand Preceptor of all England.

On the death of the 22nd Grand Master, Theobald Gaudin, de Molay was installed as the head of the Order. Almost immediately he moved from England to the island of Cyprus, which the Knights Templar had owned at one point.

In the reign of Grand Master Robert de Sable, the Templars bought the island for the sum of 100,000 Saracen Bezants from Richard I for which they put a down payment of 40,000 bezants. Unfortunately they left a small garrison there who tried to overtax the populace which ultimately led to a revolt which caused the Templars to quickly turn the island back over to King Richard. Richard did not want the Island and sold it to Guy of Lusignan. After the fall of Acre in 1291, the island became an important base for the order.

It would be on the island of Cyprus that de Molay would remain until Philip IV and Clement V summoned him to France in the autumn of 1307.

The story of the orders downfall is too well know to readers of this Web Site to recount in detail, but what may not be known is that prior to the arrest, Phillip le Belle made Jacques de Molay Godfather of his son. The day before the arrest de Molay also acted as Pallbearer at the funeral of Philip’s sister in law. Perhaps the king didn’t want the order to suspect his motives or perhaps he was simply adhering to the old adage, “keeps your friends close and your enemies closer.”

After the arrest on the morning of October 13th 1307 de Molay spent the next seven years in prison during which time he and his Templar knights were dealt tortures that were unbearable. The inquisitors would go to any means to extract the confessions that would damn the order in the eyes of the people and the Catholic Church.

Although de Molay confessed to denying Christ and trampling on the Holy Cross, he steadfastly denounced the accusations that the initiation ritual consisted of homosexual practices.

On March 18th, 1314 de Molay was led out before the people to publicly confess his and the order’s sins. He recanted his earlier confessions and said the only crime he was guilty of was lying about his Brethren to relieve his own tortures. He was then taken to an island on the Siene and burned along with Geoffrey de Charney the Preceptor of Normandy.

There are many accounts of de Molay’s dying words, but the 19th century historian, Charles Addison; perhaps one of the foremost Templar scholars records them as follows:

“To say that which is untrue is a crime both in the sight of God and man. Not one of us has betrayed his God or his country. I do confess my guilt, which consists in having, to my shame and dishonor, suffered myself, through the pain of torture and the fear of death, to give utterance to falsehoods imputing scandalous sins and iniquities to an illustrious Order, which hath nobly served the cause of Christianity. I disdain to seek a wretched and disgraceful existence by engrafting another lie upon the original falsehood.”

- Charles Addison Knights Templars

Many latter day writers have claimed that de Molay in his dying breath summoned both the King of France and Pope Clement to meet him in a tribunal before God within the year. True to the claim both men did indeed die within that time.

Whether a statement made by the Last Grand Master or an apocryphal account of Divine justice served, it will forever remain part of the Mythos surrounding Grand Master Jacques de Molay.

Within two decades of the victory of the First Crusade (1095-1099) a group of knights led by Hugues (Hugh) de Payens offered themselves to the Patriarch of Jerusalem to serve as a military force.

This group - often said to be nine in number - had the mandate of protecting Christian pilgrims who were en route to the Holy Land to visit the shrines sacred to their faith.

Somewhere between the years of AD 1118 - 1120, King Baldwin II granted the group quarters in a wing of the Royal Palace on the Temple Mount (the Al Aqsa Mosque).

It has been generally accepted that, for the first nine years of their existence, the Templars - as they came to be known - consisted of nine members.

Although it has been widely speculated that the Templars wished to keep it this way to cover their secret mission of digging for buried treasure on the Temple Mount, the simple fact remains that the lifestyle adopted by the Order was not to everyone’s taste. As such, the Templars had difficulty in recruiting members to their cause in the early years.

In the year 1127 the Cistercian abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote a rule of order for the Templars that was based on his own Cistercian Order’s rule of conduct. Additionally, Bernard did a great deal to promote the Templars.

Perhaps Bernard’s greatest contribution to the Order was a letter that he wrote to Hugues de Payens, entitled De laude novae militae (In praise of the new knighthood.)

This letter swept throughout Christendom drawing many men, of noble birth, who joined the ranks of the Templar Order. Those who were unable to join often gifted the Templars with land and other valuables.

While it is true that the Templars were not permitted, by their rule, to own much of anything personally, there was no such restriction on the Order as a whole. As such, the gifts of land were accepted and put to immediate use by the Templars, who farmed the land generating additional wealth.

Over the years the Templars rose from their humble beginnings to become the wealthiest of the Crusading Orders - eventually garnering the favour of the Church and the collective European monarchs.

This wealth, generated in the West was put to immediate use in the East to buy arms and raise armies. Although the Templars are regarded as the greatest of the medieval military Orders, the record shows that they lost more battles than they won. Despite a brutal win/loss record, the Order did play an important role in the Holy Land.

However, after two centuries of defending the Christian faith, the Order met its demise when Philip IV - known as Philip le Belle (the Fair) - sought to destroy the Templars.

Historians are generally in agreement that Philip was motivated by greed rather than his belief that the Templars were corrupt.

Regardless of his motivations, Philip had the Templars arrested on October 13, 1307.

The Templars were tortured and confessions were given. These confessions included:

 Trampling and spitting on the cross

 Homosexuality and Sodomy

 Worshipping an idol

Philip was successful in ridding the Templars of their power and wealth and urged all fellow Christian leaders to do the same thing.

In 1312 the Templars were officially dissolved by Pope Clement V at the Council of Vienne. Although the Templars were not found guilty of the crimes they were charged with, it was felt that the reputation of the Order had fallen to so low a state as to warrant dissolving the Order.

On March 18th, 1314 the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake, for having recanted his earlier confessions of guilt.

De Molay is said to have cursed King Philip and Pope Clement as he burned, asking both men to join him in death within a year.

The story is an apocryphal legend; however, it is one that has come to be widely accepted.

Although there is no historical truth to the de Molay curse story, both Pope Clement V and Philip IV followed de Molay to their graves within the year.

The Great Seal of the United States can be easily viewed on the back of a one-dollar bill. Although the colors mentioned in this article won’t be visible, it is still an easily obtained reference point for your convenience. The OBVERSE is on the right side (the eagle), while the REVERSE is on the left side (the pyramid) of the instrument.

Man is an enigmatic creature having a dual nature, temporal and spiritual. His institutions reflect the multiple facets of his complex and varied mental processes. He is at once occupied with the routine of satisfying the basic human needs for food, clothing, and shelter and the less tangible and more varied spiritual and social needs. His viewpoints are as varied as the individuals, subject not only to the external changes of environment but to self- created internal changes. Man alone has within himself any considerable power of thought or imagination. One facet of man’s behavior to come out of his imagination, superstition, spiritual groping, and reasoning is symbolism.

Signs, pictures, objects, emblems, words, numerals, music, or any means of conveying ideas from one individual to another become the vehicle of symbolism or symbols. Certain of man’s activities lend themselves more readily to symbolism than others. The ritual of Freemasonry is especially rich in symbols - familiar things that convey a hidden meaning to the initiated. Philosophic Masonry is the heir to the symbolism practiced in the ancient mysteries, the Hebrew Cabal, and medieval Rosicrucian societies.

In this present age, where material things engross almost every waking hour, symbolism has lost much of its fascination, but this was not so in the eighteenth century when the [American] revolutionary heroes pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the erection of the new nation. As the crisis moved toward its climax the ideals for which they fought began to assume symbolic form. Late in the afternoon of July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress “resolved, that Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson be a committee to prepare a device for a Seal of the United States of America.” On August 20 the committee reported its design to Congress; but the report was tabled, and for three years and a half no further action was taken. On March 25, 1780, the report of the first committee was referred to a new committee consisting of James Lovell, John Morin Scott, and William Churchill Houston. This committee received artistic assistance from Francis Hopkinson. A new design was reported on May 10 (or 11), 1780, but debate was followed by recommital to the committee with no further progress for two more years. In the spring of 1782, a third committee, composed of Arthur Middleton, John Rutledge, and Elias Boudinot with the assistance of William Barton, A.M., reported a third design for a seal to congress which was also found not satisfactory. On June 13, 1782, Congress referred all of the committee reports to Charles Thomason, Secretary of Congress. Thomason prepared a design from these reports and submitted it to Barton who suggested a few changes on June 19, 1782. Thomason immediately wrote his report to Congress and submitted it on June 20, 1782; the report was accepted the same day and thus the design of the great seal was fixed. It is described as follows:

ARMS: Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules; a chief, azure; the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed proper, holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll, inscribed with the motto, “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” For the CREST: Over the head of the eagle, which appears above the escutcheon, a glory, or, breaking through a cloud, proper, and surrounding thirteen stars, forming a constellation, argent, on an azure field. REVERSE: A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a triangle, surrounded with a glory proper. Over the eye these words, “ANNUIT COEPTIS.” On the base of the pyramid the numerical letters MDCCLXXVI. And underneath the following motto, “NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM.”

Among those who helped design the Great Seal of the United States the following are known to have been Masons: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, William Churchill Houston, and William Barton. Whether they drew heavily upon Freemasonry in this work it is impossible to assert but when an informed Mason examines the Great Seal here is what he sees:

 On the obverse is an eagle whose dexter wing has thirty- two feathers, the number of ordinary degrees in Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The sinister wing has thirty-three feathers, the additional feather corresponding to the Thirty-Third Degree of the same Rite conferred for outstanding Masonic service. The tail feathers number nine, the number of degrees in the Chapter, Council, and Commandery of the York Rite of Freemasonry. Scottish Rite Masonry had its origin in France; the York Rite is sometimes called the American Rite; the eagle thus clothed represents the union of French and American Masons in the struggle for Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. The total number of feathers in the two wings is sixty-five which, by gematria, is the value of the Hebrew phrase YAM YAWCHOD (together in unity). This phrase appears in Psalm 133 as follows: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,” and is used in the ritual of the first degree of Freemasonry. The glory above the eagle’s head is divided into twenty-four equal parts and reminds the observer of the Mason’s gauge which is also divided into twenty-four equal parts and is emblematic of the service he is obligated to perform. The five pointed stars remind him of the Masonic Blazing Star and the five points of fellowship. The arrangement of the stars in the constellation to form overlapping equilateral triangles and the Star of David calls to the Mason’s mind King David’s dream of building a Temple, to his God, the Companions who rebuilt a desecrated Temple, and the finding of the Word that was lost. The gold, silver, and azure colors represent the sun, moon, and Worshipful Master, the first that rules the day, the second, the night, and the third, the lodge. While silver, connected with the letter Gimel or G and being surrounded on an azure ground by a golden glory, reminds the Mason of the letter G, a most conspicuous furnishing of a proper lodge room. The shield on the eagle’s breast affirms by its colors, valor (red), purity (white), and justice (blue), and reminds the Mason of the cardinal virtues. The value of these colors, by gematria, is 103, the value of the phrase EHBEN HA-ADAM (the stone of Adam) and suggests the perfect ashlar, or squared stone, of Freemasonry. One hundred and three is also the value of the noun BONAIM, a Rabbinical word signifying “builders, Masons.” Thus the national colors spell out, by gematria, the name of the fraternity. The scroll in the eagle’s beak, bearing the words E PLURIBUS UNUM (of many one) reminds him also of the unity which has made brothers of many.

 On the reverse, is the All Seeing Eye within a triangle surrounded by a golden glory. Besides the obvious Masonic significance of this design, it has a cabalistic value of seventy plus three plus two hundred, equaling two hundred and seventy-three which is the value of the phrase EHBEN MOSU HABONIM (the stone which the builders refused) familiar to all Royal Arch Masons. It is also the value of the Hebrew proper noun HIRAM ABIFF, the architect of Solomon’s Temple and the principal character of the legend used in the Master Mason degree. The triangle is isosceles, formed by two right triangles having sides of five, twelve, and thirteen units in length, illustrating the 47th Problem of Euclid. The triangle also represents the capstone of the unfinished pyramid and reminds the Mason of the immortality of the soul and that in eternity he will complete the capstone of his earthly labors according to the designs on the trestle-board of the Supreme Architect of the Universe. The unfinished pyramid cannot fail to remind him of the unfinished condition of the Temple when tragedy struck down its Master architect.

The blaze of glory found on either side of the Great Seal cannot fail to remind the Mason of the Great Light in Masonry which is the rule and guide to faith and practice and without which no Masonic lodge can exist. It reminds him that only more light can dispel the pall of ignorance in which he stumbles until he enters the Celestial Lodge where all light is given.