The Great Seal of America

Annuit Coeptis – Novus Ordo Seclorum – E Pluribus Unum

No amount of dissembling by Freemasons can hide the fact that the Great Seal of America, as printed on the dollar bill, is a Masonic emblem: the eye in the pyramid, the eagle and the inscriptions are replete with secret Masonic symbolism. In this context it is self-evident that the three mottos on the Seal will repay a close cabalistic analysis. What occult secrets of Freemasonry do they conceal?

Annuit Coeptis

The phrase ‘Annuit Coeptis’ is derived from Virgil and is usually translated as ‘He favours our undertakings’. ‘He’ is presumed to be the monotheistic deity of Christianity. This interpretation is encouraged by the earlier motto, ‘Deo Favente Perennis’, meaning, ‘God Favours us through the Ages’. However some believe there is also a reference to ‘Nuit’ or ‘Nut’ the sky goddess of ancient Egypt. This is supported by the way ‘Annuit Coeptis’ arches over the top of the pyramid (a phallic symbol) – a direct analogy to the Egyptian symbolism of Seb (or Geb) and Nut. Nut is usually shown as a tall woman whose body is bent in a great semi-circle to represent the sky; her consort Seb is lying flat like the earth with erect phallus. The raising up of Nut from the embrace of Seb represented the first act of creation. Nut gave birth to the Sun each day and then swallowed it at night.

The value of ‘Annuit’ is 390, which equates her appropriately enough with the words, ‘Mother of God’. Her name seems to be a compound of Anna and Nuit, both of whom were goddesses who played this maternal role. 390 also gives us the value of the Hebrew word ‘ShMIM’ – ‘heaven’, and so supports the identification with Nut/Nuit.

However, the numerate Mason might point out that 390 also comprises the product of 15 and 26, which are the two Hebrew names of God – ‘IH’ (Jah) and ‘IHVH’ (Jaweh). These are numerically linked in the Cabala, because 26 divided by 15 yields the square root of three (1.732). This is a very important fraction for the sacred architect because it defines the proportions of the vesica piscis (among other things).

At 317, ‘Coeptis’ shares the value of the goddess ‘Aphrodite’.

‘Annuit Coeptis’ has a value of 707. This is the value of another incarnation of the mother of God – Παρθενος Μαριαμ – The Virgin Mary (1). However this may not be as important as the fact that it also denotes Ο Θεος Ερμης – The god Hermes. Hermes is the patron of the esoteric science of Hermeticism underpinning Masonic philosophy. The great significance for the builders of 707 is that its digits denote a half of the square root of two (1.414). This fraction (1/rt2) is called ‘the sacred cut’ and has been used from Roman times, at least, in classical architecture. It also provides a means of constructing a regular octogon from a square by means of a compass and straight-edge (2).

Heliopolis

707 must also be significant as the value of ‘AVN’, a Hebrew word which means ‘On’ or ‘Heliopolis’, the Egyptian city of the sun (3). In this it is interesting to note that 390 – Annuit – is the value of Πολις (‘Polis’ means city in Greek); and 317 – Coeptis – is the value (+ 1) of Ηλιος – the Greek name of the sun. Therefore ‘Annuit Coeptis’ gives us ‘Heliopolis’ by two totally different numerical routes. It seems that the Great Seal designers were especially interested in invoking the Egyptian “City of the Sun” (4).

Why would they have been interested in this city? They may have been drawn to Campanella’s Utopian vision of the future, Citta del Sole. Thomasso Campanella was a Hermetic magus who upset papal sensibilities and was tortured in the dungeons beneath the Vatican on several occasions. Citta del Sole, written in 1602, prefigured Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis in emphasising the use of learning and science for the public good. The historian Frances Yates interpreted Campanella’s book as aiming for a return to the Egyptian religion as predicted in the Asclepius of the Hermetica. She cited a particular passage from Asclepius that may have relevance to the seed germ of ideas behind the founding of America:

The gods who exercise their dominion over the earth will be
restored one day and installed in a City at the extreme limit of
Egypt, a City which will be founded towards the setting sun, and
into which hasten, by land and sea, the whole race of mortal men.

The Great Seal designers may well have believed themselves to be following an ancient blueprint involving a restoration of the harmonic philosophy that ensured the stability and contentment of ancient Egypt.

Novus Ordo Seclorum

The other motto on the reverse, ‘Novus Ordo Seclorum’, seems to have a solar connotation. Valued at 1742, it falls between Χρυσομαλλος – Chrysomallos – at 1741 and Γνωμων – Gnomon – at 1743. The first is the name of the ram that bore the golden fleece – this was a solar symbol and pointed to Aries, the first sign of the zodiac and the start of the sun’s annual journey. The latter is the upright member of a sundial (or a builder’s square). The pyramid and obelisk are both types of sundial and both may represent the upright member of the god Seb.

The Number of Fusion

1746 is an extremely important symbol of harmony for esoteric initiates, as it represents the fusion of the solar number 666 and the lunar number 1080 (5). On the Great Seal we find both components of this number united, because ‘E Pluribus’ has a value of 666 and ‘Novus’ 1080.

A Coincidence

‘Ordo Seclorum’ has a value of 1369. This is suspicious as it is also the value of the letters giving the date MDCCLXXVI (1776 when counted as Roman numerals). 1369 is an important number for it represents 37 squared – and 37 is the keystone of sacred geometry in the Bible (and elsewhere). The fact that we have a square number at the base of the pyramid seems very fitting – a solid foundation. The number 37 may also signify the Hebrew words ‘AVL’ and ‘GDL’. ‘AVL’ means strength, or a powerful person. ‘GDL’ means power or majesty. Both of these words aptly describe the potent god Seb.

In Hebrew the number 1369 very importantly denotes the phrase VRVCh ALHIM MRChPhTh AaL PhNI HMIM – ‘And the spirit of God moved on the face of the waters’ (Gen. 1,2). This maintains the theme of divine creation.

1776 – Date

The overtly intended date of 1776 would certainly have been chosen for numerological reasons. It, too, is factored by 37, being the product of 37 and 48. It may be intended to represent ‘Jesus of Nazerus’ – who has this value in English gematria (and as 888 x 2 also signifies the doubling of his first name in Greek) and Jesus is an important figure to the Freemasons. In Greek we find that the phrase Ιησους εστι λογος – Jesus is the Logos – also has this value. We notice that in Ephesians 2,20 Jesus is described as the chief corner stone in the foundation of the temple of God. (6)

The Roman numerals of the date MDCCLXXVI also generate the solar number 666. This comes about through a pattern of three pairs: MDCCLXXVI – the first red pair giving 600, the second 60 and the last 6. The intentionality of this is further indicated by the fact that the remaining numbers – MCX – give us, in a regular pattern, 1110. This is a particularly important number in gematria and signifies harmony and completion. We can also see that 666 and 1110 lie in a 3:5 ratio and therefore can signify two sides of a 3-4-5 right-angled triangle. What is the length of the missing side? It is 888 – the number of the Gnostic Ιησοθς (Jesus) – the stone which the builders disallowed (i Peter 2, 7).

Christian enthusiasts, ignorant of cabalistic numerology, invariably interpret the number 666 to signify the devil. This is a mistaken assumption in many respects and shows a disregard of St John’s injunction that the ‘number of the beast’ was counted only ‘for him that hath understanding’. The cabalist with understanding knows that 666 refers as much to the ‘Beast’ as it does to Jesus Christ. The reason for this is that the words John used were, Και ο αριθμος αυτου Χξς΄ – ‘And the number of his name is 666’. These critical words have a value of 2368: this number is unambiguous to the cabalist as the value of Ιησοθς Χριστος – Jesus Christ. Was St John predicting that the great Beast might usurp the name of Jesus Christ?

It is also true that 666, as an emblem of the creative solar power in the cosmos, only becomes destructive when it is not balanced by its feminine counterpart – in this case it leads to authoritarianism and tyranny.

As a curious aside, we can also note that the American national anthem, the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ has a value of 666. This reinforces the view that the architects of the nation held this number in the highest regard.

The Lightbringer

The combined value of ‘Annuit Coeptis’ and ‘Novus Ordo Seclorum’ is 707 + 1742 = 2449. This is the precise value of the phrase Ιησοθς Χριστος Νικα – Jesus Christ Conquers. In addition, it is almost certainly intended to signify Ο Φωσφορος (2448) – The Lightbringer / The Morning Star. Pictorially, this is represented by the blazing triangle holding the eye in the pyramid. In scriptural terms it is highly unlikely that ‘Lucifer’ can be entirely evil for the Bible ends with these words of Jesus (Rev. 21,16):

I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Here too, we come across an original piece of Biblical gematria, because the Greek words for former part of the phrase, Η ριζα και το γενος του Δαβιδ are exactly equated (at a value of 1646) with an alternative name for the bright and morning star Φαεσφορος. (7)

E Pluribus Unum

When the expression is broken into its two components of 666 and 470, some very interesting symbolism emerges. For a start, the two numbers lie in the ratio of the square root of two – 666 divided by 470 is 1.417. More importantly, they signify the interplay of light and darkness.

666 is the number of the sun and points, for example, to to the Hebrew expressions ShMSh IHVH – Sun of God, or SVRTh – The spirit of the sun. 470 has the opposite symbolism because it denotes KMRIR – an eclipse. However, it also signifies light coming out of darkness because it is the value of the creative words of God, IHI AVR VIHI AVR – ‘Let there be light, and there was light’ (Gen 1,3). Therefore the complete phrase adds dramatic significance to the image it accompanies, because, according to the official guide, it shows ‘a glory breaking through a cloud over the head of the eagle’. This means a burst of sunlight piercing the dark cloud. In Masonic terms we have the familiar motto ‘Lux ex Tenebris’.

The fact that the eagle holds an olive branch in one claw and the arrows of war in the other further reinforces the idea of opposites reconciled. Out of the opposites of light and darkness, spirit and matter, male and female, comes life. Therefore it is appropriate that 470 and 666 generate 815, the number of Ζωη – Life, when set at right-angles to produce a hypotenuse with this length. The perimeter of the ensuing triangle is 470 + 666 + 815 = 1951. This number unites the Cabalistic man with the Cabalistic bride: ADM QDMVN (Adam Kadmon) and MLKVTh (Malkuth) – 1455 + 496 = 1951.

The Grand Total

The addition of all three mottos on the Seal gives us 3585. This measures a pentacle of side 717, enclosed in a 2368 circumference circle. 717 gives, ‘BN IH’ – ‘Son of God’. 2368 gives Ιησοθς Χριστος – Jesus Christ. The Great Seal thus pays homage to the Gnostic and numerological Jesus Christ, secretly worshipped in Freemasonry.

All This And Shakespeare Too?

The Masonic symbolism of the Great Seal finds an interesting parallel in the esoteric symbolism underpinning the verse structure of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. There are grounds for identifying a direct connection and thinking that Shakespeare may have been involved in the founding of the United States of America.

Notes
1) ‘Annuit Coeptis’ also has the same value Hebrew word ‘AMVNIM’, meaning ‘architects’ or ‘builders’.
2) The term ‘the sacred cut’ seems to have been coined by the Freemason Tons Brunes when he described this feature in his classic 1967 work The Secrets of Ancient Geometry and its Use.
3) For more on AVN go to The Lost Master’s Word.
4) The reference to Heliopolis has another connection with America. Heliopolis was the city of obelisks, forests of them by some reports. The national monument of America is the Washington Monument, a giant 555 foot high obelisk and unambiguously a Masonic symbol. The height of this colossal upright is connected with 555 being the value of ,’The Head of the Corner’, and the fact that a 555 sided equilateral triangle has a height of 481, which is equal to that of the Great Pyramid (in feet). However, the primary consideration seems to relate to 555 forming the upright of a 3-4-5 triangle, with a base of 740 and a hypotenuse of 925. There is a great deal of symbolism incorporated in these numbers: 740 is the value of the Temple pillar ‘IKIN’ – ‘Jachin’ and that of the sun god, ‘AL ChM’. If we double the triangle by reflecting it about the upright, we get a 1480 by 925 by 925 isosceles triangle. This has a perimeter of 3330, and so gives us, ‘Idou tithemi en Sion lithon akrogoniaion’ – ‘Behold I lay in Sion a chief corner stone,’ (I Peter 2, 6). It is also true that a 5-12-13 right-angled triangle with a height of 555 has a perimeter of 3330.
555 is also very close to the numerical signature of Jesus Christ by means of multiplication. In Greek we see that Ιησοθς has a value of 888, Χριστος a value of 1480 and Ιησοθς Χριστος 2368. Thus it is interesting to see that 888 x 1480 = 2368 x 555.
5) See John Michell, The Dimensions of Paradise, p.193-195.
6 1776 is also indicative of the holy Trinity: one of the many ways in which it does this is throught the three words Πατηρ, Υιος, Πνευμα – Father, Son and Spirit.
7) The two numbers 707 and 1742 also hold numerological significance when combined by another means. If these numbers measure the sides of a ‘gnomon’ (a builder’s square), the circle that may be drawn around the figure has a circumference of exactly 5906. This number points clearly to the mysteries of Christ on his cross, as it is the value of, Ουτος εστιν Ιησους οβασιλυς των Ιουδαιων – ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews’ (Mat 27,37).

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