Freemason Cecil B. DeMille came to Hollywood in 1913. At first eh movie studios did not receive a warm reception. But that didn’t deter them one bit. While most major studios later built their soundstages and make-believe towns on the outskirts, Hollywood was their home base. It was soon regarded all over the world as the heart and soul of the film industry. Due to its fame and identity as a major centre of movie studios and stars, 'Hollywood' is often used to refer to the American motion picture industry.

In 1921, the Hollywood Masonic Lodge relocated from their existing lodge on the current site of the Kodak Theater. The construction of the new three-story building was led by lodge master, Charles E. Toberman. In 1922 Hollywood Freemason moved to their current lodge. In those early days when Hollywood was an independent city, the city attorney, city marshal, city treasurer and first mayor, George Dunlop, all were Masons. Arthur Letts, founder of the Broadway department store and artist Paul de Longpre, whose gallery and gardens drew many to the community, both were members, along with prominent judges and a significant number of bankers. The city's first newspaper and doctor's office were established by members, and the city's electric car service was owned and operated by brothers of the lodge.

According to historical accounts Daeida Wilcox first used the name Hollywood for her family ranch, and the city adopted that same name. Freemasons played a vital role in establishing the city of Hollywood and in establishing the movie industry in that city. Ultimately it was this group of early Hollywood leaders that decided to keep and use the name Hollywood. The possible reasons for this choice of name may be discovered by exploring the nexus between Freemasons and Druids. The Druidic mysteries were founded on those of the Egyptians, and were analogous to those of Tyre, Persia and Hindostan; and that their moral doctrines and pristine simplicity of worship were those of the Hebrew Mysticism – Qabala. Freemasonic rituals and teachings, if not a modern form of the Druidic practices were derived from the same sources, and that the secrets of this science and philosophy are hidden from us by the veil of Isis. The initiations of Masons are so similar to those of the Druids, that any Mason reading about Druid initiations would notice striking similarities. The Ovade wore a gold chain round his neck. And the apprentice when initiated has a silk cord, in Masonic parlance a cable-tow, suspended from his throat. Like the Ovade, the apprentice is blindfolded, and as the former was led through the mazes of a labyrinth, the latter is led backwards and forwards, and in various directions. Both the Druid initiation and that of the Royal Arch uses artificial lighting. Noting this resemblance it is prudent to further notice the importance of Holly wood in Druid and Celtic lore.

The Druids regarded Holly as a scared plant. Holly is the whitest of all woods, and has been used in making piano keys. It was considered sacred by the druids, and played a part in the magic of the Greeks and Romans. Holly is regarded by many to be the most powerful protective wood. It protects against evil spirits and evil plans. In early Europe, holly and other thorny plants were believed to repel all evil spirits. Ivory colored and very light with virtually no grain - Holly has a positive invoking energy. It is also associated with new beginnings, a triumph over evil, new kingship and wise rule. It is especially suited to spells to bestow knowledge, eloquence and persuasion. Holly is considered to have a transforming power. Holly is instrumental the turning of the year in the Winter and Summer Solstice, when Holly King and Oak King do battle. In Arthurian legend, Gawain (representing the Oak King of summer) fought the Green Knight, who was armed with a holly club to represent winter. One must pass while the other triumphs. The cycle is repeated over and over again. Historically, the wood was favored for spear shafts, and as such, was the prototype of magic wands we know today. The wand represents the male yang energy, directing vigor and energy which pierces illusion. As such, it is excellent in protection, overthrowing the old and outdated and planting seeds for a new beginning.

Give the active role Hollywood, through its movies marketed world wide, plays in bestowing knowledge and persuasion it is not at all surprising that the entire American film industry would be identified with Hollywood (i.e. Holly wood), the very material used by Druids to make their magic wands. It also should come as no that the Freemasons who founded Hollywood and established it as the Movie Capital of the world would use the name Hollywood to describe the place where they make "movie magic." A number of movie companies use Occultic symbols in their logos (for example Columbia, Paramount, and Universal Studios), so it makes perfect sense that name Hollywood itself is an Occultic symbol, with a meaning only known to the initiated.

From the earliest of times, the mythic representation of the mother goddess symbolized through images and events connected with fertility and reproduction became a part of the concept known as the sacred feminine. Numerous cultural and religious traditions including Gnosticism and the New Age movement of Wicca connect the image of the earth or mother goddess to rituals surrounding, and images of fertility. References to mother earth or Gaia abound both in antiquity and contemporary times. Gaia, Gaea or Ge is the primal Greek goddess personifying the Earth. Gaia is a primordial and chthonic deity in the Ancient Greek pantheon and considered a Mother Goddess or Great Goddess. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra. The Egyptians worshipped the mother heavens, the goddess Nuit, who they represented as the whole heavenly sphere.

 

Mother Goddess Symbols

 

 

Another form of the mother goddess was Atargatis, who was represented as a mermaid. The cult of Atargatis spread from Syria by sea-going merchants to Greece and Italy and by slaves to the far north of the Roman Empire. Her son, the fruit of her womb and product of her fertility, was Ichthys, whose symbol was a fish. Thus the fish came to symbolize Atargatis’ fertility. Atargatis was worshipped with drunkenness, orgies and flagellation. Atargatis symbolized the fertility of the sea. Her son Ichthys was the physical form of that fertility. The cult of Atargatis taught that Ichthys died and rose from the dead. Counterfeit stories of death and resurrection abound in ancient cults and mythology. Not surprisingly the Syrians identified Atargatis with Venus. The fish also appears in another sacred iconograph, the Avatars of Vishnu, where the deity "is represented as emerging from the mouth of a fish, and being a fish himself; the legend being that he was to be the savior of the world in a deluge which was to follow.

 

Ichthys, the offspring son of Atargatis, and was known in various mythic systems as Tirgata, Aphrodite, Pelagia or Delphine. The dolphin has become a very popular symbol. The Greeks worshipped Delphin, a dolphin in the service of the god Poseidon. When his master was wooing Amphitrite and she fled, Delphin went in search of the nymph and persuaded her to agree to the marriage. For his service Poseidon placed him amongst the stars as the Constellation Delphinus.

The dolphin has long had a symbolic meaning in Celtic art. Since the dolphin lives in the water, it is understandable that it has become associated with water. According to Celtic beliefs, water has the power to “wash away” past problems and to rejuvenate a person. In this sense, the person is able to make a new start. Therefore, the dolphin represents the death of a past lifestyle and the birth of a new life. This is symbolic of the Eastern doctrine of reincarnation. The ancient Celts also viewed the dolphin as a symbol of both prosperity and guidance.

While the Celts viewed the dolphin as a symbol of rebirth, some view the dolphin as a symbol of the life they hope to have someday. The dolphin itself has long been a popular animal. As we learn more about these majestic and intelligent creatures, we begin to feel as though they are somehow different from other animals and much like ourselves. Some within the New Age Movement think of dolphins as a superior species to mankind. Many feel as though dolphins connect mankind to the world of the sea. The almost mystical connection perceived between mankind and dolphins is a large reason for our desire to pay tribute and show respect to these animals. The image of two dolphins together is symbolic of harmony within the Chinese yin-yang philosophy.

 

Delphine also meant "womb" and "dolphin" in some tongues, and representations of this appeared in the depiction of mermaids. The Greek word "delphos" may be translated as both "fish" and "womb." Diana of the Ephesians has a fish-shaped amulet that covers her genital region. Another connection between the fish and genitalia is related in the legend of Osiris.

 

According to legend, Set constructed a sarcophagus specifically to Osiris’s measurements. When Osiris tried to lie in the sarcophagus, the lid slammed on him and was locked. Then Set sealed the sarcophagus with led and dumped it in the Nile. Upon hearing of her husband’s demise, Isis set out to look for him. She found the coffin and returned it to Egypt for burial. She exhumed Osiris’ body and dismembered him into thirteen parts, scattering them across Egypt.

Once again Isis set out to look for the pieces and she was able to find and put together twelve of the thirteen parts, but was unable to find the thirteenth, his lingam, which was eaten by the oxyrhynchus fish (a fish with an unusual curved snout resembling depictions of Set). As a result Isis fashioned a phallus out of gold and sang a song around Osiris until he came back to life.

While the fish is often tied to a generative and reproductive spirit in mythology, the fish also has been identified in certain cultures with reincarnation and the life force. In India for example, the fish was believed to house a deceased soul, and that as part of a fertility ritual specific fish is eaten in the belief that it will be reincarnated in a newborn child.

 

From antiquity, the fish symbol represented “the Great Mother.” As such the symbol stood for fertility, birth, feminine sexuality and the natural force of women. A "Cult of the Fish Mother" goes as far back as the hunting and fishing people of the Danube River Basin in the sixth millennium B.C.E. Over fifty shrines have been found throughout the region which depict a fishlike deity, a female creature who "incorporates aspects of an egg, a fish and a woman which could have been a primeval creator or a mythical ancestress..." The "Great Goddess" was portrayed elsewhere with pendulous breasts, accentuated buttocks and a conspicuous external female genital orifice, depicted as the upright "vesica piscis." The symbol for the fish was a pointed oval sign, the "vesica piscis" or Vessel of the Fish. The vesica piscis is a shape which is the intersection two circles of the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. Master Card, Kool cigarettes, and Gucci use the vesica piscis as a part of their corporate logo. In one of the versions of the logo for Universal Pictures movie studio, the mother goddess earth, common in all representations of the studio’s logo, is pictured in the middle of the vesica piscis.

Early Christians took the familiar pagan symbol of the "vesica piscis" and rotated 90-degrees to serve as their symbol. Among many Christians today, the fish symbol is commonly used without any consideration of its meaning or origin. The fish symbol is commonly identified as the "ICHTHUS," an acronym from the Greek, "Iesous Christos Theou Uios Soter," or "Jesus Christ the Son of God, Savior." This acronym was actually invented after the fact.

The vesica piscis is also known by the name "yoni." The Yoni refers to the middle portion of the interlocking circles. In Sanskrit the word yoni means "divine passage", "place of birth", "womb" (more as nature as a womb and cradle of all creations) or "sacred temple." The word also has a wider meaning in both profane and spiritual contexts, covering a range of meanings of "place of birth, source, origin, spring, fountain, place of rest, repository, receptacle, seat, abode, home, lair, nest, stable." The yoni is also considered to be symbolic of Shakti or other goddesses of a similar nature. The sign of the yoni was meant to convey the shape of the external female genitalia.

A simplistic representation of the yoni is the downward pointing triangle, which is sometimes called the chalice. It is the symbol of water (as it flows downward), the grace of heaven, and the womb. It is one of the most ancient symbols of female divinity, as a representation of the genitalia of the goddess. Valvoline, A Beka Book, a major publisher Christian School textbooks uses an open book to form the distinct chalice symbol for the mother goddess. A Beka Book replaced its original logo depicting Ishtar the owl goddes with the more subtle symbolism of the mother goddess. Visa, and Chevron all use the inverted triangle symbol for the goddess in their corporate logo. The United Way cups the hand in its corporate logo to form a downward pointing symbol for the goddess. Variant forms of the chalice symbol of the mother goddess are often incorporated as symbols by Christian churches, without realizing the true meaning of this symbolism.

The Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religions recognize Aum (also Om) as a mystical syllable and symbol. Most Hindu text place it as a sacred exclamation to be uttered at the beginning and end of a reading of the Vedas or previously to any prayer or mantra and also is said in the beginning of any puja (religious ritual). Om contains the totality of sounds arising from three fundamental sounds--"a", "u", and "m," and is said to be a universal representation of god (Chockalin), it is familiar to most of us in its current symbolic form. When one looks at the earliest recorded form of this symbol it becomes clear that it is a pictograph of the Paleolithic great mother we know well from the hundreds of "Venus" figures discovered all over Eurasia. Eventually the symbol developed into its current form, which still resembles the great mother goddess, as represented by the classic vesica piscis.

Throughout history many cultures used the crescent moon as a sacred symbol of the mother goddess. Symbolic uses include using the crescent moon alone or with a star or sun symbol. The star used in the 'crescent and star' motif represented the Sun and hence the sun-god most of the times. In other times it represented the planet Venus and hence the goddess "Inanna" of Sumerians also known by the name "Ishtar" to Babylonians. Particularly when the planet Venus makes conjunction with the moon in its crescent phase, it makes an unusual celestial crescent and star appearance that must have awed the earliest believers of astral objects as their gods, believing that their gods were sending a message for them to understand. The roots of "crescent", "star" and the "crescent and star" symbols appears to be linked to the religious and shamanistic beliefs of ancient central Asia. The earliest documented use of the crescent moon and star goes back to the use of this symbol by the Ottoman Turks was on the standards of Turkish infantry units under Sultan Orkhan (c1326 - 1360). Wicca also symbolizes the mother goddess with the crescent moon. The waxing moon symbolizes the maiden, and the waning moon symbolizes the crone. The waxing moon also symbolizes growth and creativity, while the waning moon represents negativity.

The Muslim faith has adopted the crescent moon and star symbol for the mother goddess as a representation of their faith. Moon worship was very common in the ancient Arabian Peninsula. The ancient Persians had a moon goddess, and archeology indicates that the mother goddess was worshiped as a moon goddess throughout the ancient world. The Crescent moon and star is commonly seen on Muslim mosques throughout the world.

Another representation of the mother goddess was embodied in the massive gothic cathedrals of Europe, and their imitated forms around the world. The pointed arch entry to the gothic cathedral represents the entrance into the womb. The floor plan of the gothic cathedral was generally in a phallic cruciform, which also clearly resembles the female reproductive system as viewed from the anterior position.

 

Interlocking Rings:

 

One of the symbols linked to the Olympic Games is the Occultic Promethean Torch. The Occultic and pagan nature of the Olympic Games may be traced to the origin of the ancient Olympics. The Olympic Games began in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece. The prizes were olive wreaths, palm branches and woolen ribbons. The Olive wreath, denoting Peace, was the symbol of Pallas Athena the Goddess of Wisdom. The palm branch was a sign of triumph and victory in pre-Christian times. The Games first started in Olympia, Greece, a sanctuary site for the Greek gods, especially Zeus.

 

Interlocking Rings

 

 

The origins of the Ancient Olympic Games are unknown, but several legends and myths have survived. One of these involved Pelops, king of Olympia and eponymous hero of the Peloponnesus, to whom funerary offerings were made during the games. Another legend suggests the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles (the Roman Hercules), a son of Zeus. The ancient Olympic Games grew and continued to be played every four years for nearly 1200 years. In 393 CE, the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games because of their pagan influences. The Christian Clement of Alexandria asserted, "[The] Olympian games are nothing else than the funeral sacrifices of Pelops." Whatever the origin, the link to Zeus is undeniable as Olympia was made a shrine to Zeus in 1000BC. Young Greeks competed as an act of worship to Zeus. The lighting of a flame at the altar of Zeus marked the opening of the Games. When they were ended the flame was extinguished.

 

 

Revival of the Olympic movement in modern history may be credited to French Freemason Baron Pierre de Coubertin. De Coubertin was inspired by Dr William Penny Brookes who had organized a national Olympic Games at Crystal Palace in the United Kingdom, in 1866, who had also adopted ideas from the Evangelis Zappas revival of the Olympic Games in Greece. The statue of Baron Pierre de Coubertin at Atlanta’s Centenial Olympic Park features the Occultic step pyramid, surrounded by the Two Towers or pillars with the Olympic rings flocked by doves above.

Germany defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. After examining the education of the German, British, and American children, Coubertin decided that it was exercise, more specifically sports, that made a well-rounded and vigorous person. Coubertin may also have speculated that a vigorous person might make a good solider. In 1890, de Coubertin organized and founded a sports organization, Union des Sociйtйs Francaises de Sports Athlйtiques (USFSA). The USFSA used an emblem consisting of two interlocking rings, reflecting that the USFSA was born, with de Coubertin as president, through the merger of two previously independent associations. The shape formed by the interlocking of two circles is the "vesica piscis" symbol of the Mother Goddess. The symbol with the "vesica piscis" is known to have been used on uniforms of the USFSA at least as early as 1893.

Coubertin first pitched his idea to revive the Olympic Games at a meeting of the Union des Sports Athlйtiques in Paris on November 25, 1892. Although Coubertin had plenty of credentials, his first pitch for a revival of the Olympic Games was not well received. Two years later, Coubertin organized a meeting with 79 delegates who represented nine countries. He gathered these delegates in an auditorium that was decorated by neoclassical murals and similar additional points of ambiance. At this meeting, Coubertin eloquently spoke of the revival of the Olympic Games. This time, Coubertin aroused interest.

The delegates at the conference voted unanimously for the Olympic Games. The delegates also decided to have Coubertin construct an international committee to organize the Games. This committee became the International Olympic Committee (IOC; Comitй Internationale Olympique) and Demetrious Vikelas from Greece was selected to be its first president. Athens was chosen for the revival of the Olympic Games and the planning was begun. The first Games were set for 1896. De Coubertin regarded the opening and closing ceremonies as a vital part of the Olympics, without which the Olympics would just be another World Championship. Clearly the idea behind the Olympic movement is the uniting of nations into a New World Order through athletic competition.

The Olympic flag was designed in 1913 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin as a flag for the Olympic Congress in Paris of 1914 celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Olympic Movement. At the congress the flag was adopted as the flag for the Olympic Movement. This was originally designed in 1913 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. According to de Coubertin the five rings represent the five parts of the world which now are won over to Olympism and willing to accept healthy competition.

In all probability the idea of the interlocked rings came to Pierre de Coubertin when he was in charge of the USFSA. The emblem of the union was two interlocked rings (like the vesica piscis) and originated with the idea of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung because for him the ring meant continuity and the human being. Carl Jung, the son of a Swiss Pastor, experienced in an intellectual faith crisis. Jung’s family had occult linkage on both sides, from his paternal Grandfather’s Freemasonry involvement as Grandmaster of the Swiss Lodge, and his maternal family’s long-term involvement with sйances and ghosts. Jung was heavily involved for many years with his mother and two female cousins in hypnotically induced sйances. Jung eventually wrote up the sйances as his medical dissertation.

As a youth, Jung had a life-changing dream of a subterranean phallic god, later known as Philemon, which reappeared "whenever anyone spoke too emphatically about Lord Jesus." Philemon became Jung’s spirit guide and guru. Jung described Philemon as an old man with the horns of a bull...and the wings of a fisher. Before being Philemon, this creature appeared to Jung as Elijah, and then finally mutated to Ka, an Egyptian earth-soul that came from below. Jung explained how the man-eater in general was symbolized by the phallus, so that the dark Lord Jesus, the Jesuit and the phallus were identical. The next major spiritual breakthrough in his life was what Jung described as a "blasphemous vision" of God dropping his dung on the local Cathedral. This vision, said Jung, gave him an intense "experience of divine grace".

The 1914 Olympic Congress had to be suspended due to the outbreak of World War I, but the emblem and flag were later adopted. They would first officially debut at the VIIth Olympiad in Antwerp, Belgium in 1920. The emblem's popularity and widespread use began during the lead-up to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Baron Pierre de Coubertin had become very supportive of the German National Socialists, the Nazis. The Nazis sought to use the Berlin Olympics as a propaganda tool. Nazi promoters originated the idea of the torch relay to showcase the supremacy of the Arian Race. The Nazis also incorporated the newly created Olympic Symbol into their arsenal of visual propaganda.

Carl Diem, president of the Organizing Committee of the 1936 Summer Olympics, wanted to hold a torchbearers' ceremony in the stadium at Delphi. For this reason Diem ordered construction of a milestone with the Olympic rings carved in the sides, and that a torchbearer should carry the flame along with an escort of three others from there to Berlin. The ceremony was celebrated but the stone was never removed. Later, two British authors Lynn and Gray Poole when visiting Delphi in the late 1950s saw the stone and reported in their "History of the Ancient Games" that the Olympic rings design came from ancient Greece. This has become known as "Carl Diem's Stone". This created a myth that the symbol had an ancient Greek origin. The rings would subsequently be featured prominently in Nazi images in 1936 as part of an effort to glorify the Third Reich.

The current view of the International Olympic Committee is that the Olympic symbol "reinforces the idea" that the Olympic Movement is international and welcomes all countries of the world to join. As can be read in the Olympic Charter, the Olympic symbol represents the union of the five continents (with the Americas considered as one continent and Antarctica excluded) and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games. However, no continent is represented by any specific ring. Though colorful explanations about the symbolism of the colored rings exist, the only connection between the rings and the continents is that the number five refers to the number of continents. Baron Pierre de Coubertin never actually compared the rings to the continents, but only to regions of the world. The IOC’s explanation is intended for public consumption, however a deeper hidden meaning lurks within the Olympic symbol.

The emblem of the Olympic Games is composed of five interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green, and red respectively) on a white field. First of all the symbol consist of five rings. The correlation of the five rings to the five continents simply doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. The exclusion of Antarctica, because it is largely uninhabited except for some small research stations, makes sense. However if the Americas are to be considered as one continent, then one would equally expect Eurasia to be considered as one continent, and thus one should end up with four and not five rings. Baron Pierre de Coubertin specifically decided to include five rings. The number five is considered powerful in Western magic, and is represented by the pentagram, or five-pointed star. The pentagram was a talisman against evil spirits in ancient Rome. It symbolizes the four directions plus the centre, and humanity as ruler of nature, among other things. Five is associated with the planet Mercury.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn explains that the number 5 symbolizes man standing midway between 1 and 10. The pentagram or five-pointed star also represents Man, with his head in the sky and his arms and legs outstretched. This number represents the five fingers, the five senses, and temptation -- humanity. In the Bible, we read that Joshua killed five kings and hung them in a cave, symbolizing the subjection of his five physical senses to his Will. Jesus had five wounds, suggesting that suffering must be experienced before spirit is resurrected and becomes master. Number 5 can also mean man dominating the physical plane and reaching up to higher realms. In this last meaning we find a relationship to Tarot Key 5, the Hierophant. As a priestly figure, he represents humanity in its divine as well as human aspects.

In traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Wu Xing, or the Five Phases, usually translated as five elements, five movements or five steps. The five elements are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device for systems with 5 stages; hence the preferred translation of "Phase" over "Element". The elements are: metal (white), wood (green), water (blue), fire (red), and earth (yellow). These are represented by the same five colors chosen by Baron Pierre de Coubertin for his Olympic symbol.

According to Wu Xing theory, the structure of the cosmos mirrors the five elements. Each "element" has a complex series of associations with different aspects of nature. In the ancient Chinese form of geomancy known as Feng Shui practitioners all based their art and system on the five elements (Wu Xing). All of these elements are represented within the Bagua. Associated with these elements are colors, seasons and shapes; all of which are interacting with each other. Note that the colors used in Chinese Cycles of Generation and Control are identical to those used in the Olympic Symbol.

The interdependence of organ networks in the body was noted to be a circle of five things, and so mapped by the Chinese doctors onto the five phases. For instance, the Liver (Wood phase) is said to be the "mother" of the heart (Fire phase), and the Kidneys (Water phase) the mother of the Liver. The key observation was things like kidney deficiency affecting the function of the liver. In this case, the "mother" is weak, and cannot support the child. However, the Kidneys control the heart along the Ke cycle, so the Kidneys are said to restrain the heart. Many of these interactions can nowadays be linked to known physiological pathways (such as Kidney pH affecting heart activity).

All six colors used in the Olympic symbol have a significant meaning to Freemasons. As a Freemason, De Coubertin understood the symbolic meaning of the colors he selected for the Olympic Symbol. The Olympic Symbol is placed on a white background. In Masonry and elsewhere white is the symbol of purity. The idea of purity is represented by white garments worn within the Masonic Lodge. The Masonic symbol of the lambskin or white leather apron is explained, in part, to each candidate as follows: "The lamb has in all ages been deemed an emblem of innocence; he, therefore, who wears the lambskin as a badge of Masonry, is thereby continually reminded of that purity of life and conduct, which is essentially necessary to his gaining admission into the Celestial Lodge Above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides." Clearly for Freemasons such as De Coubertin purity was something to be achieved by mankind’s own good deeds. For the Olympics these ideas are conveyed in the Olympic Oath. In the Occult white is associated with truth, purity, cleansing, healing and protection. It is a good general healing color for the removal of pain and suffering. It signifies a high level of attainment, a higher level soul incarnate to help others.

The first ring in the Olympic symbol is blue. Blue is the supreme color of Masonry. It is the unquestioned Masonic possession of every Mason. Blue is acknowledged by every Mason to belong to us all and no Mason, whatever his degree, questions the Master Mason's ownership of blue. Blue also has a place in symbolism which is second to that of no Masonic color. The use of blue in religious ceremonials, and as a symbol, comes to Masonry from many of the different peoples of antiquity including the Hebrews, the Druidical Mysteries, the Babylonians, the Hindu, and the medieval Christians. Blue was the symbol of perfection to the Hebrews, to the Druids the symbol of Truth, to the Chinese the symbol of Deity, and to the medieval Christians it was the symbol of immortality. So, for the Mason, the color of his Master Mason's lodge is the symbol of perfection, truth, immortality and Deity. Perfection would mean enlightenment. Truth would be the truth that can only be known through the Mystery Schools. Immortality refers to salvation offered in another life. Masons think that salvation refers to being brought from the material to the spiritual or enlightenment. Masonry allows one to reflect on a well-spent life and to "die in the hope of a glorious immortality. The Deity, is the deity of the Olympics Zeus. In the Occult blue is the color of spirituality, intuition, inspiration and inner peace. It is also associated with sadness and depression (the "blues"). In healing blue is used for cooling and calming, both physically and mentally. Blue indicates serenity, contentment and spiritual development.

The second Olympic ring is black. Black from the remotest antiquity has been the symbol of grief and such is its significance to the Mason. The black ring forms a contrast against the white background brining to mind the Masonic Pavement of a lodge’s floor. The Mosaic Pavement is emblematic of human life, checkered with good and evil. The beautiful flooring, we are further told, by reason of it's being variegated and checkered , points out to us the diversity of objects which decorate and adorn the whole creation, the animate as well as the inanimate parts thereof. All of this would be represented by the color black. Black is the absence of color. It represents the unconscious and mystery. Its visualization can help promote deep meditation. Black also stands for evil. It also signifies some kind of blockage or something being hidden.

The third ring is colored red. Red is the color of fire, and fire was to the Egyptians the symbol of the regeneration and the purification of souls. Red as a part of the Olympic Symbol would also stand for that fire of enlightenment represented by the Olympic Torch. In the Masonic system, red is the symbol of regeneration. Thus red is the color assigned to the Royal Arch Degree since that degree teaches the regeneration of life. Red symbolizes energy, passion, strength, courage, physical activity, creativity, warmth, and security. It is also associated with aggression. In healing, use red to bring warmth and burn out disease. Red is a powerful color and should be used in moderation. Red also signifies materialism, materialistic ambition, a focus on sensual pleasures and a quick temper.

The fourth ring is colored green. Green, being the unchanging color of the various evergreen trees, shrubs, and so forth, is, in the system of Masonry, the color symbolic of the unchanging immortality of all that is divine and true. This conception Masonry has received from the ancients, more particularly the Egyptians. For example, with the Egyptians, as noted above, Ptah was pictured as having green flesh. Also, the goddess Pascht, the divine preserver, and Thoth, the instructor of men in the sacred doctrines of truth, were both painted with green flesh. So the Mason, adhering once more, as he so often does, to the conceptions of the Egyptians, chooses for his symbol of the immortality of the soul which he knows to be divine and true an object, the acacia, whose color is unchanging green. Green symbolizes money, luck, prosperity, vitality and fertility. It is also associated with envy. Green is the color of healing; it is beneficial in all healing situations. Green signifies balance, peace and often indicates healing ability.

The fifth and final ring is yellow. Yellow was to the ancients the symbol of light and thus illumination. Yellow is a true Masonic symbolic color since it symbolizes to the Mason that Great Thing to the finding of which his Masonic Search is devoted and to the source of which his Masonic pathway leads the Light of Truth or enlightenment. Yellow symbolizes intellect, creativity, happiness and the power of persuasion. It is also associated with cowardice. Yellow signifies intellectual development, for either material or spiritual ends.

Each ring on in the Olympic Symbol is actually a circle. The Circle is a symbol for the cycle of eternal life. In its simplest form, it is the universal symbol of Unity, infinity, the Moon or Goddess. To pagans, it represents Mother Earth of the feminine spirit of the Cosmos. Occultist regards the circle as a very important geometric shape. In Book 4, on page 57, Aleister Crowley explains that the circle announces the Nature of the Great Work. The Magician chooses the circle rather than any other lineal figure for many reasons. The circle affirms the Magicians identity with the infinite. The circle affirms equal balance in the work being done. The Magician also affirms the limitation implied by his devotion to the Great Work. The Magician no longer wanders aimlessly in the world. Jung concurred with Crowley when he explained that the circles connote wholeness. Some historians have suggested that the five rings also commemorated the successful completion of the first five Modern Olympic Games, which would appear to fit in with the Occultic meaning of the number five.

Another possible meaning for the selection of five Olympic rings might be traceable to Blavatsky’s Root Race Theory. According to the theory, the large time periods in her esoteric cosmology and symbolizes stages in human evolution. The large time periods of the root races can be compared to the geological time periods or to the Yugas in Hindu Mythology. The theory suggested that the Aryan race was the fifth Root Race. Thus the Olympic rings would be a tribute to the Aryan race. This explanation makes sense given the fact that Baron Pierre de Coubertin had a very cozy relationship with the Nazis.

Auto Union Deutshe Iindustries (AUDI) uses four interlocking rings as their corporate logo. Audi's four rings represent the juncture of four earlier German auto companies in 1932. Horch, DKW, Wanderer and Audi were forced to ally by depressed market conditions to form Auto Union. After the war, the company finally took the name Audi which is Latin for "I hear," a translation of the name of August Horch, founder of the company that bore his name, but kept the Auto Union rings. The rings in the Audi logo carry the identical occult meaning as the rings in the Olympic Symbol. This time we find four, instead of five rings explained by the merger of four German auto companies in 1932. The number four is associated with Chesed (on the tree of life in the Kabbalah), the first Sephirah to manifest below the Abyss, but it also refers to Yesod as the firm foundation within which the Four Elements are given etheric form which then later materialize in Malkuth during the course of the Lightning Flash. The Audi logo also consists of two interlaced lemniscates.

 

The Roman salute is a gesture in which the arm is held out forward straight, with palm down. Sometimes the arm is raised upward at an angle, sometimes it is held out parallel to the ground. Despite the gesture's name, the gesture was not of Roman origin. Tthe salute is not found in any Roman art or text. Trajan's Column completed in A.D. 113 contains images of military leaders with his arm raised in a rhetorical gesture. This gesture was known as the "ad locutio" gesture: an ancient Roman gesture of authority, consisting of the right arm extended forward and slightly raised. It was used to command attention by the Roman emperor or one of his generals. In some images a few troops are also depicted with raised arms, possibly suggesting an overwhelming affirmative vote by cheers, shouts, or applause rather than by ballot of the leader. For the troops it was a public oath to support the leader and an affirmation of his power.

 

 

 

 

 

The Roman Salute, Tennis Court Oath, The Bellamy Salute, Fascist Solute, and the Olympic Salute

 

 

In the Greco-Roman Tradition, oaths were sworn upon Iuppiter Lapis or the Jupiter Stone located in the Temple of Jupiter, Capitoline Hill. In Mesopotamia, Jupiter was known as Neberu and associated with the god Marduk. He was the patron god of Babylon, and considered equivalent to the older Sumerian god Enlil. The Assyrians in turn equated Enlil to their state god, Ashur. All were often just referred to as Lord, and this title is preserved in Biblical references to Baal or Bel. For the Romans an oath to support a leader was invoked in the name of Jupiter (Baal). Iuppiter Lapis was held in the Greco-Roman Tradition to be an Oath Stone, an aspect of Jupiter is his role as divine law-maker responsible for order and used principally for the investiture of the oath-taking of office.

 

The association of the “ad locutio” gesture with Roman republican culture seems to have emerged in 18th century France with revolutionary and anti-monarchist movements of the era. Several paintings in the Neoclassical style depict Roman heroes adopting variants of the gesture. The most famous and influential of these is Jacques-Louis David's painting The Oath of the Horatii (1784), which illustrates a pledge of loyalty to the Roman republic. David, like Voltaire, Franklin and numerous Enlightenment figures, was a Freemason.

After the French Revolution of 1789, David was commissioned to depict the formation of the revolutionary government in a similar style. In the Tennis Court Oath (1792) the National Assembly are all depicted with their arms outstretched as they swear to create a new constitution. By the upright hand, the members of the National Assembly are showing their support via an oath for the new constitution they were going to create. After the republican government was replaced by Napoleon's imperial rйgime, David further deployed the gesture in images of Napoleon receiving the acclamation and loyalty of his soldiers. These consciously imitated ancient Roman ad locutio scenes. The most important of these paintings is The Distribution of the Eagle Standards (1810).

 

The early images of the gesture are not strictly speaking salutes, since most actually depict the swearing of oaths. Historically these oaths would have invoked Jupiter as the sacred deity before whom the oath was being taken. Jesus said:

 

34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

 

 

In the early nineteenth Century American flags were seldom seen in public buildings such as schools. Daniel Ford and James Upham, his nephew, owned Youth's Companion>, a national family magazine for youth published in Boston. In 1888, the magazine began a campaign to sell American flags to the public schools. In 1891, Upham had the idea of using the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of America to promote the use of the flag in the public schools.

In 1892, Ford’s friend Baptist minister, Nationalist, and Christian Socialist leader Francis Bellamy was hired by Youth's Companion and created the Pledge of Allegiance. Bellamy’s first cousin was Edward Bellamy who in 1888 published Looking Backwards a futuristic novel describing utopian Boston in the year 2000. The book spawned an elitist socialist movement in Boston known as "Nationalism," whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American economy. Both Bellamys wanted the government to take over all schools and create an “industrial army” of totalitarian socialism as described in the book. Francis Bellamy was a member of this movement and a vice president of its auxiliary group, the Society of Christian Socialists. By 1892, Youth's Companion had sold American flags to about 26 thousands schools.

Edward Bellamy’s best-selling book was translated into 20 different languages, including Russian, German, Italian, and Chinese. It was popular among the elite in pre-revolutionary Russia, and Lenin’s wife was known to have read the book, because she wrote a review of it. John Dewey and the historian Charles Beard intended to praise the book when they stated that it was equaled in influence only by Das Kapital (1867).

By February 1892, Francis Bellamy and Upham had convinced the National Education Association to support the Youth's Companion as a sponsor of the national public schools' observance of Columbus Day along with the use of the American flag. By June 29, Bellamy and Upham had arranged for Congress and President Benjamin Harrison to announce a national proclamation making the public school flag ceremony the center of the national Columbus Day celebrations for 1892. Bellamy, under the supervision of Upham, wrote the program for thiscelebration, including its flag salute, the Pledge of Allegiance. The original Pledge was recited while giving a stiff, uplifted right hand salute, the old Roman "ad locutio" gesture, a symbol for swearing an oath by Jupiter.

It was with this function that the so-called Bellamy salute was adopted in the United States in 1892 as part of the Pledge of Allegiance. This required that participants should initially bend their right arm with the hand held against the forehead, as in a conventional military salute. The arm should then be "extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the flag." This was based on the American military hand salute. During the Middle Ages knights in armor raised visors with the right hand when meeting a comrade. This practice gradually became a way of showing respect and, in early American history, sometimes involved removing the hat. By 1820, the motion was modified to touching the hat, and since then it has become the Hand Salute used today. Francis Bellamy liked the military salute because Bellamy's cousin Edward Bellamy was the originator of "military socialism" as a political philosophy, and Francis was Edward's biggest fan and cohort. The Bellamy salute combined the military salute as a symbol of respect with the Roman "ad locutio" gesture, a symbol for swearing an oath by Jupiter.

Soon the gesture became synonymies with nationalists and socialists movements. Similar gestures were adopted elsewhere in the late-19th century among both nationalist and socialist movements. These movements adopted the gesture because of its alleged association with the Roman Empire and the implied oath of loyalty that accompanied the history of the gesture.

By the end of the 19th century, the gesture was recognized as a symbol of communal acclamation, appropriate as a sign of allegiance to be used in several mass movements. A version was adopted as the Olympic salute. The Olympic salute is a variant of the Roman salute: the right arm and hand are stretched and pointing upward, the palm is outward/downward and the arm is aiming high. The greeting is visible on the official posters of the games at Paris 1924 and Berlin 1936.

Germans saw the straight-armed nationalist salute being used in Americas racist and segregated government schools as an example to be followed throughout the First World War and for the thirty years before Nazism and World War II. Bellamy’s flag salute inspired a number of films about ancient Rome, such as Ben Hur (1907), Nerone (1908), Spartaco (1914) and Cabiria (1914) to portray the gesture as a Roman salute. These films, the pledge of allegiance, and well established national socialist movements in America featured exactly for what German socialists were searching. The National Socialist German Workers' Party was also inspired by German-Americans who were already national socialists in America. and who joined the German-American Bund movement to support national socialists in Germany before World War II. One of the first groups to adopt the salute outside the United States of America was the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party).

Research by Augustin Thierry into the rituals of Gallic and Germanic tribes led to the claim that gestures such as the "ad locutio" were associated with ancient Aryan peoples for whom monarchy was said to be defined more by charismatic prowess than simple inheritance. Nordic ideology, which was later embraced by the Nazis, claimed that the leading classes of ancient Greek and Roman culture had originated among Germanic peoples, who had migrated south. In consequence it was argued that the gesture was Nordic in origin, expressive of the free acclamation of a leader. This gave a justification for the Nazis to uses the salute. In the German version of the salute the arm was raised smartly to the front, at right angles to the chest with the palm turned downwards.

The Italian nationalist writer and adventurer Gabriele D'Annunzio, who had scripted Cabiria, appropriated the salute with a neo-Imperial meaning when he occupied Rijeka in 1919. The Italian fascist party later adopted the gesture to symbolize their claim to have revitalized Italy on the model of ancient Rome. In the Italian version the arm was typically raised quite high above the shoulder with the palm bent outwards, in a rhetorical manner similar to Roman imperial statuary. The Italians copied use of the gesture from the German Socialists, who in turn had borrowed it from Bellamy’s flag salute of 1892. Under Fascist rule, these salutes were also in use by the general population in Germany and Italy. Achille Starace, the Italian Fascist Party secretary, pushed for measures to make the use of the Roman salute generally compulsory, denouncing hand shaking as effete and foreign.

In late 1937, Mussolini visited Germany and pledged himself to support the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. In 1938, he introduced his ‘reform of customs.’” Hand-shaking was suddenly banned as unhygienic: a salute was to be used instead - the right forearm raised vertically. He imposed a new march on the Italian Army which was simply the goose-step of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. According to the book “A Concise History of Italy” by Christopher Duggan, these reforms were introduced mainly to underline ideological kinship with the National Socialist German Workers’ Party and to impress it’s leader. Clearly Mussolini and the Italian Socialists were imitating the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, who had copied American ideas. Claims that the Germans imitated the Italians are historically unfounded.

Similarities between the Bellamy Salute and those used by oppressive fascists governments during World War II cased caused President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted the hand-over-the-heart gesture as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem in the United States, instead of the Bellamy salute. This was done when Congress officially adopted the Flag Code on 22 June 1942. After World War II, the Olympics banned the salute because of Nazi-reference, although no official statement on this is known.

Fasces Symbol of the Mother Goddess:

The word "fasces" originates from the Latin word fascis, meaning "bundle." The traditional Roman fasces consisted of a bundle of white birch rods, tied together with a red leather ribbon into a cylinder, and including a bronze axe amongst the rods, with the blade on the side. First one should note the use of birch wood in the fasces. Northern Europeans ascribed magical properties to the birch tree and used it in making brooms to sweep evil away. The Maypole of pagan rites was always a birch tree. In Celtic traditions red ribbon was used as protection from harmful magic. The binding action of the ribbon symbolizes solidarity. The fasces symbolize summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity." In the counterfeit satanic government systems such as fascism unity is achieved by force. Alternately the rods represent the authority to punish citizens, the axe represents the authority to execute them and the ribbons represent the restraint of that authority. In contrast Romans 13:1 states, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. "

A special class of Roman Civil servants became known as the lictor, derived from the Latin "ligare" (to bind). The lector attended to and guarded magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium. They essentially functioned as a bodyguard. The origin of the tradition of lictors goes back to the time when Rome was a kingdom, perhaps acquired from their Etruscan neighbours. The fasces lictoriae ("bundles of the lictors") symbolized power and authority (imperium) in ancient Rome. The lictors each carried fasces as a sort of staff of office before a magistrate, in a number corresponding to his rank, in public ceremonies and inspections. Bearers of fasces preceded praetors, propraetors, consuls, proconsuls, Masters of the Horse, dictators, and Caesars. During triumphs (public celebrations held in Rome after a military conquest) heroic soldiers—those who had suffered injury in battle—carried fasces in procession. Roman historians recalled that twelve lictors had ceremoniously accompanied the Etruscan kings of Rome in the distant past. The twelve lectors plus the Etruscan king formed a party of thirteen. It is common knowledge in the occult that a coven of witches has thirteen members. Thus we see that the fasces stand for unity of the coven and their work.

The bundle of rods bound together symbolizes the strength which a single rod lacks. The axe symbolized the state's power and authority. The ribbons binding the rods together symbolized the state's obligation to exercise restraint in the exercising of that power. The highest magistrates would have their lictors unbind the fasces they carried as a warning if approaching the limits of restraint. Unfortunately all too often man is fast to loose restraint and unleash judgment. "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?" Luke 18:7.

Under normal political circumstances, the imperium-bearing magistrates did not have the judicial power of life and death; within the city, that power rested with the people through the assemblies, so fasces carried within the limits of the sacred inner city of Rome had their axe blades removed. However, during times of emergencies when the Roman Republic declared a dictatorship, lictors attending to the dictator kept the axe-blades. This signified that the dictator had the ultimate power in his own hands.

It has been suggested that since the rods in a bundle are harder to break, or harder for the axe to cut, the fasces symbolizes the message "united we stand." This unified strength reminds us of the unification achieved by Nimrod when he built the rebellious Tower of Babel. Notice the collective pronouns used in Genesis 11:1-4:

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

From this time onward Satan has attempted to unite mankind in rebellion against God. Numerous governments and other authorities have used the image of the fasces as a symbol of power since the end of the Roman Empire. Italian fascism, which derives its name from the fasces, arguably used this symbolism the most in the 20th century. The British Union of Fascists also used it in the 1930s.

The fasces are a common decoration in and on government buildings, especially those built during the Art Deco period when Fascism was popular, even in America. At the Lincoln Memorial the fronts of the chair's arms are shaped to resemble fasces. The U.S. House of Representatives displays the fasces on either side of the American flag and uses fasces as their Mace. Even a statue of George Washington features him resting on the fasces. The U.S Senate uses the fasces on their seal. The Knights of Columbus and the National Guard both use the fasces in their crests. In America the reverse side of the Mercury dime featured the fasces.

The Arch:

The architectural arch has a wide range of public uses, so the arch also has a wide range of symbolic meanings. As well as their use by the state in military ceremonials, arches have also long been incorporated into the symbolic repertoire of a range of brotherhoods and Occult fraternal organizations such as the Freemasons, trade unions and friendly societies. Masonic and trade union banners and regalia often had an arch as one of the central or dominant symbols. The Holy Royal Arch commonly referred to as a Chapter is an additional degree of Freemasonry. A candidate for Exaltation into a Holy Royal Arch Chapter is required to have been a Master Mason for four weeks or more. In Scotland the candidate must also be a Mark Master Mason, a degree which can be conferred within Chapter if required. Once exalted a candidate becomes a companion. The Royal Arch meetings are described as a convocation. The exact origins of the Holy Royal Arch are unknown except that it dates back to the mid 1700s.

In fraternal organizations, the arch served as a symbol of strength and unity or symbolized the protection of a pagan deity and the fellowship of the brotherhood rather than an expression of martial virtues. Within this frame of meaning of fraternal solidarity and strength through unity, rather than military conquest are being represented. Friendly societies erected floral arches for their parades in the nineteenth century. One can suggest, therefore, that there are two clear but distinct categories of meaning that can be applied to the arch symbol. The triumphal arch is used to honor the victorious military leader, and the arch of brotherhood is used to symbolize unity, equality and protection. Both meanings, of course, can exist simultaneously, and may well do so; an object or symbol, therefore, may convey very differing sentiments to different people. Members of one community may see an arch as a sign of welcome and fraternal solidarity, while those of another may see it as a threat or as a sign of intimidation. In many ways the arch is similar in its meaning to the Roman Fasces.

Throughout history arches have plaid an important part in architecture that can be traced back to the Ishtar gate in ancient Babylon, the classical Roman Arch, and the pointed Gothic Arch. One of the most famous modern day architectural arches is the St. Louis Gateway Arch, which was built to symbolize the Royal Arch Degree of Freemasonry.

The Arch is also sometimes represented as a rainbow. For example, the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the York Rite depicts the arch as rainbow. In Genesis 9:13 God established the rainbow as a sign of His covenant never to destroy the world with a flood again. The New Age Movement has taken the rainbow and adopted it as their own symbol. The rainbow symbolizes the bridge between man and the Great Universal Mind, in the final analysis, Lucifer. Indeed, it is remarkable how frequent the sign of the rainbow has become lately. New Agers will occasionally reverse the colors in a rainbow from their natural order. Reversing images and objects is a common occult practice. Aleister Crowley and Anton La Vey taught their followers what is knows as the "Law of Reversal", which encourages talking, walking, and thinking backwards, as a form of divination. The rainbow appears on promotional gifts, stationeries, clothing and toys. Mcintosh Computers uses a rainbow within the Apple Computer logo as their logo. The Apple Computer logo is itself an Occultic representation of the forbidden fruit (traditionally depicted as an apple) from which Adam and Eve have taken a bite.

The state of Georgia uses an arch inscribed with the word "CONSTITUTION" in its official state seal. This symbolism represents that the people of Georgia are under the protection of the brotherhood created by the state’s Constitution. Tipton Sports Academy and the 2005 Symposium on Architectures for Networking and Communications Systems use the arch as a part of their logos. Some groups like the Children of Alcoholics Foundation and the Homestead Ministries will take their organizations name and display it as an arch on their corporate logo. Arby’s restaurants has taken the arch and stylized it as an arch. Of course, the most famous arch logo is the one used by McDonald’s restaurants. Originally McDonald’s had just a single golden arch, but soon this was replaced by the M stylized into the famous Golden Arches. For McDonalds the arches signify a shelter under which you can get a refuge. A safe place to have your break and eat. Over the years, the golden arches have become a symbol of capitalism and Americanism. It is interesting to note that when rotated 90 degrees, the logos for Arby’s and McDonalds form the number 13, a number with great significance within the Occult.

The Dove, companion of the Mother Goddess:

A white dove is generally considered a sign for peace. Genesis describes the story Noah released a dove after the Great Flood in order to find land. The dove came back carrying an olive branch in its beak, telling Noah that the Great Flood had receded and there was land once again for Man. (Genesis 8:11). Among some Christiana, the dove is used as a symbol of the Holy Ghost, who appears in that form to Jesus at his baptism (Luke 3:22). Biologically doves and pigeons constitute the same family. The terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological practice, there is a tendency for "dove" to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied, and historically the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the term "dove" and "pigeon." The dove can also represent "hope for peace" and even a peace offering from one man to another, as in the phrase "extend an olive branch". Often, the dove is represented as still in flight to remind the viewer of its role as messenger.

The Egyptians considered the dove extremely pure. In the ancient Syrian temple of Hierapolis, Semiramis is shown with a dove on her head, the prototype of the dove on the head. The Assyrians portrayed Semiramis in the form of a dove, and it was the doves who brought up Semiramis and later changed her into a dove.

According to the Theosophy Dictionary, in the Chaldean version of the Biblical deluge, the dove is a symbol of Venus. Greek mythology also uses the dove as a symbol for Venus. Venus was helped by the nymph Peristera in a flower picking contest with Cupid. When Cupid looses, he retaliates by turning Peristera into a dove, hence the Greek word for a dove or pigeon is peristera. In Rome a dove or pigeon was a legendary spirit, the accompaniment of Venus, the emblem of female procreative energy. The connection of doves and Venus probably originated on Cyprus. According to myth Venus's chariot is drawn by snow-white doves, called the birds of Venus. Venus is said to be followed by a throng of doves. Another legend tells of a girl named Phytia whom the enamored Jove transformed into a dove. In several other nations the dove also symbolizes the soul.

"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." Luke 3:22 Those who would like to use this verse as a justification to symbolize the Holy Ghost as a dove miss the obvious point of this passage, for the enfaces is not upon the specific form taken by the Holy Ghost, but rather on the actions of the Holy Ghost. In commenting on Luke 3:22 Matthew Henry explains that at this point Jesus receives a greater measure of the Holy Ghost than before to qualify him for the prophetic office of Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound...." When Jesus preaches, it is with the Spirit of the Lord upon him. It has been suggested that the Holy Ghost descends in a bodily form that He might be reviled to be a personal function, and not just a function or moving force of the Godhead. This action makes a proclamation of the trinity at the beginning of the gospel of John. John deals specifically with emphasizing the deity of Jesus. We see the Son being baptized. The Holy Ghost descends upon the Son, and the father declares, "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." God had a purpose for the Holy Ghost to appear "in a bodily shape like a dove."

In all, the Bible makes about fifty references to doves. Many of these deal with the dove as sacrificial animal. The practice of using doves for sacrifices dates at least to the time of Abraham. "And he said unto him, 'Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon'" (Genesis 15:9). No doubt many of the Hebrews who observed the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus in the bodily shape like a dove would have recalled what they had learned about doves as burnt offerings dating back to the time of Abraham. The burnt offering, as its name implies, was completely burnt before the Lord. It was a total sacrifice. The burnt offering was a general offering of propitiation and consecration to God. This makes it very fitting that Jesus’ ministry would begin with the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove, for this represented the total sacrifice He would make. It also showed that He would be a propitiation for mankind to God and his consecration to God.

The burnt offerings in the Old Testament were of picture of Jesus. The burnt offering was a male, because male animals were thought to be stronger and therefore more valuable. The animal for a burnt offering must not have any obvious defect. God would not accept a defective sacrifice. We have a tendency to always want to give God “second best” - if not our third or fourth best. Yet this principle shows that God would not receive sacrifice marked by defect. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. The use of doves for Burnt offerings was codified in Leviticus 1:14, "And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons."

For the purification of a woman after the birth of a child, pigeons and doves were prescribed as a sin offering. "And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering" (Leviticus 12:6). A examination of the specifics of the Sin Offering form Leviticus 4 reviles some important observations about the Sin Offering in general (specifics are listed for the Sin Offering for the High Priest, the whole congregation, a leader, or a common citizen. The Sin Offering is an offering for a specific sin. The Sin Offering was an offering for a known sin. The Sin Offering was a sacrifice for those sins which were unintentional. The Sin Offering made a different use of the blood and the body of the animal which was offered. When the dove is considered as the Sin Offering, it makes perfect sense that at this point in Jesus’ ministry the Holy Spirit would appear in the bodily form as a dove.

We also find in the law of the Nazarite, in his separation, that pigeons were delineated for sin and burnt offerings.

10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day." Numbers 6:10-11:

The importance of Luke 3:22 is that Jesus had the Holy Spirit descend upon him and that God the father was well pleased with Jesus. While God selected for the Holy Ghost to appear in a bodily form like a dove, this is not the emphasis of this passage. Indeed in Acts 2, the Holy Ghost takes an entirely different form:

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:2-4).

 

Nowhere in the Bible can one find a command to use the dove as a symbol or picture of the Holy Ghost. Nor can one find any command to use anything else as an image or symbol of God. As a matter of fact, such acts are outright prohibited.

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me (Exodus 20:2-5).

 

As so often is the case, mankind ignores the commands of God and simply begins to take the course of action they think is right in their own minds. Even before the church had reached its first century of existence, this problem had already began to manifest itself in the church:

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

 

The dove has appeared as a symbol in Christian art work throughout the history. Some denominations show the dove in normal flight or with wings spread as if hovering. Others show an upside down or descending dove, like Trinity Broadcasting Network, the United Church in Canada, Brunswick church of the Nazarene, The New Zealand Methodist Conference, and the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

The Ordo Templi Orientis uses the descending dove in its logo. The O.T.O uses the dove as a symbol form kabbalah. The dove in kabbalah is a symbol for Bat Kol (god’s voice). Bat Kol is calling to consciousness from outside the divine world itself. In this sense the O.T.O refers to the dove as a symbol of a "holy spirit." This however is not the Holy Spirit of the Bible. The Bible commands us, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1)

Many in the O.T.O. were fans of Theosophy. Helena Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, identified the Holy Spirit as Lucifer in her writings. Freemason Albert Pike wrote, "the body of the Holy Spirit, the universal Agent, [is] the Serpent..." A large number of other occultists echo the same message.

Since the 1960’s the dove was also associated with the peace-hippie movement, as is evident in the logo for the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. Haight Ashbury still serves as a center of the Bohemian lifestyle promoted by hippies during the 1960’s. Later the Occultic activities of areas such as Haight Ashbury mingled with the Jesus Movement. The Jesus People Movement began in 1967 with the opening of a small storefront evangelical mission called the Living Room in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury district.

New Agers promote the heretical teachings of the Bogomils and Cathars that Michael came to earth when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, the Holy Ghost, which was Michael appeared as a dove, and Jesus became the Christ. The Cathars revered the dove and became known as the "Faithful of the Dove." The spirit symbolized by the dove assumes the role of an advocate or comforter, much the genuine Holy Spirit of the Bible. Among other heresies the Cathars preached the Gnostic doctrine of self-fulfillment that had so alarmed the fathers of the early church. While the Cathars, or Albigneses used the New Testament as a basis for their ideas, the heretical ideas that they formulated resembled the dualistic and ascetic ideas of the Gnostic and Manichaean movements. The Albigenses believed that there was an absolute dualism between Christ, the good son of God who made the souls of men, and Satan the bad son, who was given a material body after he was cast out of heaven. Following his expulsion, Satan made the visible world. Historically the teachings of the Cathars can be traced to the Manacheans, an ancient Persian Gnostic religion.

Mani was born sometime between 210-276 AD. Mani first encountered religion in his early youth while living with an ascetic group known as the Elkasites, an ancient Jewish-Christian sect. Mani received a revelation in his youth from a spirit whom he later called the Syzygos or Twin, who taught him the divine truths of the religion. Mani was influenced by Mandaeanism. Mandaeism or Mandaeanism is a monotheistic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram, and especially John the Baptist. They describe Abraham, Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad as false Prophets. Mandaeans consider John the Baptist to be God's most honorable messenger. Like certain other Gnostics, they identify the God of the Bible as evil.

In his mid-twenties, Mani decided that salvation is possible through education, self-denial, vegetarianism, fasting and chastity. Mani later claimed to be the Paraclete promised in the New Testament, the Last Prophet or Seal of the Prophets. Mani presented himself as a saviour and an apostle of Jesus Christ. In the fourth century Manichaean Coptic papyri, Mani was identified with the Paraclete-Holy Ghost and he was regarded as the new Jesus. This false holy ghost is what occultist like the O.T.O. mean when they say that the dove represents the holy ghost.

Mani's "paraclete" is no different than the 'spirit' referred to by many occultists. The history of this heretical teaching traces through various countries including Egypt, Eastern Iran, Palestine, Syria, Northern Arabia, North Africa, Asia Minor, Central Asia, Armenia, Gaul, Spain and Italy. The teachings are also traced into China, there having openly survived at least until the 17th century. In fact, in some areas "...only from the 6th century onward does the religion disappear, though continuing to exert its influence under different guises in other sectarian circles.

The dove is a prominent feature on some renditions of the Ace of Cups Tarot Card. Tarot Cards are used by Occultists, such as the O.T.O and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for divination purposes. In the Occult the Ace of Cups means: love, peace, patience, harmony, assurance, tranquility, compassion, and acceptance. The dove is a common spiritual icon with symbol meanings indicating hope, purity, aspiration, and ascension. In Greco-Roman mythology, the dove is a sacred creature to Aphrodite/Venus, and therefore is a powerful symbol of love. Featured on the ace of cups, it is a promising symbol. Note the dove (in the Rider-Waite version) is pointing down. This is a second-pass message indicating: "whatever goes up, must come down." In other words, fly high, but ground yourself first.

It should come as no surprise that White Dove International, a New Age group selling materials on human potential, higher self and offering stress reduction seminars uses the dove as their logo. Aphrodite's Dove, a New Age and spiritual store, located in Jenkintown, PA, on the outskirts of Philadelphia also uses the dove in its logo. Historians of the occult know of the well established connection between the O.T.O, through the Thule Gesellschaft to the German Nazi movement. It is no mistake that a Nazi propaganda poster makes a direct Christological comparison of Hitler. Just as a dove descended on Christ when he was baptized by John the Baptist, so what looks to be an eagle hovers against the light of heaven over an idealized Hitler.

Clearly Christians should avoid using the dove as a symbol because of its obvious Occult meaning. No doubt many Christian groups use the dove as a symbol without giving much consideration to its actual meaning. However, any group that uses the dove as a symbol or logo should be closely examined. Historical evidence shows that Occultists deliberately use terms such as "Holy Spirit" or "Holy Ghost" when defining the meaning of the dove, when they actually mean something quite different from the Biblical Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. Indeed many Occultists are wolves masquerading in sheep’s clothing as they peddle their New Age teachings under the guise of Christianity. Historically this trend may be traced to almost the very beginning of the Church.

The pentagram is a very widespread sacred symbol used since ancient times in many areas including Egypt, India, Persia and Greece. It is one of the most powerful and popular symbols used by many occultist, including those involved in Wicca and Ceremonial Magic. The symbol is used to decorate magical tools. It represents feminine energy relating to the Goddess. It is worn symbolically for protection and to signify that the wearer is involved in the world of magic and divine wisdom. When pointed upwards it is supposed to indicate positive energy, and when pointed downward it is to present negative energy.

 

Some uses of the Pentagram

 

Constant used the upright pentagram to represent the race of man created by god, while he used the inverted pentagram to represent the demonic race created by the Angel Samael and Lilith. In The Secret Doctrine Helena Petrovna Blavatsky explains that "Lucifer represents...Life...Thought...Progress...Civilization...Liberty...Independance...Lucifer is the Logos...the Serpent, the Savior" (pages 171, 225, 255 of Volume II). In short, she and other occultist view Lucifer as both a good and bad god. This is the god Constant and Freemasons considered as Grand Architect of the universe or the Supreme Being. On the right is Constant’s inverted Pentagram depicting Lucifer as the Bamphomet