The Masonic Symbolism of the U.S. Capitol 

By: Vigilant Citizen 

The US Capitol is not simply another governmental building. It is the spiritual center of the United States. Its structure, its art and its symbols all reveal the great importance of secret Fraternities in the shaping of the world most powerful government. We’ll explore the Capitol and discover the features that make this building a Masonic site, an American Temple of Solomon.


The Capitol is viewed by the average American as the seat of democracy, where big political decisions are taken. Very few recognize the spiritual elements of the architecture and the symbolism of the building which literally makes it a temple of Masonic mysteries. At the center of it all is George Washington, a 33rd degree Freemason being anointed as the “American Christ”. The building of the Capitol involved many notions unknown to the common man yet the builders seemed to give great importance to them: alignment with heavenly bodies, importance of ley lines, occult numerology, spiritual energy, etc. Those things might sound like “crazy New Age stuff” to the average Joe not to the Founding Fathers who attributed great importance the them. Here’s a look at the meaning of the Capitol.

Built by Freemasonry

The Capitol, like all Washington DC, has been almost entirely designed by Freemasons and integrates within its architecture and artwork the “keys to the Craft”.

The United States Capitol, at Washington, D.C., was the creation of a succession of architects who were almost all Freemasons.  Originally designed by William Thornton (1759-1828), the work was completed by Brother Benjamin Latrobe (a pupil of the English architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell, 1754-1827) who also redesigned it after the War of 1812.  The flanking wings and the great dome were added later by Brother Thomas Ustick Walter.
-phoenixmasonry.org

The laying of the cornerstone by Washington in full Masonic attire

The cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol Building was laid with Masonic Honors on September 18, 1793 under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Maryland.  At the ceremony, President George Washington presided.  Worshipful Brother Washington was assisted by R.W. Bro. Joseph Clarke, Grand Master pro. tem. of Maryland, Wor. Elisha C. Dick, Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22 of Virginia (Washington’s home Lodge) and Wor. Valentine Reintzel, Master of Lodge No. 9 of Maryland (now Potomac Lodge No. 5 of the District of Colombia).
-Ibid.

Geographical Layout

The Capitol facing the Washington Monument

Washington DC was carefully laid out in accordance to ancient occult principles. The Capitol is a vital part of the design by its location and its shape. The Capitol’s most important feature is of course its massive dome which carries heavy symbolic meaning, as we’ll see later. This dome faces the Washington Monument, the 555.5 foot tall (6666 inches) replica of an Egyptian obelisk. This layout is strikingly similar to St.Peter’s Square in the Vatican, where an obelisk faces a giant dome.

St.Peter Square, Vatican. An obelisk facing a dome.

The same layout can also be found in Paris, Astana and many other cities. There is no coincidence here: this layout carries an important alchemical meaning. In almost all cultures the dome has been associated with the female principle, the womb, the matrix. Opposed to it is the obelisk, the ancient Egyptian phallic symbol representing the male principle. The union of those two principles gives birth to a third entity, an offspring, that can be described as “spiritual energy”.  Whether this energy is symbolic or a palpable reality is something that I’m not (yet) qualified to advance on. Many theories claim that shapes such as pyramids, domes and arches can either store, extract or diffuse energy from their surrounding area but I’ll leave this analysis to someone else. The theme of  the union of male and female principles is very common in occult architecture and is surely the most easily recognizable.
Let’s look at the Capitol. Imagine a straight line starting at the tip of the Capitol’s dome and going down, right to the crypt. This is how we’ll explore the Capitol.

 

Freedom Statue

Standing at top of the dome of the Capitol is the enigmatic Statue of Freedom standing on a spherical shape, which probably represent Earth. Around this globe is the saying “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of Many, One).

She is a female allegorical figure whose right hand holds the hilt of a sheathed sword while a laurel wreath of victory and the Shield of the United States are clasped in her left hand. The heraldic shield is the same as in the Great Seal of the United States, with thirteen stripes, except that the chief has stars (again, thirteen). Her chiton is secured by a brooch inscribed “U.S.” and is partially covered by a heavy, Indian-style fringed blanket thrown over her left shoulder. She symbolically faces east towards the main entrance of the building which means that incidentally, the sun never sets on Freedom.

So who is this Goddess standing on top of America’s most important building and overlooking the state Capital? She’s certainly not the Virgin Mary (you’d be surprised at the number of people who think that) and she cannot be positively associated with any ancient goddess. Truth is, the district bears her name. D.C. = District of Columbia. She is the allegorical goddess of America, the typically American mythological figure, Columbia.

 

The Dome

 The dome of the Capitol features in its occulus an incredibly significant painting that reveals the philosophical, spiritual and political aims of the Founding Fathers. Rare are the writers have discussed the gnostic, alchemical and esoteric meaning of this work, yet it has been visited by millions of tourists. The interesting book “Freedom’s Gate” written by William Henry and Mark Gray is the only work I’ve found analyzing the mystical meaning of this painting called “The Apotheosis”.

 

“The Apotheosis” is the work of Constantino Brumidi, an Italian artist who became famous for his paintings commissioned by the  Vatican and Pope Pius IX. In 1848, an attempt to overthrow papal power in the Vatican was led by Freemason Giuseppe Mazzini, which lead to a period of chaos and the fleeing of the Pope. The revolution wasn’t however successful and papal power was restored by a European coalition. Surprisingly, Brumidi was arrested in and found guilty of leading one of Mazzini’s revolutionary groups to overthrow the Vatican. He served some of his sentence in prisons but was later permitted to leave Italy for the USA under the condition that he would never come back. He then made a name for himself in the USA by working for occult fraternities such as the Jesuits and such. Burmidi’s story is in perfect accordance with the Capitol’s status as the “Anti-Vatican” or the mirror, Mystery Religion opposite of the Vatican. Let’s look at Brumidi’s magnum opus, the Apotheosis.

An apotheosis can be defined as the exaltation of a subject to divine level. In other words, this painting depicts the elevation of George Washington to a god-man status, like Jesus Christ. He is shown seated on a rainbow and behind him is the gateway, the vortex, the sungate to the heavens (the spirit world). As stated above, the dome esoterically represents the womb giver of life. Washington is about to exit the womb of the dome to experience rebirth as an immortal god. William Henry has appropriately noted that Jesus Christ’s divinity was portrayed in a similar way in ancient religious art.

 “The Last Judgment” (Detail) by Hans Memling – Christ on a rainbow with sungate behind him

“Christ in Majesty”. He again find here Jesus on a rainbow surrounded by religious figures.

The Apotheosis sends therefore a clear message: George Washington is the American Christ. This might sound blasphemous to the average Christian but it is in perfect harmony with the Masonic/Rosicrucian/Gnostic philosophy of the builders of the Capitol.
The esoteric teachings of those Orders explain that a spark of divinity lies dormant within each person. This inner-godliness can be awakened through rigorous intellectual and spiritual training and the mastering of occult arts. The result of a successful training is the birth of perfected man, a Christ, a god-man. Rosicrucians believe that Jesus Christ’s teachings, like Buddha’s, show the path to the spiritual reform that one must undertake to attain illumination. George Washington, as a 33rd degree Mason has reached this exalted level.

Contrarily to the above paintings of Jesus where he was surrounded by angel and Saints, Washington is surrounded by important figures of ancient paganism, which are intricate parts of the Masonic mysteries:

 Toth Hermes with his Caduceus and winged hat

Freedom (aka Columbia) shooing away kings and tyrants

Minerva goddess of wisdom

Hermes, Poseidon, Vulcan, Freedom, Ceres and Minerva are meant to respectively represent commerce, marine, mechanics, war, agriculture and wisdom. The painting hides however an esoteric, alchemical meaning.

Alchemical Meaning

Alchemy is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties.
The ultimate goal of alchemy is the achievement of the “Great Work” which is the transmutation of base metals into gold or, esoterically, the transmutation of men into gods. The painting reflects this harmony between the elements of alchemy, which are air, fire, water and earth who are embodied respectively by Hermes, Vulcan, Ceres and Poseidon. George Washington himself is portrayed in a similar fashion as the figure of “Alchemy”
on the very esoteric Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral.

“Alchemy” on Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral

Washington pointing towards a book

“In alchemical symbolism Washington’s throne is the Seat of Wisdom. He is comparable to Alchemy onthe Seal of the Great Work at Notre Dame Cathedral. Commenting on this seal in The Mystery of the Cathedrals, Fulcanelli says Alchemy is represented by a woman with her head ‘in’ the clouds. Seated on a throne, she holds in her left hand a scepter, the sign of royal power, while her right hand supports two books, one closed (esotericism), the other open (exotericism). Supported between her knees and running up her body is a the scala philosphorum — the ladder of the philosophers — also known as the scala dei or stairway to heaven. Like Alchemy, George Washington is in the clouds. Instead of a scepter he has a downturned sword. He directs us to an open book. This is the book of light, the book of heavenly secrets. What are these secrets?”
-W. Henry, Freedom’s Gate

The Crypt

Directly under the dome, on the floor below is the Capitol’s crypt. It comprises 40 Doric columns sustaining the floor above. At the center of this circle of columns is a brass compass star which is the literal center of Washington DC.

All street addresses in Washington DC are attributed in relation to this star.

If you’ve read the other “Mystical Sites” articles concerning the Manitoba Legislative Building and the Supreme Court of Israel, you’ll notice that all of these buildings feature a crypt with columns placed in a circular fashion with a star at the center of them, directly aligned with the top of the dome. This distinctive feature present in those modern day Masonic temples hold a special significance.

Washington’s Tomb

Under the crypt is Washington’s Tomb. His body is however in Mount Vernon due to a legal battle. One might argue however that the tomb was meant to be empty…a little like Jesus Christ’s was. Washington is not a man but a god.

Misc Items

It is impossible to include all of the Capitol’s noteworthy features in a single article but here are some interesting photos.

Rejected Washington Statue

This sculpture depicting a bare chested and fiery Washington (modeled after Zeus of Olympia) was meant to be put on display at the Capitol. It caused controversy and made people uncomfortable in very Christian, very puritan early America. Nobody really understood why they had to look at  a naked Washington. They also did not understand why he was portrayed as a pagan god. It is now in the Smithsonian.

Rejected Embarrassing Sculpture

This was created by the same mastermind who brought us the above Washington-Zeus-Baphomet sculpture, Horatio Greenough. It depicts a strong White reasonable man subduing a crazy savage Indian. The strong White man, who is about 2 times his size, is saying to him “Shhh, it’s O.K. puny savage, your misery is over. Our great civilization will take good care of you”. This non-offensive work is appropriately called “The Rescue” and was placed in the Capitol’s Rotunda for a while. It is now in storage and reportedly in bad condition.

Prayer Room Window

In 1955, a prayer room was set up next to the Capitol’s rotunda. The window depicts the god-man Washington praying and contains some other interesting symbols you might recognize..

The Apotheosis of Lincoln

….Awkward.

To Conclude

Simply put, the Capitol is America’s ceremonial center. It is where Americans celebrate their new President’s inauguration and where they morn morn those who’ve deceased. Whether we are witnessing Obama marching up the 33 steps to the Capitol after his inauguration or seeing Gerald Ford’s casket on display under “The Apotheosis”, all rituals are fully permeated with occult symbolism. It is simply impossible to understand this country, its rulers and their philosophy without understanding their Masonic origin.

America: One Nation Under God?? Not Hardly! 

Related: 

http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2015/03/freemasonry-and-american-ideal.html

http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2015/04/papacy-and-freemasonry.html

http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2015/06/exposed-masonic-handshake.html

http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-owl-symbol-of-freemasons.html

http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-goal-of-ecclesiastical-masonry.html

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