Great Seal Of U.S. Mysteries Revealed

Government Debunks Myths Surrounding One Of America's Oldest Symbols

(AP)  Conspiracy theorists take note: The myths surrounding one of America's oldest and most enduring national symbols are about to be debunked ... if you believe the government, that is.

The keepers of the Great Seal of the United States, the familiar emblem on the back of the $1 bill, want you to know what it is not. It is not a sign that Freemasons run the country, it has nothing to do with the occult, and it does not contain clues to a fabulous hidden treasure.

It is rather the nation's stamp of authority, sovereignty and power, gracing our cash and embossing the most important of documents from its home at the State Department, which has held it since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the first secretary of state.

Not that the Seal's symbols - the all-seeing eye, the unfinished pyramid, the Latin phrases, the bald eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows and the number 13 - aren't powerful.

They are, historians say. Yet their meanings have been misidentified, misunderstood and misrepresented almost since the Continental Congress first commissioned the Seal in 1776.

It would be another six years before the original design was approved and another 128 before it evolved into its current form. Along the way, a movement to decipher the Seal's meaning with ancient Egyptian, mystical and otherwise otherworldly explanations has gained currency.

The Internet age has seen an explosion in such conspiracy theories, many which have now been ingrained in public consciousness through the popular "National Treasure" movie franchise that serves up a combination of Masonic lore and historical myths in blockbuster Hollywood fashion.

Among them:

That the Seal proves the domination of the United States by a powerful, quasi-religious cult. The Ancient Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a perennial favorite of conspiracy theorists as some Founding Fathers were Masons and the Seal uses several Masonic symbols.

That the Seal draws on Satanism or polytheistic ritual to promote a universal new world order under which Earth would be ruled by a single omnipotent government.

That repeated references to 13 - the number of steps in the unfinished pyramid, stars in the constellation over the eagle's head, arrows in the eagle's claw, stripes on the eagle's shield, letters in the phrase "Annuit Coeptis" - demonstrate the power of 13 American families.

That there are two seals: one in which the eagle's head faces the arrows for times of war and another in which the eagle's head faces the olive branch for times of peace.

All rubbish, according to historians, who say the Seal's symbolism is far less ominous or revelatory than many believe.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Seal's 66th and current custodian, on Tuesday inaugurated a new exhibition to commemorate its 225th birthday and trace the history and evolution of the symbolism.

"This exhibit honoring the Great Seal affirms our continued belief in the values of our founding," she said. "The Great Seal symbolizes the unity, strength and independence of a new nation, the United States of America."

The Seal will remain at the State Department but the interactive exhibit is designed to travel and curators hope it will dispel the rumors and educate Americans about the real meaning of the symbols.

Among the highlights:

That known Masons like the first U.S. president, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin had no role in designing the final seal, which uses elements of traditional heraldry, such as the unfinished pyramid to symbolize a work in progress, arrows for war and an olive branch for peace. Masons share some of those symbols, but they have never been exclusively the domain of the order.

That the phrase "Novus Ordo Seculorum" below the Roman numerals for 1776 at the base of the pyramid translates as "A New Order of the Ages" that began with independence and does not imply the United States will be the lynchpin of a sinister "New World Order."

That the words "Annuit Coeptis" ("Providence favors") and the eye of providence that hovers over the pyramid refer to unexpected interventions of fate that assisted the colonists in creating a new country.

That the references to 13 refer to the number of colonies that formed the original United States.

"People are just not aware of the complexity and intent of the symbolism and what our Founding Fathers were trying to do with it," said Priscilla Linn, senior curator at the U.S. Diplomacy Center. "The hidden treasure in the Seal is the courage and presence of mind of the people who created it and created these values for the whole country."


©MMVIII, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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by cfin5 February 13, 2008 7:11 PM EST

The Catholic Church has been up to no good for 0ver 1700 years and the book will explain when and where these acts of dis-information and subterfuge on the part of the Vatican have occured.

Posted by piercetheval at 09:55 AM : Feb 13, 2008------This is true. In fact, it is "MYSTERY BABYLON" the mother of harlots. So who do you think her children are? Like mother, like daughters. Many Cardinals openly don Masonic rings,......read Revelation Chapter 17 in its entirety. Rome ruled the world at the time the Apostle John was instructed to write down the things that he heard and saw.

Reply to this comment

by rf35 February 13, 2008 7:01 PM EST

Conspiracy theorists are funny!

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 1:34 PM EST

Excuse me that should read dorothyleon.com...May God Bless you all in striving for the truth.

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 1:27 PM EST

For more TRUE INFORMATION go to DorthyLeon.com She is the appointed biographer of the true Templar and Freemason history. She was appointed by Saint Germain himself.

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 12:55 PM EST

I have a book going to print today, "The Astrological Birth Chart of Jesus. A Template for the Time." It should set the record straight as to who is conning whom. It is being published by TGS Publishing, Texas. The Catholic Church has been up to no good for 0ver 1700 years and the book will explain when and where these acts of dis-information and subterfuge on the part of the Vatican have occured. I am the grandson of Roman Catholic immigrants [Italian] and the great [x8] grandson of a Quaker founding father whom was a Mason. Thus no one can imply I was originally partial to either belief.

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 12:48 PM EST

Albert Pikes words have been takenout of context and/or mis-understood for over 100 years, and his book Morals and Dogma is not a definative of the Templars or the Masonic Order. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Lucifer, the light bearer can be astrologically interprted and it was, by most analysis, intended as allegorical.

Reply to this comment

by kevzgrl February 13, 2008 12:25 PM EST

To MichelleM99: I usually am in agreement with a lot of what you say, particularly when it comes to child abuse/crime and poverty issues. However, on this one, I will have to differ BIG TIME. My father was a Past Grandmaster Mason in his lodge, and my father was NOT a Satan worshiper. He was an upstanding, Christan man who read the Bible every night and was in church every time the doors were open. He raised me and two sisters in the church and I am comforted to KNOW he is in Heaven right now, praising God and walking the streets of gold. Just because you have a prejudice against Masons is no reason to state they are evil. What if someone were to say "sight challenged older women are Satan worshipers" - would that seem fair or reasonable to you??? Learn a little bit about it and about some of the wonderful men who were and are Masons before you speak out against something you obviously don''t understand or know much about.

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 12:19 PM EST

Bernard Fay reported that on December 27, 1778 Washington marched in a parade in Philadelphia "in full Masonic attire, and insignia of the Brotherhood." But, staunchly against the Illuminati and the Jacobinism Orders, he "dealt them a blow that led to their disappearance." from Dorthy Leons'' book.

Reply to this comment

by cfin5 February 13, 2008 11:06 AM EST

George Washington wasn''t into freemasonry much according to his words. Even the painting of him in their manner of dress that I''ve seen actually says by the painter,...."Painted in abstention" (He did not pose for the painting). The lower "blue lodge" members are intentionally mislead by higher degrees for various reasons and is the norm this way clear up the ladder. But at the top they worship Lucifer according to Sovereign Grand Master Albert Pike. It is indeed a root of "MYSTERY BABYLON".

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 3:52 AM EST

libs, then why are you even bothering to read the article? Are you a nihilist? It seems you are troubled yet serching for answers. The answers lie in study and study you must. Our founding fathers were of a league of believers of true freedom of Christian morals and practices, that is SO WHAT AND WHAT IS SHALL BE THE WAS OF WHAT SHALL BE!

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 3:28 AM EST

Michell, there are many that call themselves Freemasons. Ther are far fewer true ones. There ranks have been infiltrated for years. The true ones are the followers of Saint Germain.

Reply to this comment

by michellem99-2009 February 13, 2008 3:26 AM EST

That is right..the mormon temple garments have freemason sybols on them..I have seen them...

Reply to this comment

by michellem99-2009 February 13, 2008 3:23 AM EST

fREEMASONS..THEY ARE EVIL..

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 2:44 AM EST

I should add that the number 72 i.e. number of bricks in the pyramid, is very esoteric. There are 72 names of God, 72 Angels of the Quinaries in Spiritual Astrology, 7+2=9 the number of God in numerology and there''s more...but I think you get the idea.

Reply to this comment

by brianbwb-2009 February 13, 2008 2:13 AM EST

"A New Order of the Ages" that began with independence and does not imply the United States will be the lynchpin of a sinister "New World Order."

Lynchpin. What an accurate Freudian misspelling.

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 1:34 AM EST

Also from the book by Dorothy Leon: Hall relates: "The obverse of the great seal has been used by the Department of State since 1782, but the reverse was not cut at that time because it was regarded as a symbol of a secret society and not the proper device for a sovereign state... Most American citizens learned [about]... the design when it appeared on the dollar bill series 1935A."

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 1:26 AM EST

Typos: monro and poll should read, Monroe and Polk. again, my bad.

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 1:25 AM EST

Typo: Spain should read Thomas Paine {I''m using word recognition software, my bad}

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 1:25 AM EST

Typo: Spain should read Thomas Paine {I''m using word recognition software, my bad}

Reply to this comment

by piercetheval February 13, 2008 1:23 AM EST

According to Hieronimus, George Washington, who "defended the integrity of the Masonic Lodge" and promoted "the honor and prosperity of the Craft", took his first degree of Masonry in Virginia in 1752. AG Mackey says that Washingtons'' attainment of higher degrees are recorded in the transaction of the Virginia Lodge. All but two of Washington''s generals were Freemasons. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 50 were Freemasons. The first Continental Congress was presided over by Peyton Randolph, a past Grand Master of the Virginia Freemasons. And of the 55 members of the Constitutional convention all but five were Freemasons., Spain, said to have been a mason even wrote an essay on ancient Freemasonry. American presidents that were Freemasons include Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Munro, Jackson, poll, Buchanan, Garfield, McKinley, both Roosevelt''s, Taft, Harding, Truman, Ford, Reagan and Bush. Although presidents John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams were not Freemasons, they were members of another secret society called Dragon''s, a spiritual and Earth friendly society i.e. ecologically minded. These excerpts I have provided are from the book "The Mystical Quest for Democracy" by Dorothy Leon.

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[cfin5]

The Catholic Church has been up to no good for 0ver 1700 years and the book will explain when and where these acts of dis-information and subterfuge on the part of the Vatican have occured.

Posted by piercetheval at 09:55 AM : Feb 13, 2008------This is true. In fact, it is "MYSTERY BABYLON" the mother of harlots. So who do you think her children are? Like mother, like daughters. Many Cardinals openly don Masonic rings,......read Revelation Chapter 17 in its entirety. Rome ruled the world at the time the Apostle John was instructed to write down the things that he heard and saw.

[rf35]

Conspiracy theorists are funny!

[piercetheval]

Excuse me that should read dorothyleon.com...May God Bless you all in striving for the truth.

[piercetheval]

For more TRUE INFORMATION go to DorthyLeon.com She is the appointed biographer of the true Templar and Freemason history. She was appointed by Saint Germain himself.

[piercetheval]

I have a book going to print today, "The Astrological Birth Chart of Jesus. A Template for the Time." It should set the record straight as to who is conning whom. It is being published by TGS Publishing, Texas. The Catholic Church has been up to no good for 0ver 1700 years and the book will explain when and where these acts of dis-information and subterfuge on the part of the Vatican have occured. I am the grandson of Roman Catholic immigrants [Italian] and the great [x8] grandson of a Quaker founding father whom was a Mason. Thus no one can imply I was originally partial to either belief.

[piercetheval]

Albert Pikes words have been takenout of context and/or mis-understood for over 100 years, and his book Morals and Dogma is not a definative of the Templars or the Masonic Order. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Lucifer, the light bearer can be astrologically interprted and it was, by most analysis, intended as allegorical.

[kevzgrl]

To MichelleM99: I usually am in agreement with a lot of what you say, particularly when it comes to child abuse/crime and poverty issues. However, on this one, I will have to differ BIG TIME. My father was a Past Grandmaster Mason in his lodge, and my father was NOT a Satan worshiper. He was an upstanding, Christan man who read the Bible every night and was in church every time the doors were open. He raised me and two sisters in the church and I am comforted to KNOW he is in Heaven right now, praising God and walking the streets of gold. Just because you have a prejudice against Masons is no reason to state they are evil. What if someone were to say "sight challenged older women are Satan worshipers" - would that seem fair or reasonable to you??? Learn a little bit about it and about some of the wonderful men who were and are Masons before you speak out against something you obviously don''t understand or know much about.

[piercetheval]

Bernard Fay reported that on December 27, 1778 Washington marched in a parade in Philadelphia "in full Masonic attire, and insignia of the Brotherhood." But, staunchly against the Illuminati and the Jacobinism Orders, he "dealt them a blow that led to their disappearance." from Dorthy Leons'' book.

[cfin5]

George Washington wasn''t into freemasonry much according to his words. Even the painting of him in their manner of dress that I''ve seen actually says by the painter,...."Painted in abstention" (He did not pose for the painting). The lower "blue lodge" members are intentionally mislead by higher degrees for various reasons and is the norm this way clear up the ladder. But at the top they worship Lucifer according to Sovereign Grand Master Albert Pike. It is indeed a root of "MYSTERY BABYLON".

[piercetheval]

libs, then why are you even bothering to read the article? Are you a nihilist? It seems you are troubled yet serching for answers. The answers lie in study and study you must. Our founding fathers were of a league of believers of true freedom of Christian morals and practices, that is SO WHAT AND WHAT IS SHALL BE THE WAS OF WHAT SHALL BE!

[piercetheval]

Michell, there are many that call themselves Freemasons. Ther are far fewer true ones. There ranks have been infiltrated for years. The true ones are the followers of Saint Germain.

[michellem99-2009]

That is right..the mormon temple garments have freemason sybols on them..I have seen them...

[michellem99-2009]

fREEMASONS..THEY ARE EVIL..

[piercetheval]

I should add that the number 72 i.e. number of bricks in the pyramid, is very esoteric. There are 72 names of God, 72 Angels of the Quinaries in Spiritual Astrology, 7+2=9 the number of God in numerology and there''s more...but I think you get the idea.

[brianbwb-2009]

"A New Order of the Ages" that began with independence and does not imply the United States will be the lynchpin of a sinister "New World Order."

Lynchpin. What an accurate Freudian misspelling.

[piercetheval]

Also from the book by Dorothy Leon: Hall relates: "The obverse of the great seal has been used by the Department of State since 1782, but the reverse was not cut at that time because it was regarded as a symbol of a secret society and not the proper device for a sovereign state... Most American citizens learned [about]... the design when it appeared on the dollar bill series 1935A."

[piercetheval]

Typos: monro and poll should read, Monroe and Polk. again, my bad.

[piercetheval]

Typo: Spain should read Thomas Paine {I''m using word recognition software, my bad}

[piercetheval]

Typo: Spain should read Thomas Paine {I''m using word recognition software, my bad}

[piercetheval]

According to Hieronimus, George Washington, who "defended the integrity of the Masonic Lodge" and promoted "the honor and prosperity of the Craft", took his first degree of Masonry in Virginia in 1752. AG Mackey says that Washingtons'' attainment of higher degrees are recorded in the transaction of the Virginia Lodge. All but two of Washington''s generals were Freemasons. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 50 were Freemasons. The first Continental Congress was presided over by Peyton Randolph, a past Grand Master of the Virginia Freemasons. And of the 55 members of the Constitutional convention all but five were Freemasons., Spain, said to have been a mason even wrote an essay on ancient Freemasonry. American presidents that were Freemasons include Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Munro, Jackson, poll, Buchanan, Garfield, McKinley, both Roosevelt''s, Taft, Harding, Truman, Ford, Reagan and Bush. Although presidents John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams were not Freemasons, they were members of another secret society called Dragon''s, a spiritual and Earth friendly society i.e. ecologically minded. These excerpts I have provided are from the book "The Mystical Quest for Democracy" by Dorothy Leon.