Hypothetically, what if you were God? Would you treat those around you, friends, lovers, or even complete strangers the same way? Would you promote peace, respect, and wholeness in a world that seems divided?
Warning!! The information below may be seen as heretical to those who hold the bible as a literal fact. For your own protection, click away.
For those that enjoy mystery and ancient symbolism, enjoy!
“And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew [them], and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.”…1 Kings 5:18
I like many of you enjoyed the last Dan Brown novel, “The Lost Symbol”.
Before the actual book the ‘Lost Symbol” was released, many believed the title was to be “Solomon’s Builders”, a nickname associated with Freemasonry.
With that in mind I thought it would be fun to research into the story of King Solomon and his magnificent temple, a subject very dear to all Freemasons, Solomon’s Builders.
First and foremost, what I am about to put forth is about the allegory of Solomon, not about Freemasonry to which I belong. The ideas put forth here are my own and other writers, some Masonic, others not, that feel the story of Solomon may just have a different allusion than that commonly accepted.
Please don’t shoot the messenger: to date, no archaeological evidence for Solomon's Temple has been found and the only references to the First Temple in Jerusalem that might be contemporary with its supposed existence is contained in the Hebrew Bible. Historical evidence of King Solomon, independent of the biblical accounts, is scarce; in fact, Solomon is not noticed by Herodotus, or by Plato, or by any writer of standing. It is most extraordinary that the Jewish nation, over whom but a few years before the mighty Solomon had reigned in all his glory, with a magnificence scarcely equaled by the greatest monarchs, spending nearly eight thousand millions of gold on a temple, was overlooked by the historian Herodotus, writing of Egypt on the one hand, and of Babylon on the other, visiting both places, and of course passing almost necessarily within a few miles of the splendid capital of the national Jerusalem? How can this be accounted for? Not only are there no proofs of the twelve tribes of Israel having ever existed, but Herodotus, the most accurate of historians, who was in Assyria when Ezra flourished, never mentions the Israelites at all; and Herodotus was born in 484 B.C. How is this possible?
Let’s put this together first with Sol (omon), the Sun the emblem of Wisdom. In him are the powers of all the planets united; in him are love, will, and intelligence combined into one; in the same sense as the four sides of a pyramid all culminate in one point.
There have been many Sun gods throughout history. Some are depicted as traveling across the sky in a vessel of some sort, like a boat, chariot, or cup. The Sun god of the Greeks and Romans rode in a 4-horse (Pyrios, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon) chariot. The Egyptians differentiated among the aspects of the Sun, and had several gods associated with it: Khepri for the rising sun, Atum the setting, Ra at noon, and Osiris at night. Osiris was the sun when it was dead, that is either at night or at winter. Therefore, Osiris became the judge of the Netherworld, and after you died and were buried, you'd have to face Osiris to be judged. He was in fact the gatekeeper to the other realm, the realm of the dead.
The Greeks and Romans also had more than one Sun god. It seems that most Sun deities are male and counterparts to the often female Moon deities, although there are goddesses of the Sun and gods of the Moon.
The Sun is the centre and source of all light and heat, and of all power; not only of the visible terrestrial light, but of the light of intelligence; not only of terrestrial heat, but of the heat of love. He attracts by his power all the planets in space and keeps them within their orbits. Those in whom the Sun principle is strong are capable of becoming wise, strong, and powerful. It is therefore said that the Sun is a planet governing the souls of kings and noblemen, and conferring honors, powers, and titles. Its influence is decisive in all important questions in human life. In the mineral kingdom it is represented by gold; in the animal kingdom by the Lion, in the spiritual kingdom as Sol-om-on, the divine Sun of Wisdom.
The name Solomon is composed of the words: Sol-Om-On, Sol, the Sun; Om, the sacred name in the East among the Buddhists and Brahmins; and On, one of the sacred names of God. In Revelation 1: 5, the Greek bible reads: On, kai o'en kai o'erchomenos, and translated in the common version: "Him, which is, and which was, and which was to come." On is translated as Him. The word On also means sun, and was given as a name to the ancient city of Egypt, Heliopolis, "City of the Sun." In Genesis, Heliopolis is translated as On.
Hence it is supposed by some that Solomon (Sol-om-on) was a worshipper of the sun.
Are you beginning to see where we are going?
“His "Holy Temple" has gone down in history as one of the greatest of all buildings, yet according to specifications it was small indeed, only about 40 x 120 feet.”
During my research into the allegory of Solomon I came upon a rather unusual author named John Hazelrigg, I must admit I found his interpretation of Solomon interesting. His writing position is in italics, the regular font is mine.
“As an example of the allegorical method used in the elucidation of these mysteries, take, for example, the story of King Solomon, deemed a personage of some importance in Holy Writ, whose temple was "built not with hands, neither with sound of iron or metal tool."
The above passage, "built not with hands, neither with sound of iron or metal tool." can be taken as a universal truth, psychologically, philosophically, and spiritually. On the spiritual level we are the Temple built not with hands, 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” On the universal level no other system states it better than the Vedanta, you are God and so am I. Before you rush of to judgment on the Vedantist position, you are God and so am I, look carefully at how Brother Swami Vivekananda elaborates on this position: “Thou art the man, thou art the woman, thou art the girl, and thou art the boy; thou art the old man tottering with a stick, thou art the young man walking in the pride of his strength; thou art all that exists” – a wonderful, living God who is the only fact in the universe.
This seems too many to be a terrible contradiction of the traditional God, who lives behind a veil somewhere and whom nobody ever sees. The priests only give us an assurance that if we follow them, listen to their admonitions, and walk in the way they mark out for us, then, when we die, they will give us a passport to enable us to see the face of God! What are all these ideas of heaven but simply interventions of this nonsensical priest-craft?”
As of late I am beginning to believe that a reconciliation between religion (non dogmatic) and science will be found in the philosophy of Monistic Idealism, which states that consciousness, not matter, is the ground of all being. It is a monistic theory because it holds that there is only one type of thing in the universe, and a form of idealism because it holds that one thing to be consciousness.
Before we continue with the allegory of Solomon I feel it of the utmost importance to elaborate more on Monistic Idealism and the central theme of the Temple “built not with hands, neither with sound of iron or metal tool."
While searching the web for understandable modern Monistic theory I came across this wonderful paragraph in Wikipedia: Monistic idealism rejects any notion of consciousness being an "accident" or the mere side product of material interactions. Instead, consciousness comes before matter; it is the fundamental wellspring from which reality is created. In the words of physicist Amit Goswami, who wrote a book The Self-Aware Universe (1993) on this concept: “The current worldview has it that everything is made of matter, and everything can be reduced to the elementary particles of matter, the basic constituents — building blocks — of matter. And cause arises from the interactions of these basic building blocks or elementary particles; elementary particles make atoms, atoms make molecules, molecules make cells, and cells make brain. But all the way, the ultimate cause is always the interactions between the elementary particles. This is the belief — all cause moves from the elementary particles. This is what we call "upward causation." So in this view, what human beings — you and I think of as our free will does not really exist. It is only an epiphenomenon or secondary phenomenon, secondary to the causal power of matter. And any causal power that we seem to be able to exert on matter is just an illusion. This is the current paradigm.
Now, the opposite view is that everything starts with consciousness. That is, consciousness is the ground of all being. In this view, consciousness imposes "downward causation." In other words, our free will is real. When we act in the world we really are acting with causal power. This view does not deny that matter also has causal potency — it does not deny that there is causal power from elementary particles upward, so there is upward causation — but in addition it insists that there is also downward causation. It shows up in our creativity and acts of free will, or when we make moral decisions. In those occasions we are actually witnessing downward causation by consciousness.”
When I started this paper I referenced the fiction author Dan Brown and his novel the “Lost Symbol”, maybe Mr. Brown was closer than you think when he used the phrase “Know ye not that ye are Gods”.
Let us return to the writing of John Hazelrigg.
“Now, the word Solomon is a compound from three languages great in olden times,—Latin, Sol or Solus, sun; Sanskrit, Aunt or Om, heat; and Ethiopic, On, being,—all pointing to the solar principle in manifestation: Sol-om-on, the personification of wisdom, and described in his songs as of "the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of His goodness." Solomon's Temple meant nothing more nor less than the temple or vault of the heavens, of which Sol is king, or center; and, being the body or constitution of the Grand Man, so must it correspond with the man of earth, for "as is the Macrocosm, so is the microcosm.”It can easily be seen that John Hazelrigg was influenced by the Hermetic tradition, the phrase "as is the Macrocosm, so is the microcosm.” is similar to the Hermetic “As above, so below”, which comes from the beginning of The Emerald Tablet ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus. Hermeticism teaches that the universe is the same as God, God is the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, and the atom is the same as...and so on, ad infinitum. Hermeticism, as taught by Hermes, encompasses both panentheism and Henotheism within its belief system, which teaches that there is The All, or one "Cause", of which we, and the entire universe, are all a part. Also it subscribes to the notion that other beings such as gods and angels, ascended masters and elements exist in the Universe as parts of the All.
After spending many years studying Eastern philosophies I was very surprised to find OM spoken of frequently in the Western Esoteric traditions. OM is the most important of all mantras. All mantras generally begin and often also end with OM. However, there is much confusion about OM. OM is the mantra of assent. It means yes and affirms and energizes whatever we say after it. That is why all mantras begin with OM. OM is also the mantra of ascent and causes our energy to rise upward into the infinite. OM is expansive and increases the fire, air and ether elements, particularly ether. It also gives strength, protection and grace. It connects us with the guidance power of the inner Guru.
For my Masonic readers, I would like to introduce you to another Eastern mantra, one that may strike a cord: HRIM (pronounced Hreem) is the prime mantra of the Great Goddess and ruler of the worlds and holds all her creative and healing powers. HRIM governs over the cosmic magnetic energy and the power of the soul and causal body. It awakens us at a soul or heart level, connecting us to Divine forces of love and attraction. HRIM is the mantra of the Divine Maya that destroys the worldly maya. It has a solar quality to it but more of a dawn-like effect. It is charming and alluring, yet purifying. Through it we can control the illusion power of our own minds.
Hazelrigg continues:
“As proof of this analogy, take this word, whose letters number seven, and place beneath each letter the seven digits in order, thus:
S O L O M O N
1 2 3 4 5 6 7Do you see anything strange or suggestive in this arrangement? Look closely; note the numerals beneath the consonants, 1357, which is the number of muscles in the human body; now the numerals beneath the vowels, 246, which is the number of bones in the human body. So have we the framework and the organs of motion in the lesser man. Also add together the vowel figures, 2+4+6, and behold the mystical 12, or signs of the Zodiac, which is the framework of the astral system. "And Solomon [Sun] had twelve officers [signs] over all Israel . . . each man his month in a year made provision" (I. Kings, iv. 7), as does the Sun enter and vitalize a new sign each month; while by adding together the digits of the full number, 1234567, the twenty-eight mansions of the Moon are found expressed.”I’m not sure I agree with the number of muscles or bones in the human body, but neither can I find a definitive amount. I’ll leave that judgment up to you.
Jesus surrounds himself with 12 disciples. This is usually taken to be symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel. This notion of 12 tribes, however, is itself a symbolic reference to the 12 signs of the zodiac in Babylonian astrology, which the Jews adopted whilst in exile in Babylon.
Although this paper is not intended to address Masonic symbolism, I feel it important to show that Freemasonry is an ancient mystery tradition and many of the allegories and symbols are already present within.
"The number 12 was celebrated as a mystical number in the ancient systems of sun-worship, of which it has already been said that Masonry is a philosophical development. The number there referred to the twelve signs of the zodiac, and in those Masonic rites in which the Builder is made the symbol of the sun, the twelve Fellow Crafts refer to the twelve signs in which alone the sun is to be sought for."—Mackey's Ritualist, page 113
Let us continue:
“A further mystical interest attaches to this name because it represents the perfect scale of being, as expounded by the Hermetic doctrine, in which the four consonants, 1357, symbolize the involved potentialities of the four objective states—mineral, vegetable, animal, human; while the three vowels, 246, numerically comprehend the evolutional activities belonging to the subjective states of embryonic being. And 4 + 3 = the mystic 7, which is the sum of the trinity—the three alchemical principles: salt, sulphur, mercury—that encircles and interpenetrates the fundamental tetrad: fire, air, earth, water. In the central 4 is expressed the first mathematical power, which, as the number of the four elements of the Macrocosm and the divine quadrature of the Primal Essence, is significant of the generating virtue, or solar potency, without which there could be no manifestation. And, as the pivotal integer in the numerals of the Solomonic title, it likewise represents the inner sanctuary of every templuta in Nature, whence proceeds the principle of diversity to be found indicated in the dyads that adjoin it on either side, as 3-5, 2-6, 1-7. The sum of each couplet is seen to be 8, the first cube and the square of the dyad. Thus we learn why microcosmic man, as the sum and substance of Nature's diversities, is said to be four-square and perfect.”
Now to most the above paragraph may seem a bit perplexing, welcome to the world of Theosophy, Hermeticism, Freemasonry, and Sacred Geometry.
(to be continued)
