Treasure Symbols And Signs
Charise Scrivner
July 4th, 1776. The colonies had just officially declared their independence from Britain. In one of its first post-declaration actions, the Continental Congress formed a new committee comprised of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, all of whom had been key participants in drafting the declaration. This new committee was assigned to design a Seal for the new United States of America. This committee enlisted the help of an heraldic artist named Pierre Eugne Du Simitire and during the next month the committee worked to design a great seal for the new nation. Each member proposed a design.
Thomas Jefferson proposed a depiction of the children of Israel guided through the wilderness by a daytime cloud and a nighttime pillar of fire, and on the reverse side the first Anglo-Saxon settlers in Britain, according to legend Hengist and Horsa.
It was not until four years later that a second committee was formed. It was comprised of James Lovell from Massachusetts, John Morin Scott from New York, and William Churchhill Houston from New Jersey. They enlisted the aide of Francis Hopkinson from Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Hopkinson had signed the Declaration of Independence and designed the flag that the Congress had adopted on June 14th 1777. Hopkinson is credited with most of the work of the second committee.
In June of 1782 Charles Thomson, the secretary of the Continental Congress, was assigned to come up with the final design for the seal. Thomson reviewed the reports and designs of the previous three committees, and then created his own design, incorporating elements from the others. Thomson took his design to Barton who made a few minor changes. Thomson submitted his design to the Congress on June 20th and it was adopted that same day.
Here is the official blazon of the seal, followed by explanatory remarks by Thomson:
For the Crest
Over the head of the Eagle which appears above the Escutcheon, A Glory, Or, breaking through a cloud, proper, & surrounding thirteen stars forming a Constellation, Argent, on an Azure field.
The Escutcheon is composed of the chief & pale, the two most honorable ordinaries. The Pieces, paly, represent the several states all joined in one solid compact entire, supporting a Chief, which unites the whole & represents Congress. The Motto alludes to this union. The pales in the arms are kept closely united by the chief and the Chief depends upon that union & the strength resulting from it for its support, to denote the Confederacy of the United States of America & the preservation of their union through Congress.
The final version of the Great Seal, which we obviously still employ today, expresses the same invocation of God in our political institutions. It indicates that God should nod in assent to what we undertake as a nation. The fact that the pyramid representing our nation is unfinished but is being built in the mirror image of the triangle containing the eye of providence above it expresses the notion that our nation is built in the image of an ideal established by God.
As for masonic connections, Franklin was the only mason among the committee members, and his proposal did not include the symbols that are mistaken for masonic symbols today. The great eye is a traditional heraldic symbol for providence in government. It may have entered into heraldic symbolism from masonry centuries earlier, but during the founding, its use does not imply any masonic intent.
I wonder if some of the modern rejection of symbolic knowledge is related somehow to the protestant rejection of Catholic ritualism? I also wonder how it might be related to the modern abandonment of traditional forms in arts and literature? In any case, as Latter-day Saints, symbolism plays an important part in our ordinances and I think we should strive to become acquainted with symbolism and symbolic traditions.
Incidentally, you can start to learn more about the meanings of heraldic symbols here. Another symbolic tradition that I am not as familiar with but that you might want to look into is tombstone symbolism.
UPDATE: Several websites claim that Hopkinson was a mason, but there is no evidence that he was one. Likewise, some sites erroneously say that Jefferson was a mason. Modern research has concluded that he was not. William Barton was not a mason, but he is often confused with another man of the same name who was. Other writers often point to other parts of the Seal (like the number of feathers on the eagles wings) as masonic symbols but none of these details are stated in the blazon itself and are not to be found in the Great Seal die of 1782. They are comparitively recent stylistic additions.
Come on, JMW: ALL of the early Mormon prophets were Freemasons (do we have this on the brain today?!). The fact that certain Masonic and Mormon symbols are similar is surely attributable to such. OK, maybe many of these symbols were not original to Masonry, but even so, we know for a fact that Mormonism was rubbing shoulders with Masonry in Nauvoo. You seem to deny any link, which seems like going too far.
Eth 2:3 And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind.
As to the reverse of the Great Seal, I had understood that the Founders used it to signify that God would accept what they had created and complete it. In other words, they believed that if they could create the right structure, then God would descend and complete it, ushering in the Millenium of peace.
I only find Masonic-Mormon parallels helpful when the masonic rites are viewed as a corruption of the rites of the ancient church. From my own studies I do not feel compelled to believe that masonry had a significant influence on the restored church. I suspect that the prophets were able to help the masons understand their own symbols, while the masons had very little to offer the church.
The bee-hive is an important symbol in the third degree, and it is extensively mentioned in the lecture where it is depicted as a symbol of industry, hence the work of the Lodge, so that Masons should continue to learn in all stages of life.
It seems to me reasonable to say that it was the symbolic meaning of the bee and beehive that Joseph and Brigham liked, and that the meaning thereof was not uniquely masonic. Look at difference between these two passages:
The first, in its connotations, sensationalizes the connection and implies deeper connections to masonry. The second seems more circumspect, recognizing the masonic influence without implying further connection.
Tuesday, 15.-I officiated as grand chaplain at the installation of the Nauvoo Lodge of Free Masons, at the Grove near the Temple. The day was exceedingly fine; all things were done in order, and universal satisfaction was manifested.
Mistakenly? As a Mormon-Mason myself, I feel hurt by this on behalf of my numerous good Masonic Brethren who went before me as the early leaders of the LDS Church. This is the sort of comment that leads people out the door of the Church into inactivity: They believe you, when you say the symbols have been mistakenly attributed to Masonry. It quenches their thirst for an easy answer to things. Then, when they find out the truth, they feel betrayed. I am sorry but I cannot see how you honestly (in the genuine sense of the word) arrived at the conclusion you specified.
The number 8 is an important treasure symbol. It also has many other symbols that are connected to it.
The letter H is the alphabetical equivalent to the 8, and as you already know, the H is an important symbol that represents a tunnel.
The reason that the author went into this survey design is because he has a Jesse James treasure map that tells you that you must do this in order to find the treasure. The only problem is, the part of the map that tells you to do all of this surveying is, without a doubt, a false trail. It is a trail designed to take you off into nowhere land, and there you will be lost, or, at least you will be far away from the treasure.
Now, as I said, surveying IS a very vital part in the CREATION of a treasure map, and, here is how it works. When making a treasure map, there IS ALWAYS a beginning point given on the map. This beginning (alpha point) is nowhere near the treasures location (the omega point, the treasures location). So, what happens is that you need to know where to go from the alpha, which includes the distances and directions needed for each step of the way.
From here on out is where you want to pay particular attention because EVERY instruction given on the treasure map from here on out is given in COMPASS DEGREES and EXACT MEASUREMENTS. And folks, this is exactly how surveying pertains to treasure maps. The surveying, in other words, was DONE ONLY ONCE, and that was at the creation of the treasure map that you are holding in your hands. After the creation of the map, every instruction needed to relocate the treasure room or mine was set forth in compass degrees and exact measurements, and there is not one bit of surveying needed in order to relocate a treasure room or mine.
You will find that when you leave the alpha and get to your next point, your distances will decrease immensely. You may find that from this second point, your next distance to go may be 30 feet or less, and this is when your going to need to start using your tape measure.
On the reverse side of that thought we have the number 30. This number will be found on paper maps as well as in the field. The number 30 is just the opposite of the 40. In the case of the 30, it is not a measurement that you must make, but instead it is a symbol that you need to locate, specifically, it is the Eagle symbol that you must find.
The letters in the word Eagle add up to 30 and, as you can see, this could cause some serious failure on your part if you try to measure 30 feet. The actual Eagle symbol will be located much further away than the 30 feet that you are measuring and you must locate this symbol in order to move successfully to your next step given on your map or given in code at the treasure site.
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