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 Olympic Torch, 1936 Olympics, Berlin, Germany Freemasons, not surprisingly, are fascinated by the often hidden-in-plain-sight influence of Freemasonry on everyday culture. Well, I just came across a very intriguing example that will have particular relevance as the world turns its attention to the upcoming 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games.
In case you missed it, the official Olympic flame was just lit on October 22 to kick off the torch relay that will culminate in Vancouver next year. [Here's a cool interactive map showing where the torch is at any particular moment]. The torch, we’ve always been told, represents the light of the Olympic movement passing peacefully through the various participating countries. While this is a laudable undertaking, the torch relay has an unfortunately sinister origin in the propaganda that surrounded the Nazi-hosted 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. The Nazis invented the torch relay (it had never occurred previously in either the ancient or modern versions of the Olympics) as subtle symbol of the spread of Nazi Fascism throughout Europe. [For more on the story of the Nazi torch relay, check out this interesting article].
 Marathon Tower and Flame Chalice of the 1928 Olympic Games Stadium But where did the Nazis get the idea of the Olympic flame? As it turns out, the Olympic flame was another modern invention, this time originating with the 1928 Summer Olympics stadium in Amsterdam, Holland. The Olympic flame burned in a huge chalice atop a tall tower adjacent to the stadium. The result was an effect not unlike a giant candle overlooking the stadium, a symbol that will be familiar to all Freemasons.
Here’s where the intriguing Masonic connection comes in. The designer of the stadium was the Dutch architect and active Freemason, Brother Jan Wils (1891-1972) who was a member of the l’Union Frédérique Lodge in Rotterdam.
To be sure, it’s fair to say that candle-like tower is just a coincidence. Brother Wils did not become a Freemason until 1929, at least a couple years after he would have completed his design for the stadium.
But according to Professor Bob Barney in the interview for the CTV article on the Nazi torch relay cited above, “Jan Wils, the architect of the Amsterdam stadium, was looking for inspiration . . . And so he turned to his lifelong infatuation with the Masonic order.”
 Brother Jan Wils, Masonic Architect Further, once Wils became a member, he was very involved with the design of Masonic Lodge halls. For starters, he designed the lodge hall for the Silentium Lodge in Delft. Also, he was on the board of directors of the Foundation for Rites and Temple Building, a group dedicated to bringing modern ideas of architecture into the realm of Masonic lodge halls.
This foundation promoted the notion that lodge halls should employ subtle references to Freemasonry in the underlying architecture through the use of spatial geometry — connecting lines that form stars within circles, etc. — rather than overt iconographic decorations. And these subtle Masonic gestures can be found in both public and Masonic buildings designed by the architects associated with this group. [More on Dutch Masonic architecture].
So, is the Olympic Flame a re-tooled Masonic Candle? It’s hard to say for sure. But the connections are, to say the least, quite striking.
 Anti-Masonry Book On Display At The National Heritage Museum Sometimes you have to laugh. While the anti-Masonic folks have told outrageous lies about the Craft over the years, they’ve at least provided much entertaining kookery while doing so.
Thus the terrific National Heritage Museum, an museum of American history located in Lexington, Massachusetts and operated by the Northern District of the Scottish Rite, presents “Freemasonry Unmasked!”, a collection of wonderfully nutty looking anti-Masonic material from the Van Gorden-Williams Library and Archives. The exhibit opens October 3rd. For more information, check out the Museum’s website.
The exhibit is already getting great press.
As a side note, I’ve been meaning to do a series of posts exposing anti-Masonry stuff, and this has inspired me to get on it!
The sprig of acacia appears prominently on much Masonic art, Masonic regalia and Masonic jewelry. Traditionally it represents a hope in the afterlife. But why acacia and not some other plant? While the exact origins of this symbol are probably lost in antiquity, there are several intriguing observations that one can make about the plant.
First, the acacia is prominent in the mythology of the ancient Middle East.
In ancient Egypt, for example, acacia was associated with the death and resurrection of the Egyptian god Osiris.
According to the myth, Set, the evil brother of Osiris, created a beautiful wooden box and offered it as a gift to whomever best fit inside. Thus enticed, Osiris climbed into the box and Set quickly nailed him in. Set then threw the box into a river. The box later washed ashore at the foot of an acacia tree that in time grew around the box, completely encasing it. Eventually the tree was harvested and used as a support column for a palace, where Isis, wife of Osiris, discovered it. She cut open the acacia, released the body of Osiris and, using magic, brought him back to life.
Acacia was also significant to the ancient Israelites. Many scholars believe that the burning bush that Moses encountered was an acacia plant. Further, the the Ark of the Covenant was made from acacia wood. Finally, and most interestingly for Freemasons, the ancient Israelites often used an acacia bush to mark graves.
The fact that acacia was prominent in the ancient Middle East, however, fails to answer the question of why it is significant to Freemasonry; it merely pushes the question back a step. That is, why was acacia associated with magic and gods in ancient times?
This question brings us to the second intriguing observation about acacia: Several species of acacia contain a powerful hallucinogenic compound called DMT. This very same hallucinogen has been used in shamanistic rituals world wide to achieve a trance like state in which communication with the gods was thought possible. Perhaps this is just a coincidence, but it is thought provoking, nonetheless.
Check out this Masonic shirt sporting Master Mason symbols, including acacia, here.
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We Freemasons are fond of noting that a number of United States presidents were members of our Order. Some are even depicted in portraits wearing full Masonic regalia. Here’s what the various pieces of Masonic regalia tell us about the wearer’s Masonic career.
This is a fascinating image of Brother George Washington as it is believed to be the last portrait made of him for which he sat as the model. That is, this is the last depiction of him from life. In this image we see him wearing the white mason’s apron which has its origins in stone laying, or “operative”, masonry, a blue sash and past master’s jewel indicating that he had been the master of his lodge.
Here we see Brother Teddy Roosevelt in the Masonic Regalia of a presiding master of a lodge. Notice how the jewel is different from that worn by Washington. Brother Roosevelt’s jewel represents a stone mason’s square, which is the symbol of the master of a lodge. Notice he is also wearing a white apron (with another square emblem) as all Freemasons do while attending a lodge meeting. As befits his station, he is entitled to be “covered” in the lodge; that is, he can wear a hat. Often the hat or “tyle” is a top hat, or sometimes the colonial tri-cornered hat, but here it appears to be an ordinary fedora. The master of the lodge is the only person entitled to be covered during a Masonic meeting, unless the grand master of the state is in attendance, in which case only the grand master may be covered.
Speaking of grand masters, here is Brother Harry Truman in his grand master’s Masonic regalia. The grand master’s office is statewide and sovereign. Since there is no national grand lodge, there no higher Masonic authority in each state than that state’s grand master. Here he is a wearing a grand master’s jewel (these jewels vary from state to state) and a grand master’s apron. We know that this is a grand lodge apron, as opposed to a local lodge apron, because it is trimmed in purple instead of blue.
Finally, here is Brother Gerald Ford in his Shriner fez. Technically, the Shriner fez is not Masonic regalia, because the Shriners are an independent fraternity with their own regalia. However, the “Shrine” was founded by Freemasons and one must be a Freemason to join.
The Square and Compasses of Freemasonry
When Freemasons see the square and compasses, the traditional emblem of Freemasonry, they usually think of what these architectural drafting tools represent: A person acting on the square (as in “that was a square deal”) and circumscribing their actions within the circle of proper conduct. The square and compasses symbol, however, may not always be what it seems.
In the mid nineteenth century a “fraternal” organization, the Order of United American Mechanics (the OUAM), formed in response to the wave of immigration that the United States was experiencing. This society was strongly anti-immigration and, one could say, downright bigoted. Remember reading about those “Irish need not apply” signs? That was these guys.
The Emblem of the Order of United American Mechanics
The OUAO took the familiar Masonic square and compasses and added the also familiar arm and hammer mark to form their emblem. As this group’s goals were in such profound opposition to Freemasonry’s teachings of universal brotherhood, Freemasons were, not surprisingly, incensed. In fact, lawsuits were inititated to stop the OUAM from stealing the emblem, but were not succesful.
Why would an obscure, and defunct, group of nineteenth century bigots be relevant to contemporary Freemasonry? As a collector of old Masonic regalia, I come across a surprising amount of OUAM items on Ebay under the search term “Masonic”. When I do, I feel obliged to email the usually oblivious seller to inform them that the item is certainly *not* Masonic. So when you are looking for great old Masonic regalia on Ebay, be sure to examine the pictures closely. If there is an arm and hammer in the emblem, keep on scrolling.
If you’re like me and enjoy looking around old graveyards, you’ve probably noticed that many of the older gravestones have intriguing symbols carved on them. Often, the symbol is the familiar Square and Compasses of Masonic regalia indicating that the person buried there was a Freemason.
Less familiar, however, are the symbols of other fraternal orders that flourished around the turn of the twentieth century, the golden age of American fraternalism, but are not as well known today, such as the Oddfellows
and Woodmen of the World.
  
For a more exaustive look at old gravestones, check out this page about gravestone symbolism. It includes not only familiar and obscure Masonic and other fraternal gravestone symbolism, but also other antiquated symbols whose meanings are no longer common knowledge.
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