Obelisks The History
The power of Freemasonry is all to evident when we see that they have erected obelisks in London, Paris, New York and of course towering over the White House is the Washington monument erected in honour of Freemason George Washington. Plus London, England and Vatican City.
The earliest Obelisks were known as ‘benben’ stones.
They were rough hewn and truncated, but they were tipped off by the pyramid ion shape which distinguishes obelisks from other monumental columns.
The spirit of the sun god was supposed to enter the stones at certain periods, and on these occasions human sacrifices were offered to it.
The victims were probably prisoners of war who had been captured alive, and foreigners, and when these failed the priests must have drawn upon the native population.
At On, king after king erected benbens in Ra’s honour, so that by 1300BC the city was full of obelisks.
The Roman author Pliny wrote about this city of On where kings ‘entered into a kind of rivalry in forming elongated blocks of stone, known as obelisks, and consecrated them to the divinity of the Sun’.
In ‘Our Phallic Heritage’ we are told that ‘All pillars or columns originally had a phallic significance, and were therefore considered sacred. Pan, the goat god and god of sensuality, was often represented as an obelisk. A former witch writes ‘The obelisk is a long pointed four sided shaft, the uppermost portion of which forms a pyramid.
The word ‘obelisk’ literally means ‘Baal’s shaft’ or Baal’s organ of reproduction’ (Page 341 Masonic and occult symbols illustrated. Dr. Cathy Burns)
To understand why the obelisk is so important to masons one has to understand the Masonic version of Egyptian mythology behind their rituals.
Osiris was a king of Egypt who married his sister Isis. His brother ‘Set’ wished to usurp the throne and so plotted his death. He tricked Osiris into climbing into a golden chest. As soon as he was inside, Set nailed down the lid and flung the chest into the Nile. It was carried off to Byblos in Syria where it came to rest against a small Tamarisk tree or Acasia tree, with the dead Osiris still inside. Isis found out what Set had done to Osiris, so she set off to find her husband.
A vision led her to Byblos, where she recovered his body and took it back to Egypt.
Alas! Set stole it and tore it into fourteen pieces, which he scattered throughout Egypt to prevent Osiris coming to life again. Isis recovered all but one of the pieces – the penis – and gave Osiris a fit burial. Their son, Horus, avenged him by slaying Set.
Another son, Anubis, resurrected Osiris with the ‘lion grip’
Having triumphed over the grave, Osiris now reigns as king and judge of the so called dead.
The piece of Osiris that Isis never recovered was the penis, which Set had thrown into the Nile where it was eaten by fish. Ever resourceful, Isis manufactured an artificial organ around which the Egyptians established a cult or festival.
From this it is a small step to the conclusion that the benben or obelisk was itself a phallic symbol. Whether of osiris , Ra or fertility in general, it was a symbol of fatherhood ‘The rock that begot’
To Freemasons groping for mystic enlightenment in the 1800’s the obelisk was the only architectural symbol of Osiris still in existence. And if, as some Masonic historians claim, Hiram Abiff is really Osiris reborn there could be no greater proof of Masonic ascendancy in the modern world than Egyptian Obelisks thrust by masons into the heart of the West’s great cities.
These would also symbolize Boaz and Jachim, the twin pillars which masons claim were built in front of Solomon’s temple, in imitation of two obelisks at the entrance of Egyptian temples.
Scripture
This is a sample of scripture relating to sacred pillars – sometimes translated as obelisks
You shall not bow down to their elohiym’s (g-ds), nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. Exodus 23:24
But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images Exodus 34:13
You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am YAHUAH your ELOHIYM Leviticus 26:1
But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars Deut 7:5
And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their elohiym’s (g-ds) and destroy their names from that place Deut 12: 3-4
London
The Egyptian obelisk is erected alongside the Thames on Victoria Embankment — a less glorious site than Parliament Square, which some worthies had suggested but which had been ruled out because of the damage which the obelisk’s 186 tons might do to underground gas and sewer pipes. For his massive expenditure Erasmus Wilson received a knighthood.
Various items were encased in the obelisk’s new pedestal: a box of hairpins, a portrait of Queen Victoria, a shilling razor and chapter 3 verse 16 of the Gospel of St John in 215 languages: For G-d so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
As this was buried out of sight, posterity might find the inscriptions on the surface of the obelisk more eloquent. These spoke of the Sun G-d Ra, of Horus and of Osiris: another G-d’s son which gave believers everlasting life.
New York
The obelisk arrived in New York in July 1880. A site was finally agreed — in Central Park near the Metropolitan Museum — and a ceremony to fit the occasion was arranged for 9 October.
This was a brazenly Masonic affair. Nine thousand Freemasons marched with bands through the streets to Greywacke Knoll where Jesse Anthony, the Grand Master of New York Masons, laid the 7-ton cornerstone.
After extolling Egypt as the birthplace of science, astronomy, literature and art, he told his enthralled audience that Masons needed to revise their thinking on the origins of their order: ‘There can be no question but that in the secret societies of Egypt are to be found some elements now embraced in the principles or symbolism of Masonry.’
It took another four months to drag the obelisk from its landing stage to its 50—ton pedestal, also shipped from Alexandria.
When it was finally erected in January i88x, the tune of Martin Luther’s hymn ‘Ein Feste Burg’ was sung with specially written words, whose significance no Mason could miss:
Great G-d, to Whom since time began,
The world has prayed and strives
Maker of stars, and earth, and man —
To thee our praise is given!
Here by this ancient Sign
Of Thine own Light Divine,
We lift to Thee our eyes,
Thou Dweller of the skies —
Hear us, 0 G-d in Heaven!
For some Masonic enterprises, an original Egyptian benben was not good enough. Since 1848 an obelisk had been going up in Washington, DC, to honour America’s founding President, George Washington, who had been a Freemason.
His funeral in 1799 had been conducted according to Masonic rites. The coffin had been draped with a Masonic apron given by a brother revolutionary and Mason, the Marquis de Lafayette, and the many Masons present each cast a sprig of acacia’. to symbolize both Osiris’ resurrection and Washingtons imminent resurrection in the realm where Osiris presides.
Vatican
In front of the Vatican stands the very same obelisk that once stood in Egypt. Ralph Woodrow explains: “The very same obelisk that once stood at the ancient temple which was the centre of Egyptian paganism, now stands before the mother church of Romanism!
This seems like more than mere coincidence.
The red granite obelisk of the Vatican is itself 83 feet high (132 feet high with its foundation) and weighs 320 tons.
In 1586, in order to centre it in front of the church in St.Peter’s Square, it was moved to its present location by order of Pope Sixtus V Of course moving this heavy obelisk – especially in those days – was a very difficult task. Many movers refused to attempt the feat, especially since the pope had attached the death penalty if the obelisk was dropped and broken! Finally a man by the name of Domenico Fontana accepted the responsibilty.
With 45 winches, 160 horses, and a crew of 800 workmen, the task of moving began. The date was September 10th 1586. Multitudes crowded the extensive square. While the obelisk was being moved, the crowd, upon penalty of death, was required to remain silent. But after the obelisk was successfully erected, there were the sounds of hundreds of bells ringing, the roar of cannons, and the loud cheers of the multitude’
Source:
https://www.christian-restoration.com/fmasonry/obelisks.htm
