Afterword

Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren was arguably the greatest architect of his time, and he played a significant role in rebuilding the city after the Great Fire of London in 1666. He was responsible for building 52 churches, including his masterpiece, St Paul’s Cathedral. Wren read Latin and Aristotelian physics at the University of Oxford, but his fields of interest extended into astronomy, anatomy, mathematics, as well as architecture. He was a founder of the Royal Society and held the presidency from 1680 to 1682.

Wren’s connection with Freemasonry has been hotly debated. There is a long tradition that Wren was the Master of the Lodge of Antiquity Number 2, one of the four founding lodges of the first Grand Lodge created on 24 June 1717. The Lodge of Antiquity Number 2 would meet at the Goose and Gridiron pub in St Paul's Churchyard, just yards away from Wren’s cathedral masterpiece.

The Designs for the Rebuilding of London after the Great Fire

Soon after the Great Fire of London, both Christopher Wren and John Evelyn, the diarist, brought forward radical plans to King Charles II for the rebuilding of the capital. Both designs incorporated esoteric symbolic motifs, but Evelyn’s design in particular, using plazas and interconnecting streets, shows a strong resemblance to the Kabbalistic ‘Tree of Life’ motif. Both plans were abandoned due to the cost and the need to rapidly house the large number of inhabitants left homeless by the fire.

The London Church Alignment

Five of London’s oldest churches are arranged perfectly in a straight line. Centuries of rebuilding and city planning have obscured this extraordinary alignment, which follows no discernible road pattern.

The Monument to the Great Fire of London

The Great Fire of London of 1666 raged for five days and destroyed four-fifths of the city (and a further 63 acres beyond the walls), including the great St Paul’s Cathedral and 87 churches. The Monument was built to celebrate the rebuilding of the city, and it is the tallest isolated stone column in the world at a height of 202 feet (62 metres). The column also stands a distance of 202 feet from the site where the Great Fire reputedly began, in the baker’s shop of Thomas Farynor in Pudding Lane.

The brainchild of the architectural and scientific geniuses Sir Christopher Wren and Dr Robert Hooke, the column’s construction started in 1671 and was completed in 1677. Facing in the four cardinal directions around the base of the Monument are four large panels. An extraordinary relief sculpture by Caius Gabriel Cibber occupies the west panel. This coded plaque depicts the rebuilding of London with King Charles II and King James II (then Duke of York) accompanied by a strange collection of symbolic figures.

Cibber was known as a prominent Freemason, and hidden elements in his composition evoke esoteric themes. The compass, the setsquare, and the beehive (a symbol of a secret brotherhood or an esoteric school) are all present. An enigmatic female figure stands at the centre of the composition. In her hand is a staff, which she raises to the sky, invoking the blessings of Heaven from above. The staff terminates in a hand with an eye at the centre of its palm, indicating its divine nature.

Lincoln’s Inn Fields

A tradition existed in Victorian London that the square of Lincoln’s Inn Fields was laid out to be exactly the size of the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Isaac Newton and the Great Pyramid of Giza

Isaac Newton was obsessed with securing accurate measurements of the Great Pyramid, believing that important sacred knowledge could be derived from them. He published an obscure work entitled ‘A Dissertation upon the Sacred Cubit of the Jews and the Cubits of several Nations: in which, from the Dimensions of the Greatest Pyramid, as taken by Mr John Greaves, the ancient Cubit of Memphis is determined’. 

The Great Pyramid of Giza & the Ziggurat of Ur

There are three major chambers inside the Great Pyramid. One of these chambers, known as the ‘Queen's Chamber’, is exactly halfway between the north and south faces of the pyramid. The southern shaft pointing from the Queen’s Chamber is said to be aligned to the star Sirius.

The Ziggurat of Ur is a massive stepped pyramid that dominated the ancient city of Ur (close to the town of Nasiriyah in modern-day Iraq). The city of Ur is mentioned in the Book of Genesis and is the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham.

Known to conspiracy theorists around the world, the reverse side of the US $1 bill depicts an Egyptian pyramid and a Masonic all-seeing eye.

St John the Baptist & the Freemasonry Connection

St John the Baptist is held as a major figure in the Christian gospels, the Qur’an, the Bahai faith, and Mandaeism. Further evidence outside these religious narratives that John was a real person comes from the accounts of Josephus, a well-known 1st-century Jewish historian. John is described by all sources as a zealous holy man who lived out in the wilderness.

John was a cousin of Jesus Christ and the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who themselves were devout priests. John turned away from the priesthood in Jerusalem and instead chose to live an ascetic life separated from society. His clothing was made of camel hair, and he lived on a diet of honey and locusts.

By all accounts, he was a powerful preacher and repeatedly taught an uncompromising message of accountability before God and baptised believers. He is known as the person who first perceived Jesus as the Messiah and baptised him in the river Jordan. In the gospels of Matthew and Luke, Christ says of John, ‘Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist …’

John’s martyrdom is one of the most famous and strangely intriguing accounts in the Bible. After publicly denouncing King Herod’s incestuous marriage to his brother’s wife Herodias, John is arrested and imprisoned. Herodias persuades her daughter, Salome to dance before the King, and she beguiles him into granting her a favour. The infamous request was the Baptist’s head on a golden plate. Herod granted Salome’s wish, and John was beheaded.

While it might seem more logical for St Thomas—the patron saint of architects and builders—to be the patron saint of stonemasons too, John the Baptist and/or St John the Evangelist have been the patron saints of Freemason lodges in England and Scotland since the time of the Crusades. Significantly, the Feast of St John the Baptist was always celebrated in Europe by the Masonic lodges. When the Grand Lodge of England was created in 1717, St John the Baptist’s Day (June 24) was chosen as an auspicious day for the inauguration. Even today, every ‘blue’ or ‘craft’ lodge in the US is still dedicated with the words ‘Erected to God and dedicated to the Holy Saints John’. This practice stopped in England with the creation of the United Grand Lodge in 1813.

The Mandaeans: The ‘John Christians’

The Mandaeans are a small Gnostic religious group from the Middle East who venerate John the Baptist. Described by Marco Polo as ‘John Christians’, the Mandaeans were originally native speakers of a Semitic language called Mandiac. Following the Iraq war of 2003, the Iraqi community of Mandaeans were persecuted, and many fled to neighbouring countries. The religious practices of the Mandaeans involve initiation rites comprising secret signs and passwords, many of which have parallels with Templar and Masonic rituals.

Freemasons’ Hall

Freemasons’ Hall is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England and its 200,000 membership. Located in Great Queen Street on the edge of Covent Garden, the present hall is the third Masonic building constructed on the site. Freemasons’ Hall is the principal meeting place for the Masonic lodges in the London area.

The present Hall was built between 1927 and 1933 and occupies two and a quarter acres. Its striking art deco style was designed by Henry Victor Ashley and F. Winton Newman, and was built as a memorial to the Freemasons who died on active service during the First World War.

The Grand Temple dominates the interior of the building. It measures 120 feet long, 90 feet wide and 62 feet high. A pair of extraordinary bronze doors (each weighing one and a quarter tonnes) stand at the entrance to the Temple, which itself is adorned with numerous Masonic emblems and symbols.

During a bizarre ceremony on 14 July 1927, over 6,000 Freemasons gathered at the Royal Albert Hall to watch the Grand Master lay the foundation stone of the New Hall by means of an electrical relay. The laying of a ‘dummy’ stone was enacted at the meeting at precisely the same time that the real foundation stone was set in place at Great Queen Street.

The Masonic Temple at the Andaz Hotel

The Andaz Hotel, formerly The Great Eastern Hotel is a distinguished-looking redbrick building beside Liverpool Street station. Built in 1884 for the Great Eastern Railway Company, the hotel was designed by Charles and Edward Barry (the sons of Charles Barry, senior, who designed and oversaw the building of the Houses of Parliament).

The Great Eastern was one of the city’s original railway hotels, designed as a symbol of the rail company’s great power and wealth. The luxurious Great Eastern had such a grand reputation that it had its own train tracks inside Liverpool Street station for the delivery of goods, including sea water for its therapeutic salt-water baths. Following the widespread decline of train travel, the hotel turned into a dusty old relic of times gone by, until in 1990, when the designer and restauranteur Terence Conrad brought it back to life with an extravagant makeover. The hotel is now called the Andaz and is part of the Hyatt Hotel Group.

During Conrad’s restoration of the hotel, engineers started to notice a few discrepancies in the blueprints. According to the plans, a large additional antechamber was hidden behind an internal wall. Then, like something out of a Hollywood movie (or a thriller novel!), the incongruous section of wall was removed to reveal a vast and exquisitely decorated Masonic temple. The opulence of the room is breath-taking, as it is decked out in twelve types of Italian marble, complete with a stunning blue dome ceiling with zodiac detailing and a five-pointed ‘blazed star’. At either end is a mahogany throne with the Latin inscription Avdi veda tace (Hear, see, keep counsel) overhead.

The intrigue didn’t stop there, as not long after a second temple was discovered in the basement. This time, the Temple was decorated with Egyptian motifs complete with seating arranged around a marble chequerboard floor.

Canonbury Tower

Built on what are claimed to be pre-Roman foundations, this remarkably well-preserved brick tower is considered one of the oldest buildings in Islington. Currently, it houses a Masonic centre for research for the ‘study of mystical and esoteric traditions’. During the reign of King James I, the genius polymath Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) is said to have spent the last ten years of his life here.

Bacon was president of the Fraternity of the Rose Cross (also known as the Rosicrucians, a secret society whose doctrine was ‘built on the esoteric truths of the ancient past’). During his residency at Canonbury Tower, Bacon used the tower’s rooms for his Rosicrucian meetings. The tower’s carved oak panelling and fireplaces are said to be adorned with secret Masonic and Rosicrucian symbols. Bacon allegedly planted the mulberry tree that stands in the back garden.

Masonic Symbols

The pyramid, the five-pointed star, the beehive, the sun, the moon and stars motif, the Point Within the Circle, the compass and setsquare, and Euclid’s 47th proposition are all recognised Masonic symbols.

Temple Church

Lost amid the labyrinth of alleyways and courtyards of the Inns of Court is Temple Church, one of the oldest and most beautiful churches in London. It is one of just four round churches left in England (the other three being in Cambridge, Northampton and Little Maplestead in Essex). Built by the mysterious Knights Templar as their headquarters in England, Temple Church was sanctified in the presence of Henry II by Heraclius, the Crusader Patriarch of Jerusalem, on 10 February 1185.

The church has a very distinctive two-part design: the original Round (modelled after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the most sacred place of the Holy Land) and the Chancel (added in the 13th century).

Temple Church is the only Early Gothic church in the city, having survived the Great Fire of London. London’s master architect, Christopher Wren, carried out major restorations of the church in 1682. It was severely damaged in the Blitz and has since undergone numerous reconstructions.

Baphomet

Like so many of the stories about the Templar Knights, the events surrounding their final downfall are shrouded in mystery. The Templars’ great wealth and power made them a target for King Philip IV of France. Realising that he could only seize their estates if they were condemned as heretics, Philip, along with his puppet Pope Clement V, accused the Templars of numerous heinous acts, including spitting or trampling on the cross, worshipping demons, ridiculing the sacraments of the church, absolving each other of sins, secretly fraternising with Muslims, and encouraging homosexual acts between members. These were amongst the common accusations levelled by the inquisition on any enemies of the state.

However, during their trial, one charge emerged that was strangely unique to the Templars: it was claimed that the disgraced order secretly worshipped an object known as Baphomet. The descriptions of the Baphomet idol varied but seemed to centre on its being some form of head, sometimes with one face, sometimes with two; sometimes bearded, sometimes not; sometimes made of silver, and sometimes of wood. Due to the uniqueness of these descriptions and their persistence amongst the confessions of its members, some scholars believe that there might be a kernel of truth to this story.

The etymology of the name has been the topic of much speculation, and many theories have been put forward. Some scholars believe it is a corruption of the name of the Islamic prophet ‘Mahomet’, or Mohammed in English. During their time in the Holy Land, The Templars fought alongside the Moslem sect the ‘Assassins’ and would have been exposed to many Islamic beliefs and customs. Another theory is that Baphomet is really a marrying of two Greek words: baptw, meaning baptism, and mhtij, meaning wisdom. So perhaps the word points to a sort of ‘baptism of wisdom’.

Templecombe Head

The Templecombe Head is an unusual painted wooden panel depicting a disembodied head that is now displayed in the Church of St Mary in the village of Templecombe, Somerset. The panel has been carbon-dated to the 13th century and linked to the presence of the Knights Templar in the area. Many theories surround the subject of the portrait. One suggests that it may represent the severed head of St John the Baptist.

Royston Cave

Royston Cave is a man-made cave in Hertfordshire and thought to be the work of the Knights Templar. The walls of the cave are covered with religious carvings, including the famous seal of the knightly order of two knights sharing a horse, a depiction of John the Baptist, and mysterious motifs of concentric circles. It has been suggested that the cave was used as a secret chapel for the Templar Order following their suppression.

Abraxas

The bizarre creature of the Abraxas appears on many Templar seals. With the body of a man and the head of a cockerel, the figure of the Abraxas was revered by many Gnostic groups of the early Christian era.