On the 4th of July, 1776, immediately after the declaration of independence, the “Continental Congress” appointed Freemasons Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and a mysterious man from Geneva Spain with a French name, Pierre Du Simitiere as artist and consultant to a committee to prepare a device for a Great Seal of the United States.
The word continental means “coming from or characteristic of mainland Europe or an inhabitant of mainland Europe” and that is exactly who this Continental Congress was. Also, an interesting note is that Pierre’s last name, Du Simitiere is not a common surname whatsoever, in fact, you will not find it anywhere!
Simitiere is derived from the French cimetière and Latin word cimeterium. In English this is “cemetary,” which originally meant “an area of asylum around the church.” The meaning was said to be passed from church Latin into French.
The Masonic committee lead by the famous Freemasons and this mysterious man had submitted their design which was said to be a mixture of political and religious images on the 10th of August 1776.
The Seal they proposed contained the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the harp of Ireland, the fleur-de-lys of France, the imperial eagle of Germany, the lion of Holland, two goddesses, one of Liberty, the other of Justice, with Pharaoh and Moses on the Red Sea. (United States Congressional serial set, Volume 1276).
It was truly, a religious international symbol representing the “Founding Fathers and their Founding Countries.” However, this first Masonic design of the Great Seal was not adopted by the Congress.
In 1782, Freemason William Barton had proposed a Phoenix in flames as the original Great Seal in America as a symbol of a renewed liberty. Eventually, the first design of the Great Seal of the United States would be attributed to Charles Thomson and was adopted immediately by Congress on June 20, 1782.
In Thompson’s old design of Seal, we can see what some people might think is an eagle but in reality, is the mythical purple bird of the ancient mysteries known as a Phoenix with a scroll in its beak with the 13 Latin letters, E Pluribus Unum, meaning in English, ” Out of Many, One”.
According to 33rd Degree Freemason and author, Manly P. Hall, the United States was founded by Masons trained in European mysticism. Hall had stated in his infamous book, The Secret Teachings of All Ages that the mysterious symbol mistakingly thought to be the American Eagle, in reality, is the Phoenix. (The Secret Teachings of All Ages – pages XC-XCI)
It is also important to note that the 13 stars and the number 13 has a significant meaning to the Masons but it does not mean what most people think it does. The common interpretation is that it represents the 13 colonies but that is not true.
Hall had said, “The significance of the mystical number 13, which frequently appears upon the Great Seal of the United States, is not limited to the number of the original colonies.” He had written in his book, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry – “These were the immortals to whom the term ‘phoenix’ was applied, and their symbol was the mysterious two-headed bird, now called an eagle, a familiar and little understood Masonic emblem .”
Please keep in mind as you read this article that Secret Society of the Freemasons played an instrumental part in the founding of our country so it is only natural that they left their secret symbols wherever performed their Craft and whatever important documents and monuments they worked on.
If we are to ask our ancient historians like the Father of History, Herodotus and the Roman Senator and Historian, Tacitus both claimed that the “first appearance of the Phoenix” began in the reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Sesostris (Seth, Sethos, Set I). Seth was the legendary king of ancient Egypt who led a military expedition into parts of Europe, as related by Herodotus. Manetho called him master of the Mediterranean and according to Diodorus Siculus (who calls him Sesoösis) and Strabo, he conquered the whole world.
The legend of the Phoenix was first told in the City of the Sun or in Greek, Heliopolis where the first written records were given to us by Herodotus in his work titled Euterpe. He had written how the Phoenix was first seen in Heliopolis during the reign of Pharaoh Seth (Seti, Suthy or Sesostris) and then in the reign of Amasis shortly after the days of Ptolemy.
Pharaoh Seth plays a prominent role as the main hero in the Book of the Dead. The most important temple in the City of the Sun at this time was the “Mansion of the Phoenix” or “Mansion of the Benben.” It has also been called the temple of the sun. In Utterance 600 of the Pyramid Texts speaks of Atum as you rose up, as the ben ben, in the Mansion of the Benu in Heliopolis (Hart, p.16).
It also important to note that the meaning of the symbol of the Phoenix was rebirth, and reincarnation and the color purple unique to this firebird has long been associated with royalty since time immemorial.
The 6th and 7th-century archbishop, Isidore of Seville had said the name of the Phoenix was derived from its purple-red hue, and was considered “the royal bird” and therefore also referred to as “the purple one”. In medieval Latin glossaries, the Phoenix is called ‘the purple one’ because it was ‘the royal bird’. The Latin word for purple is purpureous – meaning shining or splendid.
Thus we can say that the Purple Phoenix represents royalty…
It’s important to note that the Founders of our country were also involved in foreign politics.
For example, it was said that the designer of the original seal, Charles Thomson was an Irish-born Patriot and when they say patriot, they do not mean for the United States, they mean for the “Secret Masonic Continental Brotherhood.” After all, he was from Ireland and all the Founding Fathers had hailed from mostly European countries with secret associations and apparent royal connections and backers.
It was said that Thomson’s role as secretary to Congress was not limited to clerical duties and according to biographer Boyd Schlenther, Thomson “took a direct role in the conduct of foreign affairs.” In fact, all the Founding Fathers were involved in foreign affairs because these affairs were directly involved in the forming of the United States of America with the Great Seal being the most important “royal symbol” of this event
Over the next five years, more secret symbols of the Brotherhood were added to the Great Seal. I will discuss some of these in my next articles.
Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. He is a father, husband, author, martial arts black belt, and an expert in Gnosticism, the occult, and esotericism.
