The act of U.S. Congress of the old Confederation, passed June 14, 1777. declared the inaugurating the stars and stripes, “That the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” (United States Congressional serial set, Volume 1276)
Approximately 5 years later it was on this day for the summer solstice, June 20, 1782, when Congress officially adopted the secret design for the U.S. Great Seal by Irishman, Charles Thomson. Over the next five years, more secret symbols were placed in the design such as an olive branch representing peace was placed in the ‘right talon’ (not a claw) of the Phoenix and a bundle of 13 arrows in the ‘left talon’ representing war.
Over the head of the Phoenix, there appear the 13 stars that are arranged in rows of 1-4-3-4-1, forming a six-pointed star. This original design was officially adopted as the National Seal in 1787.
Please note, the placement of these symbols in the talons is important.
The question we must all ask, what do these secret symbols mean and what was this a “new constellation” the Congress was speaking of?
In the 1820 passports prepared by U.S Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, we can find the Phoenix of Adams and the 13 stars were arranged in the form of a lyre. We may find some clues like the Phoenix of Adams held in its beak the constellation Lyra. (representing a new constellation)
The US Seal which now has the alleged shield looks almost exactly the same as the constellation Lyra minus the “Missing Symbol” – The Lyre.
John Adams, subsequently President of the United States, the father of John Quincy Adams, who was also a President of the United States, was chairman or president of the Board of War in 1777. In possession of his family, as I was informed by his grandson, the Hon. Charles Francis Adams, is an heirloom, a seal representing an eagle holding in his beak the lyre of Orpheus, an old constellation of thirteen stars, these stars radiating into a circle of thirteen stars, with the motto;
“Nunc sidera ducit, “Now it leads the stars,” quoted from the description of the lyre of Orpheus in the Astronomicon of Manilius.”
Through the harmony of his lyre Orpheus is represented as having silenced the vigilance of the regions of Pluto, Hades, or theShades, returned to earth, and led trees and rocks, vivified by the magic of his lyre, to follow where he led. Deified as a constellation of thirteen stars, his lyre was said to lead these celestial bodies, as it had silenced those of Hades and led the animate and inanimate bodies terrestrial, and whirls the immense orb of the world in its revolutions.”
Here is another old image of the Phoenix with Lyre from an old U.S. passport from the 1800’s. It is unmistakable.
If you think I might be mistaken, look for the Double stars in Lyra. Epsilon forms one corner of a roughly equilateral triangle with Vega and Lyra. The Summer Triangle is a large star pattern made of 3 bright stars in 3 separate constellations. Look for it ascending in the east on in the evening of June.(EarthSky)
What are the origins of the symbols on the U.S. Great Seal?
If we go back in time to the birth of Western Civilization, we will find that the symbol of the Lyre was the Ancient national symbol of the Cretans.
The first Lyra was said to be modeled after a bow and arrow which makes sense since the Cretans were well known as the world’s most famous Archers. It was the most popular musical instrument on the island of Crete and in the world for thousands of years.
Diodorus Siculus said the Lyra invented on the Mediterranean island of Crete. History later validates this claim by Siculus with the earliest picture of a lyre with seven strings that appears in the famous sarcophagus of Hagia Triada (a Minoan settlement in Crete), which was used during the Mycenaean occupation of Crete (1400 BC).
The Cretans (Phoenicians, Ionians, Argives, and Minoans) also had laws concerning music, and for many ages, they played the harp for their kings, queens, healing, entertainment, and for their military marches. For this divine reason, the harp would become one of the main symbols for these people who we know of by the names of the Cretans, Phoenicians, Ionians, Minoans, Arcadians, Atlanteans, Persians, Greek Hellenes, Hebrews, Scythians, Saxons, Angles, Irish, Picts, and Celts.
They would leave their symbols such as the Lyre forever all over the globe in the lands they had conquered, including Ireland and America.
One of the founders of the ancient Gnostic mysteries of Orphism, and possibly the mythical Orpheus himself was said to be a Cretan man named Epimenides Gnosis (Greek: Ἐπιμενίδης), whose tattooed body and skin were held venerable by the ancient Spartans because it was said to reveal “secret things.” Epimenides had lived in the 7th century B.C. and was born in the city of Gnosis, which today is called the city of Knossos.
Plutarch tells us that Epimenides was almost like a messiah to the Greeks at the time, because he had purified Athens and the only reward he would accept was a branch of the sacred olive, and a promise of perpetual friendship between Athens and Knossos. Plutarch had written;
“Epimenides purified Athens after the pollution brought by the Alcmeonidae, and that the seer’s expertise in sacrifices and reform of funeral practices were of great help to Solon in his reform of the Athenian state. The only reward he would accept was a branch of the sacred olive, and a promise of perpetual friendship between Athens and Knossos (Plutarch, Life of Solon, 12; Aristotle, Ath. Pol. 1).”
It was Orpheus’s lyre that was triumphant over the forests and deserts, the deities, and the Furies. Just like Epimenides was triumphant over the plague in Athens.
Here is an old image of Orpheus with his Lye and what looks like a Phoenix in the upper left corner.
For his Great Work, Epimenides would be immortalized in the Heavens as the Thirteen Stars of Orpheus. The Lyre of Orpheus, received into the heavens after his death.
The legend of Lyra Constellation tells the story of Orpheus, who was given a harp by the god Apollo. Lyra constellation lies in the northern sky, which is best seen in June through October in the northern hemisphere and is at its highest in the midnight sky in the months around June. It is best known for its brightest star, Vega and also Arcturus.
This is where we get the story of the Cretan Gnostic Princess and Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, which is an almost perfect semi-circle of stars. Ariadne was immortalized in the halls of Gnosis and Freemasonry for helping her lover, Theseus who was the mythical founder-king of Athens to conquer the Minotaur and deliver him out of the Labyrinth by the means of a Thread.
For doing so, she was also known as the “Mistress of the Labyrinth“, As noted on the Linear B inscription from Knossos, “to all the gods, honey… to the mistress of the labyrinth honey.”
To put another Masonic plot on this story, we find that Ariadne had acquired the assistance of one of the first known Freemasons in history, Daedalus. He is one of the most famous artists and builders of Crete that were the forerunners to the Grecian building communities and Roman Collegia. The very same ancient guilds which modern Freemasonry descends.
Later Ariadne was immortalized in the heavens by being assigned a small constellation in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere of seven stars called, Corona Borealis which in classical mythology signifies the crown given by the god Dionysus to the Gnostic princess Ariadne and set by him in the heavens. Its brightest stars form a semicircular arc. Its Latin name, inspired by its shape, means “northern crown”.
So, we have the Lyre, 13 Stars of Orpheus and Olive Branch as verifiable symbols originating with the Ancient Gnostics and First Freemasons in Crete. That is interesting given the fact that the Masons helped found the United States of America and I believe the first Freemasons hail from Crete.
Conicidence or Divine Providence?
What does a ‘Great Seal’ mean?
The meaning of the word ‘seal’, when used in the context of a national symbol such as the Great Seal of the United States, would mean “a symbol and or thing regarded as a legal confirmation or guarantee of something or authenticity.” Therefore, we can say it is a “legal seal” governed by law.
With that said, when a country such as the U.S.A decides to “create a legal seal”, they must do so under the “ancient international laws of heraldry.” We can find that the meaning of the word heraldry is derived from the word ‘herald’, which means, “an official messenger bringing news; a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen.”
Heraldry means the practice of devising, granting, displaying, describing, and recording coats of arms and heraldic badges. In each country in the world, you will find symbols that represent, and/or as a form of identification of the regime in control of the land and or a nation.
This is why the Chinese teacher, politician, and philosopher, Confucious once famously said, “Signs and symbols rule the world, not words nor laws.”
However, I would respectfully disagree with the Chinese philosopher because the facts are symbols, seals, and coats of arms are the world’s most important “legal symbols” that have been used since Ancient Egypt and the land of the Hittites. The Egyptians and Hittites adopted their own unique “ideograms” or symbols to reflect their particular races, ideologies, religions, laws, Gods and or spirits they associated themselves with.
As time went on, the inheritors of these races absorbed much of their culture and DNA into the very fabric of their own societies such as the Ethiopians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans who all continue this tradition of heraldry till this very day.
Now that we know that our national seal is a “legal symbol that identifies the regime in control of our nation,” and we know that this regime “Trusts in God,” we can then study the symbols contained in the seal to discover not only what they mean, but what they represent and who or what “regime is in control of our nation”
We can find the importance of seals in the New Testament Bible which in the West is our Divine and Sacred Laws for Christians. The bible is called the New Testament because it is a legal document much like a will or testament is today which means “a person, the testator, expresses their wishes as to how their property is to be distributed at death, and names one or more persons, the executor, to manage the estate until its final distribution.”
For example, in the Book of Numbers, the children of Israel were commanded to gather beneath these emblems and declare their pedigrees ie: races for it is said in 2 Timothy 2:19; “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal – The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”
Jesus was from the Tribe of Judah (Idea) whose main symbol of heraldry was the lion and we later find the lions, well actually what are called in French “Passant Gardant” with William the Conqueror (King of England),” in which all American presidents are said to be descended from. Our first President who was also a Freemason, George Washington is the 19th Great-grandson to William the Conqueror.
The Lion and leopard or the Lion ‘passant gardant’ which are now the symbols of the royal majesty in the coat of arms of Wales, England, and Estonia are passant gardant. In French blazon this charge is called a léopard; a lion rampant gardant is a léopard lionné and a lion passant with his head in profile is a lion léopardé.
FIAT LUX! Let us all open our Holy Bible to the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes and make sure both points of the compass are elevated above the square with the “G” in the ‘middle.’
The lion has always been the main symbol of the Gnostic mysteries. 33rd degree Freemason and author, Manly P. Hall had written in The Lost Keys of Freemasonry;’
“The picture shows how the grip of the Lion’s Paw was given in the Pyramid Mysteries. The priest wore over his head the mask of a lion. By this grip, the spirit in man, long buried in the sepulcher of substance, is raised to life, and the candidate goes forth as a builder entitled to the wages of an initiate.”
Today, we find the “Eagle (ie: Phoenix) of the Caesars” as evidence of the antiquity of heraldry itself with the National Symbol of several countries all around the world representing their noble status and descent.
Yes, including the United States of America…
Hence, the official motto of the United States of America – “In God We Trust.”
Let me please add that when we say the “Eagle (ie: Phoenix) of the Caesars”, we mean “Julius and Augustus Caesar.” Julius Caesar was known as “Divus Iulius” (Latin for “Julius is God”), and his son Augustus would be given the title of Divi Filius (Latin for the “Son of a God”).
In Fragments of a Faith Forgotten: Some Short Sketches Among the Gnostics, George Robert Mead had written about the event beautifully, “As the honorific inscriptions said of the birthday of the Roman Emperor Augustus, so said after them all Christians of the natal day of Jesus.”
“Jesus of Nazareth, the Grand Master of our order, appeared at a time when the world was in the utmost Disorder, and among a people who for ages had groaned under the yolk of Bondage. He taught them the lessons of reason. To be more effective, he took the aid of Religion–of opinions which were current–and in a very clever manner, he combined his secret doctrines with the popular religion, and with the customs which lay to his hand.”
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.
Thank you for this! It’s awesome! As a descendant of the founders I knew that they are connected to something greater. It comes from the Lyrans.