From: Azzfuck_33@inbred.invalid   
      
   On 2024-03-21, Jimmy_J  wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   > Nimrod and the Scottish Rite   
   >   
   >   
   > The DoubleHeaded Eagle:   
   > Scottish Rite Freemasonry's Veneration of Nimrod   
   > Much has been written about the symbols of Freemasonry.   
   > To some, they are simply the emblems of a   
   > fraternal organization that promotes fellowship, good will,   
   > kindness, loyalty, tolerance, and brotherly   
   > love.  Others see clues pointing to an esoteric mystery   
   > religion that seeks to establish a New World Order.   
   >   
   > Without opening a debate over the proper interpretation   
   > of centuries old arcania, it can be shown, through their own words   
   > and symbols, that Scottish Rite Freemasonry honors perhaps the   
   > greatest rebel against God--the greatest human rebel,   
   > at least--in all of history.   
   >   
   > Symbols are, simply put, images that represent ideas.   
   > They are as simple as traffic signs and can be as complex as   
   > a symbol's creator wishes it to be.  They are everywhere.   
   > In our multilingual world, text--itself a symbol representing   
   > sounds--is increasingly being replaced with images that communicate   
   > important concepts such as "no left turn", "men's room",   
   > or the types of payment accepted at the checkout.   
   >   
   > The sporting world, for example, is full of symbols.   
   > Athletic jerseys, helmets, and stadia are covered with symbols   
   > intended to inspire confidence and loyalty in fans or fear   
   > and trembling in the hearts of rivals.  In the business world,   
   > symbols represent strength, compassion, friendliness, professionalism,   
   > and a host of other attributes to shape a company's image.   
   >   
   > Symbols are employed because they work.  The human mind associates   
   > the characteristics of an image with the entity to which it is   
   > attached.  A university athletic department wishing to convey the   
   > sense of being a fearsome opponent might choose to brand itself with   
   > the image of a powerful, snarling tiger in midleap.  Certainly   
   > that communicates a much different impression than an image of a   
   > sleeping tiger cub.   
   >   
   > Or the marketing department for an automaker might choose   
   > to advertise a new model with images of the product zipping around   
   > a series of sharply curved mountain roads, but they almost   
   > certainly would never launch a campaign with video of the car   
   > being towed into a repair shop.   
   >   
   > It is safe to say that people and organizations choose symbols   
   > that represent characteristics or ideals that they consider desirable.   
   >   
   > So what about the symbols of Freemasonry?   
   >   
   > Much has been made of the basic square and compass surrounding the   
   > capital letter G, the pillars Boaz and Jachin, the checkered floor,   
   > the beehive, and the rest.  Much of the analysis of the symbolism of   
   > Freemasonry is necessarily speculative.  And frankly, some of what   
   > is presented on the Internet about Freemasonry is fanciful at best.   
   >   
   > Even a brief review of Masonic symbols is well beyond the scope of   
   > this piece.  We will focus on just one--the doubleheaded eagle that   
   > represents the highest degrees of Scottish Rite Freemasonry.   
   > We'll examine what Scottish Rite Freemasons themselves say about   
   > this symbol and what it represents.  And then we will simply ask   
   > whether an organization that chooses such a symbol is one to which   
   > a serious, thinking Christian should belong.   
   >   
   > The author is aware that there are different paths Freemasons may   
   > choose if they want to advance beyond the three basic levels of the   
   > Blue Lodge.  In the United States, the main appendant bodies to   
   > Freemasonry are the York Rite, more correctly called the American   
   > Rite,1 and the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, or simply the   
   > Scottish Rite.  In simple terms, the York Rite is considered the   
   > "Christian" path of Freemasonry while the Scottish Rite holds a more   
   > tolerant attitude, requiring only that its members profess faith in   
   > some deity.2   
   >   
   > Men may belong to both organizations, so while there are differences   
   > in philosophy and emphasis, there is at least a degree of fraternity   
   > that exists between the York and Scottish rites.   
   >   
   > The 32nd Degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, the highest degree   
   > one can attain in the rite (the 33rd Degree is honorary, conferred on   
   > about 1.5% of Scottish Rite Freemasons)3, is represented by a symbol   
   > wellknown in Europe since the Crusades, a bicephalous (twoheaded) eagle.   
   > Nations and royal houses have used the emblem, including the Holy Roman   
   Empire,   
   > the House of Habsburg, and the ruling houses of what eventually became   
   Russia.   
   > It was resurrected by the Russian Federation in 1993 during the   
   > administration of President Boris Yeltsin.   
   >   
   > However, the doubleheaded eagle was a royal insignia in the Ancient   
   > Near East for centuries before the arrival of Crusaders.  It has been   
   > known since the late 19th century that the Hittites used the doubleheaded   
   > eagle as a royal motif.  Examples of the bicephalous eagle are found at   
   > sites in Turkey dating from the 18th through 13th centuries B.C.4   
   > It appears that the image of the twoheaded eagle originated with   
   > the Hittites in Anatolia and spread from there to Europe, India,   
   > and Asia over the next three thousand years.   
   >   
   > Scottish Rite Freemasons, however, claim that the symbol is even older,   
   > that it is "the oldest Royal Crest in the World,"5 nearly two thousand   
   > years older than the earliest representations known to archaeologists.   
   >  According to various Masonic publications, the doubleheaded eagle originated   
   > in the Sumerian city of Lagash "a thousand years before the Exodus from   
   Egypt,"6   
   > or perhaps even as far back as "five thousand years ago,"7 or   
   > circa 3000 B.C.--approximately 1300 years before the oldest known Hittite   
   artifact.   
   >   
   > Since this link is apparently unknown to archaeologists, or at least   
   > considered unworthy of much attention, the obvious question is,   
   > why do Scottish Rite Freemasons identify themselves in this way?   
   >   
   > Lagash, located northwest of the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates   
   > rivers, was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East and played   
   > an important role in the history of Mesopotamia.  It was the center of one   
   > of the first verifiable empires in history, conquering all of Sumer around   
   > 2500 B.C.  Interestingly, Lagash filled a power vacuum left by the decline   
   > of Uruk, which the Bible informs us was the "beginning of [Nimrod's]   
   kingdom."8   
   >   
   > The religious center of Lagash was a temple called the Eninnu9 devoted   
   > to the god Ningirsu, or Ninurta (Nin Ur, or "God of War").  Ninurta   
   > remained popular in the cosmology of Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria   
   > for millennia two Assyrian kings were named TukultiNinurta,   
   > and Ashurnasirpal II built a temple to Ninurta in his new capital   
   > city of Calah around 880 B.C.  Several hundred years later,   
   > during the NeoBabylonian and early Persian empires, the character of   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)