The Influence Of Astrology On The Early Speculative Craft Of Freemasonry
Hey, You’ve Got Your Astrology In My Freemasonry.
In the 21st century, you say the word ‘astrology’ and most Freemasons roll their eyes and imagine pseudoscientific, quantum new agers and blissed-out, crystal-gazing hippies goofing around with quasi-astronomical data in order to tell fortunes. And that’s largely accurate on the surface, I guess. But what if I told you that the timing for the formation of the United Grand Lodge of England was astrologically elected? Or that some of the earliest speculative Masons were indeed astrologers? And that there are several vestiges of astrological symbolism in the Craft?
I’m not trying to influence anyone’s opinion on the efficacy of astrology but, regardless of your position, it is a fact that astrology fit squarely into the Aristotelian/Ptolemaic paradigm that dominated cosmology for the better part of 2,000 years. That is to say, an astrological perspective was accepted for far longer than our current cosmological worldview, and it wasn’t until the end of the 17th century until its influence and standing in the sciences began to wane; astrology certainly had ample time to make an indelible impact on the sciences. Over the centuries, many luminaries in astronomy had also been astrologers; the likes of Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei readily come to mind.
Cryptic Astrological Allusions.
Early speculative Freemason and founding fellow of the Royal Society, Elias Ashmole, was also an ardent astrologer, alchemist and, according to De Quincey, “a zealous Rosicrucian”. It is incontestable that the early speculative Lodges of accepted Masons (i.e., those who were not actual stonemasons) in the 17th century were populated by a mix of Rosicrucians, alchemists and astrologers, among the royalty, intellectuals and natural philosophers of the day. There is, in fact, evidence of the early astrological influence in some of the Masonic material from this period, and well into the 19th century, such as zodiacal glyphs on Royal Arch tracing boards, the symbolic depiction of the four fixed signs of the zodiac (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio & Aquarius) on the Royal Arch banner, and myriad vestiges elsewhere cryptically deposited.
However, there is one factor, in particular, to which I would like to draw your attention: the inception chart for the formation of the UGLE, dated June 24th, 1717. I am all but convinced that this date and time was elected as being astrologically auspicious vis-à-vis the aims of the speculative Craft, and I would like to illustrate just a few of the many points that have caused me to reach this conclusion.
Was The Inception Date Of Freemasonry Elected?
First, the obvious: June 24th is the Feast Day of St John the Baptist, patron saint of Freemasonry whose feast falls in very close proximity to the Summer Solstice, when the Sun is at its greatest strength, annual “High Twelve”, the beauty and glory of the day, at the keystone position of the Royal Arch of the Heavens. This can’t be a coincidence – this was elected. The day of the week was a Thursday, ruled by Jupiter the King, in his expansiveness and beneficence. The Sun was conjunct Jupiter at the Midheaven, cazimi (“in the heart of the Sun”), which is also very auspicious because Jupiter is exalted in Cancer. Mercury (Hermes) and Venus (Aphrodite) were also exactly conjunct in Cancer at the Midheaven, forming the union of opposites resulting in the Herm-Aphrodite, speaking to the Fraternity’s Hermetic and alchemical leanings. The Ascendant was “on the level” in Libra (Latin, meaning “the scales; balance”). The Part of Fortune was in Leo (royalty) on the 11th house of societies and humanitarianism, signifying the freethinking inclinations of the Craft.
While this may sound like abstruse, specialized vernacular to most – I can assure you that an astrologer would see the significance here; significance all but precluding the possibility of chance. This is as clear an example of an electional chart as one is likely to find. It is also noteworthy that there are certain astrological features in the inception chart of the UGLE echoed in the July 4th, 1776 Sibly chart for the United States that are very intriguing – but that is a story for another time.
