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| By Sholeh Patrick |
Symbol raises questions
The best character trait of a movie is its oxymoronic nature: safe escapism. Add a little mystery behind an everyday image and viola: a box-office smash.
Combine a treasure hunt, conspiracy theory, historical mystery, the smart underdog beating the bad guy in some classic chase scenes, and it's clear why "National Treasure" has grossed $133 million so far. It's no Academy winner, but a fun ride with an intriguing main idea: a centuries-old, complex set of clues to a treasure to beat all treasures, on nothing less than THE national treasure itself: the Declaration of Independence, protected literally to the death by its original group of Masonic knights.
Cool.
The recurring imagery in the film is none other than the mysterious, very real and much talked about "all-seeing eye" on the pyramid which lies on the back of the $1 bill. Far beyond the movie, the symbol itself is the center of everything from mild curiosities and historical explanations going back before the founding fathers, to secret societies focused on the eye. Throw in an alien world, and you get the picture.
Some say the eye represents an obvious advertisement of a secret society that quietly runs the country. The conspirator-genius idea is that the more obvious they make themselves, the more invisible they are.
Uh-huh.
Another thought is what it actually says if you read the fine print on the bill itself: "Annuit Coeptis -- Novus Ordo Seclorum. The Great Seal."
Quite simply, the eye pyramid is the official Great Seal of the United States, established by Congress on June 20, 1782. The pyramid is incomplete, they wrote, because so is the work of building our country and making it great.
The "Annuit Coeptis" and other Latin motto were suggested by Charles Thompson, secretary of Congress and designer of the final seal. It means providence has favored our undertakings. "Novus ordo seclorum" means "a new order of the ages" and is said to have come from the poet Virgil.
What makes it all even more interesting is that the eye on the pyramid is the symbol of Freemasonry, a society much older than our government. Because of the Masonic secrecy, no one is sure exactly how many founding fathers were Masons, but history seems sure of at least Masons Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Ben Franklin. Franklin and Jefferson were part of the committee that designed the seal. In any case, historical documents described the idea of Egyptian symbolism in general being very popular back then.
While the Masonic connection is much discussed in recent history, I didn't find evidence of any thought of Freemasonry in connection with the dollar bill when it was designed. Explanations of the seal in this century tend to portray it as either a creative symbol of democratic ideals or, in the case of extreme religious writings, a plot to destroy Christianity by George Washington and his pals.
Even weirder are those who connect the pyramid's eye to the Illuminati, a group that may or may not exist. If they do, the conspiracy types say they are the puppet masters behind everything, i.e., world domination. If you're a baloney fan, check out the cult classic "Illuminatus!" by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea from the 1970s.
Lunch meat or destiny, it's great film fodder.
Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Send e-mail to sholehjo@hotmail.com.
