Esoteric Architecture - Chicago
A few weeks ago,
Intuitive Cat and I went on a architectural symbolism safari throughout the South Loop of downtown Chicago.
One of the gems of our excursion was the beehive and ziggurat that sits atop of the Straus Building(soon to be Metropolitan Tower).
Intuitive Cat did some research on the the building's history and it's use of the beehive and ziggurat symbols.
Here's what he found:
Babylon alive and well in Chicago.
Straus Building - soon to be Metropolitan Tower
a step pyramid / ziggurat with a beehive (click for a transcript of a freemasonic talk on the symbolism of the beehive) on top.
Masonic Temples are often found to have both Ziggurat and Beehive motifs.
(although this was never 'officially' a freemasonic temple as far as i know)
here is also a link about Solomon's Temple which mentions the significance of the Ziggurat
from the emporis website about this building:
"The glass "beehive" ornament at the peak of the ziggurat holds a deep blue light, a prominent feature of Grant Park's night skyline. Before Christmas the light changes to green.
The 20-foot beehive beacon is supported by 4 stone bisons, which symbolize industriousness, thrift, and strength."
(what does the fourth stand for?)
"The beehive originally held 4 searchlights which shone in the 4 cardinal directions."
"The building was originally named after S.W. Straus & Co., a dealer of investment bonds and one of the leading financers of major real estate in Chicago during the late 19th and early 20th century."
found this interesting bit about S.W. Straus & Co.: (read it in context HERE)
William Randolph Hearst's motive in supporting Roosevelt was a matter of
urgent personal necessity. Hearst had repeatedly earned the enmity of
Rockefeller. In the late 1920's Hearst and Brisbane had expanded their real
estate holdings tremendously, financing them through S. W. Straus and Company
which they are reputed to have controlled. When the American Bank and
Mortgage Company, a competing real estate mortgage house affiliated with the
RockefellerMorgan interests, collapsed directly after the 1929 panic, Hearst
and Brisbane saw an opportunity to boost S. W. Straus and Company and their
bonds. They ran a running campaign which on one day demanded criminal
prosecution of the crude frauds perpetrated by the American Bond and Mortgage
Company, and on the following day called on the public to buy, as the safest
type of investment, S. W. Straus and Company bonds. "Never A Loss In Fifty
Years" was the slogan of the Straus Company that they hammered away in their
columns.
Some things seem so obvious once you SEE them. Don't forget to look up.
Labels: architecture, beehive, esoteric, occult, pyramid, symbols, ziggurat
Symbol in NYC building a history mystery
via
Yahoo! NewsNEW YORK - A final thrust of the crowbar cracked the wooden crate open, and the architect, the anthropologist and the mortar expert leaned in to look at the oddity that had drawn them to an out-of-the-way warehouse.
It was a 3-foot-by-10-foot section of timeworn brick wall, its predictable rows abruptly interrupted by three distinct, deliberate-looking triangular shapes. Once part of a warehouse, it now does nothing but raise questions.Full Article
Labels: architecture, new york, symbols
Theosophy and Platonic Solids
Last weekend, I visited the national center of the
Theosophical Society in America, specifically to check-out (pun intended) the
Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library and
Quest Book Shop. I was a bit surprised to find out that I have been living about 30 minutes away from this place for the last several years.
While taking pictures of the main entrance gate, I noticed that the two pillars were topped with a
Platonic solid. I found this to be quite interesting. The left pillar was capped with a
icosahedron and on the right pillar a
dodecahedron.
Two days later while reading Bob Frissell's
Something in This Book Is True..., I happened upon this paragraph:
"There is a new grid around Earth that is enabling this consciousness to come forth. More than 83,000 sacred sites around the planet, built in very specific places, were used by the ascended masters to create this grid. The process began 13,000 years ago and was completed on February 4, 1989. The grid is electromagnetic in nature, it is located about sixty miles above Earth, and its geometry is based on the pentagon, as well as a relationship between the dodecahedron and the icosahedron." -page 218
The T.S. website briefly explains the use of the Platonic solids on the pillars:
"...the gate's pillars are capped by two of the five Platonic solids, symbolizing the order inherent in the universe."
For me, the Olcott Memorial Library was awe-inspiring and for only $30 annually, visitors may borrow books and videos. I was stunned by the volume and selection of books offered there. Quest Book Shop was also impressive to me. Shit, you can even buy a hardcover version of Manly P. Hall's
Secret Teachings of All Ages there.
Labels: esoteric, metaphysic, occult, philosophy, speculation, symbols
Programmed Duality
Labels: computer, magic, speculation, symbols
Windows Cairo
Ever been curious as to what the "XP" in Windows XP meant? Some say it stands for eXPerience, but according to Wikipedia, Microsoft had a project code named "Cairo" from 1991 to 1996. It was to build technologies for a next generation operating system.
"Cairo was announced at the 1991 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference by
Jim Allchin.[1] It was demonstrated publicly (including a demo system for all attendees to use) at the 1993 Cairo/Win95 PDC.[2] Microsoft changed stance on Cairo several times, sometimes calling it a product, other times referring to it as a collection of technologies.[3] At its peak, Cairo was one of the largest groups at Microsoft and employed a majority of the company's senior engineering and design talent." LINK
Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة transliteration: Al-Qāhirah), which means "The Vanquisher" or "The Triumphant", is the capital city of Egypt.
Chi Rho
"The Chi-Rho /ˈkaɪ
roʊ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pronounced kahy-roh] emblem can be viewed as the first Christian Cross.
As a pre-Christian symbol, the Chi-ro signified good fortune. The Chi ro became an important Christian symbol when adopted by the Roman Emperor Constantine, representing the first two letters in the name of Christ- the Chi, or 'ch,' and Rho, or 'r.'
According to Church Father Eusebius, on the eve of the Battle of the Milvan Bridge, the Emperor saw the emblem in a dream, with the inscription, "By this sign, you shall conquer." According to the story, the battle was won. In return for the victory, Constantine erected Christian churches. Unfortunately, this story is very unlikely, as Constantine's conversion occured on his deathbed, if at all. In any case, the symbol was the standard of the Emperor's army, prominently displayed on the Emperor's labarum, or battle standard.
Before it became the monogram of Christ, the chi rho was the monogram of Chronos, the god of time, and an emblem of several solar deities.
The Chi-ro is also the origin of the tradition of abbreviating "Christ" in "christian" or "Christmas" to "X."
In Hebrew, Chi-Rho equates to Tav-Resh. The chi rho was used in hermetic alchemical texts to denote time." LINK
Labels: computer, occult, speculation, symbols, technology
A few weeks ago, Intuitive Cat and I went on a architectural symbolism safari throughout the South Loop of downtown Chicago.
