Yearly Archives: 2024

Temple of Wisdom

What a complex and weird drawing from Rite des Sophisiens. Below it says: “du Temple de la Sagesse”, ‘Temple of Wisdom’. The “Ordre sacré des Sophisiens” (‘sacred order of Sophisiens’) was a proto (some say: pseudo) organisation of Egyptian Freemasonry in the first half of the 18th century in France.

Banner with Cow and Cat

Image from the Rite des Sophisiens, a proto (according to some: “pseudo”) Egyptian French order from the first half of the 18th century. On the banner we see a cow’s head and on top, is that a cat’s head?

Interlaced A’s

This appears to be an old emblem of the Order of the Amaranth. It can be found in MacKenzie’s Royal Masonic Cyclopedia (1877) with as description:

AMARANTH, ORDER OF THE, OR IMMORTALS.-An Equestrian Order, instituted by Queen Christina of Sweden, in 1653. Badge, two AA interlaced – in a laurel crown, surrounded by a label bearing the motto, Dolce nella memoria. Ribbons, white and crimson, shot or shaded blue. Jewel set with gold and diamonds. Knights 15-in number; ladies 15 in number; grandmistress, the Queen-altogether 31. The Knights, if on investiture, still bachelors, could not marry, and married Knights took an oath not to marry a second time. Sir Bulstrode Whitelock, Cromwell’s ambassador, was one of the first of this Order. The annual festival was held at the Epiphany.

Delta

The equilateral triangle, sometimes named “delta” after the Greek capital D is a somewhat widely used symbol within Freemasonry. MacKenzie (Royal Masonic Cyclopedia, 1877) says of it:

The Delta is the Emblem of the Chapter in Royal Arch Masonry; Overseer’s mark of approval in Mark Master’s Degree; Emblem of the Trinity.