Masonic Manhattan: Golden Lady

Synchronicity is a funny old thing. I've been knee deep in research this past week for my next book, reading about Cybele and her mind-bogglingly crazy cult. On Friday I had to drag my tired, old, aching carcass into Masonic Manhattan for a documentary interview. The location for the shoot was up in the air, but finally I was called up to the Empire Hotel near Columbus Circle.

The last time I was up in that neck of the woods was last Beltane, which I wrote about here. But coming back from the interview I was stunned by this bizarre alignment- as you come down Broadway, the Trump International globe lines up with the Cybele shrine (also known as the Maine Monument). And in that same northwest orientation we see in the Stairway to Sirius- and the Atlantis Palm.

And as Thuthie wrote recently, this type of globe (modeled on an armillary sphere) is eerily similar to the Stargate in the movie version of Carl Sagan's novel Contact.  

  Since I only saw the Cybele shrine from a distance last time, I moseyed over for a closer look. Quite a beautiful piece of neoclassical art. All sorts of gods- Poseidon, Osiris-Dionysus, etc.- are depicted, but right there on the masthead is none other than our old chum Harpocrates, who we recently looked at in relation to U2. 

Note how he is situated near the eagle's head, foreshadowing Horus-Apollo (look at another view here). Is that the message of the statue itself? Or could this juxtaposition be identifying Harpocrates with Ganymede, who ascended to heaven on the wings of Zeus and became the celestial water-bearer? 

This would makes sense in light of the water/nautical symbolism of the shrine. Is the Magna Mater -the Star of the Sea- steering the godship towards the Aquarian Age, as symbolized by the fountains that lie directly in her path?

 

The Trump globe is at top, Harpocrates points to the west

 on the Maine Monument at right and fountains

 and point-in-circle obelisk are at center.

I can't help but sense a deeper message- even an agenda- in this enigmatic piece of art and these strange alignments. Particularly given the profoundly significant piece of real estate it sits on. It certainly has nothing to do with the sinking of a battleship, which it was supposed to commemorate. 

It's interesting to note that the Circle was designed by a Bonesman, William Eno.