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THE POMMELS (OR BALLS) ATOP THE CHAPITERS

In the second-degree lecture, what the aging lion considers the most beautiful lesson is contained in a semi-coded sentence that says:

“The chapiters wr srmntd b pommls o bls rprsntg glbs.”

that was followed by an un-coded and rather long sentence that says thus:

“Their principal use, besides serving as maps to distinguish the outward parts of the earth, and the situation of the fixed stars, is to illustrate and explain the phenomena arising from the annual revolution of the earth around the sun as well as its diurnal rotation upon its own axis.”

Please note that two phrases that are subtly hidden in the sentence which can be summed up as follows: (1) “the annual revolution of the earth around the sun”, which means the year, and (2) “its diurnal rotation upon its own axis” which simply meant the day.

The greatest puzzle of course that confronts this writer is when was the second- degree lecture composed? Consider these curious facts that are presented in reverse order of occurrence as shown in Item III below. But first, let’s get to the Holy Bible where these phrases were derived:

I. THE PILLARS AND CHAPITERS AS MENTIONED IN THE HOLY BIBLE

2Chronicles 3:15-17 (King James Version) says:

“Also, he (meaning Huram or Hiram Abif) made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on top of each of them was five cubits. And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. And he reared up the pillars before the temple, and one the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.”.

that was followed by Chr. 4:11-12, that says:

. . . And Huram finished the work that he was to make for King Solomon for the house of God; to wit, the two pillars , and the pommels and the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on top of the pillars.:

II. A MATTER OF SEMANTICS

Curiously, of the three key words that were used- namely, pillar, chapiter, and pommel, only “pillar” can be found in Webster’s New Compact Dictionary. The words chapiter and pommel are nowhere to be found. And so the need to consult the other versions of the Holy Bible.

Here are interesting discoveries.

King James New Amer. Bible Berkely Edition
(1) pillar column column
(2) chapiter capital capital
(3) pommel node bowl

The meanings as defined by the authoritative Webster Dictionary follow.

` pillar- a column or shaft standing alone especially as a monument

column- a pillar supporting a roof or gallery

chapiter- probably an archaic word as it is not listed in the dictionary

capital- the top part or piece of an architectural column

pommel- same as chapiter- probably an archaic word as it is also not in the dictionary

node- a thickened, swollen or differentiated area (as of tissue)

bowl- a concave vessel to hold liquids; a drinking vessel; a bowl-shaped part or structure.

On Item 1-

From the definitions listed above, it appears the word pillar is the more appropriate translation since the structures named Boaz and Jachin were built outside King Solomon’s Temple. It thus clearly shows that these are structural monuments and are not part of the building itself. The word “column” of course, may be considered a good synonym although not as accurate as the word “pillar”.

On Item 2-

While the word “chapiter” is not found in the dictionary, it appears to be synonymous to the word “capital” since both comprise the top part of an architectural column. This top part represents the identification mark of the different orders of architecture like the Tuscan, the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthians and the Composite; architectural orders to which Freemasons are acquainted, and the Egyptian Papyrus, the Egyptian Date-Palm, the Persian Animal, the Indian Foliage and the Indian Plain Capital which even modern architects may not even have heard of.

On Item 3-

Here shows the most controversial renderings of the Hebrew word, whatever it is, from the manner these were translated three as shown above. While this writer cannot be definite in his own interpretation, it appears that pommel is a variant of “pomelo”, a round fruit, and therefore would look like a globe, which planet earth really is. The words “node” and “bowl” certainly have different appearances when differentiated from the word “pommel” and thus, interpretations on what was really atop the chapiters of King Solomon’s Temple will easily result in confusion..

And that is where the difference in the interpretation of planet earth, whether a globe or flat, or whether it is the sun that revolves around the earth or vice-versa are divergently rooted. Consider these.

III. SOME CURIOUS HISTORICAL OR BIBLICAL DATA

1. On 31 October 1992, some 350 years after Galileo's death, Pope John Paul II gave an address as vicar of the Catholic Church in which he admitted that errors had been made by the theological advisors in the case of Galileo. He declared the Galileo case closed, but did not admit that the Church was wrong to convict Galileo on a charge of heresy because of Galileo’s belief that the Earth rotates round the sun. (Source- Internet)

2. On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet cosmonaut became the first human to orbit the earth. (Source- Internet)

Although not explicitly mentioned, this event confirms Galileo’s observation that it is the sun, and not the earth that is at the center of the universe. It also in effect confirmed that the moon is a satellite of the earth as not only did the scientific instruments validated this fact but Gagarin’s eyes in effect also did.

3. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was convicted of heresy by the Inquisition for advancing his belief on the heliocentric system, that is, that the sun is at the center of the universe and not the earth as propounded by Claudius Ptolemy (see Item 5 below).

4. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII issued the Gregorian calendar that replaced the Julian Calendar of Julius Caesar that was created in 63 BC. This Gregorian calendar was based on the actual revolution of the earth around the sun consisting of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, which is 11 minutes and 14 seconds less than the Julian calendar of 365 days every three years and 366 days on the fourth or leap year.

Instead, however, of using the actual number of days and hours as mentioned above, the Georgian calendar that we still use today, Pope Gregory XIII simply deducted the 11 days that had accumulated from the Julian calendar in 1582 and amended it by continuing the 3-year 365 day and 1-year 366 leap year cycle, except that years ending with hundreds were not considered as leap years unless it is divisible by 400. This explains why year 2000 that elapsed five years ago was a leap year. Conversely, it is not certain whether Julius Caesar simply rounded off the 1465 (365 x 3 plus 366) days every four years or 365.25 for reasons of exigency and not for any other reason. Incidentally, the Mayans of ancient America also converted the year as 365.222 although the date of its use and why it was so was not known.

5. In AD 548, Cosmas, who became a monk and wrote his memoirs expounded
the Christian view of the Earth that is similar to the first tabernacle of Moses and is therefore rectangular in form. This belief also places Jerusalem at the center of the earth where “Jacob in his vision saw. . . . reaching from earth to heavens”, etcetera, etcetera. Note also the Masonic ritual that says “lodges were situated due east and west as Moses. . . .”

6. Claudius Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer (90-168) who lived in Alexandria, Egypt during the first century AD propounded the theory of the geocentric system based on mathematical observations that it is the earth that is at the center and that the sun and the other planets moved around it. This treatise, expounded extensively in his works titled “The Almagest” had a very lasting impression on the astronomers and geographers of the time and was ultimately replaced only when Galileo Galilei propounded the theory of the heliocentricity of the sun. This treatise also in effect supports the biblical supposition of the sun rising in the east, setting in the west and with earth being static at the center.

The basic flaw of this theory is that while the 365 days, 5 hours 48 minutes and 46 seconds may also result if the sun indeed rotated around the earth as the time that it will take will be the same because of the same distance, the position of the fixed stars will necessarily be different. Note also that the exact place of the earth also dictate the equinoxes and the solstices, positions that will be altered if it is the sun that rotates around the earth and not vice versa. And consider also that the location of the other planets like Mars, Jupiter, Venus, etc., at a given time will turn haywire if it is the earth that it is at the center of the universe.

7. Julius Ceasar reformed the Egyptian calendar in 63 BC using the traditional 365 days normal year and the 366 days leap year, that in turn, was amended by the Georgian calendar in 1582.

8. King Solomon built his magnificent temple sometime 950 BC where the chapiters and pommels (or bowls, or nodes depending on the translation used) are mentioned in the Holy Bible.

9. Joshua, successor of Moses, is said to have commanded the sun to stand still and the moon to stay so that the Israelites nay defeat the Amorites. This biblical event may have occurred around 1274 BC.

IV SOME RELATED OBSERVATIONS

From the foregoing ancient historical and/or biblical data, the following observations may be gathered.

a). The proponents of the bowl-like or basin-like earth supports the theory that the earth is either round or semi-spherical and that there could not exist antipodes on the lower part of a the earth as unlike the lizards that could walk on ceilings upside down, common sense would dictate that antipodes would fall down from the earth if this is so.

b) The biblical quotation on Item 9 in which Joshua is said to have commanded the sun to stop and the moon to stay at their respective places supports the theory of Claudius Ptolemy that it is the earth that is stationary and that those that move are the sun and the moon wherewith Joshua was able to stop and win his war with the Amorites.

c) Item 6 supports the premise that the earth is in the form of a bowl, a basin (or half a sphere) that contained the land and the seas and all things therein contained.

d) The other facts support the sphericity of the earth that is already known to the ancient civilizations, notably, the Chaldees, the Greeks, the Egyptians and the Romans even before the birth of Jesus Christ.

V. THE ELUSIVE SEARCH FOR TRUTH

Ending this article can be anti-climactic. Having explained the sphericity of the earth and its relationship with the sun has aptly explained the relevance of the pommels (or balls) that the Craft’s second degree lecture. But there is a more important message that lurks behind the curtain and that is the search for “truth”. In this regard, let the aging lion now digress.

Some of the readers may have come across the adage that to learn Islam, one must study the Koran in earnest using the Arabic language for much is lost in its translation. The same case would also appear to the study of the Holy Bible for as one can observe, mis-rendering of the original word is not uncommon.

But this writer wonders, will the truth that already stares at our face, fail to convince our stubborn minds, simply because common sense previously told us it is not so?!

Our hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, for example, may still be considered lucky for after his death at the hands of the ecclesiastical authorities by firing squad, the same Church Fathers concocted a blasphemous act of twisting facts by saying Rizal retracted his Masonic beliefs and therefore has returned to the religious fold. As a consequence, brethren wince whenever this issue is brought to the fore.

But the immortal Galileo Galilei who died at the dungeons after being made to sign a retraction that the sun is not at the center of the universe was undoubtedly vindicated by later events saying he was right. Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence proving that the world is round and that it rotates around the sun in rhythmic cadence from time immemorial and will continue be so until the GAOTU decides to change its course, however, the Roman Church still vehemently rejects the glaring error that was made by the Inquisition some 350 years ago..

Sources:

The Ancient Engineers
The Discoverers
The Holy Bible
Internet files
The World’s Religions

Comments

Anonymous said…
Whew, I am stuffed.

Thanks Leon.

OMJ

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