Temples of Equality
If the United States of America was founded
as a "Christian" nation, then why do almost all of our
national monuments and official buildings imitate classical Pagan
temples?
Because the Founders saw the sacred values of democracy and
republicanism as pre-Christian inventions of Greek and Roman culture,
which they considered superior to the culture of the Church-dominated
"dark ages." These Enlightenment thinkers saw in the
architecture of the Gothic cathedral an oppressive reminder of
the suffering and tyranny imposed on the Old World by state-sponsored
Christianity. Still fresh in their historical memory was the Thirty
Years War of the 1600s, when Europe's Protestant and Catholic
powers decimated each other in the bloodiest and most destructive
war ever fought until the 20th century.
Today, most of America's courthouses, capitols, patriotic monuments,
and even banks are built in the neo-classical style their
marble columns, porticoes, friezes, and so on copied from the
shrines and temples of Pagan Gods and Goddesses.
Many of these, such as the U.S. Supreme Court, are
inspired by the Greek Parthenon -- the temple of the Goddess Athena,
Who is the prototype of Lady Liberty.
The Grand
Federal Edifice was a symbolic parade float designed
in 1788 by Charles Willson Peale for the celebration of the ratification
of the Constitution. (This reproducetion was built for the 1988
bicentennial.) The circle of 13 star-topped columns, with representatives
seated behind 10 of them (the number of states that had voted
to ratify thus far), signified the equality of the all the states
in the new democratic republic. (view
larger)
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Others, such as the U.S. Capitol building with its familiar
Rotunda, are modeled on the Pantheon, the Roman temple whose round
dome was built to honor all the Gods and Goddesses equally --
just as the American Constitution requires our government to treat
all religions equally. Unlike the high steeples and pointed arches
of church architecture, which symbolize the ecclesiastical ideal
of a hierarchical society dominated by one Lord from on high,
round structures from the Roman Pantheon to the Celtic Arthurian
Round Table to the Native American council house reflect
the traditional Pagan ideal of an equal society governed by the
people themselves, guided by all the Divine Beings that speak
to their hearts.
Sacred architecture is a tool for magic, even in a time
when most people have forgotten how to use it. Our Constitution
separates church from state, but doesn't forbid private citizens
from worshipping as we choose in our patriotic shrines. Here are
some tips on how Witches can magically use courthouses, capitol
buildings, and monuments.
- Magic is spiritual Energy directed toward a purpose. This
Energy (or chi, mana, vital force -- It goes by many names) flows
most readily through materials that are organic or conductive,
especially when they are artfully arranged as architecture and
sculpture. Marble is an organic material -- it is limestone,
formed from the once-living shells of sea creatures. Granite
is a conductive material -- it is composed largely of quartz,
the electromagnetic crystal par excellence.
- In public places, don't be showy and ostentatious with your
spells, as fundamentalist Christians are with their prayers.
Mutter your chants, don't shout them. Pace, stand, or sit with
dignity; don't kneel and wring your hands for all to see. If
you draw undue attention from tourists and security guards, it
will interfere with your spell. (This "power to be silent"
doesn't apply, of course, if your group is intentionally doing
a dramatic public spell as part of a "direct action"
protest.)
- One very traditional way to cast a spell is to circumambulate
(pace around) the sacred structure a magical number of times
-- once, thrice, seven times, nine times, or a multiple of these.
Go deosil to create what's good, or widdershins to undo what's
bad. As you walk, chant your spell for justice, equality, or
whatever your objective is. Obelisks, such as the Washington
Monument, are ideal for circumambulation.
- There are many ways to use the sacred geometry that's built
into a typical older courthouse or capitol building.
- Most have a little-used spiral staircase next to their elevators.
Skip the elevator -- take the stairs. Impress your spell while
climbing up or down the stairs, locking it in with each turn
of the spiral.
- Find the building's central axis, and cast your spell there.
This is especially effective if the building is topped by a round
dome. The point directly below the dome's center is the building's
"omphalos" or navel, and it is almost always marked
by a star or an official seal on the floor. Stand there just
long enough to cast your spell quickly -- if you stay for more
than a minute or so, you'll find yourself the focal point of
unwanted attention. At the end, to cement your spell, reach down
and touch the omphalos. (If you need to be very discreet, you
can "accidentally" drop something and bend down to
pick it up.)
- If the building was dedicated by a Masonic lodge -- as most
were -- its sacred cornerstone should be at the northeast corner,
marked by an inscription recording the date of its dedication.
Leave an offering there of a drop of wine or olive oil, or a
morsel of bread. (Masons consecrate a building's cornerstone
with a magical ceremony that includes an offering of wine, oil,
and wheat.)
- Are you one of them tree-huggin' Pagans? Then hug a marble
column -- or at least lean against and make yourself one with
this architectural element that imitates a tree. Send your Energy
up through the "branches" of its capital and down through
the "roots" of its pedestal.
- If you are sitting in an ornately decorated courtroom or
legislative chamber, send your Energy circulating through the
molding that typically rings the ceiling. Ornamental molding's
stylized patterns are inherited from Pagan temples, in which
the different patterns conveyed different forms of Energy. The
egg-and-dart pattern, for example, signifies fertility; the Vitruvian
scroll, water; the square billet, earth; and so on.
(Illustrations from Funk and Wagnalls Standard
Dictionary, 1966.)
Return to Introduction
Latest update: 16 Nov. 2004
