Great Seal

WHY IS THERE AN UNFINISHED PYRAMID ON
THE BACK OF A DOLLAR BILL?

(Do you REALLY want to know?)

Take a Dollar Bill--now hardly more than scrap paper--and look at it. Carefully! On the front's an extract from the famous portrait of Washington. At the top are the words "Federal Reserve Note."

What does that mean? Nothing actually! It's there so you won't confuse it with, say, Monopoly Money. The important part is in tiny print right under the ornately engraved The United States of America: "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." Which means that one must accept this "note" at face value in payment. What's it backed by? Nothing! A concrete example that the federal government possess the power to legally counterfeit. It wasn't always that way, but that's the way it is now.

Turn it over. You'll see the backside is printed using green ink. That's why the government's Funny-Money was dubbed "greenbacks" when it first appearedduring Mr. Lincoln's war to crush the Confederacy: those states who wanted out. After they'd been wasted and "reconstructed", a degree of sanity returned: the federal government stopped counterfeiting--for a while. Still the name"greenbacks" stuck. When the feds resumed counterfeiting, big time under Roosevelt II, the green ink (on all Federal Reserve Bunk Notes) stayed.

The "In God We Trust" was added during Eisenhower's administration. Before that time, it was never seen on any U.S. currency. It was a sop to the Christian bigots, because The United States of America was founded by men who had openly rejected Christianity and all other "revealed" religions. The Great Seal of the United States depicted on this near worthless "note" is a good starting point for relating how very well educated men, who managed to keep their powdered wigs intact during a July in Philadelphia, set out to recreate the Roman Republic, the same way the Zionists recreated Israel, out of thirteen rebellious British colonies.

Take a look at the Great Seal. The first thing you should notice is there's not a single word in the English language on it. Not one! It's entirely written in Latin--and rather arcane Latin at that. The obverse (front) presents a heraldic eagle, the red-white-blue national colors forming a shield covering its body. In its beak, the eagle holds a scroll with the Latin motto e pluribus unum on it. In its right talon, the direction the eagle is facing, it holds an olive branch; in it's, left thirteen arrows bunched together. Above it are thirteen stars radiating stars breaking through a cloud. (The obverse is also the national Coat of Arms and utilized to form the Presidential shield, along with representations of sovereignty.)

The reverse (back) presents a very arcane image: an unfinished pyramid in the middle of a wasteland (scrubby weeds around the base indicating it's a wasteland). There are thirteen levels to the pyramid, with "1776" (in Roman numerals)carved in the base. Above the pyramid is a human eye inside a triangle surrounded by what's called a "glory": a radiation. At the top are the Latin words Annuit Coeptis; at the bottom a banderole (or ribbon) with more Latin: Novus Ordo Seclorum.What's it mean? Who designed it? When and where? How does it prove the U.S. was intended to be the Roman Republic, reborn in the New World? And how does it affirm the claim that the U.S. was founded by Secular Humanists? Read on!

The Great Seal of a country is more than merely a legal nicety. In lieu of a crown, it is the Representation of Nationhood. The importance of a seal cannot be overstated.That's the reason Congress, on the same day Independence was proclaimed (July 4, 1776), appointed a committee to design a Great Seal for this new nation. Whom did they appoint? Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson: that's whom! The most illustrious and world-famous American, along with the two men who were to become the second and third presidents, the same men who had been part of the select committee which presented Congress with the Declaration of Independence (almost entirely written by Jefferson), and none of whom were Christians! (Washington, no doubt, would have been included, but he was "otherwise engaged": a huge British force was on its way from Nova Scotia to New York. Washington wasn't a Christian either!)

Well, what were these men, if they weren't Christians? They certainly weren't Jews or Muslims! They were "Deists," which was the polite 18th century term for Epicureans. Deists rejected all "revealed" religions out of hand. Yes, there was some Entity (the who and what they didn't presume to know), which had created the universe--and that was it. A popular metaphor was The Great Watchmaker: the universe was the "watch," which fashioned and wound, ran according to Natural Laws. Epicurus, the great Greek philosopher, had espoused the same doctrine. (Once the Christians seized power, they burned every work of Epicurus they could lay their hands on. Even though Epicurus wrote some 300 works, none have survived. Fortunately, a magnificent Latin poem, De Rerum Natura, by Lucretius made it--by accident. Lucretius' poetic exposition of Epicureanism (the title means On the Nature of Things) was spotted, exposed to the elements [!] in the library at Monte Cassino, by Boccaccio: the Italian humanist best known for his collection of bawdy tales, The Decameron. The abbot made him a present of this "pagan trash," and thus Lucretius' poem and a complete delineation of Epicureanism escaped the Christian bonfires.)

They weren't atheists, as elementary logic dictates that nothing can proceed from nothing (nihil ex nihilo is how the ancients phrased it). They simply dismissed "revelations" as either mental aberrations or intentional chicanery. Jefferson, for example, simply threw the Old Testament in the trash, calling it nothing more than a record of barbarism passing itself off as revealed religion. He edited his own version of the New Testament, physically removing all reference to the supernatural. The moral teachings, especially the parable of the Good Samaritan, he held in high regard. As for bringing the dead back to like or virgins giving birth, he simply dismissed it as "monkish superstition" and snipped it out. (Jefferson's "Private Edition" is on display at his home, Montecello, near Charlottesville, Virginia.)

The events which enhanced the status of Deism (i.e. Epicurianism in modern dress) were the discovery of some of those Natural Laws which kept the "watch" ticking, beginning with Copernicus and presented as a complete physical system by Issac Newton. Newton's monumental Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis (of course it was written in Latin; no serious scientific work was ever written in any other language at that time), augmented by the work and philosophy of Leibnitz, had provided the necessary impetus to Deism. (Hume's work on "Natural Religion" was not published until after his death; however, his views were well known.) Voltaire's cry, "Crush the infamy!" had electrified intellectual thought, and Rousseau's deification of Nature became the topic of the hour. (It should be remembered that David Hume provided Rousseau with sanctuary, despite Rousseau's severe paranoia.) Prelates and Popes hurled anathema after anathema at Deism. Indeed, Benjamin Franklin remarked that the constant stream of vindictive against Deism was the impetus for his eventual acceptance of it.

The most important single piece of evidence in support of the Deistic (i.e. Epicurean) convictions of the Founders is the Declaration of Independence, principally the work of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was not a gifted orator (he stuttered), but he was an extremely talented writer. For over a year, the colonists had been engaged in civil war to defend their rights, all the while sending professions of loyalty to George III! While certain members of Parliament, principally John Wilkes and Issac Barre, had been adamant in their support for the colonials' position, the response of the government headed by Lord North (obviously with the King's assent) had been to escalate and intensify the conflict. Edmund Burke, the true father of rational Conservatism, denounced the actions of the North ministry from a conservative standpoint: the colonies had performed admirably under self-government; it was the King who was trying to change things, not the colonials. The conflict was a result of ill-conceived "novelty" on the part of the Crown! This unique argument feel on deaf ears: the British government remained inflexible. (The war was very unpopular in England, and many British officers resigned their commissions rather than take part in it.)

The colonials were caught between a rock and a hard place. Most dreaded the idea of treason, for that's what independence would amount to. Some, but not all. Men like Jefferson, who were steeped in the classics, regarded it as an opportunity to refound the Roman Republic on American soil. One has to realize that in the 18th century, a classical education was the only education worth talking about. Why did they call the lowest level of schooling "grammar school" (a term which remained until quite recently)? Because the whole focus of the curriculum was to get the pupil ready to study Latin grammar. That was the important subject, and higher education meant more Latin and eventually Greek too. Jefferson, one should recall, attended William and Mary, the only institution of higher learning in Virginia (where he played string quartets with the Royal Governor). Jefferson and his peers were steeped in the classics. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Lucretius, Livy, and a myriad other writers of classical times weren't hazy figures from a distant past. They were real, living authors in the minds of these men. Epicurus made as much sense to them as he had to Lucretius. They didn't read these authors in some stilted translation. They read them in the original languages; and in the original Latin and Greek, they are very straight-forward and approachable. (The Roman poet Catullus would probably have been too modern for Jefferson's era, but he is totally in tune with our own.)

The identification with Rome and things Roman were exceedingly strong. The Romans were totally tolerant towards religion. The upper classes considered trade unseemly and banking (usury) utterly vile. The only occupation worthy of a gentleman was agriculture, as agricultural wealth was natural. Such ethics were readily adopted by a man like Jefferson, who owned over 7,000 acres of prime Virginia farm land. Classical moralists allowed slavery but did not praise it: it was a necessary institution to advance civilization among barbarous peoples, while making them productive. That too fitted in with the attitude of the Southern gentry. (Jefferson owned 127 slaves, to whom he gave assorted classical names: "Cicero" being his personal valet.)

The altercation with George III seemed like Roman history repeating itself. Rome was (according to legend) founded in 753 B.C., by Romulus and Remus. Early in her history, she came under the rule of foreign (Etruscan) kings. While at first beneficent, it later became tyrannical. The last king, Tarquin the Proud, went too far: he not only ruled autocratically, he took a fancy to one Lucretia, and when she spurned his advances, he raped her. That was the final straw. This king had made a mockery of just rule. Under the leadership of Junius Brutus, Tarquin was driven out, and a republic established in its place. When Tarquin tried to regain his throne with foreign help, Brutus' two sons went over to the ex-king's party.Upon being captured, they were tried for treason with their father as judge, and he ordered them put to death. The almost superhuman heroes of ancient Rome were the living heroes of every 18th century school boy.

Washington was of one mind with Jefferson, but to the men in the field, treason was a heinous crime. One couldn't dwell at length upon Roman history with them, but one could appeal to their common sense, which is exactly what a newly arrived immigrant from Britain, by the name of Thomas Paine, did. His pamphlet Common Sense played an enormous role in convincing the masses that independence was not treason, but the only logical course of action. By the time Congress took up the issue, it was pretty well decided. What was needed was someone to present the colonial's case before history and posterity; and that "someone" was Thomas Jefferson, Deist and neo-Roman extraordinaire.

In Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence, the word "God" never appears! Some delegates took exception to this. Jefferson dug in his heels. It was Benjamin Franklin, whose clout (actoritas the Romans called it) was enormous, who devised the compromise acceptable to the Deistic leaders (including Franklin!) and the other delegates. They would insert the word "God"; however, they would precede it with "Laws of Nature" (capitalized) and "Nature's" (ditto). The final form than read, "which the Laws of Nature and Nature's God ..." That was acceptable to everyone.

Then Jefferson slyly slipped in the foundation for a new religion: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, ..."One moment, please "self-evident" is an axiom: there's nothing to prove all men are created equal, nor that they are endowed with anything. Jefferson is laying down axiomatic statements: dogma, if you like. It's designed to pull the rug out from the Judeo-Christian concept of "God's anointed" and the Divine Right of Kings; but it's equally dogmatic. The religion he's writing a creed for is, essentially, Secular Humanism: no appeal to the divine for your actions; only Nature and our Credo. The other religious metaphors are so hazy"Creator, Supreme Judge" that a Deist like Franklin could sign along a Roman Catholic like Charles Carroll of Carrollton, without either being hypocritical. (Actually, nobody signed anything on July 4, 1776. The Declaration was merely proclaimed. It was then sent off to be printed and engrossed. The last signature wasn't affixed until 1777, nearly a year later.) It should also be pointed out that New York, which had considerable Loyalist sentiment and was about to be occupied by the main British force prudently abstained. That way, the record could show The Declaration was passed unanimously (nary an "opposed" vote), but New York justly stated it did not vote in favor--which would greatly reduce the chances of its being burned to the ground.

Now, let's get back to the Great Seal, with just Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson running the show. Jefferson probably had a sketch of the eagle in his pocket when he showed up. Franklin is given credit for the e pluribus unum, and the layout was done in consultation with a local artist, recently arrived from France. It was Gaius Marius, the great Roman general, who made the eagle the universal standard of all things Roman. Before Marius' time, each legion had its own totem. Marius made the eagle Rome's totem; and from then on it has always stood for Romanitas. Even though the centuries produced changes in form, the eagle remained Rome. The reborn Roman eagle looks toward the olive branch of peace, as that's what it prefers. In the other talon are the arrows of war, if peace should not prevail.

The obverse is far more arcane. The pyramid symbolizes enduring for all time, as the pyramids were the oldest known manmade structure. There is no top to the pyramid, as the work is not finished. The eye in the triangle symbolizes a Universal Awareness or Intelligence. This is totally in accord with Epicurus' determinism, later (in 1776 rather recently) incorporated into Newtonian physics and the monad-theory of Leibnitz. That the gods/God do not intervene does not mean they are unaware. Annuit Coeptis is extremely arcane Latin (and must have come from Jefferson, who of the three was the most steeped in the classics). Annuare means "to move the muscle of the neck: to nod." Whether in approval or merely taking note of is not explicit. There is, furthermore, no subject, and the genius of the Latin language is such that lacking a subject, one has to use a pronoun. All one can tell from the verb is that it's third-person, singular, perfect. The pronoun could be he/she/it. Coeptis is merely dative/ablative plural "to/for/of the beginnings/undertakings. The literal translation is (I believe) intentionally vague: "The nod has been given the beginnings." If one prefers, he can read that as "He(God) has approved the beginnings." That's one extreme translation. At the other extreme is "The Force has taken note of our undertakings" (being totally anachronistic).

The final Latin phrase, Novus Ordo Seclorum presents no ambiguities: it means "A New Ordering of the Ages." Roman history was measured ab Urbe condita: "from the founding of the City." (In common use, who happened to be the consuls at the time was employed; however, as the consuls changed every year, such a system proved a burden to historians. Measuring time from the foundation of the city was less error prone.) The reordering of the ages has not come about as they longed for yet, but it is customary for the president to date proclamations etc. both in the conventional manner and "in the ninth year since the founding of The United States."

There is no question that Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson (who designed the seal) as well as Washington on the front were Deists. When the Jesus-Thumpers (What other name really applies?) howl and scream about "Secular Humanism," they need to be reminded that Freedom of Religion includes Freedom from Religion. It's not correct to say that the Deists held forth nothing as sacred. When Jefferson wrote "Laws of Nature" and added "Nature's God" (under duress), he was being sincere. His love for Nature was based upon it's being the sole reality. His love of Rome was predicated upon the respect the Romans demonstrated toward fortitude, candor, and bravery. In Jefferson's view, as in the view of this author, Romulus is to the European what Abraham is to the Semite: the Universal Common Ancestor. Gaius Marius placed the eagle atop the standards of the legions, because this noble bird knows nothing of limits. It's freedom is boundless. Rome, as a concept, has never fallen. As long as there remain Peoples of the Eagle, it never will. That is what makes it an Eternal City, and that is why you find its totem and its language on the back of a dollar bill.

Go back!