Freemasonry and the New Atlantis

In his work the New Atlantis Francis Bacon laid out his premise for a Utopian Cabalistic Society in the Americas taking the ideal state of Bensalem as it's premise, the Son of Salem or New Jerusalem. The state was run by a Rosicrucian Order considered to have preserved Ante-Diluvian knowledge, survivors of Atlantis as it were, these were considered descendants of Abraham, and probably have their basis in Sepharidic Marannos converts and their promotion of Cabala.

I want to look here at the ideals he outlined and question and consider how this became the basis of Freemasonry and the realization of the New Atlantis in the United States of America, i watched the video on this when bored which was better than i would have expected and was intrigued.

Francis Bacon-The New Atlantis

Article-Francis Bacon's God

Kabbalah and The Hermetic Tradition

Ye shall understand (my dear friends) that amongst the excellent acts of that king, one above all hath the pre-eminence. It was the erection and institution of an Order or Society, which we call Salomon's House; the noblest foundation (as we think) that ever was upon the earth; and the lanthorn of this kingdom.

And for the country of Bensalem, this man would make no end of commending it; being desirous, by tradition among the Jews there, to have it believed that the people thereof were of the generations of Abraham, by another son, whom they call Nachoran; and that Moses by a secret Cabala ordained the Laws of Bensalem which they now use.

The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible.

At the beginning of the story, the Europeans are concerned to be rescued from a storm, and they seek assistance for those who are ill.

The Europeans quickly recognize the excellence of the island and are struck by its order and its religion. After they have been allowed to reside in the Strangers’ House, the narrator urges his companions to conduct themselves so that they can earn the respect of the Bensalemites.

The more they learn about Bensalem, the more they wish to become residents there. While their initial concern was their physical rescue or well-being, their exposure to the quality of life in Bensalem makes them realize that they have been rescued from personal, social, political, and spiritual disorder and disorientation.

It can probably be understood that the dangerous journey and sickness should be seen as a metaphorical reference to Catholic Europe from the Protestant perspective, and that salvation seems to suggest itself in the Cabalistic teachings of the Jewish mystics.


We have also parks and enclosures of all sorts of beasts and birds which we use not only for view or rareness, but likewise for dissections and trials; that thereby we may take light what may be wrought upon the body of man. Wherein we find many strange effects; as continuing life in them, though divers parts, which you account vital, be perished and taken forth; resuscitating of some that seem dead in appearance; and the like.

We try also all poisons and other medicines upon them, as well of chirurgery, as physic. By art likewise, we make them greater or taller than their kind is; and contrariwise dwarf them, and stay their growth: we make them more fruitful and bearing than their kind is; and contrariwise barren and not generative. Also we make them differ in colour, shape, activity, many ways.

It is well known that Bacon repeatedly links the knowledge of nature with the ability to bring relief to man’s estate. Most often this linking is associated with knowledge as power. What is often overlooked is Bacon’s emphasis on charity as the motive for using the knowledge of nature for the benefit of humankind


Bacon connects Solomonic knowledge to charity and piety; the work of Solomon’s House brings relief to “man’s estate” and demonstrates the love and mercy of the Creator.

Bacon takes Solomon as the ideal role model , were the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, as the Kingdom prospered under him, and he was associated in tradition with every sort of magic and esoteric understanding, in his all wise capacity.

"We have also, as you must think, novices and apprentices, that the succession of the former employed men do not fail; besides, a great number of servants and attendants, men and women. And this we do also: we have consultations, which of the inventions and experiences which we have discovered shall be published, and which not: and take all an oath of secrecy, for the concealing of those which we think fit to keep secret: though some of those we do reveal sometimes to the state and some not

According to the Governor, Bensalem, Atlantis, and civilizations from the far-flung corners of the world carried out a mutual exchange of learning and material goods, while living in peace.

A series of cataclysms destroyed the other great civilizations and left most nations in an infantile state, having lost all records of their previous greatness and all ability to restore themselves to their former condition.

Not only were the civilizations reduced to infancy and the memory of their own past greatness eclipsed, they also forgot about the other great civilizations as well. Consequently, Bensalem, the only civilization to be spared, chooses to remain obscure

The work of Solomon’s House, then, is clearly in accord with both the “pagan” tradition of a pure ancient wisdom and with the Jewish esoteric traditions associating Solomon and Solomon’s Temple with cabalistic knowledge.

The establishment of the Masonic Temple after the fashion of that of Solomon, and the creation of the New Atlantis were all ancient and occultic knowledge should be practised and restored and offered to the State as the secret College would see fit does seem to have provided a blueprint for what transpired with the United States of America

We have also engine-houses, where are prepared engines and instruments for all sorts of motions. There we imitate and practise to make swifter motions than any you have, either out of your muskets or any engine that you have: and to make them and multiply them more easily, and with small force, by wheels and other means: and to make them stronger and more violent than yours are; exceeding your greatest cannons and basilisks.

We have also means to make divers plants rise by mixtures of earths without seeds; and likewise to make divers new plants, differing from the vulgar; and to make one tree or plant turn into another.

So having looked into Bacon's work on the New Atlantis like i said i think this video makes a good case. Given there was no actual Ante-Diluvian civilization the entire premise would seem flawed to me, as would considering the Cabala as the best source for ancient knowledge and wisdom.

reply to post by Kantzveldt

as would considering the Cabala as the best source for ancient knowledge and wisdom. - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

I'm assuming you mean the Kabbalah.

reply to post by AfterInfinity

How is that a productive post? I've seen it spelled several different ways, including the two mentioned so far, by people who study and teach it.

S&F, very interesting post, I'm a fan of Bacons works and if you've ever read the works of Manly P. Hall and Eliphas Levi, they back the account of America being founded by and on Rosicrucian ideals, and with a lot of Rosicrucian money from Europe, the French revolution was also instigated by the Rosicrucians.

And to the poster commenting on the spelling of Kabbalah, it can be spelled many ways, Kabbalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabbala, Qabbala, QBLH by some Hebrew groups, etc.

A body of knowledge that spans thousand of years and many cultures is bound to have gone by a few different names over that time...

cosmikDebris
reply to post by AfterInfinity

 

How is that a productive post? I've seen it spelled several different ways, including the two mentioned so far, by people who study and teach it.

And how was that a productive post?

reply to post by AfterInfinity


The Cabala with a C is Christian Cabala. With a K it is Jewish Kabala. With a Q it is Islamic Qabala.

reply to post by Elijah23



I haven't read those but there does seem to be a very strong case that the Rosicrucian/Masonic agenda was the prime mover in both the French and American revolutions, and this in conjunction with Jewish backing and finance in terms of partnership with the Cabalistic Brethren.

The Protestants in England at the time of Francis Bacon were also reliant upon Jewish finance from the Netherlands, and had common cause with them in terms of opposition to Catholicism, the Cabala seems to have provided common spiritual ground and ideals between the two as a basis for partnership.

I've always have had a deep interest in Kabbala, but it's hard to get into - at least, for me. I'm not Jewish and I don't practice any religion, and I grew up with the misconception that Kabbala was, for lack of a better phrase, "Jewish Magick", which is not true, of course. I didn't realize that it's more of a system of understanding life, the universe, and our relationship with God.

It's just so complicated and such an ancient process/knowledge that it seems like there is no one way of studying and practicing it. Looking at Kabbala as a whole and trying to figure it out on your own is so daunting, but any time I've found a teacher, book, or video who presents it in an understandable it often starts out promising and insightful and soon becomes obvious that they stand to make a profit or want to indoctrinate you into a cult.

Francis Bacon, Jon Dee, Alessandro Cagliostro, The Rosicrucians, Giordano Bruno, the French Masons, the Synarchy movement from France, Helena Blavatsky, and the Crowley Thelema idea are all integral to this so called New Atlantis movement.

The video states that Gnosticism is behind Masonry, it's more complicated than that, since actually Hermetism, imo, is the primary source of this Western esoteric tradition.

This tradition certainly borrowed concepts from Gnosticism, as well eastern Vendantic ideas, Sufic doctrines, and certainly ancient Egyptology but mostly Hermetic Egyptology.

reply to post by cosmikDebris


If you're wanting to start at the beginning with the kabbalah then I recommend Yehuda Berg, he's quite good at explaining Kabbalistic concepts and their application, his books are very easy to read, which is rare for kabbalistic texts as you'll know.

There is a difference between Kabbalah and occult Kabbalah though which people miss, they are from the same body of knowledge but the exoteric , 'off the shelf' kabbalah is more focused on it as a lifestyle, a way of understanding yourself and your dreams etc, the esoteric or occult kabbalah ranges from everything from Solomonic magic to some pretty advanced mathematics... But the Kabbalah is something that everyone should study, if they have the time, you'll end up studying it the rest of your life, its an ever growing art...

If its esoteric kabbalah your interested in then I recommend S.L Mather's or other golden dawn authors, or again, Eliphas Levi, but he alludes more to it than he talks about it...

It was Sir Francis Bacon who edited/translated the Bible into English. This is very interesting to me.

I was just working on an idea for a thread about Jesus, Magic, and the condemnation of 'Magic' in monotheism. Jesus was a 'magician', some believe. And for some reason, everyone is condemned if they practice it - which is, incidentally what Jesus taught - that we could all do what he has done. The Jews WERE into Kabbalah, and also reincarnation, in Jesus's time.

S/F to the OP (very interesting thread, and ties into another one about Babylon, Islam, and magic)...

Really got my gears turning (well - squeaking, anyway).

reply to post by Willtell


Huh. Thanks for informing me.

I don't want to derail this interesting thread with irrelevant info, but since things have turned this direction I want to bring up "The Count of St. Germain" just in case no one has jumped down that rabbit hole. I'm sure there have been threads about him on ATS and the amount of solid, verifiable information on him is unsatisfying at best, but the relevance to this thread is that it has been theorized that The Count/Comte faked his death and came back as Francis Bacon (who, as you may know, in addition to his many great accomplishments, may or may not have been one of the actual writers of Shakespeare's works).

A book for which The Count (who was allegedly a skilled alchemist who mastered transmutation and found/made an "elixir of life") has been credited as the author of, and is in many opinions the greatest esoteric work of all time, is "The Most Holy Trinosophia". It is hard to understand, but it's reportedly "coded" in a way that can be understood only with knowledge of Kabbala and alchemy.

Anyhow this guy's story is truly interesting and incredible - I'd recommend looking into him, but only if you've got a good amount of time to spend.

reply to post by Kantzveldt


If you haven't read them I recommend them if you find the time, Manly P. Hall's "the secret destiny of America" or "the secret teachings of all ages" are both very relevant to this topic, here is a quote from Manly P. Halls book,

"European mysticism was not dead at the time the United States of America was founded. The hand of the mysteries controlled in the establishment of the new government for the signature of the mysteries may still be seen on the Great Seal of the United states of America. Careful analysis of the seal discloses a mass of occult and Masonic symbols chief among them, the so-called American Eagle. ... the American eagle upon the Great Seal is but a conventionalized phoenix... Not only were many of the founders of the United States government Masons, but they received aid from a secret and august body existing in Europe which helped them to establish this country for a peculiar and particular purpose known only to the initiated few. The Great Seal is the signature of this exalted body—unseen and for the most part unknown—and the unfinished pyramid upon its reverse side is a trestleboard setting forth symbolically the task to the accomplishment of which the United States Government was dedicated from the day of its inception."

And obviously there's always been a Jewish connection to the Kabbalah and it is a bridge in the ideologies between the two but I don't think the Jewish influence was particularly strong in the founding of America, I believe it was more Rosicrucian and Freemasons, as well as other secret societies obviously ... But the western link to the kabbalah came from the Templars' journeys east, not the Jews journeys west...
Nor was it Jews that the Templar encountered on their travels.

Very interesting post,I have yet to read Francis Bacon's New Atlantis.
The founding fathers were influenced by Freemasonry.
Manly P Hall mentions several times in his book "The Secret Teaching of all Ages" that America is the new "Utopia".
Bacon and his followers planned this centuries ago.
Secret Societies played a very important part in creating it.

reply to post by Elijah23



As i mentioned i think it more likely the important link was the Sepharidic 'converts' of Spain and Southern France and their introduction of Kabbalistic mysticism into Christian sects during the Middle Ages, that became part of the mix of Protestantism and the reformation, but of course there were other diverse points of contact and the major influence of Neo-Platonism were Atlantis meets the biblical flood.


reply to post by Willtell


I'm not so sure there was much of the tradition of ancient Egypt in Hermetic thought, only very debased and garbled fragments. It always seemed to be a case of Greek comparative religionists making what they would of these remnants of Egyptian and Near Eastern traditions and proclaiming it as some great revelation when generally it was some cobbled together contradictory nonsense, the ideal was certainly there to produce some great syncretic wisdom but in practise it was as bad then as it is today

"Bacon, like Moses, led us forth at last,
The barren Wilderness he past,
Did on the very Border stand
Of the blest promis'd Land,
And from the Mountain Top of Exalted Wit,
Saw it himself, and shew'd us it"

(Abraham Cowley, quoted in The Invisible College; The Royal Society, Freemasonry and the Birth of Modern Science by Robert Lomas, p75)

I would love to see Atlantis return. But at what cost would Mr. Bacon's agenda be fulfilled?

reply to post by Kantzveldt

Considering there are ATS members who are Masons and members of the Masonic Order...are you addressing this historically ABOUT themselves and their history? Because, if youre being hypothetical...and they are members...why not pose this to them to see how close any of this really is in both basis, fact and history?

reply to post by mysterioustranger


If it wasn't i'm sure they'd have something to say




reply to post by KilgoreTrout



The Mountain of wit there being Mount Nebo upon which Moses was buried, the Babylonian equivalent of Mercury/Hermes, NB the nib or beak of the scribes.