Customer Reviews

The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C.

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's generally well known that many of the Founding Fathers were Masons. Ovason presents convincing evidence that Masonic symbolism is hard-wired into the layout of our nation's capital.

To do so, he reviews the beginnings of the city: Washington's selection of this site for the new nation's capital, the design competitions, the building projects. Having lived in DC at one time, this alone made the book worthwhile. Ovason then overlays the city with all the astrological symbolism that can be found around the district. Some of it is in the open and is plain for all to see. Other things are hidden. Better yet, alignments between zodiacal symbols have meanings and the author careful spells it all out.

I won't give away the complete story, but Ovason has discovered something in the layout of Constitution Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue and the Old Post Office that locks heaven and earth together and gives literally concrete meaning to celestial symbology. Washington is the New Rome, and our Founding Fathers carefully imprinted their hopes for the future in the very streets of the city.

You'll never look at Washington, DC the same way ever again.

George Washington layed the Cornerstone of The White House in "Full Masonic Regalia" and I have found various illustrations of our Founding Father, in his Regalia, surrounded with Masonic Symbolism, but this book contains more, including the story! I have known that America was founded upon Masonic Principles for a very long time, but this is the first book I have seen, in the public domain, that tells much of story. Also, there are many Illustrations, Full Color Photos and informative Masonic revelations in this book that I have not seen, before. I cannot claim that the Astrological information was new to me...but, I have been studying Astrology and reading Masonic texts for ten years. Anyone with a smidgeon of interest in Masonry knows that America was founded upon these Principles and the ideas of Great Men, such as John Locke..... However, most people do not realize that America is Founded upon Masonry, to the extent that it pervades the Architecture--not-only of Washington, D.C.--of our Nation. Public buildings all-over Louisville, KY and the surrounding area (including small towns in Indiana) are adorned with Masonic Symbolism. Masonic Symbolism is built into the Stonework of most of the Courthouses and other public buildings, including churches. A small town, in Indiana, even has Masonic Templar Symbolism built into the stained-glass windows. For an interesting journey, take a Carriage ride around Louisville, KY (and check-out the Symbolism on the "2nd street bridge," then cross-over to Jeffersonville, IN and take a good look at the old Masonic Lodge!). It's not just D.C. Folks...it's the whole country. However, this fine book explores the wonders of our Nation's Capitol and gives us beautiful pictures of our "hidden" history. Nearly every Mason will want this book, because it has a photo of Albert Pike's Grave Site and lots of Masonic Symbolism, plus one beautiful, full-color Masonic Jewel !

Also, High-Degree Masons are building a "Masonic Museum" to showcase their contribution to History and Society, which will prove this book is a wonderful addition to your collection. Buy it now, in Hardback, because this ones will be a Collector's Item, soon.....

This is a wonderful book, I highly recommend it. Exhaustively referenced, with many hard-to-find images. This book will fascinate a wide range of people, from those interested in Art History to those interested in the occult. The writing style is colloquial, but intelligent, offering a new perspective on American History. Don't hesitate to buy it.

I was drawn to this book by its title. After a good start with the early history of the planning of the capital by George Washington and L'Enfant, including freemasonic influences in the foundation stone ceremony and the cornerstone ceremony, the author zeroes in on what is to be the main thrust of the book, his analysis of the astrological signage scattered around the capital area and what that might mean. Perhaps George Washington, L'Enfant and the early capital architects were into astrology, I don't know. Perhaps the sign Virgo has some supernatural significance for the well being of the capital and the country, I don't know. I do know this, one needs to believe in astrology for this book to have credibility for them. To make a long story short, the book was a disappointment to me.

Washington DC was a thoroughly planned city - it did not evolve haphazardly. Those who have looked at a map of DC spot immediately the symmetry that structures the City. This book is a well-researched argument that behind the city structure lies a Masonically-inspired tribute to Virgo. I enjoyed parts of the book, but found that it presumed familiarity and/or sympathy with astrology and could have used a more thorough editing process (I found the book jumped around a lot and I had trouble following some of the themes. I would recommend this book to those who live and work in Washington DC who always suspected there was something suspicious behind the symmetry, but who also have the ability not to get bogged down too much in astrological arcana.

Very esoteric and a constant intellectual challenge. The more knowledge of astronomy and astrological lore one has, the easier the book will be. For readers willing to study, it is ever intriguing, Ovason details, and provides important documentation for his argument which is, in essence, that the development of the design and erection of structures in Washington, D.C. was and is according to an astronomically oriented plan, and has been in the hands of Masons through most of its history. The author assures readers that he is not a Mason. I lived in DC for a decade and have confirmed the correctness of his architectural and compositional observations; his interpretation of course, is open to debate. In other words, the facts on the ground and in the sky, and even in the archives all check out -- it's his interpretation of them I have reservations about. For instance, it should be no surprise that astronomy and even astrology were important to agrarian societies, but it's quite a leap to say that they (i.e., Freemasons) therefore were secretly adoring Isis!!

By the way, you can bet your bottom Continental Dollar that Dan Brown (or his wife -- the "researcher"!) ransacked this book as he wrote The Solomon Key.

I just discovered the key to selling a new book, put the word Secret in the title. Currently books with the Secret are selling like Gangbusters, The Secret by Rhonda Bryne and the sequels, The Secret Life of Bees, according to Amazon, there are over 74,725 book with Secret in the title.
Okay so let's talk about this book, it is a comprehensive history which is why I gave it 3 stars instead of 2. The book moves slowly, the author did his research and I have no quibble with that - I know this topic; however, the significance of why the Freemasons chose to do things that have been done, in the manner that they did is just not revealed, I was really disappointed because there is some terrific information out there and I am well versed in this topic based on my own research. I am wondering if this is because he wasn't allowed to "get to the point", no pun intended. I think the true reason he left out answers to why (Astrology is important but he didn't say why among other points never addressed is because Mason's aren't allowed to share the key precepts of their faith or beliefs to the uninitiated - that leaves out all females and many men.
There are many good books out there to understand the significance of Masonry -you won't find them by doing an internet search using the word - avoid the publications that will come up will give you books written by Masons (who often don't share that information, up front) these books reveal much of the same stuff rehashed, instead try books by William Schnoebelen, John Ankerberg, David Weldon, Tom C. McKenney, or anything Published by Chick Publications all provided excellent, well documented, significant information -though Ankerberg is very dry.

Overall its an informative book well worth reading so I give it 5 stars. He rehashes the virgo thing to death throughout the book where I felt he could have laid that out better in 1 or 2 chapters.Also as mentioned by others below he left alot of Masonic stuff out.I recommend watching on video AMERICAS SECRET DESTINY and RIDDLES IN STONE they add and parallel this book quite well.

Comprehensive book revealing America's esoteric/masonic foundation. The Masons initiated the Revolution, crafted the Constitution and designed D.C. Wish he would have covered America's true founding father, Sir Francis Bacon. Plato's Republic inspired Bacon's Atlantis, which, along with Virgil's Aeneid, became America's blueprint. Couple this work with Secret Destiny of America and Brotherhood of the Sun for more hidden history of America.

This is one of the most interesting books I"ve ever read, being from Washington DC I didn't know the history of Foggy Bottom and other areas, what they were like in the 1700s and 1800s, so I couldn't put it down. There are illustrations and the writing is very creative and interesting, I just loved it. AA++