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The Secret Architecture of Our Nations

Capital
The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C.
David Ovason
Review by Ed King

Masons designed Washington, DC! Websites trumpet this news in huge red letters
on a black forbidding background. Postings to Internet newsgroups point fingers
accusingly and demand an answer or for Masons to prove that they didnt. What's
the problem? Hard to tell - except that in a lot of folks' minds today, Washington DC is
the symbol of all evil - and if the damn Freemasons designed it, then they're part of
the problem too.
Its no secret and Masons are proud to trumpet, often in a greatly exaggerated way,
that members of the Fraternity were active during the War for Independence in the
United States. Its also well known that some of the brightest and most remembered
men of that age were involved in the initial establishment of the government. (The
oft-repeated claim that all of Washingtons Generals or that most of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence are exaggerations that simply wont die!) During and
following the American Revolution, a large percentage of the population were Masons
but to writers today, the reasons for this seem somehow unimaginable. (Those with an
interest in this 'phenomena' are referred to Stephen Bullock's "Revolutionary
Brotherhood".)

His impressive
credentials
In 1999, The Secret Architecture of Our
Nations Capital was first published
oddly, considering the title - in Great
Britain. Written by David Ovason, an
astrologer (not an architect, by any
stretch of the imagination or even an
astronomer) whose other works included
two books about Nostradamus, one of
which trumpets Mr. Ovason's discovery of
a secret language which had eluded all
other researchers and the other,
published AFTER the horrific events of
September 11th, 2001 in New York claims to have now found a quatrain which foretold

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that event! Its also important, we feel, to remind readers that an astronomer is one
who is trained in science to understand the heavens; an astrologer is one who, usually
self-taught and without any formal education in scientific subjects, determines what a
persons life events will be by contemplating the position of the constellations at the
time of their birth: in short, a fortune teller. None of Mr. Ovason's books reveal his
educational background. Perhaps there's a reason?

The book's supporters?

When 'our little friends on the Internet became aware of this books title, they
immediately began to shout that this was the final proof of all of Masonic conspiracy.
Ignoring both the book's actual contents as well as the author's credentials (or lack
thereof) they immediately began to create all sorts of fanciful theories. They
trumpeted the approval of Freemasonry as evidenced by the preface written by C.
Fred Kleinknecht, 33, the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern (US) Scottish
Rite Jurisdiction. If the heir to Albert Pike would write an introduction to this book,
this proved that Freemasons designed Washington, D.C.
Well, not quite! However before we proceed, its important to understand the
significance of this claim that Masons designed Washington. On its face, it actually
seems quite complimentary to the Fraternity while to many it would be met with a
response of So what? or "Who cares?" Here's what: for those with over-developed
imaginations, its a fearsome threat. To them, this fact proves beyond any doubt their
fears of a horrid Masonic conspiracy which depending on the individual may take a
variety of forms. Some ignoring the three hundred year experience of Freemasonry
encouraging freedom of thought argue that it is now clear Freemasonry is hell-bent
on world conquest: that the signs implanted in the Washington street layout along
with that eye in the pyramid on the back of the dollar bill are the final proof. (Good
thing they figured it out in 2000 after a couple of hundred years, isnt it?)

The damn aliens again!

Others, taking their imaginations even further, note that the layout is proof that aliens
from outer space influenced Masons who designed it. Laugh if you will but for some,
this is desperately real and theyre convinced beyond any explanation. Those whove
read this site for some time will recall our reporting that the huge Square and
Compass placed in front of the George Washington National Masonic Memorial was
opined by some as being the marker for the landing of the spacecraft at midnight on
1/1/2000 with the increase in postal rates to 33cents just preceding that as a
forewarning. (Our friend and Brother Harry Lyons was there on Shooter's Hill in
Virginia at the Memorial at midnight that night: alas, no spaceship - or at least that's
what he's saying publicly - and now, ten years later, those aliens are still hiding,
perhaps in the New York subways!)
And for the religious zealots, this design in the street plan is a signal for all that the
Masons are establishing a secret religion which will pave the way for the coming of the
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anti-Christ. Again, were a bit confused since the design has been there for a couple of
hundred years and no one has seen the anti-Christ or any Masonic religion appear yet
- but why let facts get into the way of a good yarn, eh?

Masonic encouragement? Really?

The Masonic connection is further emphasized by the introduction (a foreword,
actually) written by C. Fred Klienknecht and anti-Masons have made much of it.
After reading their breathless claims for more than two years while awaiting US
publication, it came as quite a shock to see what was actually written. The Sovereign
Grand Commander writes that he sees a similarity ONLY between a ceiling design
recommended by Albert Pike for a lodge (containing the constellations and planets)
and the other constellation designs Ovason has found scattered in various statuary
throughout Washington DC. If that's an endorsement of this work, it's pretty darn
weak in our opinion. Here's the Grand Commander's last sentence of his foreword:
His thesis may be controversial, but it is well thought out and presented. If thats
what anti-Masons believe is unqualified support, it may be because they've unfamiliar
with what a true endorsement looks like. Perhaps in the workplace, they've never had
the cause to get one....
And it was also to our surprise that Mr. Ovason seems quite uninterested in any of the
theories as to why Masons would have gone to such great lengths to embed a
message into the design of the capital city. His imagination about what Masons
ostensibly know, however, seems boundless and aids in his fantasy at every turn. He
writes in his Acknowledgement, My thanks go to all those Masons and Masonic Lodges
of present time who have helped me with questions which must surely have amused
those privy to the deeper secrets. And so, on this presumption, the book moves
forward.
It was on Page 9 when the first of many, many unsubstantiated claims came leaping
forth. In glancing through the book prior to reading, we'd noted nearly 70 pages of
tightly-spaced footnotes. Surely these would at least allow us to follow through on the
author's claims, right? But yet, he begins a discussion about the land on which
Washington DC now stands and notes wishfully that the ownership by John Pope would
be pleasant historically (in some sort of cosmically-ordained way, apparently) if that
individual was related to John Pope who had settled in Massachusetts in 1630. He
notes that John (from Dorchester) was a distant forbear of the architect John Russell
Pope. Footnote for his source? Not a chance!
It's a technique regularly used in 'popular' literature surrounding Freemasonry today.
Similar to the bestselling The Hiram Key, Mr. Ovason makes a fanciful assumption and
then later uses this to buttress yet another of his own theories.

In that cloud formation I see a doggie....

In truth, anyone

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looking at the early

layout of
Washington, DC
can, with a bit of
imagination, see the
design of a square
and compass. Dan
Brown in his much
later work, The Lost
Symbol, notes this
quite clearly to the
chagrin of the main
character's
students. That these
are the implements
used by
Freemasonry to
remind members to
circumscribe their
desires and keep
their passions within due bounds with all mankind is undeniable. Just as undeniable,
however, is that operative architects have used such implements for thousands of
years and some of them surely must have been inspired by their grace and practical
applications of their tools - even if they'd never joined the fraternity of Freemasons.
But wait: that's not what Ovason is writing about: it's VIRGO!!!!! Yes, the thrust of
this book is about the number of things that someone can play 'connect the dots' with
and come up with a rough approximation of what the constellation Virgo looks like.
Here's an example: The cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid at the
northeast corner of the foundation in the early afternoon of July 4, 1848. As I have
indicated, probably one reason why the Masons chose to lay the stone in the afternoon
was because they wished to allow the all-important Virgo to become operative in the
chart. Shortly before lunchtime on that day, the Moon went into Virgo." Probably?
Why? Footnote? Naw.... In point of actual fact, NO ONE seems able to ever produce
any documentation whatsoever that Freemasons in the United States ever used
astrological information for anything other than hoping that the weather might be
good for a cornerstone laying. (The 'Old Farmer's Almanac' was known to be kept in
some lodges in New England, particularly those which met by the light of the full
moon....)
Virgo, to Mr. Ovason seems to be everywhere. "In fact, there was another Virgoan
influence in this chart which might be missed by someone not familiar with the
workings of astrology. The all-important Dragons Head in the 1848 chart is in 25
degrees of Virgo."
And yet, while Mr. Ovason wants to tie the Masons to the Virgo designs, he seems
remarkably uninformed about who is a Mason and who isn't. He writes about Pierre
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L'Enfant, the original designer of Washington, Later, he undertook special duties for
Washington in France, where (almost certainly being a Mason) he organized a branch
of the Society of Cincinnati, for which he designed its emblem. Aha! A footnote:
surely this will provide enlightenment to support his parenthetical assertion. What do
we find? A footnote stating: It is very likely that LEnfant was a Mason. <SIGH>
In addition, he glibly identifies Vinnie Ream (a sculptress and close friend of Albert
Pike) and Madame Blavatsky as Masons. So much for his scrupulous research....

Not-so-keen observations
Talking about the George Washington Monument, Mr. Ovason writes In spite of such
delays and setbacks, a considerable change of vision was required to move from so
thoroughly a neoclassical design as a horse-rider, to an obelisk which was essentially
Egyptian in spirit. Historical documents indicate that this change was directed by
Masons. Furthermore, not only was the form of the monument different from that
anticipated by LEnfant, it was not even sited in the position he had visualized. Alas,
yet again not a single footnoted anything to explain how Ovason has come to the
conclusion it was directed by Masons (of the 'Freemason' variety)!
There are constant references to various parties being keen astronomers but Mr.
Ovason apparently doesn't understand or appreciate the essential part astronomy
played in military (and most especially naval) science of the day. The 'important
people' of those times were, for the most part, military men: whether their service
involved moving troops across land or handling ships across water, there was an
ongoing reliance upon celestial navigation and it thus stands to reason that the level of
understanding of astronomy in those days would be far, far greater than it is today
with GPS in our cars speaking to us with the next turn to be made. The author is
apparently oblivious to the fact that even today, naval officers learn celestial
navigation but that two hundred years ago, long before printing was readily available
and maps were even marginally reliable, anyone who was responsible for military
troops, surveying, foresting, exploring or a whole host of other occupations (including
farming) would certainly be a 'keen astronomer'. There was no 'radar weather' to give
wrong predictions so even those tending animals in the most remote regions would
need, of necessity, be 'keen astronomers'.
We found it particularly interesting that Ovason's work makes much of the year 1881
(the supposed Trithemian doctrine of planetary angels) and claims (without
substantiation) that occultists were alert to the critical importance of that year of
change. However, because Pike was not particularly interested in that year, Mr. Ovason
dismisses this lack of interest by saying that ...his attention must have been on other
things. Convenient, isn't it?
He makes broad statements unsupported by fact. Here's but one example: By
contrast, the astrological conditions pertaining to the ritual of the cornerstone were
rarely made public. This was nothing to do with Masonic secrecy it was merely a
continuation of an ancient tradition. One supposes that it's awfully difficult to make

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things public when they were likely never thought of - but that's much too mundane
obviously.

The hidden confession - it's NOT the Masons,

except coincidentally
Three hundred and fifty plus pages later and only three pages from the end of the
book, we find this revealing commentary:
"It is not possible to work as a historian in the United States today without observing the
understandable doubts which some Christian religious groups have concerning esotericism. If,
as a Christian myself, I may venture an opinion in this context, it is that the Bible appears to
have been written in such a way as to accommodate the understanding of a vast range of
different beliefs, most of which find a meeting point in the seminal Mystery of the Christian
religion, which is the Resurrection. Among this range of beliefs is one that might be typified
as Christian esotericism, which approaches Christian texts and traditions in the light of
hermetic thought. Generally speaking, an informed and well-intended analysis of esoteric
Christianity is unlikely to unearth beliefs which conflict in any significant way with the
traditions pertaining to the hallowed Mysteries of Christianity, or with the great cosmic and
moral truths we find in the Bible. Beyond offering keys to such Mysteries, Christianity is a
moral force, which should be capable of harboring a wide variety of opinions, and which should
not harbor hatreds especially hatreds directed at communalities of beliefs, in which
differences are often peripheral or minor.
I introduce this thought because, given certain reactions to my previous works, I suspect that
misunderstandings may arise about what I have and have not claimed in this present book. I
have been surprised by the number of people who have taken it upon themselves to criticize
some of my earlier writings without having done me the courtesy of reading what I have
written. The general tenor of such criticism seems to arise from the misconception that any
hermetic idea must be in some way diabolic, or linked with black magic. This is completely
untrue.
In view of such misunderstandings, I would like to make it quite clear that I am not for one
moment suggesting that it was the Masons who built Washington, D.C., or that
Masons Lodges ever had a coordinated, formulated plan to influence the growth of
the city in any way. <Emphasis added> As a careful reading of this text will have indicated,
I am claiming merely that Washington, D.C., was designed and built on Christian
hermetic principles derived from, or linked with, ancient cosmological ideas. In
exploring this truth, I observe that some of the people involved in the building of the city,
besides being architects, planners and artists, happened also to be Masons. I am
reasonably sure that in just about every case these individuals were also committed
Christians. It would be patently absurd (if only because it is so obvious) for me to labor the
point that Washington, D.C., was built by Christians.

So what's all the fuss about? Who knows.... It's certainly clear from reading this work
that this book is FAR from the proof of any nefarious deeds or plans by Masons or
Masonry. That will not, of course, stop anti-Masons from making their ridiculous
claims.
After having read both this work as well as Mr. Ovason's The Secrets of Nostradamus.
we can only suggest that having found that remarkable prediction of the terrorist
attacks on New York after they happened, this is not an author we'll follow further -

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and not a book we'd recommend. Should you choose to, here's a link to Amazon.
You can find another similar commentary on this fanciful work of fiction at the Grand Lodge of
British Columbia website here.

Full Disclosure: This book was purchased by me from Amazon using my own funds. I received no inducements to
provide this review. Ed King

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