The Illuminati’s Glass and Marble Cube : A Performance Arts Center At Ground Zero

Not only did the date of 09-08-2016 carry with it the news event of the OSIRIS REx launch at Cape Canaveral, Fl (and its deep latent symbolism, with a possible analysis here), but the date also saw our mass media oligarchy promote news regarding progress on performing arts center at NYC’s Ground Zero.  Thanks to a head’s up from a fellow researcher Desiree (thanks Desiree!),  I was able to read this fascinating article from the UK’s The Guardian regarding a press conference update in respect to the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center due to for completion in the year 2020.  Quickly reading the article and noticing the potentially rich, occulted symbolism embedded in the project, I wanted to publish another article on my site for feedback and other ideas.  So without further ado, let’s dive into it.

The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center

The Cube, tucked away at the WTC complex in NYC

Named for current MacAndrews and Forbes CEO/Chairman, billionaire, philanthropist Ronald Perelman, who in June of 2016 donated $75 million to jump-start the project, the Performance Center will be designed by the curiously named Brooklyn based architecture firm REX (again with the REx…).  Mr. Perelman, estimated to be the 36th richest individual in the United States at a casual estimated $13.6 million USD, is not only a philanthropist, but also an individual who is no stranger to bourgeois mischief.  A known acquaintance of elitist boogeyman Jeffrey Epstein, as well as a shrewd grey area investor, more information of Mr. Perelman can be found here.

As designer Joshua Prince-Ramus states (more on him in a bit), the Ronald O. Perelman Center will be a “Mystery Box.”  Highlights of the upcoming complex/building include:

• The stone cube structure represents the final phase of the post 9-11 World Trade Center master plan
• The stone cube will rise 130 feet into the air at the corner of Fulton and Greenwich streets
• The cube will consist of a layer of transparent, white marble placed between two panels of glass
  • The marble will come from the Vermont quarry that used marble to construct the United States Supreme Court and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC
• A 21 foot staircase will allow people into the performance center
• The cubic structure will have three levels
  • The first level is considered to be the “Public” level
    • The public is allowed access to the portion at all times for concessions, drinks, and community activities
  • The second level is considered to be the “Performance” level
    • The level will be designated as secured and will house support for performances on the “Play” level
  • The third, and highest level, is the “Play” level
    •  The level to drive the entire function of the building
    • The “Play” level will feature three theaters; the three theaters can uniquely sit
      • 499 people
      • 250 people
      • 99 people
    • The three theaters can be combined into 11 combinations
• Initially, the cube was to include a total of 99,000 square feet
  • Subsequent to the initial press release, the total building’s area was decreased to 90,000 square feet
• By day, the sun illuminates the building’s interior through the marble/glass facade
• At night, the “monolith dematerializes;” the building is illuminated into an orange translucent glow by lights within the building

Lots of geometry, shapes, and locations in respect to the cardinal directions

 

The estimated total cost of the upcoming project is expected to be roughly $243 million USD; US Federal funding will cover over half of that, while Perelman has contributed his $75 million USD.  The balance of the project’s total cost is expected to raised from other private monetary contributions. With some luck and additional investment from the public, the project parameters could expand in the near future.

The REX and the Prince

Project lead  is architect Joshua Prince-Ramus.  Prince-Ramus, aside from having a sketchy Wiki page (per Wiki’s standards, not mine), lacks a full biography available online.  Prince-Ramus appears to be an architect of international renown and was awarded the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee / Marcus Entertainment and Lodging Marcus Prize in 2015.  With educational backgrounds from educational stalwarts that include a Bachelor of Arts of Philosophy from Yale and a Masters of Architecture from Harvard, Prince-Ramus most likely not only had the economic means to merge into the “network,” but also the means to utilize said Ivy League “network” to become an architect “on a trajectory to greatness.”

Rem Koolhaas

Born on 08-11-1969, Price-Ramus also appears to be an apprentice of Dutch architect legend Rem Koolhaas, and  was a founding partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture/Rem Koolhaas. Beginning in 2006, Prince-Ramus repositioned that the OMA New York into REX, or re-appraisal (RE) of architecture (X).  An architect in high demand, Prince-Ramus has designed some of the more beautiful and stunning buildings and complexes across the world (more images here); with he and his firm’s ability to pick up the most recent Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center, Prince-Ramus’s wealth, future, and legacy are most certainly assured.

Potential Symbolism : The World According to Albert G. Mackey, M.D.

Or better yet, the symbolism as discussed in An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences. Thanks to a free ebook found online (and the poor Butler student who likely was tasked with scanning the original pages into a PDF form), let’s assume the following:

• Ronald O Perelman, as is publicized by online material, is the 36^th wealthiest individual of the United States
  • As such, Mr. Perelman is likely privy to some type of philosophy, dogma,  and/or education, or at least exposed to individuals that have been exposed to some type of philosophy, dogma, and/or education, that the masses are not
• Joshua Prince-Ramus, despite the curious name and lack of biography available on line, is an Ivy League graduate with access to mass media focus, mass media advertisement, as well as exposure to project work that the philosophy major from say… I don’t know..say Butler, for instance… is not privy too
  • As such, Mr. Prince-Ramus is likely privy to some type of philosophy, dogma, and/or education, or at least exposed to individuals that have been exposed to some type of philosophy, dogma, and/or education, that the masses are not

So with that being said, let’s assume this this knowledge base that the rest of us aren’t necessarily privy too is some way, shape, or form associated with the Mystery Schools; and as many have speculated, Freemasonry is indeed an extension of this Mystery School of Philosophy.  Before diving into the possible symbolism of the upcoming cubic structure, let’s take a stab at some key conceptual definitions.

On Stone

In this case, marble stone from the previously referenced Vermont quarry, or the Vermont Marble Company. In ancient cultures, the stone represented foundation; it was a symbol of strength and endurance. EBEN, or “stone” in Hebrew, is claimed to have been derived from an obsolete root ABAN, to build, or “aban, an architect.” Yet in Egyptian and Hebrew symbology, the stone could potentially represent falsehood. Dr. Mackey goes on to point out two types of stone: hewn stone and unhewn stone. Hewn stone is “cut or shaped with hard blows of a heavy cutting instrument like an ax or chisel; “a house built of hewn logs”; “rough-hewn stone”; “a path hewn through the underbrush”” and represented Set or Typhon, and carried an evil significance in Hebrew. Unhewn stone, however, represented good and truth.

True to any good spin or inversion of a symbol, as we witness so often in these matters, Dr. Mackey states that “Masonic symbolism of the stone, is the converse of ..the Hebrew or the Egyptian symbology,” for Masonry designates the hewn stone as the decree of the illuminated, the improved, and the perfected state as nature. The unhewn stone, however, is the “symbol of man’s evil and corrupt nature.” What that ultimately implies, I have no idea, but I find it interesting that Masonry, so potentially dependent on the rites of Osiris/Isis/Horus, and other ancient rites, chose to attach a different path of meaning in relation to the significance of different states of the stone.

Stone of Foundation

What will the inscriptions on the white marble building be?

Dr. Mackey goes on to state that, in ancient religions, the Stone of Foundation represented the Deity.  Upon this stone was inscribed the Tetragrammaton, or sacred name of God.  As such, Dr. Mackey argues that Masonic philosophy has removed the “idol worship” of the stone that was prevalent in antiquity, and consecrated the Stone of Foundation to represent “worship to the true God.”  As such, the allegory of the Stone of Foundation is one of the most important symbols of all of Masonry.

On Marble

There isn’t necessarily a unique definition attached to the symbolism of marble, but Dr. Mackey mentions marble numerous times.  For everyone’s review and reference, marble (and curiously enough, white marble) passages include, but not limited to:

• Admiration, sing of : “{Queen of Sheba) upon arriving {at King Solomon’s Temple}, and beholding for the first time the Temple, which glittered with gold, and which was so accurately adjusted in all its parts as to seem to be composed of but a single piece of marble, she raised her hands and eyes to heaven in an attitude of admiration, and at the same time exclaimed, “Rabboni!” equivalent to saying ” A most excellent master hath done this!”
• Enoch : upon his son, Methuselah, construction of an underground temple, created a gold/stone encrusted plate; “On the plate he engraved, in ineffable characters, the true name of Deity, and, placing it on a cubical pedestal of white marble (see Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center), he deposited the whole within the deepest arch.”
• Joppa : “A town in Palestine and the seaport of Jerusalem, from which it is distant about forty miles in a westerly direction.  It was here that the King of Tyre sent ships laden with timber and marble to be forwarded overland to Solomon for the construction of the Temple.”
• Noachite, or Prussian Knight: in relation to the chief architect of the tower of Babel, Peleg: “In trenching the rubbish of the salt-mines of Prussia was found in A.D. 553, at a depth of fifteen cubits, the appearance of a triangular building in which was a column of white marble, on which was written in Hebrew the whole history of the Noachites.  At the side of this column was a tomb of freestone on which was a piece of agate inscribed with the following epitaph: Here rest the ashes of Peleg, our Grand Architect of the tower of Babel.”

On the Deity

The Grand Architect of the Universe, or G.A.O.T.U.  Residing in the Infinite Abyss, the Deity is the omnipotent, ever present, and exists with no boundary. Symbolically represented, among other things, with the infamous All-Seeing Eye, the Deity is ever watchful and in care of the Universe.  It is inferred that its name is known as the Tetragrammaton, and it represents the “creative and formative power.”

The Deity, Dr. Mackey also mentions, was represented as a circle in antiquity.  Recalling on the circle being a representative of the ouroboros, the Deity too is considered to be without beginning or end, and void of the finite.  The Deity brings reason to humankind; it is what brings illumination to the darkness of ignorance and superstition that has led humanity to fear, destruction, and disaster.  Interestingly, Mackey does discuss the Gnostic demiurge: unlike the Demiurgus, who the Gnostics a) believed to be several degrees removed from the Deity and b) responsible for the creation of the visible world, The Deity is the creator of the world of intelligence.  I would say one could argue that that GAOTU is possible one in the same as the Demiurge, but what do I know??

From a Freemason perspective, the G.A.O.T.U. represents the goal of any Initiative to architecturally duplicate the moral and spiritual laws that reign within the Deity with the Initiative’s life and work.  It is interesting to search on the term “deity” vs “Deity” in the work of Dr. Mackey;  I could probably write a full article on these results alone, or at least replicate what many more have written regarding this  subject, but for the purposes of this article, this is, more or less, the alleged symbology of the Deity from the perspective of a published Dr. Mackey.

The (Green) Circle Within the Square

Many interpretations have been placed on the circle in the square; it is argued it represents the square materiality and body with the oneness of the psyche of self, or Earth in union with the Heavens, or even the finite ,physical enclosing the infinite.  Alchemical attributions have also been placed on the symbol.  Yet what does Dr. Mackey have to say?

Let’s break it down:

• The square – the square is symbol of morality (apparently as both the geometric shape and the mason’s tool.  It is representative of being “upright,” honesty and equity.
• The color green – green represents the beginning of the world, the creation, the birth, or “the world was called into being in the wisdom of God by his word of mouth,” and light appeared in the East.
• The circle – as mentioned previously, represents the ouroboros, or the Deity.  It is perfection, the aggregate, and ignorant of duality

Aside from the geometric shapes, of course one could argue that we have in place the Square and the Compass symbol, which is to state that the Mason “squares our actions and to keep them within due bounds.”  The square is typically associated to the lower degrees of Masonry and human wisdom, whereas the compass is attributed to more philosophical and enlightened foundation

Basil Valentine and his Azoth Philosophorum

Mackey, however again returns to the plate above in later section, as referenced as being identified with Valentine, a 17th century Heremetic philosopher.  In this view, Mackey returns to that religious doctrine of the ancients and the ancient’s focus on phallic worship.  Dr. Mackey points out that the male holds on his person a compass; this in turn represents the male generative principle.  The female holds the square, or the female productive principle.  The combination is interpreted to represent that the square and compass represents “the transmutation from the hermetic talisman to the Masonic symbol”

The Cube (and the Corner Stone)

A symbol of truth, firmness, and stability of character.  The Corner Stone “must be perfectly square on its surfaces, and in it solid contents a cube.” It is to lie between the North, the place of Darkness, and the East, a place of light. As such, it represents the Sacred’s evolution from “darkness to light, and from ignorance to knowledge.”  Better yet, it represents immortality; after the Earthly material foundation has fallen into decomposition, the cubic corner stone will remind the Mason that “he has within a sure foundation…an emanation from the Divine Spirit which pervades all nature, which pervades all nature, and which, therefore, must survive the tom, and rise, triumphant and eternal above the decaying dust of death and the grave.”

Other fun finds per Dr. Mackey and the cube/square stone:

• Apollo was for some time in history worshipped under the construct of a square stone
• The god Hermes, being without hands or feet, was symbolized as a cubical stone; the cube represented the stability and solidity of Hermes
• Stone (cubical stone) worship, again, returns to that age old Mystery School meme; it represents the “generative and procreative powers of nature.”

The Masonic Altar

As stated by Dr. Mackey, the altar is the “most important article of furniture in a (Masonic) Lodge room.” It is a structure “elevated above the ground,” and is adopted by some service connected with worship. Inherent to the altar is the geometrical form of the cube, and according Mackey, among the ancients, two altars existed: the altar of sacrifice and the altar of incense. The altar of sacrifice was a) raised in open air and b) placed in front of the larger Temple. The altar of incense could exist only within the confines of the Temple. Both altars provided a means of sacrifice to the Deity; burnt, slain animals were placed on the altar of sacrifice, whereas incense was burnt as a form of bloodless sacrifice.

Of course, the Masonic altar would not be use for some primitive people’s learnings to require burnt, slain animal parts for worship to the Deity; instead, the Masonic is a combination of both the ancient altars of sacrifice and incense; Mackey states the Masonic altar is used by the initiate to sacrifice “his passions and obligations to the Deity,” whilst the initiate “offers up the thoughts of a pure heart as a fitting incense to the Grand Architect of the Universe.” As such, the cubic altar is the most sacred and holy object in a Lodge. As the ancients used the altar as a place of worship to the Deity, refugees and visitors to the altar were placed under said Deity’s protection. The altar also fostered and legitimized business transactions, social relationship arrangements, and other social transactions as the altar was under the purview of the Deity.

Interestingly, Mackey goes on to describe the position of the altar in relationship to the Worshipful Master; in French and Scottish Rites, the altar sits to the East, and in the York Rites, “the altar is placed in the centre of the room, or more properly a little to the East of the centre.”

As for the technicalities, the Masonic altar should be a cube, have three feet of height, and have parallel dimension of length and width. There is to four horns at each corner (on the top of the cube); also atop of the cube is to be an opened Holy Bible with the infamous Square and Compass spread over it (yikes). Around this cube should be three lights; one light to the East, one light to the West, and one light to the South. No light will exist in the North, because “North of the altar…there is no light, because in Masonry the North is the place of darkness.”

Fun additional find:….which in respect to the altar we have the Bible as being “emblematic of the wisdom of King Solomon,’ the square the the power of the Hiram, and the compass the skill of the Chief Builder.

What Does it All Mean?

 

Is this truly a dark, occulted project of the Illuminati?  Is there a more sinister motive behind the project’s design and symbolism?  Or is this truly a wonderful project that is indeed financed by billionaires and the public alike to “pay homage and remember the lost of 9/11?”  The Performance Arts Center is certainly attached to World Trade Center One and the larger mission statement of Ground Zero’s resurrection; the intent and symbolism of World Trade Center One has certainly been discussed by other researchers in this arena of speculation.

As with any good mystery, unless one is able to speak to the principals of REX or get an invite to Mr. Perelman’s next happy  hour, it will likely remain just that : a mystery.  Whether one considers the Illuminati to be good, evil, inverted, or (inverted back over to another inversion of some other perspective), I won’t speculate upon; it’s a rabbit hole.

Is the cube an altar, a symbol representative of the Hermes, Apollo, a testament to Freemasonry, the new Temple of Solomon, or a symbol of that age old Mystery school worship of the male generative principle?  Or is it just a beautiful building that, in press releases, happens to include words such as “illuminate,” “mystery box,” and “birthplace?”  I was personally intrigued by this story as it featured the word REX on the same day as the OSIRIS REx launch, and with it the always fascinating cubic structure.  Personally, I feel there is more to it than random events and circumstances, and this article was an attempt to make some sense of the story.

At the very least, what I do find absolutely fascinating, however, is the manifestation of an elitist dogma, education, or philosophy in the form of a cubic, illuminated building at Ground Zero; regardless of the ultimate motive, there is no doubt that some Mystery knowledge set is in play with this building’s design and motivation.  What that ultimately signifies to the Profane and/or Sacred, I can not guess.

As always, please feel free to drop a line or comment below. I’m curious what others think about this upcoming building and the principle agents attached to this construction.  I’m interested to learn what people find in respect to the numbers attached to the center, the design of the center, symbols possibly included on the building’s façade, and other shapes involved at the site (and what is up with that weird obelisk above?)

For one, I do hope to one day visit this beautiful building; and as always, I’ll be curious to read what others have to say on the construction’s progress and development.  With some luck, maybe I’ll even get to see a bit of MACCA here at some day in the near future.

Other References

http://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/ronald-o-perelman-performing-arts-center_o

http://www.archdaily.com/794971/rex-reveals-design-of-perelman-performing-arts-center-at-wtc-in-new-York