Travis Simpkins: Ark of the Covenant

Showing posts with label Ark of the Covenant. Show all posts

Sunday, April 16, 2017

"Powdered Gold" by David S. Brody

Powdered Gold

Templars and the American

Ark of the Covenant

by David S. Brody

Eyes That See Publishing, 2014

Notes by Travis Simpkins

Powdered Gold is the third book in David S. Brody's "Templars in America" series, and for all intents and purposes, essentially picks up where Thief on the Cross left off… continuing the story of protagonist couple Cameron Thorne and Amanda Spencer as they investigate the secret pre-Columbian history and artifacts of North America. However, it is also very much a stand alone novel and can still be thoroughly enjoyed without prior reading of the first two installments in the series.

The plot switches setting and pace, relocating the action from New England to the desert landscape of southern Arizona. The story begins with Cameron, Amanda and Astarte in Tucson, AZ where Cam is assigned to examine the Tucson Lead Artifacts and deliver a lecture on Templar exploration in Pre-Columbian America. His presence draws the attention of an eccentric scientist, who also happens to be the leader of a group of armed survivalists holed-up in a fortified compound. The man is convinced that a radioactive golden chest, filled with a mysterious white powder, is concealed inside a desert cave… and he needs Cam's expertise to locate it. Could this really be the fabled Ark of the Covenant? Or something else entirely? And what interest can the Government have in such a discovery? To discuss the plot further would be an injustice to the many surprises contained within the book's pages.

Like in his previous work, David S. Brody assembles a collection of artifacts related to the European exploration of America long before Columbus and weaves a fast-paced thriller around them in expert fashion. This book mentions the Tucson Lead Artifacts, the Mustang Mountain Rune Stone and the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone amongst other Southwestern objects. Also included are references to the Freemasons and Brody's beloved New England sites like America's Stonehenge, the Newport Tower and the In Hoc Signo Vinces Stone (also in Newport). Both informative and entertaining, this book (along with Brody's other work) is deserving of praise and more wide-spread attention.

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Mustang Mountain Rune Stone

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Tucson Lead Artifacts

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Mural of Quetzalcoatl. Mexico City

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Bearded White God. Chichen Itza

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Bernard de Clairvaux Lactating

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: 4th Century Coptic Christian Papyrus

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Pregnant Mary Magdalene

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Jesus and pregnant Mary Magdalene

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Grand Canyon Cave Entrance

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Arizona Gazette. Egyptians in Grand Canyon

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Los Lunas Decalogue Stone

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Kiniver Rock House. Staffordshire, England

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Anasazi Cliff House. Mesa Verde, Colorado

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Pharaoh and mfkzt

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Ark of the Covenant

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Baghdad Battery

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: America's Stonehenge

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Newport Tower

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Newport Tower Solstice Illumination

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: In Hoc Signo Vinces Stone. Newport

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America

Powdered Gold. David S. Brody. Templars in America: Masonic Lecture

Sunday, November 27, 2016

"The Book of the Chapter: Royal Arch Freemasonry" by Albert G. Mackey

The Book of the Chapter

by Albert G. Mackey

originally published, 1858

Notes by Travis Simpkins

For students of the York Rite, Albert Mackey's The Book of the Chapter or Monitorial Instructions in the Degrees of Mark, Past and Most Excellent Master and the Holy Royal Arch has long been an essential text and a mainstay Classic. Divided into sections, each presents a Symbolical Design, Historical Summary and Analysis of a particular Chapter Degree. Full of useful information, some highlights include:

Mark Master: "If the Fellow Craft's degree is devoted to the inculcation of learning, that of Mark Master is intended to instruct us how that learning can most usefully and judiciously be employed for our own honor and the profit of others."

Past Master: "While, as Masons, we admit the general equality of men in their relationship to their common Creator… we do not deny the advantage and propriety of distinctions in society, based on a difference in talent, virtue and position; and we know that while some must rule and govern, others of necessity must be called upon to obey. It is to this of the gradations of society that the 5th Degree alludes in its ceremonies and instructions."

Most Excellent Master: " The Master Mason degree is intended, in its symbolic design, to teach the doctrines of the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of the soul. But this corruption can only be put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immorality by a passage through the portals of the grave. And here the degree of Most Excellent Master comes forward with its beautiful symbolism, to represent the man prepared to enter upon that eventful passage."

Holy Royal Arch: "The great object of pursuit in Masonry- the scope and tendency of all its investigations- is TRUTH. This is the goal to which all Masonic labor evidently ends. Sought for in every degree, and constantly approached, but never thoroughly and intimately embraced, at length, in the Royal Arch, the veils which concealed the object of search from our view are withdrawn, and the inestimable prize is revealed."