Friday, March 19, 2010

Conspiracy Theory Jewelry

I'm not going to lie... I bought a six pack of beer a few months ago because I thought the caps were pretty. Perhaps I was a victim of a marketing ploy, perhaps it was artistic destiny. Either way, one Google search lead to another and I got a brief history lesson, and enjoyed some good beer!


Cool bottles, can you blame me for buying it?

The fancy purple caps, as well as the decorative bottles, featured the Eye of Providence, which is the symbol found on the back of the US one-dollar bill and the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. The Latin phrase underneath the symbol reads "Novus Ordo Seclorum," meaning "New Order of the Ages." However, the phrase has been mistranslated by conspiracy theorists as meaning "New World Order," and some misinterpret the eye and pyramid as a Masonic symbol of the Illuminati.


Originally, the Illuminati referred to the Enlightenment-era secret society group founded in 1776, known as the Bavarian Illuminati. The movement was founded by Professor Adam Weishaupt and was made up of freethinkers. Today, it refers to a conspiratorial organization controlling today's affairs through government and corporations, often used in reference to the New World Order, or an autonomous world government. Some proposed methods of a shift towards New World Order include the use of Social Security Numbers, barcoded UPC codes, and microchip implants.

So why did I incorporate Benjamin Franklin into this piece?


Some conspiracy theorists believe that Freemasons conspired to create this New World Order, and that some of our nation's founding fathers, including Benjamin Franklin, had included Masonic symbols into American society, such as in the Great Seal.

The Eye of Providence symbolizes the all-seeing eye of God, the eye resting on an unfinished pyramid of 13 steps, representing the original 13 states. The Roman numerals representing the year 1776 are on the bottom step. The Masonic Eye of Providence is typically enclosed in a triangle and has a semi-circular glory below the eye. It does not involve a pyramid, however, the triangle is often interpreted as one. It was designed 14 years after the Eye of Providence on the seal, despite claims that the Masons incorporated the design into the Great Seal of the United States. Furthermore, only one of the three designers of the seal was a Mason - Benjamin Franklin.


I made another pendant with this interesting bottle cap. Going along with the pyramid theme, I used Sphinx scrapbook paper:





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