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    Nigel Pennick - Masonic Arts at Guildford (1979)

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    The document summarizes Masonic and esoteric elements found in the design and construction of Guildford Cathedral in England. Some key points include: 1) The cathedral was built on a prime geomantic site donated in 1933 on the summit of Stag Hill. 778 piles were driven into the ground during construction, which relates numerologically to the cross. 2) The cathedral's internal and external features include symbolic carvings and a rose window depicting the holy spirit. Its length of 365 feet relates to numerological and mystical concepts. 3) The cathedral employs "ad triangulum" geometry with rhombuses and equilateral triangles defining its layout and relating each part to the

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    Nigel Pennick - Masonic Arts at Guildford (1979)

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    The document summarizes Masonic and esoteric elements found in the design and construction of Guildford Cathedral in England. Some key points include: 1) The cathedral was built on a prime geomantic site donated in 1933 on the summit of Stag Hill. 778 piles were driven into the ground during construction, which relates numerologically to the cross. 2) The cathedral's internal and external features include symbolic carvings and a rose window depicting the holy spirit. Its length of 365 feet relates to numerological and mystical concepts. 3) The cathedral employs "ad triangulum" geometry with rhombuses and equilateral triangles defining its layout and relating each part to the

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    Journal of Geomancy Vol. 3 No. 3, April 1979, pp. 73-77.

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    The document summarizes Masonic and esoteric elements found in the design and construction of Guildford Cathedral in England. Some key points include: 1) The cathedral was built on a prime geomantic site donated in 1933 on the summit of Stag Hill. 778 piles were driven into the ground during construction, which relates numerologically to the cross. 2) The cathedral's internal and external features include symbolic carvings and a rose window depicting the holy spirit. Its length of 365 feet relates to numerological and mystical concepts. 3) The cathedral employs "ad triangulum" geometry with rhombuses and equilateral triangles defining its layout and relating each part to the

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    67 views7 pages

    Nigel Pennick - Masonic Arts at Guildford (1979)

    Uploaded by

    Various Tings
    The document summarizes Masonic and esoteric elements found in the design and construction of Guildford Cathedral in England. Some key points include: 1) The cathedral was built on a prime geomantic site donated in 1933 on the summit of Stag Hill. 778 piles were driven into the ground during construction, which relates numerologically to the cross. 2) The cathedral's internal and external features include symbolic carvings and a rose window depicting the holy spirit. Its length of 365 feet relates to numerological and mystical concepts. 3) The cathedral employs "ad triangulum" geometry with rhombuses and equilateral triangles defining its layout and relating each part to the

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    The article discusses the esoteric and geomantic features that were incorporated into the design and construction of Guildford Cathedral in England. Some of these include using symbolic numbers of piles driven and measures of the cathedral, as well as carvings and symbols with esoteric meanings.

    The cathedral was built on a prime geomantic site at the summit of Stag Hill. A cross and ritual perambulation were used to mark the site. The foundations incorporated 778 piles in a symbolically meaningful number.

    Symbolic numbers like 365 were used for internal lengths, and 777 + 1 piles were driven in a number with esoteric significance. Geometry like ad triangulum was also used in the design.

    Masonic Arts at Guildford

    Nigel Pennick

    Source: ​Journal of Geomancy ​Vol. 3 No. 3, April 1979, pp. 73-77.

    In recent years, the old theory that geomancy was a thing of mere historical
    interest has given way to a realization that secret societies like the
    Freemasons and certain elements within the Catholic and Anglican churches
    are still practising a form of geomantic art. Work undertaken by the author
    on the modern Anglican cathedrals of Liverpool, Coventry and Guildford has
    revealed features of siting, consecration and detail which, if displayed by a
    medieval cathedral would be a sure sign of practical esoterism in action.
    This article is about Guildford Cathedral, the last gothic cathedral to be
    started in England.

    In 1932, five years after the formation of the diocese of Guildford from out of
    part of the old diocese of Winchester, an open competition was held for a
    new cathedral. 183 architects entered, and Edward Maufe’s design was
    chosen. In 1933, the Earl of Onslow donated a prime geomantic site for the
    cathedral – the summit of Stag Hill, the highest point in the vicinity of
    Guildford.

    To mark the omphalos, a cross made of teak from the ship HMS Ganges was
    set up, and the ground-plan was perambulated by the clergy and their
    attendants in the age-old manner. A huge number of piles was driven into

    the hill in order to set the foundation – 778 in all.

    This number, and the symbol taken for the cathedral, is of gematrial interest.
    In gematria, numbers represent their Greek or Hebrew counterpart letters.
    777 + 1 (colel, = ± 1, an acceptable variation in gematria conventions) is
    equal to 37 × 21, traditionally the number of ΣΤΑΥΡΟΣ – the Cross. At that
    time, the logo to the right of this wodge of type was chosen as the emblem
    which would henceforth represent the cathedral and all its associated
    activities.
    {74}
    {75}

    In 1936, full ritual was again used in the laying of the foundation stone of the
    cathedral by the archbishop of Canterbury. In 1937, the last pile was driven
    with the aid of Queen Mary, and work went ahead until the war brought it to
    a standstill. The projected date of consecration of 1941 was put off, and work
    did not resume again until 1948. The final completion and consecration was
    not until 17th May 1961, exactly 20 years after it had been originally
    intended.

    The cathedral’s orientation, unlike those at Liverpool and Coventry, which


    are S–N and N–S respectively, is on the traditional E–W axis, with the altar
    at the east. Internally and externally, there are key symbols and carvings
    which indicate the esoteric purpose of the structure.

    The rose window above the high altar depicts the dove and the gifts of the
    holy spirit, which the cathedral is dedicated to. At the crossing, the
    omphalos of the church from which Maufe derived its ad triangulum
    (vesica-based) geometry, the highest point of Stag Hill, there is a small
    leaping metal stag set into the floor. The official explanation for the
    inclusion of this seemingly pagan–geomantic emblem is that it is a reminder
    of the time when the Kings of England used to hunt in the district. However,
    elsewhere in the cathedral, high up on the outside of the tower, is a more
    esoteric reminder – the carving on the south-facing side of St. Hubert, the
    patron of the Royal Chase over which he looks.

    This tower has four guardians of the directions, continuing the age-old
    tradition of the guardians of the four quarters which occurs in geomantic
    lore throughout the globe.

    The east is guarded by St. Blaise, patron of the Guildford Woolmen of the
    middle ages. The South has St. Hubert, the West, St. Augustine, founder of
    the archbishopric of Canterbury. On the North is St. Swithin, now famed for
    his 40 day rain curse, but in reality the most loved prelate of Winchester.
    The four guardians thus reproduce the attributes of the sacred sites in the
    directions to which they face.

    Mystic dimensions are uncommon in modern buildings. The structures


    designed by inspired architects like Gaudí, Bragdon or Steiner according to
    transcendent principles are notable in their material difference from the
    average edifices of commerce. Even in cathedrals, poured concrete usually
    takes precedence over the numbers of knowledge. At Guildford, the ancient
    transcendent measure used by the master architect Wren at St. Paul’s was
    used by Maufe for the internal length. This number, 365, in addition to
    being the number of days in a year, which makes the church symbolic of
    God’s year and hence the whole of progressive creation in Christian
    mythology, is the number of ABRAXAS, knowledge, and from it the magic
    word ABRACADABRA, now devolved into {​ 76}​ the status of conjurors
    mumbo-jumbo, is derived. Kerrich, in his unpublished musings on the
    geometry of King’s College Chapel, recently rediscovered, attributes these
    letters to the 11 divisions between the twelve severies of the vaulting of this
    gothic masterpiece. In Hebrew qabbalistic calculation, this word is
    equivalent to the number 416, the side of the mystically revealed City of
    Ezekiel.

    In addition to the gematrial length and the guardians of the four quarters,
    the cathedral is laid out with ad triangulum geometry. Starting at the
    omphalos on the apex of Stag Hill, a system of rhombs is developed with the
    use of the equilateral triangles (and thus a series of vesicae piscibus). Every
    feature of the cathedral is defined by these geometric figures and their
    intersections, harmonically relating each part to the others, and thence,
    through the universal geometry via the matrix of cathedral–church–chapel
    (a sustaining grid), to the divine harmony of the universe.

    A visit to Guildford cathedral is recommended to anyone of an esoteric


    inclination. The ‘keys’ are there for anyone to read. What we can make of it
    is disputable. Are they a remnant of a nearly-lost system which have been
    used for ‘old times’ sake’, with little knowledge behind them, or are they a
    latter-day continuation of a venerable and living tradition, still practised
    behind the bolted doors of masonic lodges? All we can do is look, and judge.
    The Chapter House is octagonal, with an ‘eye of light’ issuing from the roof.
    It was donated by Ronald Wates, the builder. The wrought iron gates of the
    Lady Chapel, which is built in a different style from the rest of the cathedral,
    were donated by the Freemasons of Surrey. Similar ‘keys’ abound. In a
    future article, I will deal with the strange case of Coventry Cathedral, as
    there are many aspects of Ritual Magic in the Church of England to be
    unravelled – for example, see the Bishop of Exeter’s report on Exorcism,
    1972, outlined in Tom Graves’s excellent book Needles of Stone.

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