Great Seal of the United States

The Great Seal of the United States is an emblematic representation of the mission and identity of the American people portrayed by the great eagle, the pyramid, the mottoes, and the numerological symbols.

Symbolism

The eagle is the ancient symbol of spiritual vision without which the people perish. The olive branch in the right talon indicates the rule of the Prince of Peace by the authority of Jehovah. Jehovah, the Hebrew name of God, is taken from the verb “to be,” more literally “that which was, is, and will be.” Thus, Jehovah signifies that which transcends time and space—I AM THAT I AM, as the LORD revealed himself to Moses.

The gift of that name—the Lost Word of Masonry—was the dispensation for the twelve tribes, who were destined to establish peace in America through their realization of the inner Christ consciousness, or the Masonic Hiram Abiff as the archetype of each one’s Real Self—the mediator between the soul and the universal Spirit.

The number thirteen

The number thirteen is used so frequently in the Great Seal that even those who love “coincidences” would be compelled to admit that its designer had a purpose in mind.

The Spirit of ’76 is composed of digits which add up to thirteen. The eagle holds thirteen arrows in the left talon. There are thirteen pieces for the escutcheon, or coat of arms. The mottoes, annuit coeptis—“He has smiled on our undertakings”—and e pluribus unum—“one out of many”—both have thirteen letters. There are thirteen rows of masonry on the pyramid.

The frequent repetition of thirteen reflects the determination of the founding fathers to remind us that we are the twelve tribes and the thirteenth—the Levites—of Israel.

The incomplete pyramid is symbolic of the great work of perfecting the soul unto the image of the living Christ and the nation into a golden age.

Sources

Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Saint Germain On Alchemy: Formulas for Self-Transformation.