The Master Of Speech
June 2005

2. The Ancient Relgion that Started Freemasonry
by Shannon Dorey

In my previous article I described the connections between the Masonic Society, the Rosicrucians, and the Merovingians. Three key areas where these groups met were Rennes-le-Chateau in Languedoc, France; Shugborough in Staffordshire, England; and Rosslyn Chapel in Roslin, Scotland. (The Italian Villa Palombara in the Piazza Vittore Emmanuele may have also been another common location.) I believe these groups were associated with an ancient religion that was also known to the Dogon people of Africa. The Dogon religion is based on the fact that amphibious fish-tailed aliens, known as the Nummo, came to Earth from another star system and combined their DNA with the animals of Earth to create humanity. The general manager of Shugborough, Richard Kemp, also reported that Shugborough has one of the most intense concentrations of UFO sightings in the country. My research supports the fact that the Dogon religion is the first religion of the world and was known to all people at one time. It is the source of every other religion on the Earth.

The Philalethan Congress held in Paris from 1785 to 1787 also linked the Masonic Society with the "original religion." The Congress gathered together "eminent Free masons from all lands and all rites to convene 'to discuss and clarify the most essential points of the doctrine, the origin, and the historical affiliation of the true masonic science.'" These individual brought their various opinions with them and the "resulting understanding generally agreed upon was that Freemasonry was the 'original religion.'" According to those who met at the Congress, this religion was handed down from such diverse sources as King Arthur, the Gnostics, the Templars, Pythagoras, Plato, the Rosicrucians, and Hermes Trismegistus, just to mention a few. 1 The sources listed above have all been discussed in my books and articles.

There is evidence to indicate that the Masonic society may have evolved from the Sigui society in the Dogon religion. This male society was identified with the Jackal and Smith figures of the Dogon religion, who were earlier versions of the Greek Hermes. In the Dogon religion, the Jackal was a symbol of the Nummos' first failed experiment and humanity's separation from truth and immortality. The Jackal symbolized the genetic defect in the experiment and was represented in the Dogon religion by a dog or fox, a cock or rooster, and a white cow. In later mythologies he is also symbolized by a white bull and a boar. In both The Master of Speech and The Nummo I talk about his association with the ritual of the sacrifice and death of the king. He is a male figure associated with single-sexed beings and the Earth.2

In the Dogon religion the cock was a symbol of the Jackal and the word "cock" was also used as a nickname for medieval and Renaissance-era masons.3Journeymen gave the name "foxes" to those aspirants to their ranks.4 In the Dogon religion, the Jackal was also known as the pale fox. It is also probable that the Smith's hammer of the Dogon religion later became the Masonic hammer. The Dogon also had knowledge of DNA, and in the Dogon religion the two V's, later associated with the Masonic Society, represented dual chromosomes and were said to be "Amma forming two points."

In the Dogon religion the androgynous, amphibious Nummo were identified as "Heaven's Smiths". Their spaceships were described as being in the shape of a hammer and anvil and were identified with a smithy because they emitted fire. The Dogon Smithy was also the Granary, a place of human creation and regeneration. When the Master of Speech was sacrificed, his/her head was buried in the Smithy as the place of future creation.5 The importance of the Smith has been found historically in other places throughout the world. Only fragments of the original mythology exist in these other cultures, however, and none of these fragments explain where the myth originated or why the Smith would play such a significant role in these religions. The fact that this character appears in these ancient cultures suggests that Dogon stories come from the very beginning of known history. The Greek smith god Hephaistos, the Egyptian smith god Ptah, the Egyptian moon god Thoth, and the Roman smith god Vulcan are all related to the Smith in Dogon mythology. The Smith also appears in the Celtic cultures, where Dogon symbols flourish.6 In the Celtic Hallstatt Culture, for instance, the Smith is identified as a dangerous wizard. (For more information, see Chapter 2 of The Nummo, which can be found at this link Heaven's Smiths.

Dogon mythology tells us that humans were created and regenerated in the mythical Smithy in what were known as omphalos or navel stones. On 7 Verso in The Book of Kells, which is the Folio of the Virgin and Child, there are pictures of twin men curled up inside omphalos stones beside the Virgin. Jesus, who appears as a grown man, also sits on the Madonna's lap and has string-like red strands emerging from his nose and ear.7

Images of these stones have been found throughout the world. In some of the omphalos stones, a rod-like device emerges with rope-like strands dangling from it. At the end of these strands hang pinecone shaped or round stones. These rods later became identified with the Tree of Life and the creation of humanity, and for this reason I associated the stones found on the end of the rope strands with the fruit from the mythical Garden of Eden.

According to Robert Graves, by the time the "Biblical legend of Adam and Eve reached North-Western Europe, the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was understood as an apple- not as a fig, despite the fig-leaf context." The apple tree was considered the tree of immortality and "the poets of Wales were always aware of its spiritual pre-eminence… Where did King Arthur go to be healed of his grievous wounds? To the Isle of Avalon, the secret 'island of apple trees.'"8

By eating the apple, or being regenerated, humans gained intelligence but lost their immortality. According to the Dogon, it was the Nummos' failed genetic engineering experiment that caused humans to become separated from immortality. If humans had been left alone to evolve naturally, spirituality and immortality would have eventually evolved on Earth.

These "apples" or stones may be the "blue apples at noon" referenced in one of the ciphers found at Rennes-le-Château (information connecting Rennes-le-Chateau with Shugborough can be found in my first article on Shugborough) and identified with the device used in the genetic experimentation of humans. Because they were later related to the regeneration process, they also became identified with immortality. The colour blue relating to the apple or stone may also be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh where Gilgamesh is searching for the plant of immortality. He arrives at the mountain where the scorpion men guard the gate. One of the men opens the gate and Gilgamesh goes in and finds a great park and a wonderful tree bearing precious stones as its fruit. Its branches are exceedingly beautiful and at its top is lapis lazuli, which is a blue stone that dazzles the eye. Gilgamesh next arrives at the home of a mysterious female who tells him that when the gods created humans, "they apportioned death to mankind; and retained life to themselves." She tells him to enjoy everything the Earth has to offer because death is his lot in life. This relates to Dogon mythology, where after the third experiment, humans were supposed to continually live and die until spiritually evolving back into immortal beings. In the Dogon religion, the scorpion relates to "twins", meaning androgyny, and symbolizes the Nummo.9

The noon in the cipher "blue apples at noon" may also relate to the famous experiment carried out by the alchemist Nicholas Flamel that was also concerned with immortality. According to Flamel, he performed his first alchemical transmutation at noon on January 17, 1382.10 Following the strict method found in The Book of Abraham the Jew, Flamel apparently "changed a half-pound of mercury first into silver, and then into virgin gold. And simultaneously, he accomplished the same transmutation in his soul. From his passions, mixed in an invisible crucible, the substance of the eternal spirit emerged."11 Is it possible that Nicholas Flamel's experiment was somehow connected to the regeneration process in Dogon mythology? Whether Flamel's account can be believed or not, the truth is that he became very wealthy afterwards. By 1413 he had founded and endowed fourteen hospitals, seven churches, and three chapels in Paris and a similar number in Boulogne.12 January 17 seems to be a significant date, for it also frequently appears in the mysteries and stories relating to Rennes-le-Château.

Henry Lincoln makes an interesting reference to blue circles appearing in the painting of the raising of Lazarus in the church at Rennes-le-Château. A window was constructed in the south wall in such a way as to cause the blue circles to appear on the altar. Lincoln suggests that these blue circles could be the "blue apples" from the cipher.13 This is a particularly important observation because the painting shows Lazarus being resurrected. This would suggest that the blue apples were in deed related to the regeneration process.

The "blue apples at noon" may also be associated with the Blue Lodges of Masonry. There is a reference to "noon (or in the South)" in one interpretation of the cipher from Rennes-le-Château.14 The York Rite and the Scottish Rite require their members to be Blue Lodge Masons. The Blue Lodge and its ceremonies establish the fundamental bond which makes all Masons brothers.15 According to Masonic legend, the Operative Lodges constructed a lodge building adjacent to their work site where the Masons could meet for instruction and social contact. Normally this was on the southern side of the site where it was warmer and as a result the social gathering of the lodge was and is still referred to as the South.16

The Dogon religion is also related to the Arthurian legends and to the myths relating to the Holy Grail. In the Arthurian legends, the Fisher King who is the keeper of the Holy Grail, may echo the fish-tailed Nummo. If we recall, the Nummo were "Heaven's Smiths" and Joseph Campbell believed that the German Celtic Hallstatt lore of drawing swords from stones evolved into the Arthurian theme of the sword drawn from the stone suggesting a sense of magic.17

The association of the Smith with the alien Nummo, also appears in the early versions of the Arthurian legends. In Robert de Boron's telling of the Sword in the Stone, the sword is in an anvil on top of a stone. The anvil on top of a stone is likewise found in Robert's Merlin. "The sword symbolized justice, and the stone represented Christianity. By pulling the sword from the stone, Arthur was agreeing to pursue justice in the name of Christianity. Later writers would omit this connection as well as the anvil and portray the Sword in the Stone as a test arranged by Merlin to prove that Arthur was the true king."18 In the Dogon religion, separating the hammer from the anvil represented the division of androgynous humans into single-sexed beings and in the process losing their immortality. It was hoped by the Nummo that they would eventually evolve back into androgynous and immortal beings.

The indiscretion of the first and second ancestors in the Dogon religion also appears in the Arthurian story of Lancelot and Guinevere. The indiscretion in the Nummo's world caused all humans to be turned into mortal beings. Refer to my previous article for more details about this indiscretion.

Structures known as Arthur's Oven in Britain and Wales are related to the Nummos' spaceship, or Smithy. According to Thomas Green, there were several sites in England, with the name Arthur's Oven. One oven existed between Exeter and Bodmin and was seen in 1113 by some visiting canons of Laon, in northern France, who were shown both a "seat" and an "oven" of King Arthur. According to Green, the location of the seat was no longer known, but the oven was probably the King's Oven recorded at Dartmoor. He also referred to another Arthur's Oven near Stirling, which was a circular building of the Roman period known from at least the 13th century and destroyed in the 18th century. There were several Arthur's Seats in Wales, including one recorded in 1190 by Gerald of Wales in his Itineranium Kabrie.19 Both "Arthur's oven" and "Arthur's seat" relate to the Dogon spaceship, which was identified with a Smithy.

In my book, The Nummo, I relate a Dogon diagram of Amma's seat spinning through space to a picture drawn on a Celtic ogam stone found in Maumanorig, County Kerry, Ireland. According to Anthony Weir, the word "ogam" is derived from Oigmiú, the smith god who became the script god. Another aspect of the smith god was Nuadú of the silver arm and horned helmet. Ogam writing was apparently introduced in Ireland just before Christianity. 20

The Greek goddess Artemis, who was the Roman Diana, is also associated with the Dogon religion and it is possible that the name "Arthur" comes from Artemis. The Welsh word bear is "arth," from which Arthur is derived,21 and the bear is associated with Artemis. Like other symbols relating to the androgynous Nummo and the sacred feminine, Artemis was probably changed to become identified with a male. The family crest of the Plantards, who are supposed to be Merovingian descendants, shows dual bears, a symbol not only of Artemis but of androgyny. It also bears the phrase "Et In Arcadia Ego," which is also found on the Shepherd's Monument in Poussin's famous painting of the same name.22 The phrase means "And In Arcadia, I Am," suggesting the presence of an immortal being forced to live in Arcadia, which although beautiful is still mortal.23

According to the Greeks, a goddess named Eurynome had a temple in Arcadia in a spot difficult to access. The temple was open only once a year. Her cult image was as a woman with a fish's tail and in golden chains. The inhabitants of the region believed her to be Artemis.

There are also bees on the Plantard family crest. The bee is an important symbol in Egyptian mythology and is associated with the goddess Neith, a forerunner of Isis and discussed in my book The Master of Speech. Neith's temple was known as "the house of the bee." Bees were also supposed to have been the tears of the sun god Ra. The Nummo were identified with the sun in the Dogon religion and these tears are possibly related to the Nummos' anguish after the failed experiment. They are also related to the tears of the Greek Goddess Demeter after her loss of Persephone to the underworld. This myth is discussed in The Master of Speech. Honey was regarded as a symbol of resurrection and also thought to give protection against evil spirits.24

Shugborough is located in Staffordshire, England. The Staffordshire County Council Coat of Arms25 is also significant to the Dogon religion. At the bottom of the coat of arms appears the phrase "the knot unites." Knots and weaving symbols are significant to the Dogon religion. They are related to the Celtic religion, which is closely linked to Dogon mythology.

In my book The Nummo, I write that in the Dogon religion the god

Amma formed the world from four knots that constituted the seats of the universe. The Dogon said this rope was like a snake that was knotted at the four cardinal points and surrounded the world in formation. In another representation, the knots symbolized the eight ancestors holding hands. This represented the fact the eight ancestors provided the source DNA for humanity. In another representation each knot was the spaceship's descent indicating the DNA that was brought to Earth by the Nummo.26

A picture of four knots also appears in a Rosicrucian and alchemical engraving by Simon Baruch, shown below, and discussed in my first article.


Figure 1. Alchemical Engraving © Adam McLean

Artist and alchemical researcher Adam McLean had no information on Simon Baruch; a name he believes was likely made up, as the Hebrew word Bar?kh means "blessed." "Blessed" is an important reference to the Elysian Fields, which were associated with the Isle of the Blessed,27 and this word is also related to Irish and Welsh Celtic myths relating to Bran the Blessed, the Cauldron of Regeneration, and the islands of the Otherworld. These associations are important as they relate to regeneration and immortality.28 In my article deciphering the letters on the Shugborough Shepherd's Monument, I suggested that Simon Baruch may have in fact been Nicholas Flamel as his work appears in the same alchemical manuscript as Baruchs'. This is The Book of Abraham the Jew.

The Apprentice Pillar(See Figure 2) found in the Rosslyn Chapel, located in the village of Roslin near Edinburgh, is also related to the Dogon religion. This Chapel was mentioned in my first article because I believe it was another likely meeting place for the Jacobites, the Merovingians and the Rosicrucians. The Sinclairs, who built the chapel, were not only connected to the Merovingian bloodline but they were heavily involved with the Masonic Society. Refer to my previous article for more information about this.


Figure 2. Apprentice Pillar Rosslyn Chapel ©Shannon Dorey

Literature relating to the Apprentice Pillar refers to Scandinavian mythology, where the eight dragons of Neilfelheim were said to lie at the base of Ygdrasill, which bound together heaven, earth, and hell. As I see them, the eight dragons are associated with the eight ancestors of the Dogon religion, which contain the genetic inheritance of humanity. Heaven is the Nummo and their world; Earth, the world of humans before Nummo experimentation; and hell, the Earth and humans after the experimentation. The eight ancestors' DNA is the DNA of the Earth. The ancestors were created during the second "word," or second genetic experiment, which was supposed to correct the mistake of the first experiment, or first "word."

During the second experiment, the procreation of the eight ancestors was controlled so the genetic defect that occurred in the first experiment, wouldn't appear in the offspring. The Master of Speech, the perfect combination of Nummo and human, was able to procreate only with the second ancestor, who represented the Jackal and evil. The second ancestor, identified with the bad DNA, fell in love with the first ancestor, but the first ancestor was supposed to procreate only with the eighth ancestor. The Nummo were afraid their immortality would be contaminated if the ancestors were allowed to breed freely, and so they decided to perform a third experiment to prevent this from happening. It was in the third experiment that Lébé was created. As a union of the seventh and eighth ancestors, Lébé may have been created as a way to balance out the union of the first two ancestors. The eight ancestors were identified with the dragons of time, because time represents mortality and the indiscretion in the Nummos' world caused humans to be turned into mortal beings.

The Apprentice Pillar (Figure 2) appears to be a replication of DNA, complete with the ladder-like lines connecting the spirals. At the base of the pillar, vines emerge from the mouths of the eight dragons (ancestors) and wind around the pillar. The vines, which form the DNA spirals, may be associated with the Dogon regeneration process and perhaps also the cord of God that was wrapped around an individual being regenerated.

Along with the Rosslyn Chapel, the Roslin Institute is also located in the village of Roslin. It was in this institute where Dolly the sheep was first cloned on July 5, 1996. Dolly died at six years of age, when she was euthanised after a veterinary examination showed she had progressive lung disease. Several other domestic animals, including a cow, a goat, a mouse, and a cat have also been cloned, but most of them died before birth or were born with severe abnormalities. Is it mere coincidence that the chapel and the institute are located in the same Scottish village? What we learn from analyzing Dogon mythology is that our spiritual essence is connected to our DNA. This was something the alien Nummo didn't know and which caused the Jackal to be born without a soul. They mistakenly believed the soul could not be found in any being that was devoid of intelligence. What they discovered was that intelligent beings could be born without souls. One characteristic of the Nummo was their ability to predict the future. Why they weren't able to predict their own biological failure is unknown. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact the experiment was tied to their DNA, which was related to their immortality. Because the Apprentice Pillar, a symbol of DNA, is found in the chapel, it leads me to believe that Sir William St. Clair somehow knew the institute would one day open nearby. Perhaps he built the chapel to warn humanity about the potential dangers of experimenting with DNA.29

For more information on the Nummo and the Dogon religion purchase The Nummo or The Master Of Speech. If you would like to contact the author, email sd@themasterofspeech.com


1Paul Naudon, The Secret History of Freemasonry,
translated by Jon Graham. Inner Traditions, Rochester, Vermont. 2005 p.266.
2Shannon Dorey, The Nummo p. 32.
3Naudon p.126
4Naudon p.126
5Dorey, The Nummo p.6.
6Dorey, The Nummo "Heaven's Smiths" pp. 6-14.
7Dorey, The Nummo "The Celtic Cross" p. 55.
8Dorey, The Nummo "The Arthurian Mythos" p. 21-22.
9Dorey, The Nummo "The Arthurian Mythos" p. 22.
10Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln p.446.
11http://www.alchemylab.com/flamel.htm
Magicians, Seers, and Mystics by Reginald Merton
12Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln p.446.
13Henry Lincoln's Guide to Rennes-le-Château. DVD. 2000.
Illuminated Word. 2005. The Disinformation Company Ltd.
14http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~dietrich/rennes-summary.html
15http://www.mtmansfield.org/pamphlet.htm
16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry
17Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God Occidental Mythology. p.292
and Dorey, The Nummo "Heaven's Smiths" pp. 6-14.
18Anno Domini http://www.kingarthursknights.com/faq/swordstone.asp.
Was the Sword Really in the Stone? King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
DW, King Arthur: A Man for the Ages. 2001.
19http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/concepts/folkgazt.htm
The Gazetteer of Topographical Folklore. Thomas Green. 2001
20Dorey, The Nummo "The Celtic Cross" p. 48.
21Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln p.250.
22Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln p.188.
23Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln p.40.
24http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/sacredinsect.htm#
bee Sacred Insects of Ancient Egypt Kendall Bioresearch Services
25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffordshire Staffordshire
26Shannon Dorey, The Nummo, The Celtic Cross pp. 28-29.
27http://www.levity.com/alchemy/amcl_eleazar_donum.html Adam McLean
28Dorey, The Nummo p.81.
29Dorey, The Nummo p.29-33.


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