The number 33 enigmatically stretches as a
latitude line across many diverse cultures in many different times.
Known in numerology as the Master Teacher, 33 is the most influential of
all numbers, indicating selfless devotion to the spiritual progress of
humankind. The other two master numbers, 11 (vision) and 22 (vision with
action) form the base of a two-dimensional pyramid, and added together
equal 33 (guidance to the world), the apex of the pyramid. [1] On the
reverse of the Masonically inspired Great Seal of the United States is
the pyramid with the all-seeing eye of divine Reason at its apex.
According to ritual Freemasonry, XXXIII is considered sacred because in
most cases there is no higher degree or level to which a Mason may
aspire.
In a Biblical context we note that King David ruled in Jerusalem for
thirty-three years, Jacob had thirty-three sons and daughters, and Jesus
Christ was crucified at age thirty-three. Two interpenetrating
triangles whose apexes point in opposite directions form the hexagram of
the Star of David (3 + 3 = 6). On the other hand, 3 X 3 = 9, or the
Ennead, the nine primal gods of Egyptian mythology.
The late thirteenth/early fourteenth century Italian poet Dante ended
Canto XXXIII of the Purgatorio, or the second section of his Divine
Comedy: “...perfect, pure, and ready for the Stars.” [2] Canto XXXIII of
the Paradiso, or the third section, concludes with lines about the poet
being turned “as in a wheel whose motion nothing jars-- / by the Love
that moves the Sun and the other stars.” [3] It is more than a
coincidence that the 33rd canto of each section concludes with parallel
lines regarding the celestial; it may instead be the code from a lost
ancient tradition.
This number even permeates the biological realm studied by science:
thirty-three is the number of turns in a complete sequence of DNA. [4] A
more ominous connotation appears in the 33rd element of the periodic
table. Arsenic is a brittle, steel-gray substance that is actively
poisonous. The Greek root arsen means “male, strong” or “virile,” which
suggests the active reach of this potent and potentially deadly number
across the globe. Indeed, when we consider the northern latitude of 33
degrees, some intriguing synchronicities, or “meaningful coincidences,”
are found. [5]
You Say Phoenix and I Say Phoenicia
The first stop on our tour along the 33rd parallel is the metropolis
of Phoenix, Arizona, located at 33 degrees 30 minutes latitude. Gleaming
like a steel and glass mirage surrounded by ironwood, palo verde, and
saguaro cactus, this modern American city lies in a brown cloud of auto
exhaust at the northern end of the Sonoran Desert. Its imported palm
trees and omnipresent swimming pools shimmer when seen from high in the
air like turquoise and silver jewelry on a jet-setter’s tanned breast.
In essence, Phoenix is pervaded with the aura of the foreign and the
bizarre. Few casual tourists realize, however, that this was once the
center of the ancient Hohokam culture.
The largest Hohokam site known as Snaketown was located about five
miles north of the exact 33 degrees line, while the ruins of the
astronomical observatory called Casa Grande still rest about five miles
south of the line. The Hohokam inhabited the Valley of the Sun perhaps
as early as 300 B.C. (about the time of Alexander the Great and the
Ptolemaic Dynasties in Egypt) and built one of the world’s most
extensive irrigation systems. These ancient American Indians created an
estimated total of 500 miles of canals to irrigate over 25,000 acres in
the Phoenix Basin-- all constructed with mere digging sticks, stone
implements, and woven carrying baskets. In fact, no wheelbarrows or
draft animals were ever used. The main canals leading from the Salt and
Gila rivers measured up to 75 feet across at the top and 50 feet wide at
the bottom. [6] As Southwestern archaeologist H. M. Wormington
observes, “The scope of the canal project suggests comparisons with the
erection of the huge pyramids of Egypt or the great temples of the
Maya.” [7] Clearly this monumental technology was the key factor that
allowed the desert dwelling people to inhabit their extremely harsh
region for well over a thousand years.
Skipping across the Atlantic on the same parallel, we find a number
of intriguing sites in the Old World. For instance, at a latitude of 33
degrees 19 minutes was located the primary Phoenician seaport of Tyre
(now called Sûr), almost 50 miles south of Beirut. Dating back as early
as 5000 B.C., Tyre was renowned for a purple-red dye obtained from the
snails of the genus Murex. [8] The color is one of the meanings of the
word “phoenix,” which the ancient Egyptians sometimes associated with
the purple heron.
Back in North America the “place of the heron” refers to Aztlan, the
Nahuatl word for the mythical land that the Aztecs inhabited after
emerging from Chicomostoc, the Seven Caves located in the bowels of the
earth. [9] Chicano folklore identifies Aztlan as that portion of Mexico
taken over by the U.S. after the Mexican-American War of 1846-- in part,
the Arizona Territory, where the settlement of Phoenix arose.
The Masonic author Albert Pike states that Tyre was the seat of the
Osirian Mysteries after they had been imported from Egypt. [10] Pike
asserts that the two massive columns situated at the entrance of the
Tyrian Temple of Malkarth were consecrated to the Winds and to Fire.
This pair is thought to be the prototype of Jachin and Boaz, the two
pillars found on the eastern wall of every Masonic temple in the world.
On the right, or to the south, is Jachin, which means “He shall
establish” and signifies an active, vivifying force. On the left, or to
the north, is Boaz, which means “In it is strength” and connotes passive
stability and permanence. [11] Freemasons Christopher Knight and Robert
Lomas suggest that the former represents the winter solstice sunrise,
while the latter the summer solstice sunrise. [12] Although this is
possible, we propose that Jachin represents the southern stargate
between Sagittarius and Scorpius while Boaz signifies the northern
stargate between Gemini and Taurus. [13] Our assumption is based on the
fact that in the York Rite of Freemasonry a celestial globe symbolizing
ex-carnation (i.e., a spirit leaving its present body) is found atop
Jachin while a terrestrial globe representing incarnation is positioned
atop Boaz. [14]
During the tenth century B.C. King Hiram of Tyre supplied King
Solomon with craftsmen, metallurgists, cedar wood, architectural design,
and presumably the esoteric symbolism of these two columns for the
construction of his temple at Jerusalem. (1 Kings 7: 13-22) [15] In
addition to being besieged at various times by Nebuchadrezzar, Alexander
the Great, the Romans and others, the trade capital city-state of Tyre
was conquered in the twelfth century A.D. by the Crusaders, who built a
Knights Templar church there.
Some speculate that the orientation of the two pillars imitates
obelisks placed before the pylons of Egyptian temples, especially those
of the Heliopolitan temple of Thothmes (Tuthmosis) III, who reigned in
the fifteenth century B.C. as the militarily expansionist pharaoh of the
Eighteenth Dynasty. He is also thought to be founder of the Order of
the Rosy Cross, or the Rosicrucians. [16] The archaeologist Sir Flinders
Petrie even found records in the Libyan desert that describe a secret
Masonic guild meeting held circa 2000 B.C. “The guild met to discuss
working hours, wages, and rules for daily labor. It convened in a chapel
and provided relief to widows, orphans, and workers in distress. The
organizational duties described in the papyri are very similar to those
of ‘Warden’ and ‘Master’ in a modern branch of the Brotherhood which
evolved from those guilds: Freemasonry.” [17] It seems that all roads
lead to... Egypt.
Also of interest near the 33rd parallel is Byblos, a bit farther
north of Tyre at a latitude of 34 degrees 08 minutes. The name of this
city state is derived from the Greek ta b blia, which means “the book,”
or “bible.” Indeed, the invention of a Phoenician alphabetic phonetic
script occurred here and eventually spread to the Greek world. [18] A
bit farther east at nearly the same latitude is Baalbeck, an ancient
megalithic temple constructed with some of the largest stone blocks ever
cut in the world. Extracted and hauled from a quarry many miles away,
these megaliths include one block measuring 80 feet long and weighing
1,100 tons. [19] In this section we have seen how Phoenix and Phoenicia
are linked by latitude. We shall continue eastward to encounter other
significant ancient sites along the same parallel.
A Passage To China
A little over 500 miles east of these Phoenician cities at 33 degrees
20 minutes is modern-day Bagdad in Iraq, with Babylon located about 55
miles to the south. This ancient capital of Mesopotamia on the banks of
the Euphrates River was once the largest city in the world, encompassing
over 2,500 acres. The construction of Babylon began during the
twenty-third century B.C. and included the Temple of Marduk (known as
Esagila) as well as the legendary Tower of Babel (identified as
Etemenanki). The latter structure was a seven-tiered ziggurat rising to a
height of 300 feet with a base on each side measuring the same
distance. This measurement, incidentally, equals the length of the
Hohokam platform mound at Pueblo Grande in Phoenix, Arizona. On the
eastern side of Babylon was an outer rampart of triple wall construction
extending for 11 miles. A network of irrigation canals reminiscent of
the Hohokam also once served the city. In addition, the terraced Hanging
Gardens were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. [20]
This “city and a tower” (Genesis 11:4) was known as Ba-bel, the
legendary site of the linguistic confounding. “The biblical
interpretation of the name is fanciful. The Bible connects Babel with
the Hebrew verb Bâlal, ‘to confuse’, whereas it really comes from
Bâb-ili, which in Babylonian means ‘Gate of God’.” [21] This terrestrial
correlation to another sort of stargate is perhaps a reference to the
Processional Way leading to Ishtar Gate, both of which were adorned with
glazed blue enameled figures of lions, bulls, and dragons. Pike
maintains that the temple contained a representation in silver of two
large serpents. “The Greeks called Bel Beliar; and Hesychius interprets
that word to mean dragon or great serpent. We learn from the book of Bel
and the Dragon, that in Babylon was kept a great, live serpent, which
the people worshipped.” [22] This reminds us of the Place of the Snakes,
or the Hohokam site of Snaketown, as well as of the Hopi biennial Snake
Dance ceremony still performed with live rattlesnakes on the high
desert of Arizona.
In more recent times Babylon played a significant role in the rituals
of Freemasonry and continues to do so. For instance, Knight and Lomas
discovered that the ceremony for the Royal Arch of Solomon Degree (13
degrees) entails the candidate and two others playing the roles of the
three Master Masons of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego.
According to the narrative told in the ritual, these children of the
Babylonian captivity desire to assist in the rebuilding of the Temple of
Solomon. Thus, Babylon’s symbolic importance, which the co-authors
believe extends back to at least Knights Templar times and probably
before, is reemphasized inside every Masonic lodge to the present day.
[23]
Traveling along the 33rd parallel from the Middle East to the Far
East, we encounter the fabulous White Pyramid located about 60 miles
southwest of X’ian (Sian or Hsian) in the Qin Ling Shan Mountains of
China’s Shensi Province. This city was made famous for the nearby
discovery of the Terra Cota Warriors. Resting at almost the same
latitude as Phoenix’s 33½ degrees, this massive stepped pyramid
constructed of clay is estimated to be 1,000 feet high and 1500 feet at
the base! The current politics of the country have thus far prevented
any detailed study of the structure, but it is thought to be 4,500-5,000
year old-- the approximate age of the pyramids at Giza. The White
Pyramid was built supposedly after the old emperors, known as “the sons
of heaven,” descended to Earth in their “fiery metallic dragons” and
began to rule China. Its interior is rumored to be a model of this
empire with a jeweled roof depicting the constellations and rivers of
flowing mercury. The region also contains up to one hundred more
pyramids. [24]
Highway 33 Revisited
Back on the North American continent, if we journey somewhat over
1,500 miles east of Phoenix along latitude 33 North, we find the
Moundville site lying exactly on the line. This city constructed by the
Mississippian culture along the Black Warrior River in central Alabama
from 1000 through 1450 A.D. had a population of over one thousand--
second in size and complexity to ancient Cahokia in Illinois. The 26
earthen platform mounds arranged in a circular pattern are similar in
structure to those in Arizona’s Valley of the Sun, with temples and
residences for the elite priesthood likewise built on top. One of the
larger mounds is a ramped pyramid that rises to a height of 58 feet. In
addition, the town was protected on three sides by wooden palisades,
much like the Hohokam villages along the Salt and Gila Rivers. [25] Did
the earlier Hohokam culture of the American Southwest somehow influence
the later development of this Mound Builder culture in the American
Southeast? The many similarities between the two seem to point in that
direction.
A few other Mound Builders cities were settled quite near the 33rd
parallel. Approximately 10 miles southwest of the town of Lake
Providence (32 degrees 49 minutes) on the Mississippi River floodplain
in northeastern Louisiana is Poverty Point State Historic Site.
Constructed in 1800 B.C. (much earlier than even the Hohokam
settlements), a C-shaped or perhaps a partial octagon-shaped earthwork
three-quarters of a mile across was formed by six concentric ridges that
are 140 to 200 feet apart and four to six feet high. To the west of
this earthwork, Bird Mound rises 72 feet high and extends 600 to 800
feet at its base. Resembling some sort of fowl flying toward the sunset,
this mound was constructed using 300,000 cubic yards of clay, or the
equivalent to 10 million 50-pound baskets. To truly realize the shape of
the bird, one needs to be at least a thousand feet or so in the air.
Poverty Point was almost entirely abandoned circa 1350 B.C., indicating
over five centuries of cultural development, though minor construction
on the earthworks continued until 700 A.D. [26]
Even closer to the magic number 33 though not as impressive or as old
are the Winterville Mounds, located six miles north of the town of
Greenville in west-central Mississippi (33 degrees 25 minutes).
Inhabited between 1000 and 1450 A.D., the site includes 23 flat-topped
mounds, with the main Temple Mound rising 55 feet. [27]
About four miles south of Cartersville in northwestern Georgia (34
degrees 11 minutes) is Etowah Indian Mound State Park. “White settlers
understood the Creek and the later Cherokee to call this site
“Hightower,” possibly for Itawa or Italwa (city?). The name Etowah may
also be a corruption of this word.” [28] It is interesting to note that
the Hopi word for the sun deity is Tawa. Etowah was first inhabited in
950 A.D. and contains three major mounds. One is a ceremonial mound 63
feet in height and another is a burial mound in which were found
numerous artifacts including copper ear ornaments, stone effigies, and
sea shells along with obsidian and grizzly bear teeth from the Rocky
Mountains. [29]
Closer to the home of the Hohokam on the western side of the Colorado
River are located a number of geoglyphs (also called “intaglios”).
These figures formed in the desert by removal of darker pebbles to
reveal a lighter undersurface are sometimes hundreds of feet in length.
One group (the Blythe complex) is positioned about 16 miles north of
Blythe, California (33 degrees 40 minutes), while another group (the
Ripley complex) is located about 12 miles south of Blythe. In addition
to human and animal figures, snakes, spirals, stars, circles, and other
geometric figures, a Knights Templar-like Maltese cross nearly 10 feet
in diameter has been found adjacent to a humanoid figure at the Ripley
complex. [30] One anthropoid geoglyph in the area has been associated
with the Hopi Fire Clan deity Masau’u. [31] Hence, we find that many
different tribes were apparently involved in these rituals dating from
between 1,100 and 3,000 years ago. [32] Because these earth forms, like
the Nazca lines in Peru or Bird Mound at Poverty Point, are best
appreciated from the air, they were probably intended to be an homage to
the sky gods.
The geoglyphs together with other cairns, stone circles, and cleared
dance paths may be ritually associated with the huge network of
interconnected trails found in the low desert upon which the ancients
made pilgrimages. One such pilgrimage called the keruk is performed even
today by the Yuman speaking tribes (viz., the Yuma, Mohave, Cocopa, and
Maricopa) in a four-day trek to Avikwa’ame, the sacred mountain to the
north, in order to celebrate the cosmogony. [33] “The route ran from
Pilot Knob, or Avikwal [near Yuma, Arizona], the spirit house where the
dead dwell at the southern end of the river, to Avikwa’ame, or Spirit
Mountain, where the Earth was created, in the north. This pilgrimage was
intended to honor the creation, and ritually retrace the path of
Mastamho [the creator-deity, whose name echoes the Hopi god Masau’u
mentioned above] in his mythic adventures.” [34] Here we find a
north-south dichotomy similar to that found along the Nile, with the
“Mound of Creation” (i.e., Heliopolis) located to the north. Atop
Avikwa’ame, legends say, was a great house name Aha-avulypo, or
literally “Dark Round House.” [35] The north-south road itself was named
Kwatcan, the “first trail to the homeland.” The Hopi word for “track”
is kuku’at, but the word for “grandfather” is the near homophone kwa’at.
[36] Perhaps the suffix -can is a variant of “ka,” part of the word
kachina. [37] Either “spirits of the track” or “spirits of the
grandfathers” may be the intended meaning. Midway on this spirit road
between the sacred mountain of the North and the mouth of the Colorado
River are the aforementioned geoglyphs at the 33rd degree of latitude.
Also on this line is the Three Rivers Petroglyphs site, located on
the western base of the Sacramento Mountains 18 miles west of Ruidoso,
New Mexico (33 degrees 19 minutes). One of the largest rock art sites in
the Southwest, this park contains over 20,000 glyphs scattered over 50
acres. Carved atop a ridge by the Mogollon culture between 900 and 1400
A.D. (contemporary with the late Hohokam period) [38], these figures
include anthropomorphs, zoomorphs, kachina masks, star symbols, and
various abstract or geometric designs, including a Maltese cross within a
circle surrounded by a ring of seventeen dots. [39] “Distinctive at
Three Rivers is the circle-dot motif; one investigator who took the
trouble to count found it to be the single most common element at this
site. Interestedly enough, its presence elsewhere is negligible, and its
symbolic content has not been determined, although it occurs in various
contexts in Mesoamerica. Possibly it refers to Quetzalcoatl.” [40] This
deity, of course, is known as the Plumed Serpent. Three Rivers Site is
also unique because it is one of only a few places in the Southwest that
were used primarily for rock art rather than it being merely an adjunct
to the village. [41] However, another site lying exactly on the 33rd
parallel was also used expressly for this purpose. Near Gila Bend,
Arizona about 62 miles west of Snaketown (mentioned above) is Painted
Rocks [sic] State Park, which has thousands of petroglyphs of similar
designs-- not “painted” but pecked into the boulders. [42]
A fascinating site also in the general vicinity of Phoenix is called
the Circlestone Observatory (33 degrees 28 minutes). High in the
Superstition Mountains about 54 miles east of the metropolis lies an
elliptical “medicine wheel” constructed of a stone wall three feet thick
with a circumference of 427 feet. On his extensive and thoroughly
detailed web site, New Zealand researcher Martin Doutré claims that this
structure incorporates various navigational codes, including phi, or
the Golden Ratio (1.618...). “Ancient astronomers mathematicians built
sites like Circlestone as repositories of codes and places where
initiates could be taught age-old principles.” Doutré further suggests
that Circlestone was used by colonists from the eastern Mediterranean or
Europe who may have operated a gold mine-- perhaps the famous Lost
Dutchman’s Mine itself! [43] Although American Indians may instead have
constructed this site for an astronomical observatory similar to the one
at Casa Malpais near Springerville, Arizona (34 degrees 10 minutes),
Doutré’s theory is nonetheless an intriguing one.
Four other ancient sites along latitude 33 N warrant brief mentions.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (33 degrees 22 minutes) is
located in a rugged and isolated region about 60 miles west of Truth or
Consequences, New Mexico. Reminiscent of the seven Aztecan caves
mentioned above, five caves in the Mogollon Mountains of southwestern
New Mexico contain about 40 masonry and adobe rooms built circa 1280
A.D., although semi-subterranean pit houses have been found nearby
dating back to circa 100 A.D. [44]
In saguaro cactus country about 56 miles northeast of Phoenix is
another site on the global mystery circle called Tonto National Monument
(33 degrees 44 minutes), which also contains cliff dwellings within
shallow caves. Constructed of unshaped quartzite and adobe mortar, these
ruins inhabited in the mid-fourteenth century contained 70 rooms within
three caves. [45]
About 40 miles due east of the small town of San Carlos, Arizona (33
degrees 24 minutes) is Point of Pines Ruin. Occupied between 1200 and
1500 A.D., this huge masonry pueblo contained 800 rooms, a central
plaza, a surrounding wall, and a great kiva. [46] The site is also one
of the few in the Southwest that shows evidence of three different
cultures living together: the Hohokam, the Mogollon, and the Anasazi--
the last group named migrating from the Hopi country to the north. [47]
The population is estimated to have been between 2,000 and 3,000. [48]
Incidentally, five or so miles to the south is a hot springs called
Arsenic Tubs, number 33 on the periodic table.
And finally, Besh-ba-gowah Archaeological Park located one-and-a-half
miles south of downtown Globe, Arizona (33 degrees 25 minutes) was a
granite cobble pueblo of 250-plus rooms inhabited between 1225 and 1450
A.D. The artifacts found include copper bells and macaw feathers from
Mesoamerica as well as shells from the Gulf of Mexico and the California
coast. [49] Besh-ba-gowah is an Apache phrase meaning “place of the
metal,” referring to the copious silver and copper deposits in the area.
In fact, the town of Globe was so named because of the 1875 discovery
of a globe-shaped mass nine inches in diameter made of 99% pure silver
and valued at $12,000. Curiously, reports also stated that the
continents of the Earth were etched upon its surface. The whereabouts of
this artifact are currently unknown. [50]
A Brief History of 33
Entering the historical period, we find hovering near the 33rd
parallel a number of provocative synchronicities. For instance, the
first Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, was established
in 1801 at Charleston, South Carolina. This charming antebellum port
city and hub of southern culture is located less than 15 miles south of
the 33rd parallel. Called the Solomon Lodge No. 1, the Masonic meeting
place was known as the Mother Lodge of the world. [51]
Shortly before the end of World War II Franklin D. Roosevelt died
suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Georgia, which is
less than 10 miles south of 33 degrees latitude. (This town,
incidentally, is located about 35 miles northeast of Phenix City,
Alabama.) It is noteworthy (no pun intended) that in the mid-30s FDR, a
32nd degree Mason and 32nd President of the U.S., initiated the printing
of the reverse side of the Great Seal (the pyramidal eye mentioned at
the beginning of this essay) on the legal tender. Roosevelt was
succeeded in April of 1945 by 33rd degree Mason Harry S. Truman. (The
“S.” supposedly stood for Solomon.) On July 16th of the same year, the
first atomic device --the Gadget, as it was called-- was detonated at
Trinity Site, New Mexico: 33 degrees 41 minutes North latitude. Spanish
explorers originally called this area La Jornada del Muerto, or “The
Journey of the Dead,” but now the site is marked by a small stone
obelisk erected twenty years or so after the explosion. [52] (Was this
monument Masonically inspired?) [53] A few weeks after the explosion at
Trinity Site the 33rd president of the United States ordered the
annihilation of two Japanese cities by nuclear bombs dropped from B-29
bombers. The 33rd parallel runs exactly between Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Two years after the war ended, the modern “flying saucer” age began in
earnest when something crashed near Roswell, New Mexico-- 33 degrees 26
minutes North latitude.
Bringing us up to the present day, the so-called Phoenix Lights were
witnessed by hundreds or perhaps thousands of people. On the evening of
March 13th, 1997 an immense triangular UFO perhaps a mile wide flew over
the American Southwest. First sighted over Henderson, Nevada at 6:55
p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) traveling southeast, this virtually silent
craft (for lack of a better term) had a number of lights evenly spaced
on its leading edge. It was next seen 22 minutes later over the village
of Paulden, Arizona (nearly 25 miles north of the town of Prescott). It
was then observed 10 miles to the south in Chino Valley, where it
apparently streaked over the present author’s house, who missed seeing
the event by a matter of minutes. Just one minute after the Paulden
sighting, it was reported over Prescott Valley, which is 23 miles
south-southeast of the former.
By 8:23 (Mountain Standard Time) the object had reached the Phoenix
metro area roughly 75 miles away, where it hovered for about four or
five minutes over the vicinity of the Indian School Rd. and 7th Avenue
intersection. Next the UFO entered Sky Harbor Airport’s air space, where
air controllers in the tower and the flight crew from at least one
commercial airliner viewed it, although radar failed to detect it. The
craft continued southeast above Interstate 10 and was sighted in the
Tucson area about 8:45. [54] This series of sightings that occurred
within a 400-mile stretch took just 50 minutes. The average speed of the
craft was 480 m.p.h.
At approximately 9:50 p.m. an arc of amber “orbs” measuring one mile
across appeared above the Estrella Mountains about 20 miles southwest of
Phoenix. “Spanish explorers named the range Estrella (‘star’) after the
pattern of deeply carved canyons radiating from the summit.” [55] This
display of lights videotaped by scores of people in the Phoenix area was
possibly related to the earlier sightings. At the time of this latter
UFO sighting the constellation Orion would have been seen hovering over
the southwestern horizon, were it not for urban light pollution. In
fact, at 9:49 p.m. when the final phase of the event was beginning,
Alnilam, the middle star of the Belt, was 33 degrees above the horizon
at an azimuth of 242 degrees. If a line is drawn from the State Capitol
to the Estrella range’s Monument Hill (the initial point for surveying
of property in Arizona), the azimuth is also 242 degrees. At the
latitude of Phoenix this is the exact point of the winter solstice
sunset as well. Thus, these orbs appeared at a significant
archaeo-astronomical position in the sky and also in the precise region
where Orion happened to be at that particular time. Above the right hand
of Orion between the constellations Gemini and Auriga is the northern
stargate previously mentioned, located at a declination (celestial
latitude) of 33 degrees.
One odd aspect to the Phoenix Lights story is that, other than a few
minor write-ups in local newspapers, they were not reported in any
national media until June 18th, over three months later, when USA Today
ran a front-page article picked up by the other media. [56] In any
event, one of the most intriguing UFO sightings in decades was focused
upon the 33rd parallel-- a paramount Masonic number.
Why are so many significant ancient and historic sites located along
the 33rd parallel? Perhaps the ancients discovered a ley line sort of
dragon energy corresponding to this latitude, and constructed temples
and sacred cities in order to utilize this terrestrial chi. Or perhaps
the numerological and Masonic significance of 33 dictated that monuments
to this sacred number be erected as a signal to future generations.
Whatever the rationale, the 33rd parallel is a path of power across the
globe, a circuit that links both time and space in order to vitalize the
dynamo of a mystery we are just now beginning to realize.
