Cordelia wrote:LilyPatToo wrote:Did anyone else notice the shots of the black & white tiled floor? It's a common image trigger for people who've been subjected to systematized mind control abuse. When I see them in videos or movies (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, for a recent example), I always wonder whether the director included the shots because of awareness of mind control associations or simply because they can be so visually stunning...?LilyPat
Lily, you got me thinking about this because I always notice them too and tend to focus on them. Associated with game boards, mansions of old wealth and as symbols of royalty. I read somewhere that many Masonic temples have black & white tiled floors.
I don't know that they're a common image trigger for mc, Lily, what is your source on that?
I always thought he black and white alternating square pattern was used by several cultural and religious groups throughout history as a visual motif, including the Masons, often to symbolize the duality of good and evil, day and night, in balance, within us and within nature. The pattern has also been popular as a a purely decorative motif at various times. Some artists, like Tim Burton, I suspect, use it because it is associated with mysterious old traditions and castles.
There are so many possible motivations for any one person employing the motif it is impossible to claim any nefarious intent without other evidence. I know plenty of artists, art directors, and graphic designers who use black and white tile pattern simply because they think it "looks cool". That's why sites like Pseudooccult Media bother me so much.
Here's the Masonic origin:
Allegorical symbols
Floor cloths and charts used during the initiation of candidates are a good place to begin investigation of the material culture of American Freemasonry. Within the prescribed oblong indented border can be found the all-seeing eye, crescent moon, and seven stars. The black and white checkered floor representing the floor of King Solomon’s Temple leads to one, two, or three steps representing various degree levels. Set upon the mosaic pavement are the two architectural pillars of Jachin and Boaz surmounted by a blazing star with an open Bible below. Stonemasons’ working tools such as the square, compass, plumb rule, level, chisel, mallet, and trowel are distributed around the periphery, along with additional symbols representing specific degrees. Other symbols that are not considered tools appear in lodges as well. These include the beehive, Noah’s Ark, and columns representing each of the five orders of architecture.
The mosaic pavement of the lodge is discussed in the lecture of the first degree. This is commonly described as the checkered carpet which covers the floor of the lodge. The lecture says that the mosaic pavement “is a representation of the ground floor of King Solomon’s Temple” and is “emblematic of human life, checkered with good and evil.” In the account of King Solomon’s Temple in the Bible, the ground floor is said to be made of pine or fir, depending on which translation of the Bible that you read (1 Ki 6:15). It is hard to imagine that pine or fir flooring would be particularly mosaic in nature. However, it can be agreed that the mosaic pavement represents the ground floor of King Solomon’s Temple in the Entered Apprentice degree because that ceremony symbolically takes place in that location. While these facts may not be particularly intriguing, the symbolism of the checkered carpeting presents some interesting concepts.
Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry discusses the symbol of the the mosaic pavement.
“The mosaic pavement in an old symbol of the Order. It is met with in the earliest rituals of the last century. It is classed among the ornaments of the lodge along with the indented tessel and the blazing star. Its party-colored stones of black and white have been readily and appropriately interpreted as symbols of the evil and good of human life.”1
So from this information, it can be understood that the concept of duality has played a part in Masonic symbolism since the early days of the fraternity. While duality is not often discussed in the ritual of the Blue Lodge, the Scottish Rite mentions this concept numerous times. The Rite makes the ideas of dualism, or opposition, in the universe an important part of its theme. Indeed, the ideas of the Kabbala and the Alchemists are used in the Scottish Rite to discuss this concept in several of the degrees.2 The lecture pertaining to the 15th Degree, Knight of the East and West, discusses the idea of duality or good and evil as a conflict. Pike writes “God is great, and good, and wise. Evil and pain and sorrow are temporary, and for wise and beneficent purposes…Ultimately, Good will prevail, and Evil be overthrown.”3 But while this idea of duality and the conflict between good and evil are cause for contemplation, it can be confusing to understand how they apply to our actions as Masons.
