Masonic Symbolism in the Matrix Part 4 Conclusion

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darrin A. Lahners

*Editors Note* WB Lahners originally sent this to me in one post. I thought it best to split this up into a few pieces. Deciding where to break it apart was difficult, however I feel that we accomplished this so that one can read a part and contiue the next one without a refresher. Just the same, there will be links to each previous piece as the come out. I hope you enjoy!

Read Part 1   Read Part 2   Read Part 3

The next scene reveals the Agents, led by the sinister Agent Smith, torturing Morpheus. Agent Smith reveals that they attempted to make the first version of the Matrix as a perfect world for humans, but that we wouldn’t accept it. He goes on to call humanity a virus and a disease and that the machines are the cure. Neo, realizes that he has to go back into the Matrix in order to save Morpheus, instead of killing him to protect Zion. Trinity pulls rank on Neo and says she’s going with him. Meanwhile, Smith is alone with Morpheus. He states his desire to get out of the Matrix because of how much he abhors humanity.

Trinity and Neo break into a secure building in order to steal a helicopter. After some out of this world gymnastic tricks and gun play in the building’s lobby, they make it to the elevator which they take to the roof. Trinity gets to the helicopter and downloads the program to teach her how to fly it, while Neo dodges all of the bullets of an agent that shows up. As an aside, this bullet dodging scene is now repeated in some form as an homage in many movies that follow it. Trinity and Neo board the helicopter, and rescue Morpheus. They then make it to an exit in a subway, where Morpheus and Trinity are able to escape. Agent Smith shows up, and he and Neo battle. Neo defeats Smith, but Smith is able to change his form into another person nearby before getting killed. Smith then re-appears and Neo runs for his life.

Neo makes it to room ‘303’ at the ‘Heart o’ the City’ Motel, where he is ambushed and killed by Agent Smith. In the meantime, the machines have located the Nebuchadnezzar and have sent their Sentinels to destroy it. The Sentinels are cutting into the hull of the ship, and Trinity confesses that Neo can’t be dead. She was told by the Oracle that she would fall in love with the ‘One’, and that she loves Neo. With her confession, Neo arises from death. He now sees the Matrix in code, and he’s able to manipulate it at will. He stops bullets in midair, and dives into Agent Smith. Smith then starts to overload, and explodes with a scream. The other agents flee, and Neo escapes the Matrix, allowing the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar to employ the EMP device. The movie ends with Neo issuing a warning to the machines from a phone booth. He flies up into the camera which is placed overhead, and the movie ends.

Neo in essence becomes a Fellowcraft upon his second foray into the Matrix to rescue Morpheus. Fellowcraft masons during their degree are shown a representation of the Middle Chamber of the Temple of Solomon. They are taught about the liberal arts and sciences. They are given more responsibility. This is mimicked by Neo, who upon his second entry in the Matrix, is able to better manipulate his surroundings. He is still lead by a true and trusty guide in the form of Trinity, but he is able to perform superhuman feats like dodging bullets.

The end of the movie shows Neo as taking the place of Hiram Abiff. Like Hiram, Neo is confronted by 3 agents (ruffians). Agent Smith, who plays the role of Jubelum as the head agent, kills him. Like the phoenix however, Neo is reborn. Neo is raised from the grave by the utterance of a specific word or phrase, and he is now a Master of the Matrix. A brother who portrays Hiram Abiff in the 3rd Degree is raised as a Master Mason and given a specific word or phrase. Much like the newly raised Neo is able to go on to have further adventures inside the Matrix, the new Master Mason is now able to go on to have further Masonic opportunities by joining the York Rite, Scottish Rite, or any of the other appendant bodies.

There are many themes in the Matrix that are worth observing from an esoteric perspective, the movie is steeped in Gnostic themes. There is also philosophical theme regarding the nature of reality which is alluded to by the inclusion of Baudrillard’s Treatise, Simulacra & Simulation, in the movie. The work, which is best known for its discussion of symbols, signs and how they relate to simultaneous existences. There are also some odd coincidences like Neo’s passport expiring on 9/11/2001, even though the movie opened in theaters in 1999, and was filmed in 1998. I tried only to capture what I felt were some of the Masonic themes in the movie. I’m sure I may have missed some.   I’d welcome other’s opinions on the movie as well. What did I miss? What do you think I misinterpreted? Let me know.

-DAL
WB Darin A. Lahners is the Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL). He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of the new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D. and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). He is also a member of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. When he’s not busy enjoying Masonic fellowship, Darin spends his time as a DM for his children’s D&D campaign, reading, golfing, watching movies and listening to music. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.

Masonic Symbolism in the Matrix Part 3

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darrin A. Lahners

*Editors Note* WB Lahners originally sent this to me in one post. I thought it best to split this up into a few pieces. Deciding where to break it apart was difficult, however I feel that we accomplished this so that one can read a part and contiue the next one without a refresher. Just the same, there will be links to each previous piece as the come out. I hope you enjoy!

Read Part 1   Read Part 2

Trinity then brings Neo some dinner and he overhears them speaking about a person called the Oracle. Neo then re-enters the construct and he is introduced to what Agents are. He learns the hard way that a sexy woman in a red dress could really be an agent in disguise. Morpheus explains that everyone that has stood and fought an agent has perished, but because he’s the one, Neo will be different. Neo is different because the agents are still part of the Matrix, and bound by the rules of the system, but he is not bound by the same rules. Once again, whereas the entered apprentice is taught lessons about how a Mason should conduct his life, Neo is taught how to conduct his behavior while inside the Matrix.

The lesson is interrupted by a machine called a sentinel that hunts down humans in the service tunnels they use to hide in and plug into the Matrix from. The Sentinel is handled by having the ship emit an Electro-Magnetic Pulse, which fries the electronics of the Sentinel. Neo then has a philosophical discussion with Cypher about the nature of him being the ‘One’ over some moonshine. This segways to a scene with Cypher inside the Matrix where he is having a dinner with Agent Smith.   Cypher wants to be put back into the Matrix because he says: “Ignorance is Bliss.” In return, he promises Agent Smith that he’ll deliver Morpheus to him.

Morpheus announces to the crew that Neo is ready to see the Oracle. In Greek mythology, the oracles were people (usually female) who provided wise and prophetic counsel, inspired by the Gods. Neo and the gang enter the Matrix. Cypher drops a cell phone into a trash can upon his arrival to give away his position to the agents. Neo is brought to the Oracle by Morpheus. Neo is brought into a living room with a bunch of other potential ‘Ones’. All of them are children, who are doing things like levitating building blocks or bending a spoon. The one bending the spoon reminds Neo that bending the spoon is impossible, because there is not a spoon, but that the self must bend. Neo goes into the kitchen to meet the Oracle who is an old woman baking cookies. She examines Neo and tells him that he’s not "the One."   She explains that he has potential, but that he’s waiting for something.

There are two things that stand out in this scene from a Masonic standpoint. The Oracle references a sign above the doorway of the kitchen that has the Latin phrase : ‘Temet Nosce’. She asks Neo if he knows what the sign means, and he turns to look at the sign. As he turns the doorway comes into view, revealing it to be adorned with the double headed eagle of the Scottish Rite. The sign: ‘Temet Nosce’ is the Latin translation of the Greek Delphic maxim: ‘Know Thyself.’ Knowing oneself is a theme that is alluded to in Masonry, but never strictly spoken about. The working tools of the Entered Apprentice are all designed to help the EA know himself. The lecture and the charges of the EA degree also serve this purpose as well, to help to direct the new brother look inward, instead of outward.

Once Neo and Morpheus make it back to the rest of the group, they go to make their escape from the Matrix. Neo has a case of Déjà Vu which means that something has been changed inside the Matrix. The trap that Cypher has set by leading the agents to his location is sprung. The crew finds themselves surrounded by Agents and one of their group, ‘Mouse’, is killed. The rest of the crew almost gets away by climbing through the walls, but Cypher intentionally sneezes to give away their location. Morpheus, still believing Neo to be the ‘One’, sacrifices himself to allow him to escape.

Cypher has somehow made it out of the Matrix and attacks Dozer and Tank with a giant lightning like weapon. Dozer and Tank are incapacitated, and Cypher taunts the rest of the crew who are waiting to escape the Matrix. He methodically kills both Switch and Apoc. He asks Trinity about pulling the plug on Neo, stating that if Neo is truly the one, it shouldn’t matter if he unplugs him. Trinity obviously cares about Neo, and this has made Cypher jealous. Cypher is about to unplug Neo when Tank arises and surprises Cypher, killing him with the same weapon he used against him.

To be continued...

Next week will conclude the series and ultimately reveal what the symbolism within the final moments of The Matrix mean! Don't miss it. Come back next Friday!

~DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is the Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL). He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of the new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D. and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). He is also a member of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. When he’s not busy enjoying Masonic fellowship, Darin spends his time as a DM for his children’s D&D campaign, reading, golfing, watching movies and listening to music. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.

Masonic Symbolism in the Matrix Part 2

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darrin A. Lahners

*Editors Note* WB Lahners originally sent this to me in one post. I thought it best to split this up into a few pieces. Deciding where to break it apart was difficult, however I feel that we accomplished this so that one can read a part and contiue the next one without a refresher. Just the same, there will be links to each previous piece as the come out. I hope you enjoy!

Read Part 1

After taking the red pill, Neo is brought to another room and hooked up to electrodes. He begins to see the façade of the fake reality of the Matrix collapse. He awakes in a pod attached to wires and pulls a hose out of his throat. He looks around and sees thousands of other people in similar pods. A giant flying apparatus comes and grabs Neo by the throat with one arm. Another arm unplugs Neo and he’s flushed down a tube. He’s picked up by a giant metal claw and brought into a ship.

After his rescue, and his recuperation, Neo is literally brought to light by Morpheus. Morpheus explains that Neo is on a hover ship called the Nebuchadnezzar and that the actual year is around 2199, instead of 1999. He introduces Neo to the crew of the ship, and he and Neo enter into a program called a ‘Construct’, in which Morpheus explains the nature of reality and the Matrix.

It is at this point, that Neo is brought to light. He was in darkness (ignorance) of the nature of the Matrix, but Morpheus serving as the defacto Worshipful Master brings him to light (knowledge) by giving him the nature of reality and the Matrix. Also interestingly, the ship that Morpheus pilots is named after the King who destroyed King Solomon’s Temple.

Neo is unfortunately unable to handle the nature of reality and gets violently ill. Morpheus explains that it was risky for him to rescue Neo because of his age. He explains that it’s difficult for the brain to adjust once it has been in the Matrix for long period of time. He explains that he believes that Neo is ‘the One’ who is prophesied to save the human race. Neo then gets to have a discussion with Tank, who teaches Neo about Zion, which is the last human settlement buried deep underground. Zion refers to a hill in Jerusalem which was located south of Mount Moriah, but later became a metonym for King Solomon’s Temple. Esoterically, Zion is the point in the holy of holies located in King Solomon’s Temple from which reality emerges.

Neo then sits down in a chair and plugs into the mainframe construct. At this point, Tank goes through the process of uploading certain knowledge directly into Neo’s brain. The first thing he uploads into Neo is a ju-jitsu program, to which Neo remarks: ‘I know Kung-Fu.’ He then faces off against Morpheus in the construct. Morpheus defeats him because Neo doesn’t understand that he can manipulate the simulation. He’s not bound by any real physics. He can run faster, jump further, etc. Tank then loads up a program where Neo is forced to jump from the roof of one skyscraper to another. Once again, Neo’s ability to not understand that he’s not in a real place causes him to fail. He falls and when he lands he notices blood coming from his nose. He then learns that the mind cannot exist without the body, so if the mind dies in the Matrix, then you die in the real world. 

In Masonic terms, Neo is an entered apprentice. Like the candidate who is taught about what constitutes a lodge in his explanatory degree, Neo is taught about what constitutes the Matrix. However, he is still just taking his first steps in this new world of the real as well as understanding the new knowledge of the Matrix as being a facsimile of what was real. 

To be continued....

Next week Neo visits the Oracle! What happens and what symbolism will be revealed? Come back next week to find out!

~DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is the Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL). He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of the new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D. and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). He is also a member of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. When he’s not busy enjoying Masonic fellowship, Darin spends his time as a DM for his children’s D&D campaign, reading, golfing, watching movies and listening to music. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.

Masonic Symbolism in the Matrix Part 1

by Midnight Freemason Contributor 

WB Darin A. Lahners

*Editors Note* WB Lahners originally sent this to me in one post. I thought it best to split this up into a few pieces. Deciding where to break it apart was difficult, however I feel that we accomplished this so that one can read a part and contiue the next one without a refresher. Just the same, there will be links to each previous piece as they come out. I hope you enjoy!

The 1999 movie, The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski siblings, is one of the most influential movies of the past 20 years. It popularized the effect known as ‘Bullet Time’, which is now a mainstay in almost every Hollywood blockbuster. It is also one of the deepest when it comes to esoteric symbols, philosophical ideas, and religious constructs. There is also a Masonic Allegory at play. If you have never seen The Matrix, this is your warning that there are Spoilers Ahead.

The film centers on the character of Thomas Anderson, aka as Neo, his hacker name. Neo is a shortened version of the word: Neophyte. A neophyte is a new member of a fraternity, a new convert to a religion, or a novice in a religious order. The film begins with the characters of Trinity and Cypher discussing watching him [Neo], and paranoid about the line being tapped. The screen morphs into the binary code of ones and zeros. We next see Trinity in a room at a run-down hotel, named “Heart O’ the City”, in room “303”. Of course, one could draw the conclusion that this is an allusion to the 33 degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry. The number 33 has special meaning, as Manly P. Hall states in 'The Secret Teachings of All Ages', “Alchemy is a threefold art, its mystery well symbolized by a triangle. Its symbol is 3 times 3--three elements or processes in three worlds or spheres. The 3 times 3 is part of the mystery of the 33rd degree of Freemasonry, for 33 is 3 times 3, which is 9, the number of esoteric man and the number of emanations from the root of the Divine Tree.” Trinity, whose name literally evokes the number 3, could be thought of being a senior member of the order to which Neo is on the threshold of joining, which Masonically would represent as a Master Mason in the Blue Lodge. 

The symbol of the Scottish Rite is the double headed eagle, with one head looking left and the other looking right. The Valley of Reading’s website eloquently defines its meaning: ‘Generally, the symbolic meaning of this symbol in the Scottish Rite is that of duality contained in or resolving itself in unity. Among other things, it reminds us that as man we are composed of both body and spirit, that he is both temporary and eternal; that both good and evil exist in the world and that we must perpetually espouse good while opposing evil. It also reminds us that knowledge comes both from study and insight; and that our obligations are both to ourselves and to others; that both faith and reason are necessary.’ It has also been associated with the idea of the mythical phoenix. The phoenix is a bird in Greek mythology which cyclically regenerated or reborn. The idea of the phoenix will make sense at the end of the movie.

Trinity is able to escape from the room 303 after being chased across rooftops by the sinister Agents, led by Agent Smith. The next scene reveals to the viewer, Neo. Neo has a belief that something is wrong with the world, and is led to believe that there is something called ‘The Matrix’ from his online encounters. He is told via computer to follow the white rabbit, which appears in tattoo form on the body of one of his hacker clients’ girlfriends. He is lead to a club by the girlfriend, who introduces him to Trinity. Trinity explains that a man named Morpheus can explain everything to him.

Morpheus makes contact with Neo at his office as the agents close in on him, but Neo is unable to make the Kierkegaardian leap of faith to reach him. He’s subsequently detained by the agents, who implant a tracking device in him. Morpheus contacts Neo again, and instructs him to meet him. Neo is picked up in an automobile by Morpheus associates, and the tracking device is removed by his associates. He is brought to Morpheus who is located in a building with the checkered black and white flooring of the Masonic Lodge. Morpheus sits in a stiff armchair, and Neo is seated across from him. Morpheus tells Neo that explaining the Matrix is impossible, and that Neo will need to see it for himself. He is given a choice of taking a red pill and learning about the Matrix, or taking a blue pill which will lead him back to his normal life. Neo takes the red pill, and his journey to the unknown begins.

Neo in this scene is allegorically undergoing a masonic degree of sorts. He is in darkness (ignorance) of the nature of the Matrix. He seeks knowledge (light) of what it is. Morpheus, who is named after the Greek God of Dreams, offers Neo this knowledge but only of his own free will and accord by taking the red pill. If Neo refuses, he would be given the blue pill, which serves as the cable tow by which Neo would be pulled from the Lodge (represented by the checkerboard floor of the building) over which Morpheus presides as Worshipful Master in his chair.

To be continued...

Next week we'll dive into just what happens when Neo takes the pill and what it all means symbolically! Come back next week!

~DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is the Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL). He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of the new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D. and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). He is also a member of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. When he’s not busy enjoying Masonic fellowship, Darin spends his time as a DM for his children’s D&D campaign, reading, golfing, watching movies and listening to music. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.