I must confess I was surprised to hear NPR cover the "is Jay-Z a Mason?" story in conjunction with the current Dan Brown frenzy. I'm not a fan of Brown's, but he is to occult tradition what Carl Sagan was to astronomy - not the greatest scholar, but the most effective popularizer.
The Freemasonry allegation, which has surfaced before, is that the imagery used in the "Run This Town" video directly alludes to the influence of that secret society. Vigilant Citizen offers a visual discussion of the topic, and the comment that the lyrics imply "an imminent change that might terrify or enrage some people" is of interest in light of the recent Town Hall hysteria. What might that change be? A perusal of the blogs confirms that the terms "Freemason" and "Illuminati" are hopelessly confused in the public mind, which does not of course preclude wild speculation and ridiculous conclusions. What we can state with certainty is that when times are hard, people look for a reason; the notorious All-Seeing Eye and pyramid, passed daily on our very own dollar bills, remains a powerful symbol that can represent paramount understanding, or the ultimate in conspiracy. How we choose to use it at any given point in time is a clear mirror of our collective hopes and fears. The use of the eye and pyramid in the Total Information Awareness logo was disturbing enough to put the brakes on the Bush administration's then-unstoppable snooping efforts, as detailed in a memo from DARPA. There is something so potent about the symbol that it calls into question any who adopt it. So what does this mean? The idea of the ultimate conspiracy - the entrenched refusal of the powerful to collaborate with the powerless - could certainly be credible in light of current news. Yet this suspicion on the part of the less fortunate - that the deck is deliberately stacked against them - has survived many eras. The pity is for society, which loses when its citizens lose faith.
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