The Fazer Rooster

At the city center of Helsinki stands a Björn Weckström statue called The Fazer Rooster. Helsinki art museum introduction:

"The Fazer Group donated 'The Fazer Rooster' to the City of Helsinki as a part of its 100th anniversary celebrations. The work belongs to the collections of the Helsinki Art Museum. 'The Rooster' is located in front of Fazer's famous café on Kluuvikatu. It was unveiled on September 17, 1991. The bronze sculpture is a stylized Fazer symbol, a rooster. In fact, it is so stylized that it invites the viewer to see other forms - someone has suggested that Weckström used a cervical vertebra of an elk as a model."

See how there's yet another obelisk?

Mr. Karl Fazer, the founder of Fazer company, was a Freemason. Are you surprised to hear that the rooster is a masonic symbol?

Karl Fazer and the masonic "hidden hand"

Rooster was one of the symbols of the Greek god Hermes. In Rome, this god was known as Mercury.

Hermes/Mercury and the rooster

In masonic context, Hermes/Mercury is an embodiment of masonry. The symbolism of freemasonry is considered as hermetic.

"Mercury, as known to the Romans and as Thoth by the Egyptians, the god Hermes, is considered by Pike to represent the Master of the Lodge." - Russell R. Boedeker, 32nd degree Freemason

"Manly P. Hall in his work, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, states, “…he [Hermes] was the author of the Masonic initiatory rituals…Nearly all of the Masonic symbols are Hermetic in character" - ibid

"In all the old manuscript records which contain the Legend of the Craft, mention is made of Hermes as one of the founders of Freemasonry." (masonicdictionary.com)

Another famous symbol of Hermes is the caduceus. He inherited it from his Egyptian counterpart Thoth. Thoth, the god of wisdom, was depicted with a head of an ibis bird. There is an interesting passage in the Bible about rooster and ibis.

"Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding?" - Job 38:36 (New International Version)

Funny how easy it is to find blatant paganism from the Bible.

Hermes holding the caduceus

Thoth holding two caduceuses

Hermeticism is an integral part of freemasonry ("Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn", "Hermetic Degrees",  "Hermetic Rites" etc.) and the esoteric arts of "the Elite". The father of hermeticism is the mythical Egyptian high priest and mage called Hermes Trismegistus. For Freemasons he is the so called forefather of masonry. 

"Hermes Trismegistus, "thrice-great Hermes," emerged from the amalgamation of the wisdom gods Hermes and Thoth and is one of the most enigmatic figures of intellectual history. Since antiquity, the legendary "wise Egyptian" has been considered the creator of several mystical and magical writings on such topics as alchemy, astrology, medicine, and the transcendence of God. Philosophers of the Renaissance celebrated Hermes Trismegistus as the founder of philosophy, Freemasons called him their forefather, and Enlightenment thinkers championed religious tolerance in his name. To this day, Hermes Trismegistus is one of the central figures of the occult — his name is synonymous with the esoteric." - Florian Ebeling

Hermes Trismegistus

Hermes symbolism is widely used by "the Elite":

Hermes and the UBS bank

Hermes statue, Rochester, USA

Hermes, Grand Central Terminal, New York, USA

Golden boy (Hermes), Manitoba legislative building, Winnipeg, Canada

Hermes, Budapest, Hungary

Freddie Mercury statue, Switzerland

Hermes logo

Hermes statue in the first James Bond movie Dr. No (upper right corner)

Going back to The Fazer Rooster. The obvious Hermes symbolism is not the only layer of symbolism in this statue. There is another layer, not too surprising for the readers of this blog.

First we have to look at the satellite image of Helsinki. The statue forms a straight line on the map with the tarot statues of Lönnrot memorial and Alexander II statue.

From left to right: Lönnrot memorial, The Fazer Rooster, Alexander II

And another line:

From left to right: Lasipalatsi clock tower, The Fazer Rooster, The Stone of the Empress  

And another:

From left to right: Fact and Fable, The Fazer Rooster, The Law

And another:

From left to right: Aleksis Kivi statue, The Fazer Rooster, The Shipwrecked 

See the pattern? Always in the middle.

Let's take a closer look on the two last lines. The Fazer Rooster is in the middle and the four other statues around it are all tarot statues. Fact and Fable depicts the tarot card Star, which is ruled by the sign of Aquarius.

On the opposite side is The Law, which depicts the tarot card Strength, which is ruled by the sign of Leo.

Aleksis Kivi statue represents the card The Hierophant, which is ruled by the sign of Taurus.

On the opposite side is The Shipwrecked, which represents the card Death, which is ruled by the sign of Scorpio.

The four tarot statues around The Fazer Rooster

The four signs, Aquarius, Leo, Taurus and Scorpio are the four Fixed signs of the zodiac, forming a cross on the zodiac wheel.

Fixed signs

There are two tarot cards, that have these signs on the corners of the card: Wheel of Fortune and The World. In the most well known tarot deck, Rider-Waite, The World has Sophia the goddess of wisdom in the middle.

(The card is somewhat confusing, because the symbol of the sign of Scorpio used to be and eagle.)

From the upper left corner: Aquarius, Scorpio (used to be an eagle), Leo and Taurus

But if you look at some other older decks, instead of Sophia there is someone else as the main character of the card. Can you guess who?

The World and Hermes

The World and Hermes

Ilmatar and the Scaup

At the Sibelius park, in Helsinki, stands a statue called Ilmatar and the Scaup (1946) by Aarre Aaltonen. The theme of the statue is the creation myth of Kalevala.

From Helsinki Art Museum web page:

"The sculpture's subject is Kalevala's creation myth. Ilmatar, the spirit or goddess of the air is impregnated by a storm and expects Väinämöinen (the symbol of Kalevala's epic). She drifts in the sea for 700 years until a scaup settles on her knee, mistaking it for an islet, and lays seven eggs which she then begins to brood. The heat from the brooding makes Ilmatar move her leg and the eggs break, becoming the earth, sky, sun, moon, etc. Aaltonen's work is an interesting amalgamation of international Art-Deco-inspired forms and a national epic subject. The figure in the sculpture is evocative of the interpretations of the Classical myth of Leda and the swan portrayed in painting and sculpture."

Ilmatar and the Scaup

The myth is very similar to the Egyptian creation myth, where the Bennu bird flies over the primordial watery abyss and lands on a rock. Bennu was the prototype for Phoenix, the symbol of rebirth the masons venerate.

Egyptian Bennu bird

Masonic symbolism: Phoenix

The masonic theme is fitting for the park named after a famous Finnish Freemason Jean Sibelius.

Composer and Freemason Jean Sibelius and the masonic "hidden hand"

According to Manly Palmer Hall, the masonic eagle used to be Phoenix.

"These were the immortals to whom the term 'phoenix' was applied, and their symbol was the mysterious two-headed bird, now called an eagle, a familiar and little understood Masonic emblem." - Manly P. Hall (The Lost Keys of Freemasonry)

This is interesting, because the bird in the statue Ilmatar and the Scaup is actually an eagle, or more precisely a vulture. Just look at the size an shape of it. Does that look like a small duck? Compare it to a picture of a vulture:

A vulture

The reason of this "mistake" is in the translation. 'Scaup' is in Finnish 'sotka'. In old Finnish that meant the same thing as 'kotka' - an eagle.

Looking at the statue with knowledge of symbolism, one sees the connection to ancient Egypt.    Ilmatar, the mother goddess, is a version of the Egyptian mother goddess Wadjet - the origins of the masonic serpent and eye symbolism. The "scaup" (eagle/vulture) of the statue represents the counterpart of Wadjet, the vulture goddess Nekhbet - the origins of the masonic eagle symbolism. Together they are called The two ladies.

The two ladies - Wadjet (cobra) and Nekhbet (vulture) and Ra

So called Tutankhamun death mask with The two ladies on the forehead

In Egyptian belief system The two ladies were the mother goddesses who assisted the soul in birth and death. Wadjet was with the soul in birth, Nekhbet in death.

At some point in Egypt's history the role of The two ladies shifted to the next generation goddesses Isis and Nephthys. Again, they were the mother goddesses assisting the soul in birth and death.

The two ladies - twin goddesses Isis (left) and Nephthys (right)

And when Christianity was born, the same concept was recycled again. Mary the mother of Jesus represents Isis/Wadjet (the birth givers), where as Mary Magdalene represents Nephtys/Nekhbet
(the death goddesses).

Isis and Horus - Mary and Jesus

Mary Magdalene holding a skull (a death symbol)

The two ladies were also the two mothers of the Sun. In many Egyptian pictures (see above) they were depicted with the sun. Together this trio formed the Egyptian hieroglyph called akhet. It depicts the sun in the horizon between two mountains. Mountains were goddess symbols, so again, this is about the sun and its' two mothers - The two ladies.

Akhet

Akhet

Example of modern akhet symbolism

Akhet, the sun in horizon, is also a symbol of spring or fall equinox. On those days, the day and night are equally long. This is often depicted with a circle representing the sun and a horizon line in the middle of it. One of the most well known modern akhet symbol is the logo of Nissan: The sun in the horizon, with the horizon line, combined with the name Nissan. The name refers to the Hebrew calendar's month of Nisan, which starts at spring equinox.

On the symbol of the sign of Libra, is a another sun in the horizon. This time it refers to the fall equinox, which is on the day the Sun moves into the sign of Libra.

In the context of "the Elite's" Cult of Aton, akhet may also refer to the ancient capital city Akhenaton built during his reign as a pharaoh. The city was named Akhet-Aten, which means "Horizon of the Aten".

The ruins of Akhetaten, also known as Amarna

So it's not a surprise to see akhet - or the sun in horizon - in Masonic symbolism.

Or in the symbolism of any organization with Masonic influence.

USSR coat of arms