Sheila wrote:
L'origine du mot Sion vient du mot sioun. Sa traduction littérale est une borne ou un monument servant à conserver la mémoire des morts :
Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. Psalm 9:11Quote:
"1927 "The face of the deep, of course, would be toward the Pleiades, which are claimed to be the habitation of Jehovah." (Creation; 1927; 2,175,000 ed.; p. 94)
1928 "The constellation of the seven stars forming the Pleiades appears to be the crowning center around which the known systems of the planets revolve even as our sun's planets obey the sun and travel in their respective orbits. It has been suggested, and with much weight, that one of the stars of that group is the dwelling-place of Jehovah and the place of the highest heavens;..." (Reconciliation; 1928; p. 14)
1928 "The constellation of the Pleiades is a small one compared with others which scientific instruments disclose to the wondering eyes of man. But the greatness in size of other stars or planets is small when compared with the Pleiades in importance, because the Pleiades is the place of the eternal throne of God." (Reconciliation; 1928; p. 14)"
Extracts from
Zion's Watchtower The journal of the Jehovah's wWtnessess
Quote:
THE SEVEN STARS
Q: To what does the masonic emblem of the seven stars allude?
A: To the Pleiades, or seven stars in Taurus. These stars were called by the Romans Vergili, or Virgins of Spring. The constellation Taurus was anciently at the vernal equinox, and the year formerly then began. Thus Virgil, referring to a remoter age, in the "Georgics," Book I, says:
"Candidus auratis aperit cum
Cornibus annum taurus."
"When the bright bull with gilded horns opens the year."
Job speaks of the Pleaides, also, as exerting "a sweet influence," expressive of the balmy air of spring which accompanies the approach of the sun to the constellation Taurus and the "seven stars." This masonic emblem, therefore, has a direct allusion to the vernal equinox, and thus becomes a beautiful symbol of immortality, reminding us, also,, of that starry home beyond the grave to which the soul of man aspires. It was for these reasons that, of all the "hosts of heaven," the Pleiades were selected as an emblem by our ancient brethren. THE MASONIC LADDER OF THREE ROUNDS
Quote:
Ladder of three rounds to Pleiades
Q: What is the signification of the ladder of three rounds, and why is it represented as leading up to the "seven stars," or the Pleiades?
A: This emblem is clearly but a modification of the latter of the Mysteries, consisting, as we have seen, of seven rounds - and is of the same general astronomical meaning. The sun, when ascending from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox, the constellation Taurus, and the Pleiades, or seven stars, situated therein, passes successively through three signs of the zodiac, to wit, Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries. These three signs are therefore emblematically represented by a ladder of three principal rounds, by means of which the sun climbs up from the point of his lowest southern declination to the vernal equinox and the "seven stars" in Taurus. The foregoing is the emblem of the masonic ladder as generally represented.
THE ZODIACAL LADDER
Ladder of three rounds on the zodiac to Pleiades
The emblematic meaning now attached to the masonic ladder, which refers it to the one "Jacob saw in his vision," is neither lost nor sacrificed, even if we admit the probable origin of the emblem in that of the ancient mysteries. Its symbolism is, however, thus made more extended and impressive, so that we gain rather than lose by so referring it.
The initiation into all the ancient mysteries, it will be remembered, was a drama founded upon the astronomical allegory of the death and resurrection of the sun, and was intended to, and did, impress upon the mind of the candidate, in the strongest manner possible, the two great doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality of man.
These are to-day the two great fundamental principles of Freemasonry, and are illustrated and taught in a similar manner in the ritual of the third degree.
The solar allegory and emblems of the ancient mysteries have, however, a twofold meaning:
1) Being founded, as before stated, on the passage of the sun among the twelve constellations of the zodiac - his overthrow by the three autumnal months, his return to life at the vernal equinox, and his exaltation at the summer solstice they therefore taught and illustrated all the leading principles of astronomy, and thus had an important scientific value to the initiated.
2) By personifying the sun, and requiring the candidate to represent him, the whole solar phenomena were exhibited in an allegorical manner, and became symbolical of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul. The ladder of the Mysteries, being but an emblem intended to illustrate the main solar allegory, had the same twofold symbolism.
When full explained to the initiated, it fixed upon the mind certain great facts in astronomical science. It taught the order and position of the signs of the zodiac; the ascent of the sun from the point of his lowest declination below the equator to that of his highest above it, by seven equal gradiated steps. It also taught the duration of and order of the seasons, the length of the solar year, and many other particulars of the greatest importance ot agriculture, as well as to science and art generally.
The emblem, viewed in an allegorical sense, also taught, by solar analogy, the unity of God and the life everlasting. The ladder in this sense was the emblem of the ascent into heaven from the lower hemisphere - the underworld of darkness, winter, and death. This mystic ladder leads to the "seven stars," or the Pleiades, shining in the constelation Taurus, at the golden gates of spring. It mounted still onward and upward, to the summint of the Royal Arch of heaven, thus emblematically teaching us that by the ladder of virtue the soul of man will at last pierce the "cloudy canopy," and mount to the highest circle of "the starry-decked heavens," to dwell for ever triumphant over death and the grave.
Thus, it is logical that the Pleiades as a Masonic symbol in America is as old as the craft's beginnings on this continent due to its importance in the old country. It was only a matter of years after 1717 that Speculative Masons, later called "Moderns," were setting up shop in Boston and the Carolinas. Masonic aprons, engravings, and other paraphanalia were emblazoned with a grouping of 7 stars, and this practice continues to this day (see Figure x). As discussed in the Sibly treatise, the chart for the Grand Lodge of London boasts the Moon conjunct the Pleiades.
From Stella Theology and Masonic Astronomy by Robert Hewitt Brown - 32°
The Ladder of the three rounds
Masonic drinking glass - Note the seven stars (Seven Sisters) over the left hand pillar forming the
Kocav David (or the hexagram to you and me)
By the way the image in my signature is a stone that was found on the Paris Meridian refers to the Anti-pope St Ursinus, whom you will also remember was mentioned by Philippe de Cherisey.
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The pyramid is not Russels grave. It`s more of a Watch Tower Society Memorial, as I believe they owned some burial plots in the cemetery. The cemetery, Rosemont United Cemetery, was present for decades before the Masonic Center was built. Russel died in 1916, the pyramid was erected in 1921, and the Masonic Center in the 1990`s. 
side splitting!