Engraving of Classical Temple Dedicated to Liberty, Justice, and Plenty

Classical Temple Dedicated to Liberty, Justice, and Plenty, James Trenchard, "Temple of Liberty," The Columbian Magazine, (Philadelphia) 1788, opp. p. 473. Engraving in Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress.

Temples of Equality

If the United States of America was founded as a "Christian" nation, then why does almost all of our civic architecture — our courthouses, our capitol buildings, our national monuments — imitate classical Pagan temples?

Because the Founders, as Enlightenment-era thinkers, saw the sacred values of democracy and republicanism as pre-Christian inventions of Greek and Roman culture, which they considered superior to the culture of the Church-dominated "dark ages." To Enlightenment-influenced Americans, the architecture of the Gothic cathedral was an oppressive reminder of the suffering and tyranny imposed on the Old World by state-sponsored Christianity. Still fresh in their historical memory was the Thirty Years War of the 1600s, when Europe's Protestant and Catholic powers decimated each other in the bloodiest and most destructive war ever fought until the 20th century. Also deeply influential were Enlightenment scholars — notably historian Edward Gibbon (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) — who attributed the collapse of the classical world to the rise of Christianity.

Today, most of America's courthouses, capitols, patriotic monuments, and even banks are built in the neo-classical style — their marble columns, porticoes, friezes, and so on copied from the shrines and temples of Pagan Gods and Goddesses. Many of these, such as the U.S. Supreme Court, are inspired by the Greek Parthenon — the temple of the Goddess Athena, Who is the prototype of Lady Liberty.

The Grand Federal Edifice, a parade float in form of a classical cupola

The Grand Federal Edifice was a symbolic parade float designed in 1788 by Charles Willson Peale for the celebration of the ratification of the Constitution. (This reproduction was built for the 1988 bicentennial.) The circle of 13 star-topped columns, with representatives seated behind 10 of them (the number of states that had voted to ratify thus far), signified the equality of all the states in the new democratic republic.

Others, such as the U.S. Capitol building with its familiar Rotunda, are modeled on the Pantheon, the Roman temple whose round dome was built to honor all the Gods and Goddesses equally — just as the American Constitution requires our government to treat all religions equally. Unlike the high steeples and pointed arches of church architecture, which symbolize the ecclesiastical ideal of a hierarchical society dominated by one Lord from on high, round structures — from the Roman Pantheon to the Celtic Arthurian Round Table to the Native American council house — reflect the traditional Pagan ideal of an equal society governed by the people themselves, guided by all the Divine Beings that speak to their hearts.

Sacred architecture is a tool for magic, even in a time when most people have forgotten how to use it. Our Constitution separates church from state, but doesn't forbid private citizens from worshipping as we choose in our patriotic shrines. Here are some tips on how Witches can magically use courthouses, capitol buildings, and monuments.

Magic is spiritual Energy directed toward a purpose. This Energy (or chi, mana, vital force -- It goes by many names) flows most readily through materials that are organic or conductive, especially when they are artfully arranged as architecture and sculpture. Marble is an organic material -- it is limestone, formed from the once-living shells of sea creatures. Granite is a conductive material -- it is composed largely of quartz, the electromagnetic crystal par excellence.
In public places, don't be showy and ostentatious with your spells, as fundamentalist Christians are with their prayers. Mutter your chants, don't shout them. Pace, stand, or sit with dignity; don't kneel and wring your hands for all to see. If you draw undue attention from tourists and security guards, it will interfere with your spell. (This "power to be silent" doesn't apply, of course, if your group is intentionally doing a dramatic public spell as part of a "direct action" protest.)
One very traditional way to cast a spell is to circumambulate (pace around) the sacred structure a magical number of times -- once, thrice, seven times, nine times, or a multiple of these. Go deosil to create what's good, or widdershins to undo what's bad. As you walk, chant your spell for justice, equality, or whatever your objective is. Obelisks, such as the Washington Monument, are ideal for circumambulation.
There are many ways to use the sacred geometry that's built into a typical older courthouse or capitol building.
- Most have a little-used spiraling staircase next to their elevators. Skip the elevator -- take the stairs. Impress your spell while climbing up or down the stairs, locking it in with each turn of the spiral.
- Find the building's central axis, and cast your spell there. This is especially effective if the building is topped by a round dome. The point directly below the dome's center is the building's "omphalos" or navel, and it is almost always marked by a star or an official seal on the floor. Stand there just long enough to cast your spell quickly -- if you stay for more than a minute or so, you'll find yourself the focal point of unwanted attention. At the end, to cement your spell, reach down and touch the omphalos. (If you need to be very discreet, you can "accidentally" drop something and bend down to pick it up.)
- If the building was dedicated by a Masonic lodge -- as most were -- its sacred cornerstone should be at the northeast corner, marked by an inscription recording the date of its dedication. Leave an offering there of a drop of wine or olive oil, or a morsel of bread. (Masons consecrate a building's cornerstone with a magical ceremony that includes an offering of wine, oil, and wheat.)
- Are you one of them tree-huggin' Pagans? Then hug a marble column -- or at least lean against and make yourself one with this architectural element that imitates a tree. Send your Energy up through the "branches" of its capital and down through the "roots" of its pedestal.
- If you are sitting in an ornately decorated courtroom or legislative chamber, send your Energy circulating through the molding that typically rings the ceiling. Ornamental molding's stylized patterns are inherited from Pagan temples, in which the different patterns conveyed different, often specific, forms of Energy. The egg-and-dart pattern, for example, signifies fertility; the Vitruvian scroll, water; the square billet, earth; and so on.
  (Illustrations from Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary, 1966.)