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Recently this article has been going around the Internet purporting to tell "the truth" about the Winchester Mystery House, the famous sprawling mansion built in San Jose, California by Sarah Winchester, who was heir to the fortune built on the sales of the Winchester repeating rifle. Winchester commenced work on the house in 1884, and construction continued until her death in 1922.
The official story goes that the house was designed using ideas obtained from spirits during seances, which explains its bizarre design and its never-ending construction. Having worked with the sort of earthbound spirits that seances generally attract, I can tell you that this story is quite plausible. Such spirits are usually bored and will do whatever they can to keep you talking, and if you are asking for architectural plans they will keep giving them to you. The article, on the other hand, tells a different story.
I would very much like to see this evidence, but the article does not present it. The only piece it presents is a couple of phrases that appear in stained-glass windows in the home's grand ballroom. I also don't know how the author managed to reach the conclusion that Winchester not only admired Bacon, but considered herself his reincarnation. If she wasn't a spiritualist, as the author claims, the reincarnation angle is a bit of a leap.
There's a lot to unpack here. First off, while there are indeed women Masons (my wife is one, as a matter of fact) I would very much like to know which group Winchester was affiliated with and what records show that she was a member. This shouldn't be that difficult, as there have never been very many active Masonic groups that admit women. I would like to know the same with regards to her alleged Rosicrucian connections.
A few authors have claimed that Bacon was a Freemason, but there's actually not much evidence to that effect. It's not even clear that there were Freemasons, or anything that we would recognize as such, during Bacon's lifetime. Back then, "Masonry" referred to guilds of professional stonemasons, whereas today "speculative masonry," which involves esoteric symbols and allegories rather than stone-working, is the norm.
The United Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge, was founded in 1717 and the first recorded admission of a "speculative mason" dates to 1634, eight years after Bacon's death. Bacon was probably an adherent of the Rosicrucian philosophy, as he makes reference to the movement in his well-known New Atlantis. However, whether or not any sort of organized Rosicrucian movement existed during the Elizabethan period has likewise been questioned.
The official story goes that the house was designed using ideas obtained from spirits during seances, which explains its bizarre design and its never-ending construction. Having worked with the sort of earthbound spirits that seances generally attract, I can tell you that this story is quite plausible. Such spirits are usually bored and will do whatever they can to keep you talking, and if you are asking for architectural plans they will keep giving them to you. The article, on the other hand, tells a different story.
The evidence (both historical and archaeological) shows that Sarah Winchester strongly identified with the great genius Francis Bacon, and very likely saw herself as the reincarnation of Bacon, the details of which are specifically demonstrated with Bacon’s symbols and numeric cipher code lavishly displayed throughout Mrs. Winchester’s Grand Ballroom—particularly in the “Shakespearean Windows”.
I would very much like to see this evidence, but the article does not present it. The only piece it presents is a couple of phrases that appear in stained-glass windows in the home's grand ballroom. I also don't know how the author managed to reach the conclusion that Winchester not only admired Bacon, but considered herself his reincarnation. If she wasn't a spiritualist, as the author claims, the reincarnation angle is a bit of a leap.
Moreover, like Bacon, Sarah Winchester was a Rosicrucian and a Freemason (yes, there are women Freemasons). The House she built is overflowing with Rosicrucian and Masonic symbolism. For example, the so-called “Séance Room” (located in the precise center of the House) was actually Mrs. Winchester’s Rosicrucian “Sanctum”, a special place where Rosicrucians typically practice meditation and study at or near the center of their homes.
There's a lot to unpack here. First off, while there are indeed women Masons (my wife is one, as a matter of fact) I would very much like to know which group Winchester was affiliated with and what records show that she was a member. This shouldn't be that difficult, as there have never been very many active Masonic groups that admit women. I would like to know the same with regards to her alleged Rosicrucian connections.
A few authors have claimed that Bacon was a Freemason, but there's actually not much evidence to that effect. It's not even clear that there were Freemasons, or anything that we would recognize as such, during Bacon's lifetime. Back then, "Masonry" referred to guilds of professional stonemasons, whereas today "speculative masonry," which involves esoteric symbols and allegories rather than stone-working, is the norm.
The United Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge, was founded in 1717 and the first recorded admission of a "speculative mason" dates to 1634, eight years after Bacon's death. Bacon was probably an adherent of the Rosicrucian philosophy, as he makes reference to the movement in his well-known New Atlantis. However, whether or not any sort of organized Rosicrucian movement existed during the Elizabethan period has likewise been questioned.
