The Occult Symbolism of The Movie Sherlock Holmes
The Occult Symbolism of The Movie Sherlock Holmes
The Occult Symbolism of The Movie Sherlock Holmes
The latest Hollywood blockbuster Sherlock Holmes revolves around occult murders and world conspiracies.
The movie is riddled with occult symbols and allusions to a New Order. Well look at the history of Sherlock
Holmes, the origins of the symbols found within the movie and its meaning in todays context.
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2017616 TheOccultSymbolismoftheMovieSherlockHolmes
Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyles stories, the movie Sherlock Holmes brings back to life the famous
detective of the nineteen century. The plot revolves around murders that are apparently connected with
occult rituals. This leads Sherlock into the mysterious world of secret societies and political conspiracies.
Doyles works contained some vague references to occultism or Freemasonry; the movie, however, focuses
solely around those themes and incorporates elements that are very relevant in todays context: a New
World Order lead by secret societies.
Although no real life secret society are actually mentioned, numerous symbols and references are peppered
throughout the movie taken directly from Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism or the Illuminati. Cleverly embedded
into the scenes and never really explained, those symbols can almost be considered hints to insiders
concerning the real inspirations of the movie. Lets look at the Masonic background of the original author of
Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, and how this inuence has been taken to the next level in the movie.
Doyle was born into an Irish Catholic family in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1859. At age eleven, he was sent to a
Jesuit school, Stonyhurst College, in which he was said to have spent ve unhappy and lonely years. After
obtaining his Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery from Edinburgh University, Doyle developed a
great interest for spiritualism . In an article appeared in MQ (the ocial Journal of the United Grand Lodge of
England), Freemason Yasha Beresiner explains Conan Doyles interest for spiritualism and Masonry:
It was the Phoenix Lodge no. 257 where Doyle befriended a certain Dr. James Watson, who became the
inspiration for Sherlock Holmes trusty sidekick. Beresiner continues:
Doyle then resigned from Freemasonry only to rejoin several times during his life. Masonry was sometimes
mentioned in Doyles writings, which were not all focused on Sherlock Holmes. In The Land of Mist,
published in 1926, Doyle describes the character Weatherby:
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2017616 TheOccultSymbolismoftheMovieSherlockHolmes
Throughout his adventures, Sherlock Holmes (who was not a Mason) has proved to be quite knowledgeable
of Freemasonry, spotting Masonic rings and other clues with ease.
Sherlock Holmes contains a great deal of themes and symbols taken directly from todays secret societies.
They are very subtle and rarely explained in the movie, making them almost invisible to everyday viewers. To
educated viewers however, those symbols can easily be recognized and placed into context. Although
some of them are not historically accurate or have been modied to make them ctional, the presence of
those themes are in perfect accord with the unprecedented wave of occult symbolism in mass media today.
So lets take a look at some of them.
The movie starts off with Sherlock interrupting a Black Magic ritual. A hooded man (Lord Blackwood) is
reciting incantations in front of a woman laid on a sacricial altar. The occult theme of the movie is pretty
much laid out, right from the start.
In a seemingly trivial scene, a slightly altered on morphine Sherlock plays violin notes to ies in a tube. He
explains to Watson his discovery: when he plays atonal clusters to the ies, they synchronize and start ying
in concentric circles. Thus, using musical theory, he has created order out of chaos.
Ordo ab Chao (which is translated to English to Order Out of Chaos) is probably the most famous Masonic
maxim. Mackeys encyclopedia documents the use of this phrase since 1395 as the ocial motto of the
Ancient Craft Masonry. Ordo ab Chao is now the ocial motto of the highest and honorary degree of
Scottish Rite Masonry, the 33rd degree.
Some occult researchers claim that the saying refers to the elites propensity to create crises which generate
fear and confusion in the masses (chaos) in order to introduce new policies and laws that are favorable to
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2017616 TheOccultSymbolismoftheMovieSherlockHolmes
them(order). The pice of rsitance would be the creation of a New World Order lead by the occult elite
after a period of generalized chaos, which would be of their creation. In this context, can Sherlocks insects
ying in concentric circles represent the masses hypnotized by the New World Orders atonal notes?
Blackwoods Cell
When Sherlock visits Lord Blackwood at his prison cell, he notices strange engravings on the walls. One of
them stands out:
This symbol of a crucied rose is considered to be the rst symbol representing the Rosicrucian Order, a
hermetic brotherhood dating from the Middle-Ages.
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2017616 TheOccultSymbolismoftheMovieSherlockHolmes
Some researchers have claimed that the Rosicrucians had taken over Freemasonry during the beginning of
the 18th century. It has played an important, yet secretive role in the shaping of todays world.
The Lab
When Sherlock and Watson inspect The Dwarfs lab for clues, some interesting symbols are engraved on
the wall.
The detectives discover that the lab seem to mix advanced science with occultism. Another interesting
symbol is found on a wall.
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2017616 TheOccultSymbolismoftheMovieSherlockHolmes
Blackwoods Spellbook
After being summoned by The Order, Sherlock is told that Blackwoods spell book is the key to stop him.
This spell book contains some symbols that might be recognizable to readers of this site.
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2017616 TheOccultSymbolismoftheMovieSherlockHolmes
This image is heavily inspired by an engraving of French occultist Stanislas de Guaita, which can be found in
the 1897 book La Clef de la Magie Noire (The Key to Black Magic):
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2017616 TheOccultSymbolismoftheMovieSherlockHolmes
The Order
In Sherlock Holmes, The Order is an occult brotherhood which can easily compared to real world
Freemasonry. It is said in the movie that their secret system has stirred the world to greater good for
centuries, but it can also be used for more nefarious purposes the Dark Arts or practical magic. The Order
has many members in government and police.
Blackwood, a practitioner of Black Magic, takes over The Order by force, claiming that he has a magnicent
purpose: to create a new future, a future ruled by the Brotherhood. Later in the movie, Blackwood says The
new order begins now, which is a reference to the New World Order ushered in by the Illuminati that is said
to be taking place today.
Blackwood taking seat at the Throne of The Order. The pyramid in the
background has an illuminated capstone, which is considered to be the
ultimate Illuminati symbol. See the Great Seal of the USA:
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2017616 TheOccultSymbolismoftheMovieSherlockHolmes
Blackwoods takeover of The Order probably refers to the take over of Freemasonry by German Illuminism
and Rosicrucianism during the 18th century, which drastically changed some of its doctrines and lead to its
worldwide spread.
So, heres the major spoiler: All of this occult, magical stuff turned out to be trickery that Sherlock explained
with logic and science. So, after the viewers are exposed to the symbols and the Brotherhood, they are told
that these things are ction, and even rather ridiculous. This is kind of surprising, considering that director
Guy Richie was married to Qabbalah adept Madonna. Further, the occultism presented in the movie is rather
dark, threatening and borderline satanic, which can encourage viewers to associate everything occult with
evil, which is not the case. This goes in hand with the Hollywood disinformation covered in this article.
In a rather ominous nal scene, Sherlock describes a machine that could exist in 2010 : Imagine a device
able to control anybody simply by saying a command using radiowaves its the future.
HAARP anyone?
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