Magnolia: Four References to Freemasonry

P.T. Anderson's Magnolia (1999) is not a simple movie — not by a long shot. It is filled with symbolism, allegory, and a complex web of inter-connecting lives and happenings. The film alludes to several Biblical passages and events, e.g. Exodus 8:2 and Exodus 20:5. But one of the more peculiar and stranger references made in the film are those that allude to Freemasonry: there are three distinct instances and one slightly more debatable instance.

Albert Mackey's The History of Freemasonry (top right)

The first notable instance is when Stanley Spector, the boy genius, is studying in the school library; he has an array of books before him, many of which are meteorological, and one is Wild Talents by Charles Fort (yes, the Charles Fort, researcher of strange phenomena and author of The Book of the Damned), but the book that is of interest here is Albert Mackey's The History of Freemasonry (another point that deserved a mention that may or may not have merit is that this book is written by Albert Mackey, who shares his last name with Tom Cruise's character, Frank T.J. Mackey). It is most probable that Stan brought this book from home (in one of those four bags of books he brings to school every day), as this seems to be an unlikely text to find in a middle school library.

Masonic Square and Compasses on Burt's ring.
"We met upon the level, and we're parting on the square."

The next instance has two Masonic references together: television kids show host, Jimmy Gator, is dying of cancer, and before he goes out to host his first show since he found out he has cancer, his friend and the show's executive, Burt Ramsey, places his left hand upon Jimmy's shoulder and says, "We met upon the level, and we're parting on the square." To which Jimmy says, "In my fucking sleep, Burt." On Burt's little finger is a gold ring with the Masonic Square and Compasses on it.

The phrase "we met upon the level, and we're parting on the square" comes from Freemasonry. At the closing of every Blue Lodge — the First, Second, and Third Degrees — the following is said:

Worshipful Master: Brother Senior Warden, how should Masons meet?
Senior Warden: Upon the level.
Worshipful Master: How act, Brother Junior Warden?
Junior Warden: By the plumb.
Worshipful Master: And part upon the square. So, my brethren, may we ever meet, act, and part, in the name of the Lord.

Clearly this is Burt's farewell to Jimmy.

The level, square, and plumb are the three tools of a Fellow Craft (Second Degree). They have their functional purposes for operative stonemasons, but to speculative Masons they have symbolic meanings. These meanings are given to the newly made Fellow Craft as such:

"...the Plumb admonishes us to walk uprightly in our several stations, before God and men, squaring our actions by the Square of virtue, and remembering that we are traveling upon the Level of time to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns."

(Yes, that last part is from Hamlet, Act III, which I will not get into in this post). In general, Masons are taught that the plumb symbolizes how Masons should act: upright; the level symbolizes equality, so that two Masons meet on equal terms, and that no Mason is better than another Mason; and the square symbolizes that Masons should "square their actions", or right their actions (i.e. right- or ortho- angle) and act virtuously.

Compasses over a laurel branches (right)

The fourth instance is is more subtle, as well as questionable in my mind, but its worth presenting it anyway: among the icons on the square panels behind the contestants on the show that Jimmy Gator hosts, What Do Kids Know?, is a set of compasses placed over two olive or laurel branches. Other emblems on the panels are (from right to left, top to bottom): the tragedy and comedy masks, the Greek letter π (pi), compass and laurel branches, balancing scales, a globe, a paint brush and pallet, Bohr's atomic structure, the Caduceus, a weather vein with the cardinal directions, a hand holding a quill, a harp, and a book with an oil lamp. Context in this case is of little help (aside from all these Masonic references centering around the television show), as the other emblems do not lend much to the Masonic theme, save maybe the seven liberal arts, which are emphasized in the Fellow Craft Degree; but then again, emblems of the seven liberal arts are appropriate to a trivia television show (i.e. the trivium: grammar, rhetoric, and logic; the first three part of the seven liberal arts). Compasses over a laurel branch is not a Masonic emblem, though it can very easily be interpreted as one: the curve of the two branches resembles in some regards the emblem of a Past Master, which has an arc under the compasses; the laurel or olive branch (both of which are borrowed from the iconography from the ancient Greeks and Roman Empire) denote peace and unity — hence the use of the olive branches on NATO's logo, the olive branch held by the eagle on the back of the one-dollar bill, et cetera — peace and harmony and unity all being virtues exalted by Freemasons.

Emblem of a Past Master

There is perhaps one other reference to Freemasonry in the opening stories, particularly the first story of "The Hanging of Three Men": a gentleman and businessman is murdered by three men who were trying to rob him. This can be argued to be a reference to the Masonic legend of Hiram Abif, Grand Master and architect of King Solomon's Temple (while this legend borrows a little from the Bible, it is strictly a Masonic invention), who is murdered by three Fellow Crafts (known as the Three Ruffians) who wish to extort the secrets of a Master Mason from him. Perhaps this "reference" is coincidental, or perhaps it is actually derived from Hiramic Legend (neither would surprise me).

Exactly why these references to Freemasonry are found in Magnolia is somewhat perplexing, and has no simple answer. Nothing else in the film is even remotely Masonic, save for these four instances. So, then, why are they there in the first place? And what do they mean in the context of the movie?

Oh it probably means something, but from our uninformed point of view it means nothing; it is a coincidence... one of those things that happens. As Stan says while it is raining frogs: "This is something that happens" (something he would have learned from one of his meteorology books and his book of "Unusual Natural Phenomena"). Why does it rain frogs? Because it is something that happens. From an Existential point of view this is something that just happens, and has no a priori meaning. From an Absurdist point of view this is something strange that happens, has no meaning — at least none that is comprehensible or discoverable to humans — but we have the choice to create our own meaning. (I hesitate to bring up Jung's concept of synchronicity, but, there, I have brought it up, so ponder it if you will).

I am certain others have written on the references to Freemasonry in Magnolia, and they probably have some wild speculations as to why those references are in the film, but I refuse to read them. To be honest, the Masonic references placed in Magnolia without rhyme or reason is — in my opinion — something appropriate to the film: it is something that happens (for Freemasons do exist), and the reasons for these happenings is a conundrum from our uninformed vantage point.

To quote the narrator (voiced by Ricky Jay, who also plays Burt Ramsey) at the beginning of the film:

"...And I would like to think this was only a matter of chance. ... And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that this is not just something that happened. This cannot be one of those things. This, please, cannot be that. And for what I would like to say, I can't. This was not just a matter of chance. Oh, these strange things happen all the time."