In case you wondered on looking at the above article, yes, the photos were taken in a former Masonic temple - apparently boarded up and consequently forgotten for years, now known as the Grecian room - in the former Great Eastern Hotel next to Liverpool Street Railway Station in London EC2 - now the ANdAZ Hotel.
Other photos of this magnificent room may be seen at
Incidentally, in the basement of the same hotel there is yet another former Masonic temple with Egyptian theme, now used as a gymnasium/fitness centre.
F&F
Last Edit: May 1, 2010 22:18:22 GMT 9.5 by fitviavi
fitviavi Doubt thou, the Starres are fire, Doubt, that the Sunne doth moue: Doubt Truth to be a Lier (from Hamlet: Act 2, Scene 2)
I think Lady GaGa is just mimicking Madonna (and very successfully it seems). Madonna hijacked the Blessed Mother, GaGa (she's no lady) is hijacking Freemasonry. Clever really... you stir up the Christians and the Freemasons at the same time. Heaven forbid.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
I am truly glad it has not been made into a restaurant or bar - but it is so grand that it does make we wonder why not. It also makes me wonder whether at some subconscious level even hotel proprietors 'feel' that it just would not be right.
Our temple is very simple, with very little adornment, but we manage to make it beautiful with our ceremonies and intent. I wonder if our Brn would find it an aid or a distraction to work in such an illustrious environment. I sure would like to give it a try That is the interior decorator coming out in me.
I loved the Blazing Star.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
Oh, the lodge rooms are no longer boarded up - they are available for hire for special functions ... but no longer used for Masonic purposes.
Yes, the Grecian room ceiling is truly marvellous with gilded blazing star surrounded by signs of the zodiac, with Jacob's Ladder extending from the edges of the ceiling piece to close to the more central portion of the star.
Seems that the last years of the Great Eastern Hotel (next to Liverpool Street Station in the eastern part of the City of London) were sadly of negelct and dereliction, before the hotel was sold and reborn as the Hyatt ANdAZ.
fitviavi Doubt thou, the Starres are fire, Doubt, that the Sunne doth moue: Doubt Truth to be a Lier (from Hamlet: Act 2, Scene 2)