The House of the Rising Sun

Fig 19 Stellar Theology and Masonic Astronomy Checkered Floor Fig 11 Port Sunlight Light and Dark

‘The House of the Rising Sun’ – a phrase most people are familiar with and will probably associate with a well known song recorded in 1964 by British rock group the Animals.

Fig 1 Rising_sun_animals_US

The song itself has its roots in traditional folk music and thematically has some resemblance to the 16th-century ballad ‘The Unfortunate Rake’.

If the song has certain historical connections then perhaps the phrase itself may also have links with antiquity……

This article attempts to shine some light into Lever Bros and the dark shadows of Port Sunlight.

Fig 2 PortSunlight1938-

Fig 11 Port Sunlight Light and Dark

Lever Bros – a company founded in 1885 by the enigmatic William Hesketh Lever and headquartered in Port Sunlight, Cheshire, UK.

Fig 5 Lord Leverhulme Fig 7 Lord Lever-mason-painting

The company would go on to conquer the world with ‘Sunlight Soap’.

Fig 3 Lever Bros Sunlight Soap 7 Graces Guide Im August 1898 LeverBros

Lever Bros transformed into Unilever – an Anglo-Dutch transnational mega-corporation. It is the world’s largest consumer goods company measured by 2012 revenue and is Europe’s seventh most valuable corporation. Unilever is one of the oldest multinational companies in the world and its products are available in around 190 countries.

Fig 12 Unilever Building Fig 14 Leverville Belgian Congo