And one of the most famous of all Egyptian symbols is the Eye of Horus. With the help of Thoth, he later healed his eyes. The Eye of Horus was therefore a protective symbol, often used as an amulet, a sculpture small enough for a person to carry in their pocket as a form of protection.
The Eye of Horus — a hybrid of a human and falcon eye — was carried as a form of protection Credit: Alamy. This and other Egyptian hieroglyphs of isolated human eyes went on to affect European iconography during the Renaissance.
Nowadays we know that they are a written language of mainly phonetic signs, but in the s and s they were believed to have a much more mystical significance. The symbols in hieroglyphic writing — animals, birds and abstract shapes — were thought to be deliberately mysterious, each one creating meaning through the inspiration of the viewer rather than being part of a linguistic system. They were, so it was believed, open puzzles that contained multiple meanings.
This belief had a huge effect on European art. As a result, a motif like the Eye of Providence was deliberately esoteric in its appearance. And this really came to fruition in the late 18th Century. So, whether you should choose one or the other, is very much a matter of personal preference.
The Eye of Providence has its origins in Christian iconography, representing the all-seeing eye of God. Since then it has been co-opted by a lot of different organizations, religious or otherwise. It was included on the reverse side of the seal in — 14 years before the Freemason society adopted it as its own symbol. In the Great Seal, the Eye of Providence is depicted in its original form — inside of a triangle. Furthermore, the triangle with the Eye was placed on top of a pyramid with 13 steps to it.
These 13 steps were meant to symbolize the thirteen states of the U. It was a complex metaphor, depicting the U. As fitting as that metaphor was at the time, since then the presence of the Eye of Providence in the Great Seal has sparked quite a lot of controversy.
Because the pyramid is a rather foreign symbol for U. Of course, every Freemason organization has denied that, and they have all cited the fact that they adopted the Eye at a later day.
As controversial as the Eye of Providence origins and history may be, they are certainly fascinating. Generous support from listeners and readers is what powers our nonprofit news—and your donation today will help provide this essential service. Skip to content. Live on Stage. Listen Now. Share Now on:. Why does the U. Nancy Marshall-Genzer. Stories You Might Like This artist cuts up cash and uses it for collage. You are there already. The least you can bring, to any situation of conflict in transformation is to be willing to sit for fifteen or twenty minutes.
If you feel comfortable, invite others to sit with you. Something unexpected, something good, could happen. Maybe the broken, boring, incessant, repetitive discussion or debate that may have been going on between the injured parties could pause, take a break, and everyone in the room could be given the chance to see or hear the greater story that they have all been missing.
It may be worth a try. Skip to content Peter Gould Sometimes when I meditate, I feel like the eye above the pyramid on the back of a dollar bill.
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