Musings on The All Seeing Eye
“I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
I am the maker of rules
Dealing with fools
I can cheat you blind”
- The Alan Parsons Project, Eye in the Sky
“I believe in God, the Father, the Almighty, the creator of heaven and Earth…” - the first article of The Apostles' Creed
Symbols are extraordinarily powerful in our lives as humans. They are alchemical shorthand: small shapes that carry enormous weight. They can be simple or complex and frequently hold a deeper history than what people may understand. In various occult circles, magical rites and alchemy symbols were used because of their “magical” properties and power. In magic symbols were valued not merely for decoration but for their perceived efficacy but as containers of meaning whose repeated use seemed to bend attention, and sometimes, belief. In religion symbols evoke a deeper contemplation of mysteries and teachings within each religion. Not unlike the magical symbols of the occult world religious symbols also are valued for their efficacy as containers of power.
Tutankhamun pendant with Wadjet (Wikipedia image)
Today some of our most galvanizing symbols include the swastika, the five or six pointed stars, the pentagram, the cross, the peace sign and that is just to name a few. Lets not forget the ever present Nike Swoosh that you will see in America any time you leave your home. Many symbols we recognize, fewer still we really understand from a historical perspective. Symbols flash before our eyes all day and most of them take up residence in our subconscious never grabbing our conscious attention.
Symbols can be bold or obvious and others flirt or hint at something on the edge of our understanding. Old, deep symbols become archetypes and others fade into obscurity. Each time we pull out a dollar bill we take in a multitude of symbols and one of them seems somewhat similar to the one that adorns the pages of this particular website you have stumbled upon.
Marcus Aurelius (Wikipedia image)
The disembodied eye has been a symbol human beings have been using for thousands of years in many cultures across the planet. Most articles trace the free floating eye symbol to ancient Egypt but a quick view of petroglyphs across the world shows plenty of eye symbols, some free floating and others making up the bodies of animals. The human eye, as a motif, seems to have lodged itself deep in our visual vocabulary. (See note: visual evidence in global rock art and later iconography.) One might rightly assume then that the human eye has a significant and powerful place as a symbol in our evolution. As it has been said, “the eyes are the windows to the soul”. The origin of this phrase rests with Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero, who said ‘The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter.’ Much later Saint Matthew would pen ‘The eye is the lamp of the body’ in Matthew 6:22-23.
In classical Egyptian religion the eye attained particularly refined meanings: the Eye of Horus (wedjat) carried connotations of protection, healing, and restoration; the Eye of Ra, in contrast, could manifest as a solar and martial force — an instrument of divine wrath or subjection. These are not identical images but related symbolic “families” that govern how the ocular sign could be read in different contexts.
As Christians became fascinated with Egyptian art and hieroglyphs in the Italian Renaissance they did what humans have done throughout history and coopted the disembodied eye and interpreted it as the “all seeing eye of God”. I should say this is a theory though I would contend that it is not neatly tied back to Egypt except by imagination. The (now titled) “All-Seeing Eye” or Eye of Providence was often set within a triangle to evoke the Trinity. The triangle (or pyramid) gave the emblem a neat, theological grammar: an eye within a three-sided frame suggested a triune God who sees and sustains the world.
Supper at Emmaus is a 1525 oil on canvas painting by Pontormo (Wikipedia image)
One of the first appearances of this now Christian symbol appears in 1525 in a painting called the Supper at Emmaus by the Italian painter Jacopo Pontormo. The painting was based on Supper at Emmaus which is part of the Small Passion, a series of 36 woodcuts and a frontispiece by Albrecht Dürer. One quickly notes that the All Seeing Eye is not present in Albrecht’s work. Art historians will note that Pontormo’s painting initially incorporated a more emphatic three-faced (or triadic) representation of the Trinity. This was a short lived representation in of the Triune God that was eventually fell out of favor as the Catholic Church pointed out that it lead to a flawed understanding of the Trinity. This is another blog for a future date! The paintings were later altered, and the eye — as the “Father’s” sign — became an acceptable artistic shorthand. There is a rich history here that I am painting with broad strokes, pardon the pun. The precise sequence of changes and overpaintings is a matter of restoration history, but the net effect is clear: the eye-as-Trinity motif enters Renaissance Christian visual culture in the16th century. Gallerie degli Uffizi+1
The Great Seal on the back of the U.S. dollar (Wikipedia image)
Over time the symbol comes across the ocean and finds its way onto the back of The Great Seal of the United States and, eventually, onto the back of the U.S. dollar bill. Often the symbol is associated with the founding of the United States as the unfinished pyramid has 13 steps which symbolize the 13 (original) colonies. The unfinished top most likely refers to the unfinished nature of the building or expansion of the nation. Atop the pyramid is the All Seeing Eye of God also known as The Eye of Providence. The Eye of Providence’s inclusion in the Great Seal likely derives from a submission by Pierre-Eugène du Simitière to the early committees; du Simitière’s involvement and his sketches are recorded in documentary and curatorial literature. Wikipedia+1
This eye, housed within a glowing triangle or pyramid, looks over the pyramid symbol for the nation and is surrounded by two Latin phrases. The first phrase located above the eye reads “Annuit cœptis”. Annuit cœptis is often rendered “He approves (our) undertakings” or “Providence favors our undertakings” Then again could we not translate it to something like “God approves of (all) undertakings of the United States”? That sounds more than a little aspirational as I am quite sure He has not approved of all our undertakings. But as we as Christians aspire to “be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.”Matthew 5:48 It stands to reason that as a unified nation we should aspire to holy perfection as well though one can argue that many today would disagree.
Novus ordo seclorum was coined by Charles Thomson with Virgilic echo and generally translated “A new order of the ages” or “New order of the ages.” I corrected spelling and offered clearer translations. Wikipedia+1 Things get really interesting when one sees that this new world order phrase is often linked to both the Illuminati and the Freemasons. That is where, in our modern American society we super charge this ancient symbol with myth and conspiracy theories.
Holy Trinity statue in the style of Fridolin Leiber's painting, Santísima Trinidad Quasi-Parish, Malolos City, Philippines.[22] (Wikipedia image)
While Christians were flirting with this image on and off again it would eventually get picked up, or coopted, by the masonic fraternities in the early 18th century and would find its home there permanently with the Founding of the Bavarian Illuminati by Adam Weishaupt in 1776 according to more speculative historical accounts. Beyond those official meanings, modern myth-makers have grafted other narratives onto the device: Illuminati conspiracy theories and Freemasonic associations have been proposed repeatedly since the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While they are fascinating and some of them outlandish, these claims are tempting but historically fraught; scholarship and mainstream reference works treat many of those modern conspiratorial interpretations as speculative or invented after the fact, rather than demonstrably intended by the Great Seal’s creators. Wikipedia+1
Random image I painted on my workbench in my studio/workshop.
Why does the detached eye make us uneasy? Why does it make us jump to either a deeply Christian idea or a conspiratorial one? Perhaps because eyes have long been called “windows to the soul,” and removing the window from its human frame converts intimacy into surveillance. We wonder then who does this eye belong to? For Christians who have long invested the symbol with God’s omniscience, the floating eye becomes both comforting and disquieting — all present and all seeing we understand we are never alone, never unwatched, never unseen.
Artwork by Tobin Pilotte, acrylic paint on wood box
My thoughts on the image and my own variation of the image lead me to a more playful arrangement. Fundamentally I am always thinking about God as I have a very close relationship with Him. His gaze upon all I do with every heartbeat of my life causes me to pause and by His grace (when I am cooperating with Him) become a better person. The goal is to become the man He most wants me to be, though I confess I have a very long way to go before I realize this. The image is less of a representation OF God and more of a representation of ATTRIBUTES OF GOD that I want to focus on as an artist. The wings are those that call to mind the angelic visions so many have had. They call to mind freedom both in the eternal sense and in our more physical and worldly sense. The hands remind us of one God and of peace of soul. The pyramid is both a reminder of the Triune nature of God and the lasting legacy of art, the creative works of the hands of man that can span thousands of years.
Sometimes I paint for the pure fun of it. Sometimes these become something finished that has a look and feel very different from most of my work. Most of the time it goes into a bin, never to be seen again.
So what in the world was I thinking when I put The All Seeing Eye in a painting of a wave surrounded by flying saucers? Well, symbols have meanings and as we can see those meanings change with the usage. Often when we, personally, coop a symbol for our own use we “make it our own” by infusing it with our own interpretations, history or personal ideologies. In this painting I was thinking of the guiding of mankind by the Spirit of God but how it is so convoluted by all these competing and overlapping ideas and symbols.
I will leave you with this idea of mine. Symbols have rich and historical meanings. They have cultural and spiritual meanings. They can have scientific and exact meanings. However, at the end of the day the symbol in your life can be, at times, highly personal. It can become your own container for power, magic, dreams or inspiration.
Disclaimer: I am not part of any secret society, occult group or any affiliation bent on world domination, mind control, facilitating an alien invasion, propagating the rule of reptilian humanoid beings or the enslavement/destruction of humankind. I have no secret tattoo (though I have plenty of not secret ones) and I once knew a secret handshake to get into a clubhouse in a tree when I was a kid but I have long sense forgotten it. The only new world order I am interested in bringing in is the one talked about by a carpenter from Nazareth some 2000+ years ago.
Sources / further reading
The one area I do use AI for is to help me with grammar, spelling and footnoting. If you find any errors please feel free to reach out to me to correct.
Uffizi Gallery, Supper at Emmaus (Pontormo) — artwork page and video. Gallerie degli Uffizi+1
Small Passion (Albrecht Dürer) — British Museum / Metropolitan Museum collection notes. Wikipedia+1
“Eye of Providence,” Wikipedia (summary of usages, including U.S. Great Seal context). Wikipedia
Great Seal reverse description — U.S. Government / GPO & GreatSeal.com explanatory pages: explanations of Annuit cœptis and Novus ordo seclorum. bensguide.gpo.gov+1
Pierre-Eugène du Simitière — biographical / archival summaries (role in early Great Seal designs). Wikipedia+1
Britannica / scholarship on the Illuminati and conspiracy historiography (context for modern claims). Encyclopedia Britannica+1
