Eye of Providence

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The Eye of Providence can be seen floating above an unfinished pyramid on the back of the US $1 bill.

The Eye of Providence or the all-seeing eye is a symbol showing an eye surrounded by rays of light or a glory, and usually enclosed by a triangle. It is sometimes interpreted as representing the eye of God keeping watch on humankind (see Divine Providence).

[edit] Origin

In its current form, the symbol first appeared in the west during the 17th & 18th centuries, but representations of an all-seeing eye can be traced back to Egyptian mythology and the Eye of Horus. However, it is first in Buddhism that the eye is associated with a triplicity.^{[citation needed]} Buddha is also regularly referred to as the "Eye of the World" throughout Buddhist scriptures (e.g. Mahaparinibbana Sutta) and is represented as a trinity in the shape of a triangle known as the Tiratna or Triple Gem. 17th-century depictions of the Eye of Providence sometimes show it surrounded by clouds. The symbol even appears within some Christian churches, often with the addition of the enclosing triangle as a more explicit trinitarian statement^[1].

Eye of Ra, chief deity of the ancient Egyptians, also called the Eye of Horus[2]	An alchemical woodcut, showing the all-seeing eye of God floating in the sky	A Christian version of the Eye of Providence, emphasising the triangle representing the Trinity	An all-seeing eye that appears on the tower of Aachen Cathedral
An all-seeing eye that appears on the pedestal decorations of Alexander Column	An all-seeing eye that appears on the top of Declaration of Human Rights (1789)French Revolution.

[edit] United States

Original design for the Great Seal by Simitiere

In 1782 the Eye of Providence was adopted as part of the symbolism on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. The Eye, however, was first suggested as an element of the Great Seal by the first of three design committees in 1776, and is thought to be the suggestion of the artistic consultant, Pierre Eugene du Simitiere.^[3]

On the seal, the Eye is surrounded by the words "Annuit Cœptis", meaning "He approves (or has approved) [our] undertakings," "Novus Ordo Seclorum," meaning "New Order of the Ages," and the lowest level of the pyramid showing the year 1776 in Roman numerals. The Eye is positioned above an unfinished pyramid with thirteen steps, representing the original thirteen states and the future growth of the country. The combined implication is that the Eye, or God, favors the prosperity of the United States.

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Perhaps due to its use in the design of the Great Seal, the Eye has made its way into other American seals and logos, notably the Seal of Colorado and DARPA's Information Awareness Office.

[edit] Freemasonry

An early Masonic version of the Eye of Providence with clouds and a semi-circular glory.

The Eye of Providence also appears as part of the iconography of the Freemasons. Here it represents the all-seeing eye of God, and is then a reminder that a Mason's deeds are always observed by God (who is referred to in Masonry as the Grand Architect of the Universe). Typically the Masonic Eye of Providence has a semi-circular glory below the eye — often the lowest rays extend further down. Sometimes the Eye is enclosed by a triangle. Other variations of the symbol can also be found, with the eye itself being replaced by the letter ‘G’, representing both the art of geometry and God.

President Franklin Roosevelt's conditional approval of the one-dollar bill's design in 1935, requiring that the appearance of the sides of the Great Seal be reversed, and together, captioned.

It is a popular conspiracy theory that the Eye of Providence shown atop an unfinished pyramid on the Great Seal of the United States indicates the influence of Freemasonry in the founding of the United States. This was dramatised in the 2004 Disney film National Treasure. The Masonic use of the Eye does not incorporate a pyramid, although the enclosing triangle is often interpreted as one.

Among the three members of the original design committee for the Great Seal, only Benjamin Franklin was a confirmed Mason. Thomas Jefferson was an open supporter of the aims of Freemasonry who attended lodge meetings and corresponded with many masons, but no direct evidence, such as initiation records, is known to exist.^[4][5]

Possibly the most famous use of the eye is on the back of the United States one-dollar bill. The original design for the 1935 bill was initially approved, with conditions, by then-president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt, a 32° Scottish Rite Mason,^[6] included a drawing that reversed the appearance of the sides of the Great Seal of the United States on the dollar, such that the Seal's reverse (back) including the Eye, counterintuitively appears first on the left. He then added the words "The Great Seal" to appear beneath the Eye of Providence design, and added "of the United States" to appear below the Bald Eagle design of the obverse of the Seal, which he moved to the right. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace and Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., both Freemasons, were heavily involved in the 1935 dollar design change as well.^[7]

Some Masonic organizations have explicitly denied any special connection to the original creation of the Seal.^[8][9] Frequently cited as public evidence to this are the claims that the pyramid portion of the seal holds no symbolic significance to Masons, and that records suggest the Eye of Providence was not adopted as a Masonic symbol until 1797, after it was adopted for use in the Great Seal.^[10]

[edit] Other selected uses of the symbol

• Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the official depiction of which also borrows iconography of the Ten Commandments
• The Eye of Providence is a proposed symbol for the recently classified dwarf planet, Eris, along with the Hand of Eris
• In The Lord of the Rings, Sauron is described as having an all-seeing eye. In the Rankin-Bass animated The Return of the King, the insignia for Sauron's troops closely resembled a stylized Eye of Horus. In the Peter Jackson trilogy, Sauron himself is physically manifested as an eye.
• The logo of the Information Awareness Office depicts an Eye of Providence overlooking the entire planet Earth.
• A symbol on the Salt Lake City Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[edit] Currency

Estonian 50 Krooni bill

Ukrainian 500 hryvnia bill

• The 50 Estonian Kroon
• The 500 Ukrainian hryvnia

[edit] Seals and logos

• The former logo of MI5, a British intelligence service
• The former logo of the US Information Awareness Office
• The Steve Jackson Games logo
• Several college fraternities use the Eye of Providence in their coats of arms and/or badges, notably Delta Tau Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Delta Theta and Delta Kappa Epsilon

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eye of Providence

[edit] Freemasonry

• Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon - graphics from the kneph