The 1 Thing In Common Between the Evil Eye, All Seeing Eye and Third Eye Chasing Gods

The All Seeing Eye symbol is on the great seal of America and features on its dollar bill, surrounded by a Latin inscription with a part that easily reads “New Order”. The symbol is also associated with secret societies such as the Illuminati, a prime subject for conspiracy theories of world control.

America. Money. Latin inscription.  Secret society.

All these are a perfect recipe for making the eye symbol a feared one. And it doesn’t help that there’s a trend of celebrity photoshoots with the one-eye symbol.

To many, the All-Seeing Eye is a symbol of power, surveillance and control over the people. However, the reason for using the all-seeing- eye on the dollar bill was to invoke the protection of God over the nation. This practice has existed for thousands of years, in many parts of the world.

So why the fear?

Well, maybe because for thousands of years, the eye has also meant ‘evil’, ‘destruction’ and ‘control’.

In this [essay], we’ll look at the history of the eye symbolism (all-seeing eye, evil eye, third eye) across the world; its meaning of good and evil but also of its root, consciousness. We’ll look at the psychology and philosophy of the eye. What is it about the function of the eye that makes it the advocator of the self. Why is the eye the cosmos that observes itself? Answering these questions will explain why the eye holds so much power over us and why we seek comfort in the eye but fear it at the same time.

Ok let’s start with the

 

History of the Eye symbol

 



 

Ancient Mesopotamia

In ancient Mesopotamia, modern-day Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Kuwait, people worshipped many different gods. There was the god of the sky, of the underworld, the goddess of war and love, to name a few…and these deities were portrayed by clay tablet texts, figurines or cylinder seals.

There were also Eye idols – figurines depicting large round eyes. The eyes varied in style, at times perforated, at times with spectacles, and others in threes or more. Historians found an abundance of these idols when excavating in the Near East, particularly in Tell Brak, an ancient city in Syria, in a religious complex, later labelled as the Eye Temple.

The body of these figurines didn’t seem to be of particular importance as if to bring attention to the eyes only. Scholars say that the people of ancient Mesopotamia believed to be under the constant watch of the gods. That meant that the gods’ eyes were all-seeing and protecting them, but there were also gods with the “evil eye” who would punish them.

The evil eye could belong to any deity, but it has often been associated with Tiamat, the goddess of seawater and primordial creation. Tiamat has also been represented as a gigantic monstrous snake.

Mesopotamians believed that sickness, death or natural disasters were inflicted due to the wrath of the gods. These events arose unexpectedly and this caused them to be in a lot of fear. Their well-being was in the hands of the gods.

It’s understandable why one would often pray, asking the gods for protection. Ancient Mesopotamians would offer sacrificial gifts as they made vows, wishes and bargains with the gods. Offerings were also given as a “thank you” when a favour seemed to have been realized.

Along with the Eye idols, archeologists also found many figurines of what seemed to be worshippers, praying with wide-open eyes. These may have been the votive offerings to the gods; a symbol of being under the care of the god, while expressing  “I am aware of your existence. I worship you. You are my god”.

The Eye idols, on the other hand, seemed to symbolize the constant all-seeing divine quality of the god or goddess whose statue would be present in the temple.

The watchful eyes also came in the form of an amulet, to be used as a sort of lucky charm,