Gravely Speaking

The all-seeing eye of God, also called the Eye of Providence is one of many symbols of Masonic iconography.  This symbol is to remind Masons that all of their actions and deeds are being observed by the watchful eye of the Great Architect of the Universe.  Sometimes the eye is displayed in a triangle.

The all-seeing eye of God is part of the symbolism of the reverse of the Great Seal of America.  The eye is displayed above the pyramid (check it out on the reverse side of a one dollar bill).  Many conspiracy theorists, mistakenly believe that this is proof of the connection between the Masons and the founding of our nation.  After all founding fathers Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were both Masons.  The all-seeing eye of God, however, was not adopted by the Masons as a symbol for use by the society until 14 years after the Great Seal was designed and adopted.

River View Cemetery, Portland, Oregon

In the cemetery, much of the iconography represents a life ended—the winged death’s head, the hanging bud, the broken wheel, the incomplete circle, the column that is broken.

The gravestone below has a broken chain that wraps around the pedestal base of the column.  Like much of the funerary art, the broken link of a chain, too, represents the life that was ended.

This symbolism dates back to Medieval times when people believed that the soul could be held to the body by a golden chain. Once the chain was broken, the soul took flight and rose from the body leaving Earth and ascended to Heaven.

River View Cemetery, Portland, Oregon

The soap opera, Days of Our Lives, has as their catchphrase,  “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” The meaning of that catchphrase is clear–life passes by very quickly.  Life measured by the grains of sand slip through one side of the hourglass to the other in a flash.  The hourglass symbol on a gravestone, often shown with wings, represents the same thought of time fleeting by quickly.

The light and airy tones that emanate from the harp, etereal and almost mystical, have long been thought of as the sound of Heaven.  The harp has been considered the instrument of angels.

Greenwood Hills Cemetery, Portland, Oregon

Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle, Washington

The mythical creature–the dragon–has figured large in literature, movies, and culture, most especially in Eastern cultures.  The view of the dragon between the East and the West could hardly be more polar opposite.  In Western cutlure, the dragon for the most part is the demonic and destructive creature to be slayed.  The mighty knight becomes the hero when he slays the dragon and saves the damsel in distress.  The story line represents the defeat of evil and sin by the heroic and just.

In the east, however, the dragon is a symbol of Imperial Power protecting weaker humans from evil spirits and the danger of the forces of nature, such as the wind and the rain.  The dragon is also an emblem of joy and good health and even fertility.  Because it represents goodness and a protective power, it has been adopted by emperors as symbols of their benevolent strength.

The intricately carved dragon in the photo above is found on the gravestone of an Asian family, which suggests that it represents, in this case, the dragon as a symbol of goodness.