What Does The Illuminati Eye Tattoo Mean?

We may have overreacted. It turns out that the "Illuminati eye" has just about nothing to do with the Illuminati at all. In point of fact, it has less in common with the New World Order than it does with that black velvet painting of Jesus that your aunt keeps in her living room.

What you might know as the Illuminati eye is more commonly called the "Eye of Providence." It's an ancient slice of Christian iconography, with the eye at the center representing the watchful gaze of God and the triangle representing the Holy Trinity. And as uncomfortable as it might make you feel, its predecessor was way weirder. According to a paper published by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the earlier image used to convey the idea of the Trinity was a three-headed monster Jesus surrounded by inexplicable polygons. It was a lot, and after the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century, the church decided on a "less-is-more" approach with a simple eye inside a triangle.

Since then, the Eye has been used on the Great Seal of the United States, as well as on the back of the one dollar bill. The rank-and-file explanation for this is that the image represents the watchful eye of God keeping tabs on America. As for getting a facsimile tattooed on your body? That can mean whatever you want it to mean. It's your tattoo.

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