The all-seeing eye symbol, often associated with the Illuminati or Freemasonry, has come to perturb many in esoteric and conspiracy theory circles. Whether its prevalence in the media is deliberate or simply a case of possession by the archetype, a mimetic infection within particular circles by a potent symbol, I do not know. Its prevalence is, however, certainly real.
The all-seeing eye is, in actuality, a positive symbol. It signifies God and should, in proper use, be balanced between the Sun and the Moon; it represents a union of the masculine and feminine principles. Further, the eye should also appear in an upright triangle; the triangle represents the heart, we truly see with our heart—the divine eye. Hence Cardinal Newman’s motto was Cor ad cor loquitur, let heart speak to heart. The divine conversation springs from the heart, not the head, the guts, or the genitals; though we can speak through those as well, with varying results.
The reason why the all-seeing eye takes on a sinister aspect in its current manifestation is simply that it is out of balance—without Sun and Moon—and, in the most notable example, the eye atop a pyramid reproduced on the currency of the United States, the symbol is inverted. The eye is outside the triangle and sits atop the pyramid, rather like the Eye of Sauron riding his tower. Today, the eye is usually appropriated for commercial or state purposes, so the person who uses it is, in fact, attempting to displace or take on the role of God.
To adopt the all-seeing eye in this way turns it into the evil eye, and not just because it usurps God. The all-seeing eye radiates outwards, placing people under judgemental observation. The implication of the symbol is that the state is watching you; and so, of course, you better behave. This destroys the innocence of unselfconscious activity, just as when an adult applauds or criticises a young child’s unselfconscious dance; they become “a good little dancer” or “a disruptive little girl”. Once they become good or bad they cannot be spontaneous—they have fallen from Eden. The clichéd phrase “dance as if nobody is watching” exists for this reason; and yet it is clichéd because it is hard to do. It can only be achieved by passing through a period of self-consciousness that eventually gives way to a performance that is not for anyone at all.
The commercial and state enterprises that take on the role of God, being a kind of priesthood, specialise in making people self-conscious. This is how they misuse the eye; they use the eye to say, just like schoolteachers: “We’re watching you, so you better behave.” It is a feminine position, concerned with shame and social standing. Thus we have many CCTV cameras, but few are monitored; the all-seeing eye is sightless—the policemen on the beat or the grandmothers watching from doorsteps have gone.
Divine awareness comes from making observations from the heart, just saying how things are and how you perceive them; but today most speak to please the ever-watching eye. When we speak of waking up and awakening—what Jesus and Nietzsche knew—we mean to be a loyal observer, from the heart, not judging but perceiving what surrounds us. Hence nationalist movements, usually associated with religion, often speak of awakening or, per the populist Paul Joseph Watson, tell people to, “Wake up!” The observer is the falcon; a symbol of Christ, the high observer.
To wake up is not to assume a particular position; it is to speak from the heart, as you see it—no matter how foolish the eye tells you those observations are. The political left, for example, speaks of raising awareness or building consciousness; of course, they really mean, through priestly tricks, to constrain consciousness. Awareness is not imposed from the outside; it comes from the voice within: it is to perceive, beyond good and evil, that everything is in place simply because it exists.