Point Within A Circle

Teachings & Meanings

It's time for some actual teaching to be added to this blog. For starters, we will take a look at one of the most ancient depictions of man's conception of a deity, the point within a circle. This symbol has led to many different understandings and interpretations, however, we will be looking at the Hermetic (and therefore Masonic), and Theosophical interpretations for this. 

The point within a circle tells a story of existence, of being, of time, and of space. It gives man the understanding (at least to the best of its finite mind) of infinity with regards to a deity or even the universe. In Freemasonry, one of its interpretations is a point that is everywhere and a circumference that is nowhere. This allows for the abstract thoughts to form some semblance of an understanding.

The point represents the spirit of the universe and the circle represents the womb of the universe. Taken together, they represent an androgynous deity with potentiality. That just means that it has the potential to create, where the will comes from is beyond human cognition. This is also known as the blending of opposites, ie primordial spirit and primordial matter, for the purpose of creation, which leads us to Theosophy.

In Theosophy, we can see this image take on a unifying factor to all ancient religions. One of the ways I use theosophical interpretations is to find whether a symbol is being portrayed in a true sense of its meaning. This simply means that It has to meet certain criteria in order for me to take it seriously. This will make more sense in later post, but it should suffice that Masonry has made the mistake of creating new symbols that detract from the original teachings of the ancients, this symbol being one of them.

We see here that Freemasonry added the Holy Saints John to the parallel lines and even added the Holy Bible to the top of the circle. This detracts from the actual teachings of this symbol. The extras are redundant and adding the Bible to it is actually kind of hilarious. But, nonetheless, I have had other Brethren try to correct me with this symbol and I have shown why I doesn't work. The lines represent the tropics and also the sides of severity when explained with the Kabbalah. Having the Word of God, aka the Logos, when the third emanation isn't present yet is the act of redundancy I'm talking about. 

Back to the theosophical understanding. It fist can be seen as the Mundane Egg of existence. It carries in it the germ of life and the means to live. We can see the Circle being the shell of the Egg, the "void" as the White, and the Point as the Yolk. This is a way to explain infinite potentiality in abstract space. There is no vibration being portrayed so we are simply at the point of potential. This same split into thirds is done with nearly all other interpretations, this laying a foundation for the rest to make sense. 

This symbol also tells the story of the Lotus Flower in its three stage life. This represents the ascension of the spirit to overcome matter. How does this work though? You have to use the symbol to explain the other meanings. The Spirit is the Point, the Soul is the "Void", and the Circle is the Body. I know some may be confused that the words soul and spirit are not synonymous in their usage here. The soul and spirit, in their ancient understandings, were not the same. They were separated to show the distinction between the Ego and the Self, the former being the envelope of the latter. The journey of the spirit to overcome its earthly coffin is the story being told. This is why Plato is known to have called the human body a sepulcher.

The Spirit is the direct portion of the divine, the soul being a portion of the progenitors, the body being the animated matter of the combination of the two former variables. We see here that man is consistent with the depiction described in Gilgamesh where  he was said to be two thirds god and one third human. This is a clue that was left by the ancients as to the origins of mankind. The story of Gilgamesh holds other secrets, too, such as the same that can be found on the Tablet of Cebes and the Divine Comedy by Dante.

Put plainly, this symbol can be seen as an attempt to portray the reflection of the Macrocosm to the Microcosm. This can be seen with this next image, but before that, I want people to commit to memory this axiom: As above, so below; So below, as above. This is important because it can be use as a way to check your work. If you have a theory, it must be able to be reflected by the axiom somehow, otherwise it exist purely in the realms of matter. Now, that image...

This shows the reflection of above as man being a reflection of divinity. Notice that the navel is the Point in this circle. This is important because if you remember, the point is the source of life, the navel being a child's first source of life. We see Krishna with a Lotus on his navel as a symbolic expression of the unfolding of life providing life. If you apply this to the solar system, we get the sun (which still shares the same symbol) as being the center and source of light and life. If we apply it to the galaxy, we see an even deeper understanding and see that absolute darkness is absolute light. We are truly in a universe of mirrors. 

Hopefully this gives any who read something to think about and conduct some further research. Always remember, you have never not existed and will never cease to exist, for deep down the real you is the whole universe!