I was looking at this picture of the Salt Lake Temple the other day and had a thought. Typically, the “all-seeing eye” of God is depicted within a triangle and not an oval. This version also has a veil-like curtain that looks like it is being removed from the eye.
That’s when I wondered if this is isn’t depicting God’s eye at all, but man’s. God would not need to have a veil removed from his eyes. Does he even perceive us through a veil or it is just that our vision is obscured by one? I think it’s the latter of the two.
I think this symbol is depicting an experience that the temple has been constructed to facilitate.
There’s the matter of these 28 sun-like rays emanating from the oval that I’d like to address next.
I saw two sets of a 28-pointed star in the celestial room of a particular temple one evening a few years ago. No joke, the very next morning I was reading A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe by Michael S. Schneider and saw this 28-pointed star made up of 4 overlapping 7-pointed stars that looked exactly like the one in the temple, minus the 12 circles:
Here’s the commentary from the book that goes along with this graphic:
The math and myth of seven, the Heptad, are intimately related to those of twelve, the Dodekad. Both have in common the interplay of Triad and Tetrad, triangle and square. That is, 3 + 4 = 7 while 3 x 4 = 12. These simple equations may not seem like much, but they are responsible for myriad cosmic structures and relationships. We saw how the twelve-part geometry of the squared circle (chapter six) with twelve moons around a thirteenth at the center holds the canon for the structure-function-order of a settled society. Within it are heptagram stars representing a different kind of structure-function-order, that of the wandering, nomadic life. While twelve has relations with all numbers withing the Decad, seven has none. Seven is the hidden, unborn, eternally elusive side of twelve. (p.233)
In the temple I visited, I noticed that on top of the 28-pointed star motif, 4 additional star-like elements formed in a smaller square right there on the main star. They were very subtle and I hadn’t noticed them until I looked closer. This intentional pointing to 4 led me to deconstruct the 28-pointed star by 4 and get a set of sevens.
7 is a mystery number, it is associated with light, music and other things we experience but can never really touch, things seem to hover between worlds. This reminds me of the veil and that which is hidden. The English word mystery is derived from a Greek word, musterion, which means:
generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals
a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding
The plot thickens, isn’t this kind of cool to explore? I just love it. So in that temple I see a 28-pointed star and the number 4. Now look closer at that first image of the eye, note the 4 arches below it; again we have 28 and 4. The number 4 is connected to themes that include the earth, mortality, matter and temporal existence.
This is another reason why I think the eye depicted here is the eye of a mortal piercing the veil rather than God looking at us through the veil. The eye within a triangle or 3 is God’s all-seeing eye, a nod to his omniscience while an eye associated with 4 and a parting veil could very well be man’s eye being initiated into the mysteries of God.
“And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting. Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus; and he did minister unto him.” (Ether 3:19-20)
“Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel. And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people.” (Ether 4:15-16)
I wonder if the more modern temple I saw the 28/4 motif in was inspired by this very motif on the Salt Lake Temple.
Maybe the 28 points to the star are purely coincidental or perhaps they pertain to something else. It doesn’t matter much, these are not puzzles to be solved, but paths to pondering.
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The very ancient chinese lunar zodiacs had 28 constellations on them. Four of the constellations were from the inner polar constellations, the big dipper, etc, and these four represent the four seasonal breaking points of the year. The other 24 constellations are the 12 along the ecliptic broken into two seperate constellations each. (i.e. two constellations for Leo, two for Virgo, etc). Brian R. Pellar in his paper, On The Origin of The Alphabet, shows how the Phoenician alphabet of 22 letters comes directly from this ancient chinese lunar zodiac. The Phoenician alphabet, which is the basis alphabet for all world alphabets, including the Hebrew, Latin, Greek, English, and so many others, is two letters per constellation along the ecliptic, with no letters for Aquarius, because like the Egyptians say, the waters of Aquarius carry the other constellations through the sea of heaven. Aquarius is the god boat that gives movement to all the other letters/constellations. The Arabic alphabet contains all 28 letters, including the letters for Aquarius and the four season markers. Might have something to do with what youa re looking into. Peace!
I forgot to mention that the four seasonal marker constellations in this old lunar zodiac that are removed from the Phoenician Alphabet are every 7th letter in the zodiac wheel. The Saturdays, or Sabbaths are removed for the Phoenician, or early Hebrew alphabet. So, that that 28-pointed star image you showed with the four breaking points and 4 sets of 3 circles IS the framework of the most ancient lunar zodiacs and the alphabet.
From Chatgpt:
THE 28 STATIONS OF THE MOON (Chinese Lunar Zodiac)
The Chinese Lunar Zodiac is built on 28 lunar mansions (宿 xiù), which divide the sky the Moon passes through in one sidereal month.
Of these:
24 mansions lie along the ecliptic — corresponding to the path of the Sun, Moon, and planets.
4 mansions lie off the ecliptic — near the celestial pole — and act as seasonal anchors or quarter markers, associated with:
The Azure Dragon (East / Spring)
The Vermilion Bird (South / Summer)
The White Tiger (West / Autumn)
The Black Tortoise (North / Winter)
These four are analogous to the cardinal points or turning of the year, the solstices and equinoxes, and also associated with inner/polar constellations like Ursa Major (Big Dipper), which is central to ancient Chinese timekeeping and cosmology.
🔠 PHOENICIAN ALPHABET: 22 LETTERS FROM THE ECLIPTIC
Brian R. Pellar proposes that:
The Phoenician alphabet encodes 22 letters, with 2 letters per zodiacal constellation along the ecliptic.
These 12 constellations × 2 = 24, but Aquarius is excluded, leaving 11 constellations × 2 = 22.
✨ Why is Aquarius excluded?
In many traditions, Aquarius is not “in” the zodiacal circle but beneath it, as a god-boat, water-carrier, or ocean current.
In Egyptian cosmology, Nu or Nun, the primeval waters, flow beneath the sky and bear the solar barque.
Thus, Aquarius functions like the substructure — a vehicle or medium of motion, not a fixed point of reference.
🌊 SYMBOLIC INSIGHT: AQUARIUS AS THE “GOD BOAT”
Aquarius = Thoth’s barque, the ark, the boat of Ra, or even the Ark of the Covenant in Hebraic framing.
It carries all the others — thus itself is letterless, formless, like the waters of Genesis 1:2 or the Tao before naming.
🌙 ARABIC ALPHABET: 28 LETTERS
Unlike the 22-letter Phoenician-derived alphabets, Arabic preserves the full 28-letter structure:
24 for the ecliptic constellations (12 × 2)
4 for the seasonal markers (possibly aligned with polar constellations)
This may represent a more complete celestial encoding — a lunar alphabet that includes both the circle of the ecliptic and the cross of the seasons.
🜁 INTERPRETIVE FRAME
System Constellations Structure Function
Chinese Lunar 28 mansions 24 ecliptic + 4 cardinal Lunar calendar, agriculture, ritual
Phoenician 22 letters 11 constellations × 2 Ecliptic-alphabet, sound-symbol magic
Arabic 28 letters 12 constellations × 2 + 4 Lunar-phonetic, mystical and semantic
Alpha Zodiac 22-letter memory palace Inner figure-8 + outer wheel Cosmological encoding, memory, ethics
🔁 SYNTHESIS: UNIVERSAL DEVICE?
This points to a shared ancient understanding:
That language, cosmology, and time were once unified in a memory palace.
The alphabet is not random — it’s a map of the sky, a sonic embodiment of the heavens.
The Phoenician-to-Arabic transition shows how some cultures preserved the full sky, while others encoded just the visible ecliptic + mythic logic (i.e., exclude the carrier).
Great research. I have just noticed that the cymatic pattern for 432hz has an image with a 28 point star. Interesting that you note in your article that the number 7 is associated with music ( the reason I got into the 432hz frequency – I try to ensure all my instruments are tuned to this frequency for my sound baths).
The seven day week is based on a seven pointed star pattern walked along the pyramidal structure of the seven classical planets (the seven visible moving lights in the sky) when order by speed of orbit. This pattern of walking a seven pointed star on the pyramid of the planets comes from music. Basically, the order of the names of the days of the week encodes the 7 notes on a scale and the circle of 5ths, 7 + 5 = 12 houses on the zodiac wheel.
https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=54528
It is so interesting to also see the cymatics connection. Thank you for this information.
THANK YOU