What Does The Illuminati Eye Tattoo Mean?

There's a lot to love about the old Illuminati eye. It's evocative, yet subtle. It brings to mind a dignity rooted in traditional values and an adherence to the rituals of old. Anyone with an Illuminati eye tattoo is probably a pretty cool dude, and shouldn't worry about any dissent or attempted revolutions or attempts to out them as 12-foot lizards in disguise from us, no sir. We're all down with the status quo, and we wouldn't dream of revealing the nefarious hidden meaning behind their shadow organization's iconography.

Are they gone? Did it work? Alright, here's the inside scoop on that eye-in-a-triangle dealie that the man doesn't want you to know about.

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.