Biblical Symbolism of Shapes and Numbers

 Trump and Symbolism

Ascending and descending

When Trump left Washington on Biden's Inauguration day there appeared an unforgettable media image of President Trump descending the staircase with Melania on his way to Mar-a-Lago. The 'Conversation', a left-leaning Australian academic think tank, noted the significance of this imagery (see adjacent photo). The 'Conversation' made an analogy to another media image of Trump and Melania descending the escalator symbolically heralding his decision to run for the presidency of the United States of America in 2016. He would often refer to this presidential beginning as, "When we descended the escalator". Thus, Trump was seen going downward from a higher state to a lower state - into 'the Washington swamp'. This illustration was in stark contrast to when Justin Trudeau ascended an escalator:  traversing it (the wrong way) and giving the impression that he was ascending to a high position against the downward movement of the escalator. Maybe Trump's descent from Airforce 1 was a type of inversion or  transformation (Who knows?). In any case, at first glance, the dress that Melania wore resembled the apparel of the joker (see below - right) as shown on the joker card. Following on from my previous blog where the fool or the joker (the wild card) can flip the fortunes in a game of cards. In Euchre this card is the highest card, it can be extremely beneficial or very dangerous. In poker it is referred to as the wild card.

The hexagon

Consider the possible symbolism: Mar-a-Lago was originally gifted to the US government as a Winter White House. Also consider that Melania's outfit maybe highly symbolic. The shapes on her dress became progressively larger from the top of her dress to the the hem. The enlarging size of the patterned shapes tended to emphasise this descent as the larger shapes were closer to the viewer. The dark blue at the top (the Swamp) transmutes into the yellow orange at the bottom possibly emphasising a movement towards the light of day, a higher element, or gold.  

Basalt formations in Iceland

Not only were the enlarging shapes and contrasting colours strategic but the hexagon shapes suggest a progressive movement in the direction of stability and permanence. The hexagon is a shape found in nature from minute structures such as DNA, snowflakes, beehive cells, and formations of basalt rocks. In the natural world hexagons usually form strong and stable constructions. It is a very powerful geometric shape, which Biblically symbolises harmony, structure, strength and balance. On Melania's dress snowflake like symbols are also positioned between some of the hexagon shapes making a direct link to natural structures and order. 

The number 17

Not only do shapes have Biblical significance but the language of spiritual semiotics also includes other signifiers such as: animals (e.g. sheep and goats),  colours, shapes and directions such as high low, right and left. Numbers are also very important in the Bible cosmology, whenever numbers are mentioned they often have significant spiritual meanings embedded. For example the New Testament story of the unsuccessful fisherman bring together other symbolic relationships to suggest the reality of transformation and resurrection. 

C17 decked out as Airforce 1 

The symbolic meaning of the number 17 in biblical cosmology is associated with transformation and resurrection, overcoming the enemy and having complete victory. For example, God overcame the rebellion of Noah's day when the rains fell from the heavens and the waters below the earth flooded the earth on the 17th day of the second Hebrew month. Noah's ark with its 8 passengers (meaning of 8 - new beginning) came to rest on Mt Ararat, again, on the 17th day of the 7th month. What emerged was a world that had been transformed with the survivors having, in a sense, been resurrected from the chaotic flood waters. 

In the New Testament another life changing encounter involving Jesus of Nazareth took place at the Sea of Galilee. At that time the sons of Zebedee were beginning to despair after fishing all night in their boat without catching a single fish in their net. However, when they came close to the shore Jesus commanded them to cast their net on the right side of the boat instead of casting on the other (left) side. This time, to their amazement, their net was so full that it was difficult for them to haul the catch in over the side of their vessel. To their surprise they caught 153 fish, this was significant particularly when you consider the Biblical symbolism of the number 17. Each consecutive number from 1 to 17 can be added (1 + 2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 ) to get to a total of 153 fish. This miraculous event was life transforming for the fisherman. They would, hence forth, become fishers of men that would, in turn, transform the world across space and time. 

There are many similarities to the story of Noah's Ark.  Noah and his family were resurrected from a world of chaos (represented by water). The number 17 is also made up of 1 + 7 = 8, in the Bible 8 represents a new beginning (think about the symbolism of the 8 people inside Noah's ark). President Trump appears to use biblical symbolism to convey his message. What is certain is that the number 17 figures highly in his symbolic lexicon. Earlier during Biden's Inauguration Day he made his farewell speech with 17 American flags positioned strategically behind him.