The Metaphor of the Crown
in Christ and Christmas

The crown presents to us nine jewels in its frontal view. There are altogether three single jewels located to the right, left, and center, and two clusters of three jewels each, in between them, for a total of nine. If one looks at the same crown from the top down, one beholds 16 jewels. There are two single jewels at the front and rear center, and two more at the right and the left, for a total of four, and four clusters of three jewels each, in between. In other words, the crown represents unmistakably the 9x16 dimension. 

This nine and sixteen relationship matches exactly the dimension of the Glossary in its relationship to the matrix foursquare, and the measure of the city provided by the Apostle John in Revelation 21:17.

One can also see a white dove with an olive branch between the cross and the crown. Perhaps this is symbolic for resolving the paradox that Mary Baker Eddy must have realized would spring up when one looks at the Glossary definitions with too simple terms of reference. The simplistic approach causes one to recognize the Glossary as a structure of 147 definitions, while the metaphor established in Revelation 21, speaks of a measure of 144.

The simplistic approach also conflicts with the 9x16 dimension that Mary Baker Eddy has presented in metaphor in the painting of the crown. The dove with the olive branch promises peace where there appears to be a conflicting scene, and the dove descends from the crown. One would suspect, therefore, that the crown should contain a metaphor for the specific feature that resolves the paradox. Indeed it does.

If one looks closely at the design of the crown in Christ and Christmas, one can recognize five distinct areas that are adorned with jewels, or five seats for jewels. This is precisely the number of distinct types of dual definitions that one can recognize in the Glossary. The recognition of these five types of dual definitions, in turn, is essential for recognizing the Glossary as a structure of 144 elements. The metaphoric reference that points to the factor five, that bridges the cross and the crown, appears to have been highly important to Mary Baker Eddy, so much so that she combined the cross and the crown into a symbol that she incorporated into a seal that would be placed on the cover of every copy of her published works.

The above seal was used until about 1901. It presents all the essential features which pertain to the Glossary and its relationship to the foursquare matrix. The seal presents the crown essentially as it appears in Christ and Christmas. It also symbolizes another important aspect of Mary Baker Eddy's structure for scientific and spiritual development, which is symbolized by the rays of light that surround the crown.

This symbolism reflects the rays of light surrounding the star on the cover of Christ and Christmas. Howard Meredith of North Vancover pointed out to me that there are 56 rays of light shown on the cover of Christ and Christmas, which point to a significant feature of Mary Baker Eddy's structure for scientific and spiritual development, that incorporates the inclusion of the seven days of creation and the seven synonyms for God in the foursquare matrix structure.

After 1901, probably in 1902, Mary Baker Eddy removed from the seal all none-essential features.

She retained only the symbolism of the cross and the crown and the factor of five in the form of a five star crown. It is as if she was saying that the key factor that unites the cross and the crown is found in scientific development. Without the scientific development that resolves the paradox that prevents the metaphor of the crown from being recognized as true, the cross will be the dominant feature, rather than the crown. 

This is true universally, in all areas of life. Violence, depravity, fascism, disease, poverty, and so forth, are manifests of incomplete or erroneous perceptions which scientific and spiritual development must overcome. With this modern seal Mary Baker Eddy confirms what the Apostle John had presented almost 2000 years ago, who predicted the end of all evil as the outcome of humanity's scientific and spiritual development.

This is the understanding that had evidently motivated Mary Baker Eddy in everything she did. This is what the new seal symbolizes for me. She put proudly on all her books, except the Manual which represents a constitution rather than an element of a pedagogical structure. 

This also appears to be the foundation on which the Christian Science Monitor has been established.