Aspects of Five, Seven, and Fifty-Six

The aspect of five, that the crown in the seal represents so prominently is actually sufficient to represent all the lower aspects which have no meaning, or would not be correctly perceived, without the recognition of the five types of dual definitions that can be recognized in the Glossary. This holds also true for the rays of light that had been removed from the seal, which represent the 56 rays of light surrounding the star on the cover of Christ and Christmas. This symbolism, in turn represents a feature of the foursquare matrix that reflects the nature of one of the five unique types of dual definitions.

There are four such dual definitions in the Glossary. They are contrasting dual definitions that are combined into a single sentence. Since they cannot be separated they may be perceived as starting points that can lead into opposite directions according to external axiomatic perceptions. This corresponds with the history of Christianity where tremendous advances occurred,  but also terrible atrocities. 

If one divides the lower three rows of the matrix in half, centered on the central elements of the row representing Christianity, each of these halves will contain 56 definitions. (See figure 1) This number matches the number of the rays of light surrounding the star on the cover of Christ and Christmas. The same can also be said about the upper three rows of the matrix.

The interesting aspect is that one can map seven structures of eight definitions each, into both of these spaces, according to the seven days of creation and the seven synonyms for God. (see figure 2) 

Again, one may ask if this is verified in metaphor. The answer is in the affirmative. The verification is in the design of the crown in Christ and Christmas. The single jewel at the center of the crown is surrounded by seven leaves, while the single jewels on either side are surrounded by five leaves. Thus we see that both aspects are presented together on the crown, since they depend on one another.

The feature that is metaphysically indicated by the 56 rays of light on the front cover of Christ and Christmas had originally been included into the symbolism of the cross and crown seal, but was removed after 1901. Only the aspect that represents the five types of dual definitions found in the Glossary, on which so much depends, has been retained. This aspect has thereby been raised to a higher prominence. That is what stands out when one looks at the cross and crown seal.

The following graphics provide a summary and review of the five types of dual definitions found in the Glossary.

Review 1 - Nature of dual definitions

Type 1 - Vertically separated (contrasting) dual definitions (see figure 3)

Type 2 - Horizontally separated dual definitions (also see figure 4)

Type 3 - Superimposed dual definitions

Type 4 - Dual definitions that are needed together to define a single concept

Type 5 - Directional dual definitions

Mary Baker Eddy advertised her structure for scientific and spiritual development to the n'th degree, by placing the cross and crown seal, and thereby her structure for scientific and spiritual development, symbolically, on every cover of everyone of her books for all the world to see. The only thing that she could not do, is cause humanity to discover this structure as she had discovered it. This lay beyond the scope of her time. Still she did provide a hint in metaphor of its importance.