Elite's Esoteric Symbols: Engagement

A sculpture called Engagement in Helsinki, Finland, continues the pattern of masonic and tarot symbolism hidden in plain sight all over the city. Designed by Dennis Oppenheim, the esoteric themes are not only in the details of the sculpture, but also in the location.

Helsinki art museum introduction:

Dennis Oppenheim's Engagement comprises two diamond rings attached to each other. The rings are painted steel and the house-like diamonds are made of acrylic plates and have an electric light inside. The rings symbolize marriage while the houses symbolize the home and family. The dynamics of marriage requires that a balance be struck between two people with different backgrounds. Also, every union includes the possibility of a break up. In Oppenheim's piece, this dynamic arises from the small distance separating the rings, which lean away from each other.

Dennis Oppenheim is an American avant-gardist whose career began in the 1960s. He is known especially for his Land Art and performances, but his work includes installations and sculpture, many of which can be seen in public locations. Works from his Engagement series have also been temporarily shown in New York and Leoben in Austria. The Helsinki City Art Museum acquired Engagement in 1998. Nine metres high piece was erected in the central square in Ruoholahti by the canal and unveiled in the artist's presence on October 10, 2000. Ruoholahti is a new housing district near the city centre, built in the 1990s in a former industrial zone.

Engagement

Isn't it funny how the tops of the "diamond-houses" look like the masonic pyramid?

Masonic pyramid in the one dollar bill

Although the sculpture has this masonic motif, the main theme of the hidden in plain sight symbolism is once again about tarot.

The exoteric symbolism is obviously about marriage. This is a little hint for the esoteric level of the symbolism. Another hint is in the positioning of the rings. If you look at it from a certain angle, it resembles a pair of horns.

Marriage and horns, what have you got?

In tarot, the card of marriage is The Devil. The ruler of the card is Capricorn, the sign of Saturn. Horns and rings, get it?

Horns and rings

The location of the sculpture is carefully selected. There are two other Devil sculptures in Helsinki, Elias Lönnrot memorial and Work (one of the four pedestal statues of the Statue of Alexander II). On map, these three sculptures are exactly on the same straight line.