Why were several religious entities portrayed making this hand sign?

Hello! If we look at many sculptures and paintings representing gods, angels, saints, and entities from different religions, we can notice that in many of them a mysterious sign — or some variation of it — almost always appears.

Generally, this gesture involves the joining of fingers — sometimes the index and middle fingers raised, sometimes two fingers joined between the index and the little finger, or, in other cultures, the formation of a circle between one of these fingers and the thumb. But after all, what do these signs mean?

Official history states that the gesture of two fingers together (usually the index and middle fingers raised, while the others remain bent), seen in countless religious paintings and sculptures — mainly of Christ, apostles, and saints — has several layers of meaning, depending on the era, context, and artistic tradition.

The main interpretations are:

Christian blessing (liturgical gesture):

• A gesture of blessing, used by Christ and later by bishops and priests.
• The two raised fingers represent the two natures of Christ: divine and human.
• The other bent fingers symbolize the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

Byzantine and Orthodox origin:

• In this context, the gesture forms, with the fingers, the letters IC XC, a Greek abbreviation for “Jesus Christ.”
• This representation frequently appears in Byzantine icons and influenced Western medieval art.

Rhetorical sign:

• In medieval and Renaissance art, the gesture was also used to indicate teaching or authority, like that of an orator or philosopher.
• When Christ is depicted teaching, the gesture reinforces His authority as a master.

Although these explanations are valid, they do not clarify why the same gesture also appears in images of entities from other religions not influenced by Christianity. Because of this, there is another explanation according to our spiritual tradition.

The Allane explanation

In the Allane religion, we know that the name of God is All~, which means Eternal Self or Eternal Consciousness. In our prayers, we always end with the expression ll~, and this symbolic gesture has been used since ancient times to indicate the name of our God.

Thus, we understand that the truth about this gesture is much deeper. Even though the name of the true God was hidden from humanity for centuries by the imposition of new religions, ancient artists found ways to make the Eternal Name evident in religious imagery. Many times, they did so in a disguised way, assigning new meanings to the gesture when questioned by the religious leaders of their time.

Moreover, Eternal Consciousness itself inspired and guided both humans and supernatural beings to recognize that He is the true God, the Supreme Being, the sole cause of everything that exists. Many of the heroes of these religions were, in fact, secretly faithful to the Eternal — or were later appropriated and deified by the new religions that arose after the fall of our ancient civilization.

Over time, we will reveal more about the true history of humanity and about the Eternal Name, which is present — hidden or transformed — in various cultures around the world.

May the Eternal be praised in His true Name and bless us always.

Aisi~