From time to time, you may have noticed that temples
occasionally have octagons worked into the architectural elements. You may have wondered what those
mean.
A few years ago, I read a book about temple architectural
elements that said that octagons with their eight sides symbolized the 8th
day of creation and also progression toward perfection.
I think it was from Sacred Walls: Learning from TempleSymbols by Gerald E. Hansen.
I think Hansen skillfully unpacked the reasoning for how it
communicates progression toward perfection (so I’ll let you buy the book and
learn about that and all the other fabulous goodies that come in it), but I want to focus a
little more on that idea of the 8th day of creation because this is
one that foreign to us. This
one took me a while to grasp.
Being baptized at age eight, the year of accountability, is
familiar to us, but eight days in creation is strange. Creation was done in six days, God
rested on the 7th, so what need for an 8th day?
Consider that we all need to be born again into the
kingdom of God. Wouldn’t that
constitute an act of creation—the spiritual creation of a new creature? It would be a further refinement and continuation of our creation that would be in line with the change and development that
happens in the previous 7 days.
Thus, the 8th day of creation is about spiritual
rebirth and refinement, and so you will find octagons in the temple in places that
should remind of spiritual rebirth, like around the temple baptismal font. It may be the font itself. It may be in the ceiling shape. It may be in the stonework around the font. You may find it other places as
well, so you’ll know that is an opportunity to think about how that place is
associated with spiritual rebirth and creation. (Also, don't forget that it can be associated with progression toward perfection as well.)
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| http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/latter-day-saints-dir/32153-what-lds-temple-looks-like-inside.html |
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| Notice the ceiling (http://thetrumpetstone.blogspot.com/2011/09/lds-temple-glass-trees.html) |
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| http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=5273003&nid=460&page=2 |
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| http://www.pinterest.com/garrettdad2/lds-temples/ |
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| This one is from the Boise, Idaho temple. Interesting that the octagon is associated with garden imagery. http://www.pinterest.com/christmasfamily/temples/ |
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