MEANING:
The official title of the Unification Church began as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) and changed to Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) in 1994. The Unification Church symbol was designed by Father (Sun Myung Moon) at the Chungpadong Church in Seoul. The symbol was first worn by members on identification badges in Korea. Later, it was used on the cover of Father Moon’s book ‘Divine Principle’, on church signs, etc.
The Tongil ("Unity" or "Unification" in Korean) mark represents the flag of "Cheon Il Guk"—otherwise understood as the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. It is created with significant meaning and numbers:
The Circle in the center represents God and his True Love, True Life and True Light; Those four elements reach out or radiate from this origin to the whole cosmos in twelve directions.
The Twelve lines represent 12 months of the year and twelve types of human personalities. Historically, the number twelve has been important in God's dispensation; for example, Jesus had twelve disciples. The significance of the symbol, then, indicates that truth (the Principle) is able to spread out in twelve ways. According to Father, the structure of the heavenly kingdom is also patterned after this basic system; i.e., twelve tribes and twelve character types.
The Square represents four directions, North, South East & West, and the four position foundation centered on God
The Circle Around represents give and receive action between the visible and invisible worlds.
Each church organization (local, state, national) should use the symbol in appropriate circumstances; for example, in prayer rooms, on the front of the church center, or on signs.
THE CARVING:
Our carvings are single pieces of western red cedar, designed and carved to be wall hangings. Each carving begins as a 1 X 12 inch cedar board. While we use power tools (Scroll Saw, Rotary shaft Tool, handheld detail sanders etc.), we use no laser’s, CNC machines or computer operated cutting machines. All work is done with our hands and eyes…
We cut the 2 dimensional blanks with scroll and jig saws (double-sized custom orders have to be cut with jigsaw). Carving is done with rotary shaft tools and disc grinders. The 80 grit sanding is the final phase of the carving process, removing the nicks and gouges from the carving tools, and finishes the shaping of the weave. The next 2 sandings with 120 then 220 grit finishes the smoothing and polishing. They are finished with Clear Danish Oil to seal the piece, bringing out the grain and the color.
SIZE: One picture has the piece on a quilting board, lined up on the 1 inch marks. The quilting board, at its simplest, is a one inch grid. So with the piece on the board, you look at the top and follow the line to the left and look at the right side at the widest point and follow the line to the bottom and you have height by width...but wait! It's not that easy! The way this board I have is laid out, if I lined it up on the zero points it would cover up the numbers and on some pieces you wouldn't be able to see them...so, I line it up on the 1 inch marks which means when you get the numbers, you have to subtract 1 inch... TA DA! Measurements may vary slightly from piece to piece.
