Joseph Campbell @ MindSay 
The eagle is the bird of Zeus. In relation to the US one dollar bill, the eagle is coming down into the field of time.
The eagle descends into the world of the pairs of opposites, the filed of action. One mode of action is war and the other is peace.
The 13 arrows symbolize the principles of war and in his other talon the eagle holds the laurel which represents peace. Or the art of peaceful conversation.
All of this is on the dollar bill, put there by the founding fathers, interesting symbolization in my opinion.
What does the eagel represent? Accroding to JC the eagle represents what is indicated in the radiant sign above his head.
There are also nine feathers in the eagle's tail. 9 is the number of the descent of the divine power into the world, and when the angelus rings, it rings nine times.
The Angelus is a devotion in memory of the Incarnation in Christianity. It has its name from the opening words, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ. It consists of three texts describing the mystery, recited as versicle and response alternately with the salutation "Hail, Mary!" This devotion is recited in Roman Catholic, in Anglo-Catholic and some Lutheran churches three times daily, traditionally about 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m, accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus bell. This is still rung in some English country churches, and has often been mistaken for and alleged to be a survival of the curfew bell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelus
Over the eagle's head are 13 stars arranged in the form of the Star of David.
As a Jewish symbol
According to some Judaic sources, the Star/Shield of David signifies the number seven: that is, the six points plus the center. The earliest extant Jewish text to mention it is the Eshkol Ha-Kofer by a Karaite named Judah Hadassi, from the 12th century CE:
"Seven names of angels precede the mezuzah: Michael, Gabriel, etc. ... Tetragrammaton protect you! And likewise the sign, called the 'Shield of David', is placed beside the name of each angel."[1]
The number seven has religious significance in Judaism, e.g., the six days of Creation plus the seventh day of rest, the six working days in the week plus Shabbat, the Seven Spirits of God, as well as the Menorah in the ancient Temple, whose seven oil lamps rest on three stems branching from each side of a central pole. And so on. Perhaps, the Star of David came to be used as a standard symbol in synagogues because its organization into 3+3+1 corresponds to the Temple's Menorah, which was the more traditional symbol for Judaism in ancient times.
Exact origins of the symbol's relation to Jewish identity are unknown. Several theories were put forward. According to one hypothesis[citation needed], Star of David comprises two of the three letters in the name David. In its Hebrew spelling (דוד), it contains only three characters, two of which are "D" (or "Dalet", in Hebrew). In ancient times, this letter was written in a form much like a triangle, similar to the Greek letter Delta (Δ), with which it shares a sound and the same (4th) position in their respective alphabets, as it does with Latin. The symbol may have been a simple family crest formed by flipping and juxtaposing the two most prominent letters in the name.
Some researchers have theorized that the hexagram represents the astrological chart at the time of David's birth or anointment as king. The hexagram is also known as the "King's Star" in astrological circles, and was an important astrological symbol in Zoroastrianism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_david
I almost got lost in the word mezuzah! It's funny how reading about all these things leads me from one place to another...
According to JC the Star of David used to be known as Solomon's Seal.
Kabbalistically, the Star/Shield of David symbolizes the six directions of space plus the center, under the influence of the description of space found in the Sefer Yetsira: Up, Down, East, West, South, North, and Center. Congruently, under the influence of the Zohar, it represents the Six Sefirot of the Male (Zeir Anpin) united with the Seventh Sefirot of the Female (Nekuva).
Again, this is form Wikipeia, the same page....
"Solomon used to seal monsters and giants and things into jars. (Sic) You remember in the Arabian Nights when they would open the jar and out would come the genie? I noticed Solomon's Seal here, composed of 13 stars and then I saw that each of the triangles was a Pythagorean tetrakys."
For tonight this is enough. The next part is a long explanation of the Star of David, Solomon's Seal and the universe.
Joseph Campbell
