Tuesday, November 14, 2006

What is 'Sacred Geometry' all about?



I always balk at the term 'sacred geometry' because the word 'sacred' can be so loaded. I translate 'sacred' to mean that from which spiritual lessons can be derived. And by 'spiritual' I mean understandings that connect us to larger life awareness, things that further or elucidate our deeper beliefs about our reality. Ultimately these are revelations that help guide how we live.
For ancient people, spirituality was infused in everything. Mathematics and geometry were particularly powerful becuase they were means through which people could catch a glimpse of the underlying order of the universe- certain aspects of the world became understandable and, more profoundly, predictable.  This gave power to those who posessed this knowledge. Think the Phaorohs of Egypt and the Incan rulers, among many cultures, whose leaders were supposedly chosen by 'God'.  They were surrounded by their priests, the order whose job it was to interpret natural phenomenon and give predictions which would result in allowing their leaders to appear truly in communion with higher forces.
Rulers aside, geometry and math allowed people to harness the 'rules' of nature, those aspects of the natural world that people were able to deduce, such as the Golden Mean ratio or the strength of tetrahedral structures. These discoveries were considered sacred due to their source and the power they contained and were treated with tremendous dignity. The principles were materialized in the form of the great, and enduring, structures of the world- the pyramids of Egypt, the great Cathedrals of Europe, the astrological temples of the Druids. The structures were embodiments of the sacred principles, meant to live on in perpetuity as an enduring lesson for future generations.
Modern society has largely lost its sense of the granduer of existence. Its not entirely gone, but rather gone into reclusion, biding its time with the next wave of interpreters who are doing amazing things to rediscover past knowledge and help the rest of us realize the power that comes with working in harmony with universal principles.
The trick is in adapting the largely neutral universal understandings into forms that we can bring into our lives, that can give us direction and choice....This is an ongoing practice for me, interpreting the principles I learn into ways that can enhance my life. These are lessons of form and flow, of energy movement and stability.
To get a sense of the enduring quality of sacred geometrical awareness, consider 2 principles, the '6 around 1' and the '12 around 1'.
A circle can contain 6 equal-sized circles  around it.

(more discussion to come)
There are great books on this topic- see my books section for suggestions.

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