Flower of Life
©Lorena Loo
©Lorena Loo
Galileo once wrote that if one is to understand the grand book of the universe, one must understand the language it is written in. That language is the mathematics of geometrical figures such as triangles, squares and circles. Without the ability to comprehend and interpret such characters, one is left "wandering about in a dark labyrinth."
What then are we to make of a symbol which has appeared throughout the world in cultures diversely separated in both time and geographic location. A symbol which is totally geometric in nature and whose singular element of composition is celebrated as representative of the universal source of all creation called God.
What then are we to make of a symbol which has appeared throughout the world in cultures diversely separated in both time and geographic location. A symbol which is totally geometric in nature and whose singular element of composition is celebrated as representative of the universal source of all creation called God.
Such is the symbol of the Flower of Life, a configuration of 19 circles of equal size, 18 arranged around a central one. The entire pattern is enclosed by two larger concentic circles. The Flower of Life thus celebrates the circle and, if you believe the sages throughout the centuries, God.
"God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere" goes a mantra cited by St. Augustine, the Greek philosopher Empedocles, Voltaire, the Hindus and countless others. The 16th century
"God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere" goes a mantra cited by St. Augustine, the Greek philosopher Empedocles, Voltaire, the Hindus and countless others. The 16th century
For the oldest example of the Flower of Life that has been found to date, we go to Egypt. There the symbol was etched with great precision into the granite stone wall of an ancient Osirian temple in Abydos, a temple which dates back about 6,000 years. The Flower itself was not part of the original temple but was overlayed onto its wall several times, probably by the Copts circa 500 BCE. That the Copts chose to place this symbol at a temple known to be a place of resurrection for the ancient Egyptians cannot be overlooked.
So it is that the Flower of Life and Seed of Life symbols are part of a cycle of “life” symbols. Just as the seed bears the image of the tree which springs forth from it, so the Seed of Life contains the symbol of the Tree of Life within it. The 10 circles of the Tree of Life (in purple) fit right onto the Seed and happen to be exactly one-quarter the size of the circles comprising the Seed and the Flower. There is also an 11th circle (in gold) which is often left out but is mentioned in the Kabbala as the abyss between the ideal and real. But the Kabbala is not the only place where the Tree of Life is found.
© Copyright Lorena Loo
The left image is the carving on a wall at Canterbury Cathedral. To the right the template of the carving's design is revealed to be traced right out of the Flower of Life
Contained within the folds of the Flower is a symbol called the Seed of Life, six circles arranged circularly around a central one and sometimes enclosed within a larger circle. A Seed of Life pattern is found at the apex of the domed ceiling- the heavenly vault-of the Moses cupola in the Basilica San Marco. There are some who say the Seed is the pattern of Creation in the Bible's Seven Days of Genesis, pehaps thus accounting for its most exalted position in the "heavens" of Basilica San Marco.
(Image to left: The Seed of Life within the folds of the Flower of Life)
Connecting the center of each of the circles of the Fruit to the centers of the other 12 circles in the design combines both feminine and masculine energies and produces what is known as Metatron's Cube. Out of the pattern of lines forming Metatron's Cube come the 5 Platonic Solids which together with the sphere (3 dimensional equivalent of the circle) form the six primal shapes and building blocks of the universe.
When two circles of equal size overlap such that the center of each lies on the circumference of the other, their overlap produces an almond-shaped figure called the vesica piscis. Also known as the symbol of the fish, throughout history the vesica represented the Great Mother Goddesses of the world, the womb or vulva,
Metatron's Cube (above left), formed from the Fruit of Life, out of which emerges the 5 Platonic Solids (above right) of tetarhedron, cube, octahedron, icosahedron and dodecahedron
The alchemists of old, precursors to modern day chemists, regarded these six primal shapes as possessing aspects of elements or qualities out of which everything in creation is comprised. The sphere was voidness, the tetrahedron fire, the cube earth, the octahedron air, the icosahedron water and the dodecahedron aether or prana.
Whether it is the Seed, Flower or extended Seed-Flower pattern from which the Fruit is picked, the geometric configuration of overlapping circles all begins with the formation of another sacred symbol known as the vesica piscis.
Whether it is the Seed, Flower or extended Seed-Flower pattern from which the Fruit is picked, the geometric configuration of overlapping circles all begins with the formation of another sacred symbol known as the vesica piscis.
Whether one subscribes to the teaching that the Flower of Life (in its 3 dimensional representation as spheres) is the template or matrix of all creation or not, its universality and enshrinement as a sacred symbol certainly extends far beyond an appealing geometric pattern. Above all else, the Language of Light must become a living experience to be fully understood.
Text and images (unless otherwise indicated in the credits) are copyrighted
© by Lorena Loo
In the instances where images in the public domain have been modified as in the case of geometrizing them, the modified images are no longer public domain but the copyright of the author who made the modifications. Here that means me, Lorena Loo. That is by copyright law.
© by Lorena Loo
In the instances where images in the public domain have been modified as in the case of geometrizing them, the modified images are no longer public domain but the copyright of the author who made the modifications. Here that means me, Lorena Loo. That is by copyright law.
Footnotes:
1Leonardo very clearly knew about the Seed,
Flower and extended Seed-Flower pattern as this page from
his notebooks reveals.
Images:
Flower of Life marble inlay from Golden Temple of the Sikhs: Courtesy of Marja de Vries
Leonardo Flower of Life unit, Extended Flower: The Unknown Leonardo; ed. Ladislao Reti; McGraw-Hill Book Company, Toronto (1974); also in Leonardo the Scientist; Carlo Zammattio; McGraw-Hill, 1980
Disguised Flower of Life Carving, Canterbury Cathedral: The Traveller's Guide to Sacred England; John Michell; Gothic Image, 1996
Dome of Moses Cupola, Basilica San Marco; Plate 60; The Mosaic Decoration of San Marco, Venice; Otto Demus; The University of Chicago Press; 1988
1Leonardo very clearly knew about the Seed,
Flower and extended Seed-Flower pattern as this page from
his notebooks reveals.
Images:
Flower of Life marble inlay from Golden Temple of the Sikhs: Courtesy of Marja de Vries
Leonardo Flower of Life unit, Extended Flower: The Unknown Leonardo; ed. Ladislao Reti; McGraw-Hill Book Company, Toronto (1974); also in Leonardo the Scientist; Carlo Zammattio; McGraw-Hill, 1980
Disguised Flower of Life Carving, Canterbury Cathedral: The Traveller's Guide to Sacred England; John Michell; Gothic Image, 1996
Dome of Moses Cupola, Basilica San Marco; Plate 60; The Mosaic Decoration of San Marco, Venice; Otto Demus; The University of Chicago Press; 1988
Italian rabbi, poet and philosopher Judah Moscato attributed the phrase to Hermes Trismegistus, the founder of the tradition of alchemy and magic known as Hermetism. There are those who say Hermes was merely the neter of magic, mathematics, language, science and measurement of the Egyptian pantheon, Thoth, by another name.
Among the many countries the Flower of Life has been discovered in are China, Japan, Austria, Spain, Tibet, Greece, Ireland, Turkey and England. It appears on statues, floors, walls, raiment worn by sultans and in entranceways to temples.
In India, a Flower of Life symbol formed one of the marble inlays (photo to right) at the Golden Temple of the Sikhs in Amritsar.
In India, a Flower of Life symbol formed one of the marble inlays (photo to right) at the Golden Temple of the Sikhs in Amritsar.
Sometimes the Flower's appearance lies disguised within a design such as in a carving found in the south section of Canterbury Cathedral. Considered the Mother Church to all Anglican Communion Churches in England, the cathedral was founded circa 597 AD by St. Augustine. The very same symbol considered sacred enough to be enshrined at a Sikh temple was also so enshrined in a Christian house of worship.
Click image to enlarge.
Each of the 19 circles in the Flower contains a six-petalled rosette within and six equal sized petals rimming its inner circumference. Such a geometric configuration both with and without the circumference petals has appeared as a sacred symbol in ancient cultures and has been featured in the work of Islamic artisans throughout the ages. Believed to be a sun symbol, it dates back to at least Phoenician times but
has been found in a sultan's palace in Marrakesh, Scotland's St. Magnus Cathedral and in a belt buckle buried in the tomb of an ancient warrior (circa 400 AD) in France. Leonardo da Vinci seemed particularly intrigued with this design, doodling it both with (image above left) and without the circumference petals in several sections of his notebooks.1
With the image of the Seed and the Flower in mind, we might we tempted to recall the tale of Johnny Appleseed. It was said that Johnny went into the wilderness carrying a bag of apple seeds which he planted into the fertile soil. The seeds would sprout into trees which would flower and produce fruit out of which came more seeds for planting. It was a life cycle or cycle of creation.
The Tree appears on two pillars in the Temples of Luxor and Karnak in Egypt dating back approximately 5,000 years ago. The Egyptian Tree of Life has two extra circles, one at the top and one at at the bottom (in blue in diagram), from that found in the Kabbala. This 12 (or 13 if you count the "hidden" circle) fits exactly onto the symbol of the Flower.
With the Tree of Life symbol, we have encountered for the first time something new in our mini exploration of Flower "symbology." Straight lines appear in addition to circles. In sacred geometry, curved lines such as circles represent the feminine energy while straight lines represent the masculine energy. Unlike the Flower and the Seed where the circles interconnected by virtue of overlapping, the circles in the Tree interconnect through lines which form rectangles and triangles.
By extending the pattern of overlapping circles which generated the Seed and the Flower, a Fruit of Life symbol emerges. The Fruit is a configuration of 13 equal sized circles, 12 arranged around a central one. The circles in the Fruit touch but never overlap. This geometric configuration is regarded as one of the most sacred forms in the universe. It is the template out of which reality is said to emerge.
With the Tree of Life symbol, we have encountered for the first time something new in our mini exploration of Flower "symbology." Straight lines appear in addition to circles. In sacred geometry, curved lines such as circles represent the feminine energy while straight lines represent the masculine energy. Unlike the Flower and the Seed where the circles interconnected by virtue of overlapping, the circles in the Tree interconnect through lines which form rectangles and triangles.
By extending the pattern of overlapping circles which generated the Seed and the Flower, a Fruit of Life symbol emerges. The Fruit is a configuration of 13 equal sized circles, 12 arranged around a central one. The circles in the Fruit touch but never overlap. This geometric configuration is regarded as one of the most sacred forms in the universe. It is the template out of which reality is said to emerge.
Click image to enlarge
fertility and symbolized rebirth. In Christianity, depictions of both the Virgin Mary and Christ were sometimes framed within a vesica.
The vesica is the first step in forming the Seed, the first day of Genesis and according to Drunvalo Melchizedek, it is the geometric template through which light and our eyes were created.
All the circles in the Seed, Flower and extended Seed-Flower pattern overlap to form vesicas and if the vesica serves as the image through which light is created, then the Flower of Life is the language of light. Indeed one of the alternate names by which the Flower is known as is the Language of Light, that which is the primal language of the entire cosmos.
The vesica is the first step in forming the Seed, the first day of Genesis and according to Drunvalo Melchizedek, it is the geometric template through which light and our eyes were created.
All the circles in the Seed, Flower and extended Seed-Flower pattern overlap to form vesicas and if the vesica serves as the image through which light is created, then the Flower of Life is the language of light. Indeed one of the alternate names by which the Flower is known as is the Language of Light, that which is the primal language of the entire cosmos.
"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."
Dome of the Moses Cupola at the Basilica San Marco. At the apex is the Seed of Life, six circles arranged around a central one, all of equal size. The center circle in the Seed is not really detectable here but certainly implied by the center pattern rosette for the center circle would just enclose the rosette. Take note of the "points of light" within each of the six vesicas.
The Fruit of Life as 13 thick circles from the extended Seed-Flower pattern in the above left. To the right, the disguised Fruit as 13 equal sized hexagons embedded into the window designs at the Taj Mahal. If each hexagon was just enclosed by a circle, the Fruit would emerge
Click on image to enlarge
Symbols connected to sound, light and the Intellect are among the most profound expressions in Surfism. The Word is both a sound and a light, for the light is the meaning of the Word. The Word is a mirror where the Divine reverberates outwardly.
—Laleh Bakhtiar
Sufi Expressions of the Mystic Quest
—Laleh Bakhtiar
Sufi Expressions of the Mystic Quest