Sacred Geometry

The Beauty of the golden ratio.

Phi, The Golden Mean, Fibonacci Spiral, Fractal Geometry, Mandelbrot Set, etc., etc., etc. Get the idea? One does not have to be a mathematician or physicist to appreciate the beauty that is a representation of these numerical expressions.. When considering these divine proportions and life it can be said that ” All life is biology. All biology is physiology. All physiology is chemistry. All chemistry is physics. All physics is math” _Dr. Stephen Marquardt.

In my Google quest on this interesting topic I came upon an interesting correlation of the application of the principles of these proportions to understanding the archetypal patterns of our culture and language. The study called memetics arose in the 1990s to explore the concepts and transmission of memes in terms of an evolutionary model. A meme is “an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.” A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. ( ref. Wikipedia ).To expand upon this idea is the recent research that points to evidence that our thoughts and ideas have representational shapes that are also a reflection of our memetic archetypes. This visual language is beautifully presented by Ellen Clegg and Bonnie DeVarco on their site The Shape of Thought and I do hope you will read their fascinating discussions as they probe the significance of the golden mean and its expression culturally and individually.

“Words and language, whether written or spoken, do not seem to play any part in my thought processes. The psychological entities that serve as building blocks for my thought are certain signs or images, more or less clear, that I can reproduce at will.” Albert Einstein

All this science, metaphysics and philosophy may seem rather removed from our everyday lives. But these relationships and proportions are everywhere from the divine order of the cosmos to the beauty of the DNA molecule. Man’s expressions can be found in the arts, architecture and design of the products we use on a daily basis. The geometry of design is apparent in the beautiful forms of nature that surround us in flower petal arrangement, the fractal repetition of ferns, the intricate design of a honeycomb and the simplicity of a pine cone. Please take a minute to view this wonderful video as a journey into the mystery of nature’s geometry. http://vimeo.com/9953368

If you are a photographer, graphic artist or artist, using the Golden Mean to layout compositions is an excellent starting point for your designs and layouts. Try to envision its proportions when framing your shots through the view finder of your camera or as a constraint when cropping in Photoshop. Discovered this nifty, easy to use software application which you might want to experiment with_PhiMatrix. Or just get out some graph paper and have fun laying out a design for a new patio or garden room. You’ll soon discover the beauty of math as a practical stepping stone to innovation. This post is therefore dedicated to my high school geometry teacher_Mr. Elder, you were right!