Sacred geometry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sacred geometry is the geometry used in the planning and construction of religious
structures such as churches, temples, mosques, religious monuments, altars, tabernacles;
as well as for sacred spaces such as temenoi, sacred groves, village greens and holy
wells, and the creation of religious art. In sacred geometry, symbolic and sacred
meanings are ascribed to certain geometric shapes and certain geometric proportions.
According to Paul Calter:[1]

In the ancient world certain numbers had symbolic meaning, aside from their ordinary
use for counting or calculating; plane figures, the polygons, triangles, squares,
hexagons, and so forth, were related to the numbers (three and the triangle, for
example), were thought of in a similar way, and in fact, carried even more emotional
value than the numbers themselves, because they were visual.
Contents
 1 As worldview and cosmology
 2 Natural forms
 3 Art and architecture
 4 Unanchored geometry
 5 Music
 6 Notes
 7 See also
 8 Further reading
 9 External links

As worldview and cosmology

The belief that God created the universe according to a geometric plan has ancient
origins. Plutarch attributed the belief to Plato, writing "Plato said God geometrizes
continually" (Convivialium disputationum, liber 8,2). In modern times the
mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss adapted this quote, saying "God arithmetizes." [2]

At least as late as Johannes Kepler (1571–1630), a belief in the geometric

underpinnings of the cosmos persisted among scientists.

Closeup of inner section of the Kepler's Platonic solid model of planetary spacing in the
Solar system from Mysterium Cosmographicum (1596) which ultimately proved to be
inaccurate.

Natural forms
According to Stephen Skinner, the study of sacred geometry has its roots in the study of
nature, and the mathematical principles at work therein.[3] Many forms observed in
nature can be related to geometry, for example, the chambered nautilus grows at a
constant rate and so its shell forms a logarithmic spiral to accommodate that growth
without changing shape. Also, honeybees construct hexagonal cells to hold their honey.
These and other correspondences are seen by believers in sacred geometry to be further
proof of the cosmic significance of geometric forms.
Art and architecture
Geometric ratios, and geometric figures were often employed in the design of Egyptian,
ancient Indian, Greek and Roman architecture. Medieval European cathedrals also
incorporated symbolic geometry. Indian and Himalayan spiritual communities often
constructed temples and fortifications on design plans of mandala and yantra.

Many of the sacred geometry principles of the human body and of ancient architecture
have been compiled into the Vitruvian Man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, itself based
on the much older writings of the roman architect Vitruvius.

Unanchored geometry
Stephen Skinner discusses the tendency of some writers to place a geometric diagram
over virtually any image of a natural object or human created structure, find some lines
intersecting the image and declare it based on sacred geometry. If the geometric
diagram does not intersect major physical points in the image, the result is what Skinner
calls "unanchored geometry." [4]

Music
Pythagoras is often credited for discovering that an oscillating string stopped halfway
along its length produces an octave relative to the string's fundamental, while a ratio of
2:3 produces a perfect fifth and 3:4 produces a perfect fourth. However the Chinese
culture already featured the same mathematical positions on the Guqin and the tone
holes in flutes, so Pythagoras was not the first. Pythagoreans believed that these
harmonic ratios gave music powers of healing which could "harmonize" an out-of-
balance body[citation needed].

Notes
1. Jump up ^ dartmouth.edu: Paul Calter, Polygons, Tilings, & Sacred Geometry
2. Jump up ^ Cathérine Goldstein, Norbert Schappacher, Joachim Schwermer, The
shaping of arithmetic, p235. [1]
3. Jump up ^ Skinner, Stephen (2009). Sacred Geometry: Deciphering the Code.
Sterling. ISBN 978-1-4027-6582-7.
4. Jump up ^ Stephen Skinner, Sacred geometry: deciphering the code, p91

See also
 Flower of Life
 Harmony of the spheres
 Shield of the Trinity
 Lu Ban and Feng shui
 Mathematics and art
Further reading
 Lesser, George (1957-64). Gothic cathedrals and sacred geometry. London: A.
Tiranti.
 Beginnings: Geomancy, Builders' Rites and Electional Astrology in the
European Tradition by Nigel Pennick
 Sacred Geometry: Symbolism and Purpose in Religious Structures by Nigel
Pennick
 The Ancient Science of Geomancy: Living in Harmony with the Earth by Nigel
Pennick
 The Sacred Art of Geometry: Temples of the Phoenix by Nigel Pennick
 The Oracle of Geomancy by Nigel Pennick
 The Ancient Science of Geomancy: Man in Harmony with the Earth by Nigel
Pennick
 George Bain. Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction. Dover, 1973. ISBN 0-
486-22923-8.
 Bromwell, Henry P. H. (2010). Townley, Kevin, ed. Restorations of Masonic
Geometry and Symbolry: Being a Dissertation on the Lost Knowledges of the
Lodge. Lovers of the Craft. ISBN 0-9713441-5-9. Retrieved Jan. 7, 2012.
 Robert Lawlor. Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and practice (Art and
Imagination). Thames & Hudson, 1989 (1st edition 1979, 1980, or 1982). ISBN
0-500-81030-3.
 John Michell. City of Revelation. Abacus, 1972. ISBN 0-349-12320-9.
 Michael S. Schneider. A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe:
Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science. Harper Paperbacks, 1995.
ISBN 0-06-092671-6
 Lucy R Lippard: Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory.
Pantheon Books New York 1983 ISBN 0-394-51812-8
 Johnson, Anthony: Solving Stonehenge, the New Key to an Ancient Enigma.
Thames & Hudson 2008 ISBN 978-0-500-05155-9
 Steiner, Rudolf; Catherine Creeger (2001). The Fourth Dimension : Sacred
Geometry, Alchemy, and Mathematics. Anthroposophic Press. ISBN 0-88010-
472-4.
 Critchlow, Keith (1970). Order In Space: A Design Source Book. New York:
Viking.
 Iamblichus; Robin Waterfield, Keith Critchlow, Translated by Robin Waterfield
(1988). The Theology of Arithmetic: On the Mystical, Mathematical and
Cosmological Symbolism of the First Ten Numbers. Phanes Press. ISBN 0-
933999-72-0.
 Critchlow, Keith (1976). Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological
Approach. Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-3627-9.
 The Golden Mean, Parabola magazine, v.16, n.4 (1991)
 West, John Anthony, Inaugural Lines: Sacred geometry at St. John the Divine,
Parabola magazine, v.8, n.1, Spring 1983
 Bamford, Christopher, Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science,
Lindisfarne Press, 1994, ISBN 0-940262-63-0
 A. T. Mann, Sacred Architecture, Element Books, 1993, ISBN 1-84333-355-4.
External links
 Sacred geometry at the Open Directory Project

Hidden messages

 Hidden messages
Main  Subliminal message

 Backmasking
Audio  Reverse speech

 Numerology
 Theomatics
Numeric  Bible code
 Cryptology

 Fnord
 Paranoiac-critical method
 Pareidolia
Visual  Sacred geometry
 Steganography
 Visual cryptography

 Anagram
 Apophenia
 Asemic writing
 Easter egg
Other  Clustering illusion
 Observer-expectancy effect
 Pattern recognition
 Paradox
 Palindrome
  Unconscious mind

Retrieved from
"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sacred_geometry&oldid=580810126"
Categories:

 Astrological aspects
 Architecture
 Esoteric cosmology
 Geometry
 History of astrology
 Mathematics and mysticism
 Pythagorean philosophy
 Numerology

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_geometry