Geometry which is sacred?
What is it, why should we care?
Geometry is a term that to the Greeks essentially meant measurement of the Earth. It was a vital part of their mathematics, which was essentially a knowledge science. What makes it sacred is it’s relation to us. Architects and artists of caliber have always known this and have worked certain proportions into the geometries around us, for their visual beauty, acoustic qualities and strength. They are working with universal, almost magical, facts of number.
What is the nature of the universe? What is physical reality?
At the microcosmic level they are mathematically organized around three basic numbers: 3, 4 and 5. Three-six-twelve based measurement and time keeping, binary system of weights (pounds, pints, quarts), and five fingers on our hand, are ways we readily relate to this.
We are surrounded by energy, we are energy.
Energy (of light and sound) may seem part of a random chaos, but this is not the case. It often has structure; formed patterns which are regular and based on mostly simple numbers, or slightly more difficult ones like √1, √2, √3, √4, and √5. There can be found clear examples of such rythm and form in the basic atoms and molecules, specific geometric shapes, our bodies, and the universe. In the beginning there was the Word and the Word created Light…
The nature of sound and light can be reflected in how we count, “non-decimally”. Why do we count 12 months and 12 inches? Why do we have sixteenths of an inch, 16 ounces in a pound and 16 cups in a gallon? Why did ancient religions have twelve gods, or eight immortals? Why do more modern ones have 12 apostles, 8 – fold paths, and four noble truths? What things could a Star of David symbolically, and mathematically represent? What about a five pointed star?
3 – 6 – 12, 4 – 8 – 16, and 5 – 10 – 20, are harmonic patterns underlying our world, both as mental constructs and also as intuitive reflections of micro and macro processes and structures. Just as musical scales have higher octaves, so too for example a triangle, hexagon, and dodecagon. A square and octagon are also separate octaves of each other, and a different “tonal” pattern from these others.
“Basic” representations of 3, 4, and 5.
Natural form and Life are often based on a matrix which is geometrically uniform. Many religious symbols and numerical archetypes, often ubiquitously used, surround us. These may be surprisingly broken down into the simplist of numbers: 3, 4, and 5. Most everything else follows these numeric presentations of the triangle, square, and pentagon as “merely” higher vibration.
3, 4, and 5 create the unit Pythagorean triangle. Study their presence in the five basic forms ascribed to Plato:
These forms can be found in primary atomic, cellular, and molecular structure:
What creates these patterns? Vibration. Tone. When we throw a rock into the water, a set of repeating, enlarging circles appears. If we throw two, each creates its own pattern both interacting, creating points in space where energy is concentrated. Sound acts in the same way, travelling out spherically into space. Its reflection off walls creates also specific points of energy concentration, as the diagram shows:
Vibrational pattern, Dr. Hans Jenny
Vibration of sound, at higher frequencies is light; Energy. Energy flows as a spiral, a sinusoid. The ancients knew this, as reflected in their art.
Trigonometry, sacred architecture, and Astrology are all related in their use of basic geometry and numerics. These are Human constructs trying to describe and contain natural patterns and processes. Phi (the golden section), Giza, Stonehenge, the Human, the apple, and our solar system all share a common structure. Our systems of measuring distance, volume, and time have long roots which relate to the hexagonal structure of the honeycomb and crystal.
For 60 centuries Humanity has created works which still hold our wonder. Obviously, places like the pyramids, megaliths, and earthworks scattered around the globe required mathematics in their construction, alignment to the skies, and in their geometric shape. More interesting is that these sites reflect key geometrical “codes” that are in some ways very simple and yet capable of holding a wealth of hidden information.
There is a lot to mathematics that most people don’t consider. This is often found under the title “Sacred Geometry”. To find out more please refer to my other website: