Sacred geometry

 

  • [17]
    Unanchored geometry
    Stephen Skinner criticizes 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.

  • [12]
    In Christianity
    The construction of Medieval European cathedrals was often based on geometries intended to make the viewer see the world through mathematics, and through this understanding, gain a better understanding of the divine.

  • [9]
    In Islam
    The geometric designs in Islamic art are often built on combinations of repeated squares and circles, which may be overlapped and interlaced, as can arabesques (with which they are often combined), to form intricate and complex patterns, including a wide variety of tessellations.

  • The geometry used in the design and construction of religious structures such as churches, temples, mosques, religious monuments, altars, and tabernacles has sometimes been considered sacred.

  • The circle in particular became a central and symbolic shape for the base of buildings, as it represented the perfection of nature and the centrality of man’s place in the universe.

  • This is epitomized in feng shui, which are architectural principles outlining the design plans of buildings in order to optimize the harmony of man and nature through the movement of Chi, or “life-generating energy.” [8] In order to maximize the flow of Chi throughout a building, its design plan must utilize specific shapes.

  • Many of the sacred geometry principles of the human body and of ancient architecture were compiled into the Vitruvian Man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci.

  • “[4]
    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.

  • [14] The use of the circle and other simple and symmetrical geometric shapes was solidified as a staple of Renaissance sacred architecture in Leon Battista Alberti’s architectural treatise, which described the ideal church in terms of spiritual geometry.

  • [3] Harvard mathematician Shing-Tung Yau expressed a belief in the centrality of geometry in 2010: “Lest one conclude that geometry is little more than a well-calibrated ruler – and this is no knock against the ruler, which happens to be a technology I admire – geometry is one of the main avenues available to us for probing the universe.

  • These may constitute the entire decoration, may form a framework for floral or calligraphic embellishments, or may retreat into the background around other motifs.

  • [15]

    In the High Middle Ages, leading Christian philosophers explained the layout of the universe in terms of a microcosm analogy.

  • [10]

    Elaborate rules are laid out in the Agamas for Shilpa (the art of sculpture) describing the quality requirements of such matters as the places where temples are to be built, the kinds of image to be installed, the materials from which they are to be made, their dimensions, proportions, air circulation, and lighting in the temple complex.

  • [8]

    The Forbidden City is an example of a building that uses sacred geometry through the principles of feng shui in its design plan.

  • [8] Room layout is also an important element, as doors should be proportional to one another and located at appropriate positions throughout the house.

  • Each element and detail are proportional to each other, this occurrence is also known as the sacred geometry.

  • I would go so far as to say that geometry not only deserves a place at the table alongside physics and cosmology, but in many ways, it is the table.

  • In her book describing the divine visions she witnessed, Hildegard of Bingen explains that she saw an outstretched human figure located within a circular orb.

  • These and other correspondences are sometimes interpreted in terms of sacred geometry and considered to be further proof of the natural significance of geometric forms.

  • As worldview and cosmology
    The belief that a god created the universe according to a geometric plan has ancient origins.

  • The latter drawing was itself based on the much older writings of the Roman architect Vitruvius.

  • This is because other shapes may obstruct the flow of Chi from one room to the next due to what are considered to be unnatural angles.

 

Works Cited

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4. ^ Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis, The Shape of Inner Space, (New York: Basic Books, 2010), 18.
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Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lisacee/4512569988/’]