Helix of galaxies, of DNA, of shells and of Van Gogh’s paintings. Rocket power, movement of incarnation, spring and bounce, the spiral is sacred, vital and spontaneous. It is at the origin of life, the origin of the cosmos. It underlies the universe.
Historically, the spiral has been used by man to symbolize many things: self-accomplishment, vital force, cosmic order, the cycle of seasons and many other cycles, mirrors of its sacred roots.
The spiral of Snakes and Ladders, or the medieval labyrinths remind us the importance of experiencing in our own body and self the beneficial effects of the vital spiral. It is neither more nor less than a Western yoga.
Feel the rhythm, dance like a flame, the spiral is alive, vivid, vital.
The spiral dance is a magical trick, an ineffable experience which aims to awaken the mind. So to heal the body, this so unloved body, this body who knows and to whom we do not always listen.
To live in his body the spiral walk to the eye of the labyrinth, the vibrational point of awakening, it is a fabulous way to get into the white light for a short stay more or less… for a slice of eternity… Is this the reason why, in the crop circles, the spiral is everywhere?
Spiteful gossips who do not believe in the magic of the crop circles, will say that the spiral is easy to obtain using a rope tied to a stake.
But we must turn a deaf ear when these ones stir; and our good old Earth, what shape does it describe in space? We know it goes through an ellipse around the sun. But the sun moves too. So the shape that our planet traces in space is a spiral or simple helix. Moreover, in its march around the center of the Milky Way, the Sun also traces a helix.
Like all celestial bodies, indeed…
At first glance, the double helix seems a figure far more complex, more elaborate. A group of physicists has just discovered the opposite. To them, the double helix is a spontaneous form.
That’s why we find this form in all living organizations: “By simulating tiny grains in plasmas, researchers were surprised to see them get organized in double helix … like the molecule of DNA!”
One of the researchers, Gregor Morfill, considers this result as strong.
“What our simulation shows, is that the helix, so important in the case of DNA, seems to be a stable generic structure that forms spontaneously in a system controlled by electrostatic forces.” (source)french magazine Science et Vie n°1085, february 2008
Moreover, the double helix has been observed in space, on an astronomic scale this time: in March 2006, some astronomers from the University of California have revealed, using the Spitzer space telescope, a double helix-shaped nebula spanning over 80 light years. (source)
The contemplation of such an image opens wide the shutters of the memory-heart. Light, we return to light.
Memories of intergalactic escapades pulling comets by the tail to make bouquets of stars. Space is not empty and bare, it is welcoming, crowded, warm, beautiful.
Sidereal spectacle of barbaric majesty, at the dawn of a world gaseous, mineral, unstable and hilarious. Remember. We rode the atoms…
Light, we shone in the darkness. Mind, we were on intimate terms with the abyss of origin, the big bang has triggered before our delighted eyes… And all the big bazaar took the form of spirals. Helix of the galaxies, double helix, spiral of the shells …
Spontaneous form, key figure, the spiral is a key figure in life. As such it is at the heart of medieval imagery. On this image, you can see the famous image of the spiral adorning the robe of the Christ in majesty, sitting enthroned in his mandorladominating the narthex of the Basilica of Vezelay.
The Templar tradition gives to this spiral a particularly powerful mystical effect.
Stare at the spiral, with your mind empty, without feeling tense nor having any expectations. Keep floating, fix the spiral, enter the stone, enter the memory of the journeyman sculptor, in that of the builders of cathedrals and Romanesque churches, enter the body of the Christ in majesty.
Generally, it is better to do such exercises on site than on photo, except that the position of the Christ in majesty, at the top of the narthex of the basilica, empeaches a clear view of the spiral.
The esoteric tradition speaks of a spiral of incarnation. What is it exactly? It is the movement that makes the soul when it is embodied.
When the Bible says “The Word was made flesh”, it fails to precise that the Word has descended into the matter in a spiral curve. This is why we find the spiral in the philosophical thought from Leonardo Da Vinci to Teilhard de Chardin.
Trying to reconcile the ancient cyclical view of time and the current vision of linear time, Teilhard had a very pertinent vision.
He believed that the humanity was evolving along a spiral shape: along the centuries, we always go through the same areas of life, but on the following loop. The same causes producing the same effects, people without memory resume endlessly the same discoveries, the same mistakes, the same records.
However, identity is never complete. One color is enough to change the picture, every age has its colors and scents. History repeats itself, but not quite the same. It follows the colors of time…
Nice metaphor of evolution, from the pen of a thinker who saw the Living everywhere, already feeling the “glow of life” in the heart of the mineral.
Teilhard’s thesis is presented as a compromise between the Ancients’ cyclical time, where everything is repeated identically, and the modern view of time, strictly linear.
The spiral is also a major topic in science and in the arts.
Geneticists know the double helix of DNA, which contains all the genetic material of living beings.
Astrophysicists know the spiral-shaped galaxies, like ours, the Milky Way.
Architects know that the famous golden proportion is given by a spiral.
It is also thanks to geometry that we derive the golden spiral from the golden number. Effectively, the golden spiral is constructed from a large rectangle of gold JHKF.
Remove the large square JIKE to the large rectangle of gold and you get a small rectangle of gold IHFE. Then remove the small square IHGA to the small rectangle of gold and you get a smaller golden rectangle AGFE.
You can repeat the operation indefinitely, because the length and width of a golden rectangle are immeasurableie we can not measure one taking the other for unit.
The resulting spiral is an equiangular spiral that is found much in nature: sunflowers, pine cones, shells, arrangements of leaves, petals, etc
This simple and sublime loop is the alpha and omega of this world. Spontaneous form, it is the source of life in DNA, the source of the cosmos in the galaxies. Sacred orb, it fulfills a central role in spirituality.
And perhaps should we see here the key to higher dimensions, which are still out of human reach.
Two men looked through the bars of their prison. One saw mud, the other saw stars.
The real power of the spiral, we must experience in the body, heart and spirit. What is the feeling when walking along a spiral? A slight dizziness due to vertigo. But if the spiral is on a strong point, the effect will be amplified.
To walk along the labyrinth of Chartres was onceIt still works if you could still access it. Alas, stupid chairs now hide this marvel. Except on August 15. Spread the word! a great way to stop the world.
Therefore penitents roamed the sacred labyrinths on the Ways to Compostela. In the absence of pilgrimage, walking around a labyrinth took away the sins and purify their minds.
