Geometrically Ordered Design:
The Everlasting Fruit
By Dustin Pike
“The man who speaks with primordial images speaks with a thousand tongues.”
-Carl Jung
This is my thirteenth article pertaining to the design field and its relationship with science and philosophy. In order to understand design language at its core, the viewer must understand the acoustics of perception on multiple levels simultaneously. This writing serves as my attempt to demonstrate how all art-forms, regardless of the source, are but the many reflections of one whole ‘Idea’ of nature. Through sharing the understanding and awareness of this concept, my mission is to help us to see in our jungles.
Finally I should say — I am neither a prophet nor a scientist, so take what you will, and dismiss what you will not.
We will analyze the basic pattern that lies latent at the root of any created form in this article. As superficial as this may sound, it is important to note that we, as humans, aren’t the only artists on our planet. Plants and animals alike, whether we choose to see it or not, are indeed working from the same design template. Asking the impossible question of why is outside the scope of this essay, so instead we are going to ask, what?
As I have written in the recent past, the circle can be seen as the basis of every existing shape (from a two-dimensional perspective). From its mysterious centering point of balance, there is born a circumference of equidistant proportion and we are left with nothing more to do. It is simple, but it is complete. Achieving further shapes, as also previously discussed, requires the simple act of repeating the initial circle in any number of various patterns. One such pattern has been held above all others throughout history, and this is the Seed of Life (see Seed of Life image). When I first encountered this symbol, I knew not of its history or its message. It seemed at first that this was just another pattern amongst millions of others, and that I should pay it no mind. Then something happened to me. This something changed my life in ways that are mostly inexpressible, and thereafter I began to see patterns and sequences in a whole new light. All of a sudden certain symbols, such as the Seed of Life, became illuminated to me, and for the first time I understood its potency. What was I seeing, and what rabbit hole had I gone down?
After steeping myself in some research, guided by portions of meditation, I found that I had much to learn. The hexagonal Seed of Life pattern has proven to date back to at least 645 B.C. with the Assyrians, although there are many historians and researchers who would claim it to be far older. It can be seen at the Temple of Osiris in Abydos, Herod’s palace in southern Jerusalem, Buddhist Temples in India, and even Leonardo da Vinci’s personal sketchbook (See Seed and Flower of Life Examples Image). Regardless of the artifactual evidence, most will agree that the motif is very old. Obviously there must be something inherently valuable in a symbol like this if so many cultures, separated by vast distances, incorporated it into their temples and places of worship.
The trick to understanding this idea seems to be that since we are living in a third-dimensional reality, we might as well attempt to expand the symbol as such. When we do so, a multitude of recognizable forms and ideas spring about. Make no mistake, this symbol, for all its simplicity, is a reservoir of knowledge if the mind can be made to peer into its depths.
After expanding the seed pattern upward a single dimension, the first thing that evolves is a cube made of 8 spheres. How can this be when only 7 circles exist? Well, a cube, when viewed from a certain angle, will appear as if it were a hexagon. In a sense, this third-dimensional concept is found embedded within the second-dimension. I would recommend to anyone with dice lying around, to go and examine this for yourself. It doesn’t take a genius to realize the implications of an idea such as this. Might our third-dimensional concepts, such as the cube, be mere shadows of a fourth-dimension something? And further, might that something reveal itself in time to be yet another shadow of some other something? A mystery is here hidden in the plain light of day.
Inherently, we know this formula all too well. Even before we take in our first breath of air on the outskirts of our mother’s womb, we experienced life as a single cell, and then matured into an embryo. You might ask, what does this have to do with our Seed of Life symbol or newly found cube? Specifically what happens is that our original cell creates a twin of itself, and those twins create twins of themselves. After doing this a third time, 8 cells are reached, and at last we are at a cube (or rather a stellated octahedral section of a cube, see Stellated Octahedron seen in Human Conception image). These original 8 cells serve to form our basic building block, and from there the cell division continues to double until we are finally ready to emerge into the world. The sequence reads 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 etc., which is found to be mirrored even in our present day computer systems.
Recent research shows that our hearts are the first organ to emerge from this cell division process. What was also found is that our hearts contain a brain of their own, altogether separate from the brain in our skull. It would seem that the most fundamental portion of any one of us must be our heart centers, for out of the heart the rest of us is created. The dual poloidal/toroidal (north, south/ east, west) field created in effect by the single original cell in essence creates out of nothing, or what science refers to as the ‘zero-point’. One can only imagine the context of this concept as being the hidden centering point of any circle prior to its creation.
A further idea in direct lineage with the Seed of Life is the Flower, Fruit, and Tree of Life (See Flower, Fruit, and Tree of Life image). All of these are but the expanded expression of the original seed pattern. To create these, simply continue to inscribe circles along the perimeter of the original 7 circles. The Fruit of Life is, in a sense, the physical and sensual portion of the Flower of Life. It is also the basis for what is known as Metatron’s Cube which, after thorough analysis, lends all of the Platonic solids in symbolic fashion. As for the Tree of Life, it is most recognized as the fundamental concept in the Kabbalic system, and is used to understand the nature of God and the manner in which He created the world ex nihilo, or ‘out of nothing’.
One could go on about these subjects forever without running out of information, but my hope is that I have sparked the creative fire in some of you out there to investigate these matters for yourself.
Well Dustin it seems that your hope is coming true. Having a PhD in Holistic Ministries your article has challenged me to open my books on World Religions. Not to restudy the written contents but to view, and look for, as many of these patterns I can find in the photo’s within my study books.
Once again a great article that leaves the reader with more questions than answers therefore prompting more research with hopes of finding more questions.
Dan Newman
Well Dustin it seems that your hope is coming true. Having a PhD in Holistic Ministries your article has challenged me to open my books on World Religions. Not to restudy the written contents but to view, and look for, as many of these patterns I can find in the photo’s within my study books.
Once again a great article that leaves the reader with more questions than answers therefore prompting more research with hopes of finding more questions.
Dan Newman