The Truth About Sacred Geometry
What is sacred geometry?
Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg has spent the last four decades capturing nature’s patterns—powerful figures repeated throughout our world. “I’m showing you rhythms and patterns of nature that live inside of every cell of your body,” he said on the Third Wave podcast.
This is the truth about sacred geometry! Sometimes we see patterns in nature, sometimes patterns from nature, or maybe there is nature in patterns we see. Some nature patterns include tree, waves, spirals, stripes, cracks and symmetries.
“The patterns in the mycelial network mirror the pattern that’s in your brain, circulatory system, and nervous system—and in outer space! You’re looking at a mirror, and you’re going, ‘Oh, my God, I recognize this!’ because it makes me feel good. It’s truth,” he said.
Recognizing Nature’s Patterns
You probably know about the Fibonacci sequence, a ratio that results in spiral shapes and which appears throughout the universe, in forms big and small. But there are many beautiful and naturally occurring patterns found in nature, across environments. Some evolved to aid in the dance of pollination between bee and flower, whereas others help animals camouflage. Here are some of the awe-inspiring ways these patterns shape life and the environment on Earth.
Scientists are mystified by some of the simplest patterns, like the hexagonal snowflake. The six-sided pattern that appears in frozen water is consistent across all snowflakes, and yet every individual flake has incredible complexity and individuality. Philip Ball’s book, Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does, explores these ideas in greater detail and tells the story of historic researchers and their study of natural patterns.
From the savannah to the plains, striped animals have evolved in concert with their environments to aid in their camouflaging efforts. Consider the zebra and the tiger, who rely on their stripes to blend in. It took many years of symbiosis and evolution between animals and biome to result in this highly effective camouflage. These are definitely mysteries of the unseen world!
Patterns are not only limited to animals, but plants, too. Pinecones, pineapples, fiddlehead ferns, and galaxies all manifest a spiral-shape pattern as they grow and expand. When a plant grows in a spiral pattern, it allows each new growth to have shared access to the life-giving sunshine. When plants and flowers follow specific growth patterns, it helps bees identify them based on leaf arrangement. Many flowers have specifically evolved in their environments alongside their pollinators, such as hummingbirds, to enable their beaks to access the nectar.
Ball’s book originated from his deep respect for and admiration of natural patterns. “When we make patterns, it is because we planned it that way, putting the elements into place. In nature, there is no planner, but somehow natural forces conspire to bring about something that looks quite beautiful,” he notes.
Where have you found the truth of sacred geometry?