Sacred Spirals

Spirals are a common shape found in nature, as well as in sacred architecture. In the natural world, we find spirals in the DNA double helix, sunflowers, whirlpools, weather patterns, vine tendrils, galaxies, snail shells, and ferns. Look at your fingertip and you will see a spiral, even the shape of your hair at the crown of your head is a spiral.

Spirals in nature, Zapoteca wall in Mitla, Oaxaca and Spiral Goddess – c. 4000 Romania

In architecture we have the spiral as a sacred symbol, we find the triple spiral in many ancient buildings all over the world. Some suggest they represent the cycle of rebirth, while others suggest it is a symbol of the mother goddess (perhaps by the fact that nature or the mother goddess – is abundant with spirals), but what is true is that the spiral is an ancient symbol for growth and evolution.

 Maintaining the shape through each successive turn or the spiral the least amount of energy is used.

Spirals are most common in biological organisms as it is the most effective way for something to grow in two directions under the force of gravity and its rebound. This interplay gives us the connection earth-to-sky. It is the motion of rotation created by gravitational differences that creates the famous spiral shape, if we do not use the spiral motion at all, we get a straight line, and under the strain of gravity that is a very poor design.

Our body is full of this spiralling design, and the reason is because of the principle of parsimony, a scientific principle that says that things are connected or behave in a simple or most economical way, and the spiral gives us the path of least resistance. We can find the spiral pattern in our muscles, how they wrap bones around in a continuous network of spiralling movement, the heart spirals in and around itself, all fluids of our body flow in spiral currents reflecting forms of nature’s rivers and waterfalls. About weeks 5 to 6 in human gestation the bones of our limbs spiral in and out (towards the centre and out of space) to later be able to transfer the weight down to earth while keeping us connected with our centre.

When we invite this free spiral motion into our bodies we have direct access to movement creativity and flow, we evoke a body-mind atonement, we foster sensations of ease, intimacy and pleasure, they help us to recover from chronic injury, as they naturally realign our body, and the list can go on as you dive into the experience.

Experience this way of moving on my Somatic Movement Education workshops to,

Hope I can see you in one of my workshops to dive together into the free form of spiralling freedom.

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