Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Yesterday's post ended with my description of my favorite symbol of life's journey, the spiral. Sarah linked to a simple yet interesting page about the spiral in nature and in symbolism, and this paragraph struck me:
"Some consider the spiral a symbol of the spiritual journey. It is also considered to represent the evolutionary process of learning and growing. It seems that life doesn't proceed in a straight line. The path of life more closely resemble a spiral. We seem to pass the same point over and over again but from a different perspective each time. To walk and then stand in the center of a spiral or labyrinth has been a psycho-spiritual exercise for centering the consciousness."
The sentence in bold was what I was attempting to convey in my description. We seem to pass the same point over and over again but from a different perspective each time. When drawing a spiral, we start at the inner point and work our way out. Dorothy started her journey to the Wizard in the center of the Yellow Brick Road's spiral. But when contemplating it as the path of a spiritual journey, we seem to start at the outer point and go to the inner, as if by spiraling further into our consciousness we go back to the beginning, before any of the crap that started the need for a journey even happened.
Thanks for the link, Sarah.
esterday's post ended with my description of my favorite symbol of life's journey, the spiral. Sarah linked to an interesting page exploring the spiral in nature and in symbolism, and this paragraph struck me:
The sentence in bold was what I was attempting to convey in my description. We seem to pass the same point over and over again but from a different perspective each time. When drawing a spiral, we start at the inner point and work our way out. Dorothy started her journey to the Wizard in the center of the Yellow Brick Road's spiral. But when contemplating it as the path of a spiritual journey, we seem to start at the outer point and go to the inner, as if by spiraling further into our consciousness we go back to the beginning, before any of the crap that started the need for a journey even happened.
Some consider the spiral a symbol of the spiritual journey. It is also considered to represent the evolutionary process of learning and growing. It seems that life doesn't proceed in a straight line. The path of life more closely resemble a spiral. We seem to pass the same point over and over again but from a different perspective each time. To walk and then stand in the center of a spiral or labyrinth has been a psycho-spiritual exercise for centering the consciousness.
The sentence in bold was what I was attempting to convey in my description. We seem to pass the same point over and over again but from a different perspective each time. When drawing a spiral, we start at the inner point and work our way out. Dorothy started her journey to the Wizard in the center of the Yellow Brick Road's spiral. But when contemplating it as the path of a spiritual journey, we seem to start at the outer point and go to the inner, as if by spiraling further into our consciousness we go back to the beginning, before any of the crap that started the need for a journey even happened.
In Pariah's Moon, the natives' spiritual philosophy is founded upon the spiral. :)
ReplyDeleteI thought you communicated this pretty well in your post, actually. I didn't need the clarification, and I'm a little thick about these things.
ReplyDelete:)
Isn't there some big cathedral in Europe that has a spiral that people walk?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I function in a spiral. More like a wave I think. Sometimes I'm above the line, sometimes below it. But always moving toward a goal.
Anon- (pardon me butting in on Sherri's comments!) You might be thinking of the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France? There's also one at Grace Cathedral, in San Francisco, among other places...
ReplyDeleteButt in any time. :) I think Anon is Darcsfalcon...
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about this all day, even doodled some.
*sigh* Yes, I'm anon again. Doggone cache clearing. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteI think the one at Chartres is the one I'm thinking of. Thanks for the tip Sarah!
ReplyDelete