Chasing Ancient Pentagrams Part III: The Quintessence - The Fellowship of Pentalpha

A floor mosaic - featuring a stellated dodecahedron - in St Mark's Basilica, Venice by Paolo Uccello circa 1430.

Featured in the center of the image (above) and in center of the image inset left is the geometrical figure known as the small stellated dodechahedron.

I don't know that this polyhedron has any specific esoterica attached to it - apart from it's obvious relationship with the pentagram and the regular dodecahedron - and, yet, its presence in the mosaic  and the print seem to hold a special significance for both artists... in spite of the fact that more than 400 years and several countries separated them.

Maurits Cornelis (M.C.) Escher (1898-1972), was a Dutch graphic artist especially known for the mathematical figures and motifs in his work, while Italian painter, Paolo Uccello, was not. Uccello accomplished amazing feats of perspective in his paintings, but his online oeuvre contains only one other example of a geometric solid. And, yet, it's his polyhedron which is unquestionably the "star" of the mosaic at St. Mark's basilica... surrounded by what looks like a string of... well, sliced zucchini (but don't quote me). In any case, regardless of the vegetables, his dodecahedron is a powerful icon.

In M.C. Escher's still-life, however, the same stellated polyhedron has become an illuminated life form... or a small, extraterrestrial vehicle which has landed in a patch of earthly refuse... a broken egg, bottle, pipe, discarded tin can, etc. It seems as if the two images could not be less alike.

But, there is one continuum between Uccello's mosaic and Escher's drawing.  Both images glorify the stellated dodecahedron while, at the same time, revealing its fundamental source: the pentagram.

Inset left is a great shot of Escher inking in a most amazing spiral. The full image - Sphere Surface with Fish - is below the jump.

Chasing Ancient Pentagrams Part II: The Quintessence - The Egyptian Duat

An Egyptian limestone panel, 400-200 BC / Metropolitan Museum, New York

"The Star which guided them is that same Blazing Star, the image whereof we find in all initiations. To the Alchemists it is the sign of the Quintessence; to the Magists, the Grand Arcanum; to the Kabalists, the Sacred Pentagram."

- A reposting of a quote (see Halloween post) via Albert Pike, a 19th century American Freemason.

While Pike doesn't specifically mention the ancient Egyptians in the quote above, and, while the Egyptian's 5-fold star wasn't technically a pentagram, the five-fold star inscribed within a circle (essentially a pentacle) was a crucial symbol in their world. It symbolized the Afterlife or Underworld; that is, the Duat, the medium in which a departed soul was judged, and a dimension in which there was no day or night. The Duat was the home of some of its most important gods: Osiris, Anubis, Thoth, Horus, Hathor, and Maat. The sun-god, Ra, also passed through its regions every night in his solar barge.

In the large image (carved in relief) above, two baboons are worshiping the Duat, which hovers above the scarab - a sun symbol often used as a talisman for protection and placed inside a mummy's shroud - which, in turn, is set above the sun, placed here beneath the Duat.

(Note: Compare this design with the Kabbalistic tree-of-life inset right. Although not an actual match, there is a certain likeness in the way the elements are placed.)

This relief has a number of Underworld motifs... the most prominent being the pair of baboons facing each other. Baboons were said to be sacred animals in the Egyptian pantheon, and when depicted singly represented the great ibis-headed god, Thoth, a lunar god, who, in a sense, was Ra's (or Re's) counterpart.

In some tales, Thoth (inset left) was self-created at the beginning of time and, as an ibis, lay the cosmic egg that holds all of creation.  In others, he was thought to have created the art of writing and the calendar. He was also the god of both mathematics and magic and served as a scribe in the Duat.  Moreover, he had the ability to control space and time!

Above is a beautiful artifact which also features a set of baboons facing each other across a large scarab. Each wears the lunar crown of Thoth, however, so, we might assume that symmetrical pairs of baboons also portray Thoth. Note the small star (Seba) symbols embellished on the bar above them; it is likely they represent the night sky.

Returning to the larger image, there are what appear to be (Greek) Omega symbols over the primates' heads, but, these are likely to be shen rings - associated with Horus and his mother, Isis - which symbolized power, protection and, (eventually) eternity. This shen ring (at the Metropolitan museum in New York) inset right was found as a talisman alongside the mummy of a prosperous Egyptian, circa 1800 BC.

Note also the two Wedjats encircled by the baboons' arms. These are the twin (lunar) Eye(s) of Horus - one of which often accompanies images of Thoth - and used singly or dually represent healing and regeneration. They were also frequently used as talismans of protection for both the living and the dead.

Oddly enough, the Wedjat (also later referred to as the solar Eye of Ra) is also the name of the ancient goddess of Lower Egypt, the cobra goddess, Wadjet (or Wedjat)...

Chasing Ancient Pentagrams Part I: the Roman Dodecahedra

A "Roman Dodecahedron" found in the UK by Brian Campbell in 1987.

 

The Gallo-Roman Dodecahedra

_________________________________________________________

 

 

(This post was originally intended to be the first of the pentagonal phi series, and much of it was written early last year. It has been revised, however, and will contain new material. It may also run into two parts.)

 

"One August day in 1987, Brian Campbell was refilling the hole left by a tree stump in his yard in Romford, East London, when his shovel struck something metal. He leaned down and pulled the object from the soil, wondering at its strange shape. The object was small—smaller than a tennis ball—and caked with heavy clay. 'My first impressions,' Campbell tells Mental Floss, 'were it was beautifully and skillfully made … probably by a blacksmith as a measuring tool of sorts.'

Campbell placed the artifact on his kitchen windowsill, where it sat for the next 10 or so years. Then, he visited the Roman fort and archaeological park in Saalburg, Germany—and there, in a glass display case, was an almost identical object. He realized that his garden surprise was a Roman dodecahedron: a 12-sided metal mystery that has baffled archaeologists for centuries. Although dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of explanations have been offered to account for the dodecahedrons, no one is certain just what they were used for."

- Via an excellent article on Mental Floss found here. Inset right (above) is a Roman Dodecahedron exhibited in the Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuggart, Germany, and found in this article.


"A Roman dodecahedron or Gallo-Roman Dodecahedron is a small hollow object made of copper alloy which has been cast into a dodecahedral shape: twelve flat pentagonal faces, each face having a circular hole of varying diameter in the middle, the holes connecting to the hollow center. Roman dodecahedra date from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD.

Since the first dodecahedron was found in 1739, at least 116 similar objects have been found[1] from Wales to Hungary and Spain and to the east of Italy, with most found in Germany and France. Ranging from 4 to 11 centimetres (1.6 to 4.3 in) in size. A Roman icosahedron has also come to light after having long been misclassified as a dodecahedron. This icosahedron was excavated near Arloff in Germany and is currently on display in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn.

No mention of them has been found in contemporary accounts or pictures of the time. Speculated uses include as a candlestick holder (wax was found inside two examples); dice; survey instruments for estimating distances to (or sizes of) distant objects; devices for determining the optimal sowing date for winter grain; gauges to calibrate water pipes, army standard bases, a coin measuring device for counterfeit detection. Use as a measuring instrument of any kind seems improbable since the dodecahedra were not standardized and come in many sizes and arrangements of their openings. It has also been suggested that they may have been religious artifacts, or even fortune-telling devices. This latter speculation is based on the fact that most of the examples have been found in Gallo-Roman sites. Several dodecahedra were found in coin hoards, providing evidence that their owners considered them valuable objects. Other suggestions include a knitting frame for creating gloves, supported by the fact that many are found in the northern range of the empire.

Smaller dodecahedra with the same features (holes and knobs) and made from gold have been found in South-East Asia along the Maritime Silk Road. They have been used for decorative purposes and the earliest items appear to be from the Roman epoch."

- Via the Wiki entry for Roman or Gallo-Roman dodecahedron. Inset left is a museum photograph of 2 Roman dodecahedrons and the icosahedron mentioned in the quote. In my eyes, the icosahedron, although a polyhedron and similar in size to the dodecahedrons, does not seem to be in the same family of objects as the former.

***

Did you know there is a geometry in running water... or that small objects of equal mass - specifically small and lightweight - tend to fall into groups of three? Regarding the latter, at one point this year, I noticed this so often during my waking hours that I began to document these geometrical events, snapping photos with my cell phone whenever they occurred. Is this madness? Precisely. But it's a sort of "magical" madness involving a particular phenomenon which very likely spawned numerous oracles in the past; everything from casting knuckle bones, dice, sticks, coins, tea leaves, etc. for the purposes of divining or interpreting the resulting patterns as a narrative of the future.

In reality, small objects very often fall into rudimentary geometric patterns or figures - a little understood phenomena Jungian psychologist, Marie-Louise von Franz, 1915–1998, once described as a form of synchronicity or "meaningful chance" especially in regards to divination and the role of natural numbers.

Inset right is one example I shot with my cell-phone September 8, 2020; an interesting triangle formed by the random distribution of red pepper seeds scattered during the course of making a salad! I didn't see the figure at first; the pattern had formed on the far side of the table on which I was working. It was during clean-up that I came across it, and I swear I felt like some mystified farmer who discovers a crop circle in his field one day; it was eerie.

The X-file factor of this event was that the triangle bore a strong resemblance to the triangle I'd been working with over a year (and you've been encountering on this blog for months): the pentagonal golden triangle. Had it fallen out of my head and imprinted itself on the table? Who can say? But, I saw it as an affirmation of an artist's journey well taken. And, for an artist who faithfully follows the muse down one rabbit hole after another, affirmation is a much coveted thing... because, what is a "rabbit hole" other than some strange anomaly stumbled across during an intellectual excursion which might potentially lead one to the greatest of epiphanies or the most confounding of delusions?

But, while it may have ended that way, my journey down this particular rabbit hole did not begin with a random distribution of pepper seeds. It began with an online article regarding that unusual metal object currently staring at you from the top of this post... its empty cyclopean eye revealing just about everything we know regarding its existence...which is pretty much nada.

Now, the general opinion among experts (and one must always use this term loosely) is that a lot is known - and verified - about the past. Even the long past. But, don't be fooled. The past is as elusive (and illusive) as the future. New discoveries keep popping up each day with the potential to completely overturn all previous determinations. There are, after all, numerous newsworthy items. And, no, I 'm not referring to those well-documented abominations of the world's daily affairs. I'm talking about those little, weird tangible things - the products of human ingenuity - which emerged in the days before "artificial intelligence" was even a bad dream in somebody's head. This is not so say that the days of which I speak - and, no, none of us witnessed those days in any memorable way - were benign or utopian, but, intriguingly enough, ancient humans were admirably capable of flummoxing the oh-so-sophisticated humans of the future (us),  producing artifacts that we - with all of our modern expertise... and some highly sophisticated calculators - are unable to identify.

Which brings us back to that cyclopean object resting above - the subject of this section - the Roman dodecahedron inset left. No one seems to have a precise explanation for its presence on the earth - although the general drift is towards some practical, utilitarian instrument (such as a candle holder or knitting device) or complicated measuring device (such as a military range-finder) - and, yet, at least a few ancient folk across a number of countries - and all living in the earlier centuries AD - created these objects for reasons of which we can only speculate. Over a hundred of them have been dug up in parts of Europe and one imagines more may be found. I find this oddly exhilarating; there are still things the experts, admittedly, can't explain. In any case, I'm sure that all intuitive readers have realized by now that this mysterious little artifact is quintessential rabbit-hole material... and, yes, it most surely was!

In any case, "Cyclops" is actually believed to have been created around 200 AD... somewhere within the vast Roman Empire. Which is how it got its name: The Roman dodecahedron. The thing is,  despite archaeologists finding more than a hundred of them, no written reference to them has ever been discovered. And this might be a our most important clue: perhaps the objects had no practical use whatsoever and were never intended for the general public.

What's more, the object is an early example of a polyhedron - and the dodecahedron is the most complex of the Platonic solids - artifacts which we rarely see in the ancient world (despite the contributions of Pythagoras and Plato). As it so happens, this blogger loves polyhedra - even documenting a set of my very own (inset right, above: the dodecahedron, the icosahedron, and the pentakis dodecahedron). Not very long ago, I posted about some unusual Scottish sundials (example below the jump)...

Albrecht Dürer and the Divine Ratio (Part I)

Melencolia I - copper engraving - 1514, Albrecht Dürer. Geometry: 2022, DS

"Melencolia I is a large 1514 engraving by the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer. The print's central subject is an enigmatic and gloomy winged female figure thought to be a personification of melancholia – melancholy. Holding her head in her hand, she stares past the busy scene in front of her. The area is strewn with symbols and tools associated with craft and carpentry, including an hourglass, weighing scales, a hand plane, a claw hammer, and a saw. Other objects relate to alchemy, geometry or numerology. Behind the figure is a structure with an embedded magic square, and a ladder leading beyond the frame. The sky contains a rainbow, a comet or planet, and a bat-like creature bearing the text that has become the print's title.

The art historian Erwin Panofsky... wrote that 'the influence of Dürer's Melencolia I—the first representation in which the concept of melancholy was transplanted from the plane of scientific and pseudo-scientific folklore to the level of art—extended all over the European continent and lasted for more than three centuries.'"

- Excerpt from Wiki's entry for Dürer's Melencolia 1 (shown above). While many art historians seem to unanimously assume the robed, angelic figure is of the female gender, the figure is most assuredly male, and, judging by its facial expression, Dürer himself. Inset right: an early self-portrait (executed in 1498 at age 26) of the fashionable - but seriously introspective - young dude.

Regarding the central "ladder leading beyond the frame," note that it forms the apex of a large golden triangle.

Note: To give an example of how deeply this image continues to resonate over the years, Wiki mentions Peter-Klaus Schuster's 1991 publication, Melencolia I: Dürers Denkbild, an exhaustive history of the print's interpretation in two volumes.

"It should be noted that even Leonardo was unable to apply his own proportion and anatomical studies to his work given he painted little, or not at all, during the last decade of his life. Hence, the applicability of the study of proportion to practicing artists was still unclear. Dürer would spend nearly three decades working to remedy this ambiguity. He completed two treatises that would be the dominant basis for art theory in Renaissance Germany; their popularity and influence spreading with their subsequent translations. In 1525, Underweysung der Messung, or Four Books on Measurement, was published as a practical guide to geometric perspective for students of the arts; and, in 1528, Vier Bücher von Menschlicher, or Four Books on Human Proportion, appeared a few months after his death. Taken together, the studies illustrated the Renaissance belief that mathematics formed the firm basis and grounding for the arts."

- Excerpt from an commentary regarding Dürer's Vier Bücher von Menschlicher by Giovanni Paolo Gallucci found here. Inset left is one of Dürer's diagrams - a construction of a spiral - found in his Four Books on Measurement.

"There is much speculation as to why Dürer chose this construction rather than Euclid's construction which uses the 'golden ratio' proportion. The speculation stems from the fact that Dürer makes no mention of the golden ratio, although he was no doubt aware of its use in Italian art. It may be that Dürer simply did not feel comfortable with the precepts of the 'divine' ratio. The German architects had their own 'divine' ratio which was the vesica piscis ratio of  √ 1:3. In addition Ptolemy's construction is simpler than Euclid's and these constructions were just a preliminary step in his program."

- Excerpt - along with Dürer's diagram (inset left) - from The Polygons of Albrecht Dürer by G.H. Hughes. (.pdf)

Regarding the diagram, the pentagon is constructed within the mason's "Sacred" tradition utilizing the Vesica Piscis as its generative source.

"Divine truth alone, and no other, contains the secret of what the most beautiful form and measure may be."

- Albrecht Dürer, from his essay Discourse on A
esthetics published as a conclusion to the Third Book of his proportion studies. (See the Giovanni Paolo Gallucci link for the full quote.)

"The greatest miracle that I have seen in all my days, happened in the year 1503, when crosses fell on many people, especially on children more than on other people. Among them all, I once saw one in the shape which I have drawn here; it fell on the linen blouse of Eyer's maid, who was in the Pirckheimer's back-house. And she was so upset about it that she cried and wailed; for she thought she was going to die of it.

Also, I saw a comet in the heavens."

 - Albrecht Dürer from the last page of his 1503 Gedenkbuch regarding an episode of a phenomenon known as Red (or Blood) Rain. Dürer's drawing can be found on this page.

***

(Note: Originally, the title of this post and the title of the URL were one and the same. That is, till I realized that Melancolia I was one of three designated Master Prints. I am not quite sure who did the designation, but, after reviewing the two other prints involved, it seemed all three might have what I (now) refer to as hidden, occulted, or passive GTS. Unlike the more outrageously active spirals - e.g., those of Caravaggio, which seem as if they were deliberately designed - the passive spirals almost seem to creep into an image with the artist unaware. The thing is, it is logical to assume Albrecht Dürer did know about the golden ratio. Alas, the jury is still out.)

Albrecht Dürer (May 21,1471 - April 6 1528) is, in his own quiet way, possibly one of the most popular artists of the Renaissance period; certainly one of the most prominent. (You know you've arrived when there's a conspiracy blog written about your life!) After all, unlike many other artists, he kept a meticulously written record of his daily affairs. And, then, there were those self portraits... even while he was ill and nearing the end of his life, he sketched his ravaged body for posterity. Perhaps, he just desperately needed to be remembered. But, why is it that all of his self-exposure seems, in the end, superficial? Because, regardless of what we learn, Dürer remains as firmly screwed into his shell as the most resistant of mollusks; he is an enigma even unto himself. In fact, his vital nature seems very much like another cryptic element found in one of his most popular images: Melencolia I (below the jump). Observe...

Writ on Paper, Wrought in Stone (with Addendum)

An interior photo of Cologne Cathedral in Westphalia, Germany.

"This is what linked all people, she wanted to say, in spite of time and space; this joined them in a timelessness, a spacelessness, in a collective mind that transcended all boundaries. This is what endured forever and ever, as long as the painting was preserved, as long as the written word endured. Sappho's few words, Plato's, Homer's... The works of a great artist entered that other kind of reality, the words of a great poet lived there; this is what human history is all about, our efforts to transcend our limitations, our petty wars, our fears. We build our cathedrals, paint pictures, write our poetry, our music, all in the same effort to transcend ourselves. They fill the history books with trash about conquests, wars, treaties, but, these are transitory. The human spirit sails above them, yearning for that other reality... finding it in moments of great art..."

- Excerpt from Welcome Chaos, a science fiction novel by Kate Wilhelm first published in 1983. Inset right is an interior photo of the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Beauvais in Beauvais, France, found here. (Click images for larger views.)

"At about the same time Hugo began experimenting with a new approach to prose, based on telling the story of less than ideal characters—a poor bohemian girl, a deformed bell-ringer and a lecherous archdeacon—the three pillars of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Few fans of the novel, which has inspired several successful films, know that Hugo wrote it to save the famous Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame from demolition. During the Revolution Notre Dame had been used as a saltpetre plant. By the nineteenth century it had suffered so much neglect that builders wanted to reuse its stones for bridge construction. Gothic art was then regarded as ugly and offensive; so Hugo’s choice of the location was deliberate: it linked the grotesque characters with the ugly art. The first three chapters of the novel are a plea to preserve Gothic architecture—in Hugo’s words, a “gigantic book of stone,” which he, as a Romantic, found beautiful."

- Excerpt from How Did Victor Hugo Save the Famous Cathedral of Notre Dame From Demolition?  The photos - inset above and below - are of the famous Notre Dame (de Paris) gargoyles which were found here.

“He therefore turned to mankind only with regret. His cathedral was enough for him. It was peopled with marble figures of kings, saints and bishops who at least did not laugh in his face and looked at him with only tranquillity and benevolence. The other statues, those of monsters and demons, had no hatred for him – he resembled them too closely for that. It was rather the rest of mankind that they jeered at. The saints were his friends and blessed him; the monsters were his friends and kept watch over him. He would sometimes spend whole hours crouched before one of the statues in solitary conversation with it. If anyone came upon him then he would run away like a lover surprised during a serenade.”

- Excerpt from Victor Hugo's 1831 gothic masterpiece The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

“Everything has been said about these great churches,” Rilke wrote. “Victor Hugo penned some memorable pages on Notre-Dame in Paris, and yet the action of these cathedrals continues to exert itself, uncannily alive, inviolate, mysterious, surpassing the power of words.… Notre-Dame grows each day, each time you see it again it seems even larger.” 

- Rainer Maria Rilke quote from a 2014 New Yorker article (7th in a series): Street of the Iron Po(e)t by Henri Cole.

"This time, Paris was just what I had expected: difficult. And I feel like a photographic plate that has been exposed too long, in that I remain forsaken to this powerful influence... Out of fright I went right off Sunday to Rouen. An entire cathedral is necessary to drown me out... Would you believe that the glance of a woman passing me in a quiet lane in Rouen so effected me that I could see almost nothing afterward, could not collect myself? Then gradually the beautiful cathedral was finally there, the legends of her densely filled windows, where earthly events shine through and one sees the blood of its colors."

- From a 1913 letter by Rainer Maria Rilke to Russian-born psychoanalyst - life-long friend and one-time lover - Lou Andreas-Salomé. Inset left is an interior shot of Rouen Cathedral found here. Inset right is one of series of paintings of Rouen by Claude Monet (and here). Inset left (below) is another.

"Ours, the scientists keep telling us, is a universe, which is disposable. You know it might be just this one anonymous glory of all things, this rich stone forest, this epic chant, this gaiety, this grand choiring shout of affirmation, which we choose when all our cities are dust, to stand intact, to mark where we have been, to testify to what we had it in us, to accomplish."

- Orson Welles, from his 1975 docudrama Vérités et mensonges ("Truths and lies") which focuses on the career of an art forger. The "stone forest" in the quote was a reference to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres.

***

This is another of the 3 posts I had been working on - apart from the previous one - and it was a post I personally needed to create at the time. That is to say, like Rilke, I found myself (emotionally and spiritually) needing "an entire cathedral" to contain my high anxiety. Generally, I might have relied on the sight of Sandia Crest - mountains and cathedrals, after all, have a great deal in common in a symbolic sense... they both represent the union of the cosmos and earth - but there's an underlying order in the structure of a cathedral, an authentic Sacred Geometry evidenced by features like the (south) rose window (inset left) from the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris. What the mountain might intimate, the cathedral spells out in no uncertain terms. In this case, the source: the "dame," lady or mother, the infinite symmetry of the circular form from which the cathedral unfolded and inevitably returned.

(Appropriately) I'd been reading Kate Wilhelm's apocalyptic "Welcome Chaos"... and came across the first paragraph (quoted above) which ultimately inspired this interlude post. The quote resonated with me because it occurred to me recently that what is generally considered the history of the world is, for the most part, the history of war and the acquisition of territory. For the rest of humanity's long saga one ultimately has to turn elsewhere...

Werner Hornung & Joma Sipe (An Interlude)

Romantic Utopia - digital art - © 2014, Werner Hornung

Well, it's time for another interlude... and as I haven't featured any contemporary (2-D) artists in a long time, I'd like to present two amazing artists I came across recently on the web; each a transdimensionalist in his own way.

The first is the German-born digital artist Werner Hornung, an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, whose artistic career began in Paris in the early 1970s and continues there till this day.

His digital work is intricate, dramatic, surreal and multi-dimensional. I am particularly drawn to Romantic Utopia above, but it represents merely one example of the mysterious and multi-layered magic inherent in his work; most especially when the images come to life in an animated .gif format on his must-see website. He also has an exhibit at MOCA's virtual museum, and more of his enigmatic images can be found here and here.

___________________________

A sampling of images from Lumine Stellarum - © 2015, 2016 Joma Sipe
(click to enlarge)

The second artist I present to you is the Portuguese visionary, and sacred geometer, Joma Sipe. I don't think I've seen any geometrical work in the past that even compares to his masterful (and meticulous) drawings. He uses gold and silver ink on a black background and then goes so far as to embed small crystals in his images, illuminating them in such a way that the effect is truly breathtaking. His subject matter includes many of the geometric and esoteric symbols discussed in my previous post plus numerous others, so he's particularly relevant here. Above is just a tiny sampling of his work - a visionary's view of the stars - but to truly experience the magic of Joma Sipe, I recommend visiting his website, or his YouTube channel, where the two videos (below) featuring his work were found.

A Tale of Two Symmetries: A Lover's Pentacle, A Lover's Cross (updated 11/17/16)

Illustration from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" - 1907, Arthur Rackham
(All images in this post can be clicked on for larger views.)

Alice Takes Another Leap

"What IS a Caucus-race?’ said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that SOMEBODY ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything.
`Why,’ said the Dodo, `the best way to explain it is to do it.’ (And, as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will tell you how the Dodo managed it.)

First it marked out a race-course, in a sort of circle, (`the exact shape doesn’t matter,’ it said,) and then all the party were placed along the course, here and there. There was no `One, two, three, and away,’ but they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over."

- Excerpt from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Chapter 3) found here.

"The Dodo is a fictional character appearing in Chapters 2 and 3 of the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). The Dodo is a caricature of the author."

- From the Wiki entry for the Dodo in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Note: the now-extinct dodo was the first example of humanity's ability to wipe out an entire species.)

***

Earlier this year, when I was first inspired to write a series of posts on the topic of Love, I was at loss for a central focus. The topic of Love is vast; where to begin... and how? As a visual artist, it's almost as if I needed a metaphorical image, a symbolic embodiment of the myriad ideas and images that began to flood my mind. Had I no muse, no intuition, no relationship with my unconscious mind (and no respect for spontaneous inspirations), the entire project would've floundered from day one. But, this is not the case. I love leaping down rabbit holes! I am the Alice of all Alices, when it comes to pursuing mysterious prompts from the unconscious realm.

As it happened, my first clue arrived in the form of a sudden attraction to an old graphic of mine: a three-headed "sacred" bird I created several years ago as an experiment in creating faux elements; in this case, transforming a plaster carving into a wooden one. (see inset, left). I found myself playing with this image - and, when you come right down to it, unpremeditated play is probably the best way to initiate a dialogue with the unconscious - flipping and juxtaposing copies of the image side by side. I noticed that when the birds faced each other, their necks and their backs formed the shape of heart. I cropped their legs off and this became the first image. But, I also felt the full body mirrored images were intriguing as well and realized I could use all three designs if I created a box in three dimensions.  The idea of making it a music box was the true epiphany - the eureka moment - when the concepts of the language of the birds and the power of Love were united. In other words, I found my metaphor; the Music Box was born...

The Restoration of Symmetry: The Philosopher's Stone

The illustration for Michael Maier's 21st alchemical Emblem
from Atalanta Fugiens, by Swiss engraver, Matthäus Merian, 1617.
(All images in this post can be clicked for their original, larger size.)

The Philosopher's Stone

"Make of the man and woman a Circle, of that a Quadrangle, of this a Triangle, of the same a Circle and you will have the Stone of the Philosophers.

...In like manner the Philosophers would have the Quadrangle reduced into a Triangle, that is, into a Body, Spirit and Soul, which three appear in the three previous colours before Rednesse: that is, the Body or earth in the Blacknesse of Saturn, the Spirit in the Lunar whitenesse as water, and the Soul or air in the Solar Citrinity. Then the Triangle will be perfect, but this again must be changed into a Circle; that is, into an invariable rednesse, by which operation the woman is converted into the man and made one with him, and six the first of the perfect numbers is absolved by one, two having returned again to an unity in which there is Rest and eternall peace."

- From Emblem 21 of Michael Maier's alchemical test, Atalanta fugiens, 1617.

"The theoretical roots outlining the stone’s creation can be traced to Greek philosophy. Alchemists later used the classical elements, the concept of anima mundi, and Creation stories presented in texts like Plato's Timaeus as analogies for their process. According to Plato, the four elements are derived from a common source or prima materia (first matter), associated with chaos. Prima materia is also the name alchemists assign to the starting ingredient for the creation of the philosopher's stone. The importance of this philosophical first matter persisted throughout the history of alchemy. In the seventeenth century, Thomas Vaughan writes, "the first matter of the stone is the very same with the first matter of all things".

- From the Wiki entry for Philosopher's Stone.

"Dr. Sigismund Bacstrom believed that if a physician could establish harmony among the elements of earth, fire, air, and water, and unite them into a stone (the Philosopher's Stone) symbolized by the six-pointed star or two interlaced triangles, he would possess the means of healing all disease. Dr. Bacstrom further stated that there was no doubt in his mind that the universal, omnipresent fire (spirit) of Nature: "does all and is all in all." By attraction, repulsion, motion, heat, sublimation, evaporation, exsiccation, inspissation, coagulation, and fixation, the Universal Fire (Spirit) manipulates matter, and manifests throughout creation. Any individual who can understand these principles and adapt them to the three departments of Nature becomes a true philosopher."

- From the The Secret Teachings of all Ages by Manly P. Hall, 1929.

"Associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking is the phenomenon of symmetry restoration. If one heats a system that possesses a broken symmetry it tends to be restored at high temperature. ... Above the critical temperature the system exhibits rotational symmetry. Such a transition from a state of broken symmetry to one where the symmetry is restored is a phase transition. We believe that the same phenomenon occurs in the case of the symmetries of the fundamental forces of nature. Many of these are broken at low temperatures. Very early in the history of the universe, when the temperature was very high, all of these symmetries of nature were presumably restored. The resulting phase transitions, as the universe expanded and cooled, from symmetric states to those of broken symmetry have important cosmological implications."

- An excerpt from David J. Gross's The role of symmetry in fundamental physics, 1996.

***

I suppose the "Restoration of Symmetry" seems like a rather coldly analytical approach to Love, but, for a "geometer moth"  - that is, those of us for whom connecting-the-dots, so to speak, is an integral part of our nature - finding the hidden codes which help describe the world in which we live is not so much what we do, but what we are. And, like the geometrid, we do not tenaciously hide this information from view - as if it were knowledge we, alone, had access to - but, instead, wear the information on our metaphorical wings... or the skin of our backs. That is to say, we display information; we are unable to secret it away.

A contemporary glyph for Maier's diagram shown in his 21st emblem (above).*

Symmetry is a word that has tremendous importance in the world of science - in physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, and, yes, even philosophy - in which its definition varies somewhat, but, ultimately, refers to the similar phenomenon one finds in art and geometrical figures. Basically, it refers to physical parts, properties, or processes which are equivalent in two or more directions. The circle is a figure which, for instance, is geometrically equivalent in all directions, and is thereby described as having rotational symmetry. The Philosopher Stone glyph shown above - a modern interpretation of German alchemist (and counsellor to Emperor Rudolf II) Michael Maier's emblem (circa 1617) (artist unknown) - has bilateral symmetry, in that if a line is down its center, each side is exactly equivalent to the other, although seen in reverse. This can also be referred to as reflective symmetry as one side effectively mirrors the other.

A Mojo Magic Square (with update)

Mojo Magic Square - digital - © 1981, 2014, DS

(click to enlarge)

"Mojo is magic, magical ability, and the power to get things done. "Mojo" first appeared in the 1920s in the southern United States from the Gullah word "moco" (magic), Gullah being Creole spoken by some groups of African-Americans.  The ultimate root of "mojo" was the word "moco'o," which means "shaman or medicine man" in the African language Fulani.  "Mojo" spread first into mainstream Black English and then general usage primarily through the popularity of jazz and blues music.  Muddy Waters got his 'Mojo working' and Jim Morrison of The Doors called for the Mojo Risin'."
- Quote found here.

"Think joie de vivre, that sense of being alive, joyful, and fully present in the moment. The path to finding your mojo differs for everyone. For some, mojo is a sense of purpose and meaning in your life. For others, it’s reclaiming optimal health or sparking their creativity. Some seekers find mojo by getting in touch with the divine, while others get their mojo by getting in touch with their sexual prowess. For many, it’s all of the above."
- Quote found here.

"So what is a mojo? It is, in short, the staple amulet of African-American hoodoo practice, a flannel bag containing one or more magical items. The word is thought by some to be a corruption of the English word "magic." Others state that it is related to the West African word "mojuba," meaning a prayer of praise and homage, as it is a "prayer in a bag" - a spell you can carry. A third possible derivation is from the Bantu/Kongo word "mooyoo," the magically-charged ashes and ground up bones of an ancestor that are encased in the front of a nkisi ndoki - a fetish-statue made in the form of a human being or animal. This connection with the bones of the dead is interesting, because historically, many mojo hands have indeed contained small bones, either of animals or of humans.

Some root workers top off their mojo bags with parchments upon which are printed medieval European grimoire seals and sigils of talismanic import, particularly the Jewish-derived seals from the Greater Key of Solomon and The 6th and 7th Books of Moses, both of which are sold as sets of seals printed on parchment paper, and are used without reference to the rituals given in the texts of the original grimoire books.

These last items surprise many Caucasians, who are unaware that a strong vein of Germanic and Ashenazi Jewish folklore runs through traditional African-American hoodoo. Still, however strange it may seem to cultural anthropologists in search of "African survivals" in hoodoo practice, it is a fact that John George Hohman's "Pow-Wows or the Long Lost Friend" - first published in America in 1820 and translated into English in 1856 - has long been a staple source of inspiration for conjure-workers in both the African-American and European-American Appalachian traditions, and many a black hoodoo practitioner can cite chapter and verse of "Albertus Magnus," "The Black Pullet," "Secrets of the Psalms," "The 6th and 7th Books of Moses," "8th, 9th, and 10th Books of Moses," and other occult books of European origin."
- From an article found on Lucky Mojo.

A Sator Magic Square in Oppède, France.

"The earliest dateable Sator Square was found in the ruins of Pompeii, which was buried in the ash of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Examples may be found carved on stone tablets or pressed into clay before being fired. Its translation has been the subject of speculation with no clear consensus.

It seems that, in all early examples, it is a Rotas Square that reads "ROTAS OPERA TENET AREPO SATOR" from top to bottom, and from left to right.

The Sator Square is a four-times palindrome, and some people have attributed magical properties to it, considering it one of the broadest magical formulas in the Occident. An article on the square from The Saint Louis Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 76, reports that palindromes were viewed as being immune to tampering by the devil, who would become confused by the repetition of the letters, and hence their popularity in magical use....

The square has reportedly been used in folk magic for various purposes, including putting out fires (the spell is "TO EXTINGUISH FIRE WITHOUT WATER" in John George Hohman's Long Lost Friend), removing jinxes and fevers, to protect cattle from witchcraft, and against fatigue when traveling. It is sometimes claimed it must be written upon a certain material, or else with a certain type of ink to achieve its magical effect."
- From the Wiki Sator Square entry.

***

Well, it's officially a new year in the western world, but, in the Far East, the lunar new year doesn't occur till February 2nd. (More about that later...) So, it's a relative thing, and if your "mojo" isn't quite working the way you'd like it to, you've got a whole month to get yourself in gear. Now, while "gear" isn't necessarily the operative term when defining the word mojo, dynamo, or dynamic kind of is; so, in the last analysis, you know your mojo is working when your inner world is moving seamlessly in synch with the outer world. My guess is, if one can get that down, then, regardless of all the circumstances beyond one's control, he or she will be A-OK... and as much of a contender in this game of life as anyone else is.

As it happens, mojo is a word that's been used - in various corrupted forms - quite a lot in recent years. Originally it was Hoodoo charm (although not to be confused with this hoodoo) bringing good luck and psychic protection to its bearer. Now, it's a catchword most commonly utilized by motivational speakers, executive coaches, "life" coaches, and self-help gurus when describing formulas for increasing ones productivity*, particularly in the workforce.

But, just exactly what do I mean by the word Mojo?

Mojo is animism... the dynamic energy fluctuation that makes an organism tick. If ones wiring is in top form, ones inner force pulls back and then moves forward in sync with ones conscious desires and motivations. In other words, ones Mojo is "working". On the other hand, if ones wiring has gone awry - for instance, in the case of a series of set-backs, intense trauma or injury of any kind, or just plain chronic disappointment - then ones Mojo is thrown off its game. It isn't as if you've lost it... it's that it's blocked from true expression; in other words, it's broken.

Case in point: the magic square (first image above) is something I've had on my desktop for the past 2 years. Why is this? Well, that's a good question! Before this period, I had just gone through a series of unfortunate events, and was holed up in an unfamiliar town with absolutely no clue - and no hope - for a "brighter future." Without going into details, my mojo was, in fact, at the lowest point of its existence...

Wild Orchids; The Tribal Green Woman (& Two Triangulations)

Wild Orchids - Digital - © 2016 (revised), 2015, Dia Sobin

(Newest version uploaded 2017)

(Click to enlarge)

"The genus name Cypripedium is derived from the Greek words "Cypris" an early reference in Greek myth to Aphrodite, and “pedilon” for sandal. This is because the fused petals that form the orchid’s pouch or modified lip (labellum) resemble a slipper or shoe. The staminode (sterile stamen) is often showy and seems to welcome the insect into the pouch where it makes its way to a back-door exit and in so doing transfers pollen to the stigma.

...The Cypripedium orchids of North America are hardy terrestrial plants that can grow in cold climates and flower in early to mid-spring when there is plentiful moisture and cool temperatures. Species such as Cypripedium guttatum and C. passerinum that grow in Alaska are so well adapted to cold their shoots sprout up under the snow in the spring.

For centuries Cypripedium species have been sought after and collected not only for their unique beauty but also for the medicinal trade. Widespread collection, attempts at transplantation, and loss of habitat have drastically reduced their numbers. Wild lady’s slippers have special requirements that make them difficult to cultivate, and rarely survive transplanting from the wild. Because of that, on federal lands it is illegal to dig or pick the orchids."

- From the U.S. Department of Agriculture cypripedium page: Meet the Ladies, the Slipper Orchids 

***

Way back when - roughly about twenty years ago - there used to be a small, hidden patch of pink wild orchids in the woods behind (what was then) my parent's house. Mysteriously, one day, the lovely flowers vanished, and were never to be seen again. Perhaps, someone picked the blossoms; along with transplanting them, it's a sure way to kill the plant.

Popularly known as the Lady Slipper, or Moccasin flower, this orchid is one of the more strangely secretive denizens of the forest... blatantly wild, deceptively fragile, quietly erotic, it's always a pleasant, somewhat magical experience to happen upon them. Although I've always considered the plant a primarily North American flower, it's actually found in Europe and Asia as well; the ones illustrated in the image above, however, are a North American variety.

About the illustration: well, I did previously mention designing my own versions of a Green Woman and Three-Hare symbol (at the end of this post), predominately for carved reliefs. As it happens - and it always does regarding ones creative plans - while I was designing the Green Woman, I suddenly had the overwhelming epiphany that my Green Woman called for - no, demanded - tattoos. Perhaps, this was because I had recently considered getting a tattoo myself. As to why I'm suddenly drawn to illuminating my torso at this time in my life - well, that's another story. But, regarding the Green Woman, suffice to say, the tattoo idea changed the playing field, and, for good or ill, a full color digital image was required.

Moreover, as the tattooed person began to emerge, I had another inspiration. For whatever reason, Art Nouveau posters* by the Czech illustrator Alphonse Mucha (24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939) resurfaced in my middle eye. And, whatever your artistic taste dictates, poster art in the days of Mucha were phenomenal expressions of the marriage between art and commerce, and Mucha's images, in particular (see examples below), were awesomely designed and elegantly executed.