On Sacred Geometry/Art as a cultivation method

[skydog]

I heard that tibetan monks make mandalas based on sacred geometry to contemplate the meanings of the mandala, also how they would make it out of sand so they couldnt rush it and had to pay deep attention to what they were doing in the moment.

 

Also Aboriginal Tribes would do dot art and in some ways it seems like they are contemplating the idea that everything is made of energy and different colours of it too. Also they had to take care and time when making their pieces otherwise they would turn out rubbish.

 

I can think in China they do calligraphy and they have zen art and enso circles.

 

South American Shamans paint their visions I think.

 

Anyways on the sacred geometry thing, I want to do this, I just dont know what sacred geometry is EXACTLY or how one goes about this, if there are particular things to do apart from just copy sacred geometry.

 

Any opinions.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

sounds beautiful.... i used to draw a taijitu with one single unbroken "line", wrapping from the top to the bottom and "spiraling" to fill in the "yin" black. only 5 broken strands with lines in the sand, forming a "spiral galaxy" yin eye within the untouched sands of the yang field.

 

Sacred Geometry would be MUCH more interesting, time consuming, elaborate, and... amazing...

[skydog]

sounds beautiful.... i used to draw a taijitu with one single unbroken "line", wrapping from the top to the bottom and "spiraling" to fill in the "yin" black. only 5 broken strands with lines in the sand, forming a "spiral galaxy" yin eye within the untouched sands of the yang field.

 

Sacred Geometry would be MUCH more interesting, time consuming, elaborate, and... amazing...

That is interesting do you have an example of that...

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

nah, it's just tracing with a stick in a dirt driveway. i once used the hose to jet into the dirt and leave a longer lasting taijitu... but they all fade over time. i usually made them about 5-8 feet in diameter, but sometiems i'd use the fibbonacci sequence and try to make "8 lines in" in the yin field and 5 lines to the "spiral galaxy" shaped yin eye.

 

 

ACTUALLY. tell ya what, i'll edit this and post a MS Paint example LOL

 

Edit:

 

Edited January 3, 2013 by Hot Nirvana Judo Trend

[konchog uma]

sacred geometry is exhibited by everything natural.. there would be benefit to someone who copied patterns and examples down, or who built something according to the principles of sacred geometry if that was their goal... but i think its interesting to note that from the position of buds on a plant to the proportions of the human face to the skeletal structure of basically every animal (i think!) that ratios like phi appear to dominate the relationships and natural growth of organisms.

 

in fact i would go so far as to say that if you wanted to understand sacred geometry, but didnt know where to jump in, start with phi. Theres a reason its called the golden ratio. From your studies of phi, you could easily branch out into whatever elements of sacred geometry strike your interest.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

all of them LOL

 

 

My objective is secret that i shall share:

 

An awesome videogame that utilizes Phi in (nearly) every aspect of the programming... with a concept/theme of educational value, exemplifying the benefits of a healthy lifestyle viw fantasy, allowing people to use superpowers and shoot fireballs 'n' shit... if they live a healthy life in game, or that is, play a healthy character... haw!

[Vmarco]

 

 

Anyways on the sacred geometry thing, I want to do this, I just dont know what sacred geometry is EXACTLY or how one goes about this, if there are particular things to do apart from just copy sacred geometry.

 

Any opinions.

 

Here,...start with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRD4gb0p5RM

[silas]

Classical Taoist eading on this topic:

 

The Outer Nature In Mystical Te

[skydog]

Thanks for the posts will check them all out in more detail later...peace

[GrandmasterP]

Just reading about sacred geometry last night funnily enough in relation to how ancient churches and cathedrals were laid out by the masons who built them.

There's a heck of a lot of hermetic mysticism hidden in plain sight in some of those ancient buildings.

[Vmarco]

Just reading about sacred geometry last night funnily enough in relation to how ancient churches and cathedrals were laid out by the masons who built them.

There's a heck of a lot of hermetic mysticism hidden in plain sight in some of those ancient buildings.

 

Sacred Geometry is a lengthy subject. In the 90's I attended 3 separate workshops,...two were 7 full days, and the other a 5 day conference.

 

For a little foundation on the subject, try several hours of these:

http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=drunvalo+melchizedek+sacred+geometry

 

During Drunvalo's Flower of Life Workshop that I attended, he mentioned that Walter Russell (see A New Concept of the Universe) was advanced Sacred Geometry. The book 'A New Concept of the Universe' is a guide to the threshold of the Tao.

[GrandmasterP]

Ta.

 

[Zhongyongdaoist]

I have used art in training for magic for over 30 years. It can improve memory, visualization and concentration. It also induces a slightly altered mental state which can lead to what I call "Contemplation", one of the essentials of Classical Magical training.

[skydog]

I have used art in training for magic for over 30 years. It can improve memory, visualization and concentration. It also induces a slightly altered mental state which can lead to what I call "Contemplation", one of the essentials of Classical Magical training.

 

Interesting so do you have any kind of information on what could be useful for someone beginning at this apart from what others have said? Cheers

[Zhongyongdaoist]

sinansencer,

 

Thank you for your interest. My interest and the basic ideas actually go back to the early 70s when I was intrigued by the idea of astrological magic and meditation inspired by the accounts of astrological images which I had read about in certain books.

 

I was working with an artist and she recommended Nikcolaides The Natural Way to Draw. I found this interesting, but could never make the transition to really drawing, based on Nicolaides alone. One of his basic techniques, contour drawing such as demonstrated here:

 

 

was useful as a meditation, but that was not enough. Watch this video and bear in mind the the comment by Scott32169 on the on the YouTube page:

 

Contour needs a state of mind of really being into watching an ant cross a side walk. Being fascinated with the meeting of planes. I found it interesting going over old contour drawing to see where I was focused and where my mind wondered. (Emphasis mine, ZYD)

 

and review the instructions at the end of OldGreen's post on "Foundations of Magical Training" in the Hermetic and Occult sub-forum on visualization. Now think about how you could combine contour drawing with those instructions and you will get an idea of what I am talking about. I actually thought about posting something about this there, but while I have more spare time right now than usual, I am still not completely at leisure, so I put off posting.

 

However, I wanted more, I wanted to be able to draw, so the project was put on the back burner until 1980 when I returned to the subject, either because of a drawing seminar which I attended or I attended the drawing seminar because I was interested again for some reason or other. In either case, the woman was good and I learned a lot. She said that soon a book would be published which would be very good and gave me the information on it. It turned out to be Betty Edwards' book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. This turned out to be pretty much what I wanted and I had no trouble working out a system based on her book which not only helps with the necessary skills, but also turns you into a good artist, a double benefit and what I wanted.

 

So if you are interested on a practical level you should get yourself a copy of Betty Edwards' book and then adapt it to purposes like the above referenced exercises. Be forewarned that, while the neurology was accurate at the time she was developing her material it is out of date and largely misleading at this time. In particular it is influenced by a strong cultural bias that has developed since around 1800 in the West which I call the Romanticism/Reductionism dichotomy which among other things distorts the relation between between "reason" and "intuition". This dichotomy is imported wholesale into her discussions of right and left brain functions and and their other correlations and is misleading. I became aware of this when I bought the new edition, my old one having long ago fallen apart, because I am preparing to teach again, though not magic per se, and needed to review her approach. When I first read the book, based on my knowledge of brain function their was no need to critique her approach, but now there is. The exercises themselves, however, are of great value and will pay off for anyone who undertakes them with meditative or magical discipline in mind.

 

I hope this information is useful to you and anyone else who is interested.

[Flolfolil]

try drawing zen tangles

[Aetherous]

I've been reading Harmony by Prince Charles. He has a chapter related to sacred geometry...basically says that if people are more exposed to sacred geometry, they end up making choices that are more in tune with nature. Kind of funny to think that he is proposing that we should look at more geometric designs in order to save the environment. But maybe there's something to it!

 

It'd be nice if there were more sacred design in our every day lives...

 

I plan on building my own house one day. I am going to make sure to design the main rooms based on the golden ratio, since it will help with acoustics (for recording music, as well as just pleasure of sound in the room).

[Apech]

I've been reading Harmony by Prince Charles. He has a chapter related to sacred geometry...basically says that if people are more exposed to sacred geometry, they end up making choices that are more in tune with nature. Kind of funny to think that he is proposing that we should look at more geometric designs in order to save the environment. But maybe there's something to it!

 

It'd be nice if there were more sacred design in our every day lives...

 

I plan on building my own house one day. I am going to make sure to design the main rooms based on the golden ratio, since it will help with acoustics (for recording music, as well as just pleasure of sound in the room).

 

Glad to see you are tuning in to the British Royal Family ... perhaps there is hope for the US even now.

[skydog]

sinansencer,

 

Thank you for your interest. My interest and the basic ideas actually go back to the early 70s when I was intrigued by the idea of astrological magic and meditation inspired by the accounts of astrological images which I had read about in certain books.

 

I was working with an artist and she recommended Nikcolaides The Natural Way to Draw. I found this interesting, but could never make the transition to really drawing, based on Nicolaides alone. One of his basic techniques, contour drawing such as demonstrated here:

 

 

was useful as a meditation, but that was not enough. Watch this video and bear in mind the the comment by Scott32169 on the on the YouTube page:

 

[/font]

 

and review the instructions at the end of OldGreen's post on "Foundations of Magical Training" in the Hermetic and Occult sub-forum on visualization. Now think about how you could combine contour drawing with those instructions and you will get an idea of what I am talking about. I actually thought about posting something about this there, but while I have more spare time right now than usual, I am still not completely at leisure, so I put off posting.

 

However, I wanted more, I wanted to be able to draw, so the project was put on the back burner until 1980 when I returned to the subject, either because of a drawing seminar which I attended or I attended the drawing seminar because I was interested again for some reason or other. In either case, the woman was good and I learned a lot. She said that soon a book would be published which would be very good and gave me the information on it. It turned out to be Betty Edwards' book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. This turned out to be pretty much what I wanted and I had no trouble working out a system based on her book which not only helps with the necessary skills, but also turns you into a good artist, a double benefit and what I wanted.

 

So if you are interested on a practical level you should get yourself a copy of Betty Edwards' book and then adapt it to purposes like the above referenced exercises. Be forewarned that, while the neurology was accurate at the time she was developing her material it is out of date and largely misleading at this time. In particular it is influenced by a strong cultural bias that has developed since around 1800 in the West which I call the Romanticism/Reductionism dichotomy which among other things distorts the relation between between "reason" and "intuition". This dichotomy is imported wholesale into her discussions of right and left brain functions and and their other correlations and is misleading. I became aware of this when I bought the new edition, my old one having long ago fallen apart, because I am preparing to teach again, though not magic per se, and needed to review her approach. When I first read the book, based on my knowledge of brain function their was no need to critique her approach, but now there is. The exercises themselves, however, are of great value and will pay off for anyone who undertakes them with meditative or magical discipline in mind.

 

I hope this information is useful to you and anyone else who is interested.

 

Thank you

[skydog]

try drawing zen tangles

 

Yes good post googled that

[Jetsun]

Edited January 4, 2013 by Jetsun

[Aetherous]

Glad to see you are tuning in to the British Royal Family ... perhaps there is hope for the US even now.

 

Haha....never! I only wanted to know more about his theories on sustainable agriculture.

[skydog]

I would look at what Gurdjieff says about this subject, he says that there are two types of art objective and subjective, objective can be used to transmit knowledge from generation to generation using precise rules and laws while subjective is usually the artist just trying to exorcise something from within them a bit like being sick

 

"In the course of our travels in Central Asia we found, in the desert at the foot of the Hindu Kush, a strange figure which we thought at first was some ancient god or devil. At first it produced upon us simply the impression of being a curiosity. But after a while we began to feel that this figure contained many things, a big, complete, and complex system of cosmology. And slowly, step by step, we began to decipher this system. It was in the body of the figure, in its legs, in its arms, in its head, its eyes, in its ears; everywhere. In the whole statue there was nothing accidental, nothing without meaning. And gradually we understood the aim of the people who built this statue. We began to feel their thoughts, their feelings. Some of us thought that we saw their faces, heard their voices. At all events, we grasped the meaning of what they wanted to convey to us across thousands of years, and not only the meaning, but all the feelings and the emotions connected with it as well. That indeed was art!"

http://www.octaveart...ective_art2.htm

http://gurdjieff.hub...b/Objective-Art

 

That is interesting jetsun, I guess thats kind of like making art to precise mathematical limits?, i wonder if this is at all like aboriginal ar where they use sacred geometry in their paintings?

[GrandmasterP]

 

 

Glad to see you are tuning in to the British Royal Family ... perhaps there is hope for the US even now.

.....

Prince Charles gets a bit of stick but one of his charitable foundations funds the publication of some superb educational resources , one I use every year with Year 1 s " The Arch in Islamic Architecture" is fabulous on so many levels. It's only a pamphlet size, well illustrated and one of the best 'deep conversation" starters ever.

[skydog]

Some playing around with this...

 

 

 

gonna get out of the routine of rushing the end ha

Edited January 9, 2013 by sinansencer