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THE SPIRAL
AS A SYMBOL OF NATURE AND AN IDEAL WE STRIVE FOR IN OUR WORK
The spiral is created in nature according to what is called the Golden Mean, Golden Section, or Divine Proportion, which is simply the ratio (phi) of 1 : 1.6180339… It is derived from Fibonacci’s series, or a numerical list whereby each new number is the sum of the previous two numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144… ad infinitum. Regardless of how large the spiral becomes, the ratio of its dimensions remains constant. For instance, the proportion AB to AC is the same as BC to BD or CD to CE.
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OUR APPROACH
LEAP is inspired by the spiral pattern to combine and include the strengths of the modern world (technology, discipline and progressive thinking) represented by the line, woven and balanced with the ancient wisdom given to us through indigenous traditions and practices which honor the connection of the circle. We hope, at this critical time on Earth, to find ways in which we can work together that “open outward” like the spiral, and embrace all polarities in its arc of reconciliation - synthesizing and reflecting diverse world views so that we can learn and act from our shared history. In the words of Erling Duus, we say that “The spiral is crucial, for in it the captivity of the sheer circle is broken, penetrated by the linear movement of historical time, while time is relieved of its burden and its homelessness. Where and when the two meet ‘there is a whirlpool’ and then a transformation wherein spiral is created, maintaining yet liberating the circle and the line.” The Tragic, Sacred Ground.
Not only does the spiral include history in its sweep, but it also encompasses biology, even allowing for the theory of evolution. Just as a cart, one with innumerable wheels perhaps, slowly moves forward in a straight line, so the process of evolution is simultaneously cyclic and linear. Cirlot’s dictionary states that the spiral is in fact “A schematic image of the evolution of the universe.” It is no coincidence, then, that the term evolution (e- “out” + volvere “to roll”) means “to unroll” or “to open outward”– the precise motion of the spiral. |
A Thousand Years of Healing
With this turning we put a
broken age to rest.
We who are alive at such a cusp
now usher in a thousand
years of healing.
From whence my hope,
I cannot say,
But it grows in the cells of my skin,
my envelope of mysteries.
In this sheath so akin to the surface of earth
I sense the faint song.
Beneath the wail and dissonance
this singing rises. Winged ones
and four-leggeds,
grasses and mountains and
each tree,
all the swimming creatures.
Even we, wary two-leggeds,
hum, and call, and create
the changes. We remake our relations, mend
our minds, convert our minds to the earth.
We practice blending our voices,
living with the vision
of the Great Magic
we move within.
We begin the new habit,
getting up glad
for a thousand years of healing.
- Sue Silvermarie
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