The symbolism of the circle

This living geometry can be seen everywhere, in nature and in ourselves.: straight and curved lines, polygons, spheres… Shapes and figures that are repeated at different sizes and at different levels.

But if we wanted to synthesize all that multiplicity in a primordial image that contained everything so to speak, we should stay with the circle, well indeed summarizes in its simplicity the dynamism of reality.

Let’s go back to our childhood for a moment, because we have all had the experience of throw a stone into the still water of a pond. she fascinated us undoubtedly the curious and inexplicable phenomenon of the concentric circles that formed the waves from the place where the stone produced the impact. Unknowingly, before our childish eyes the mystery of creation was reproduced.

That is why simply contemplating the drawing of a circle, a nothing that seems like a whole, leaves us silent and thoughtful. It is the magic of the symbol.

In the words of R. W. Emerson: “The eye is the first circle, the horizon it forms is the second, and this first figure is repeated incessantly through all of Nature.”

For there to be life, it must be just circular. If it stagnates or paralyzes, it becomes death. Blood circulates through the body nourishing and cleaning each of the cells that make up our body. And circular comes from “circle.”

The universal meaning of the circle

A circle is the area contained in a circumference, being its perimeter. But to trace a circumference (visible) we need a center (invisible). This brings us to symbolism of the center and the circumference.

The center represents the origin, the primordial unity from which everything arises through radiation. It is the immobile axis of the rotation of the cycle of becoming. symbolizes the spirit and eternity.For his part, the circumference represents the demonstration plurality, matter, temporality.From another point of view, center-circle-circumference form a triad, since the number three means the manifestation and in turn the return of duality to unity. Thus, the center corresponds to the transcendent spirit, the circle itself would be the soul, and the circumference the corporeal materiality.

Discover the meaning of the colors of a mandala in the following video:

This symbolism marked by the three it is repeated in the most varied levels of existence.

For example the eggemblem of life in many cultures, consists of a yolk, white and shelljust like cells They are composed of nucleus, protoplasm and membrane. There are three necessary gestures to draw a circle with a compass: first nail one of its arms to have a center (spirit), then mark a distance with the other arm (soul) and finally make it rotate until it forms the circumference (body). And in grammar, There are three elements that make up a sentence.: subject (spirit), verb (soul) and predicate (body).

Don’t forget that the center is the most important thing, which gives balance, since it is at the same distance from all points on the circumference. Without it there would be no manifestation, neither circle nor circumference. Also, the center it is the origin and at the same time the final destination, the alpha and the omega.

The three-dimensional expression of the perfection of the circle is the sphere, a figure that symbolizes the harmony of the whole. Since the circumference of the circle seems to have no beginning or end and suggests mobility, another form of expressing the change within that circular motion is the spiral.

In her it goes through the same place or moment again but in a different way. In the same way that each year brings us the same anniversary date, but the years completed change.

Circle: the wheel of life

Everything is cyclical (from the Greek kikloscircle) in nature: the movement of celestial bodies, the water that evaporates forming clouds that will become rain, plants and animals that return to the heart of the earth when they die.

The course of time and seasons follows a cyclical movement through which everything is repeated and renewed at the same time. Because, as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus pointed out: “In the circle the beginning and the end are confused.”

For him buddhismexistence is symbolized by the image of “The wheel of samsara”, which is usually represented at the entrance of the temples. It is an image of the different kingdoms and their inhabitants, with their particular limitations and sufferings, in the shape of a wheel that it goes spinning due to the actions of those beings and their karmic consequences.

another wheel, that of Dharma, expresses the path of liberation from that suffering by practicing the Buddha’s teachings. For this reason, the Tibetans renounced using the wheel, a sacred image for them, in mundane tasks such as a car.

This may seem exaggerated to us, but it is a fact that our material development is based on the circular motion of the wheel. Not only because we move from one place to another in wheeled vehicles, but also because since the abandonment of animal traction at the beginning of the industrial Revolution energy has been obtained through circular movement: hydraulic turbines, electric dynamos…

And not by chance when technological excesses and environmental pollution are suffocating usit is imposed to use renewable energy and recycle waste. The circle again.

Circle and Square: Heaven and Earth

From another perspective, the circle represents Heaven or spirit. the latin word caelum means sky, firmament and circular shape. The Earth, the material or static, is represented by the square.

In our own body, the head It is considered the noblest part and it is not by chance that it is round. At the same time, the eyes -which make possible the most refined sense, vision-, are also circular. YoTo imagine both things in a square way would distance us from spirituality. inherent to the human being, giving us the appearance of mechanical robots.

Thus, many temples are made up of a square or rectangular plan surmounted by a dome symbolizing the heavenly vault, often decorated with birds or angelic creatures as in Christianity. Likewise, in most religions the figures of saints or divinities are represented with a luminous and round halo around the head.

Megalithic circles are a way of marking the celestial order on earth through the concentric alignment of large stones stuck into the ground. The dwelling of many nomadic peoples is circular in shape, like the teepees of the North American Indians or the yurts of the Mongols.

sacred architecture, especially Egyptian pyramids, Hindu temples and medieval cathedrals, It supposes the union of the celestial and terrestrial. Also an expression of the invisible center. That is why when we visit them we appreciate their ability to capture and transmit, due to their shape and location, certain subtle energies.

Popular dances usually form circles. Often with the performers holding hands and facing the center. On other occasions turning on themselves alone or surrounding themselves in pairs (union of masculine and feminine).

He Flemish not only does it present those twists or rotations about the body axis, but also the raised hands draw small circles, while the feet hit the ground, we don’t know if to pick up the energy of the earth.

rumithe great Sufi teacher, established as a spiritual practice the dance of the samain which the dervishes are spinning around the center symbolized by the immobile master and at the same time ecstatically on themselves.

return to origin

San Agustin, picking up an older wisdom, has left us perhaps the best definition of the universal Spirit in a geometric key: “God is a sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.“. The religious phenomenon basically consists of head towards that center spiritual that is the origin of everything and at the same time its maintainer and ultimate destination.

Also, it should be considered that in ourselves, in our consciousness, there is a center and a periphery. And just as happens when a disk rotates, which does so at a higher linear speed as we move away from the center, if we stay too long in our periphery mood (mental and emotional) everything seems more chaotic and unpredictable.

Another image of the center in its vertical projection is that of the summit of a mountain. As we ascend, the air becomes cleaner and when we reach the top the vision expands –sometimes it covers up to 360 degrees–, while we have Greater sense of peace and freedom. In the same way, if we approach our own center we find calm and joy, moving away from outside agitation.

All spiritual practice It supposes a recollection, a move from the outer circumference to the inner center. Periodically, without the need to give up the material, but without abandoning that necessary connection.

Each human being has his particular way towards himself. But the center is transpersonal (it is beyond the ego) and universal (it is the same for everyone).

Like in a circle they are innumerable possible radii that unite the center with the circumference, each person has their particular path towards themselves. Keeping in mind that invisible but real center makes us more human. It helps us to glimpse flashes of light in the apparent darkness of certain moments in life, to find a bit of eternity amidst the evanescence of time.

Mandalas and other figures and objects to meditate

For his part, Zen painting is sometimes limited to drawing a simple circlewhich evokes the enigmatic words of the Buddha: “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.”

get closer to the center

mandala is a sanskrit word means “circle”.

Mandalas are geometric diagrams which are used in Hinduism and Buddhism as a support for meditation. Are the visual expression (the mantras would be their sound version) of certain qualities or spiritual influences.

It has been proven that draw or color mandalas –figures with a center that expands and in turn returns to the origin, delimited by a protective circle– favors the integration of consciousness and mental relaxation.

That is why the practice of mandalas is being recommended in certain psychiatric patients and in a playful way in children and the elderly.

Seek guidance

From the remotest antiquity the circle has served to understand and measure time.

so they did the Babylonians who divided it into 360º. Your name, shardesignated the universe or cosmos.

The clocks They present a sphere through which the hands rotate so that we know the cyclical time of day in which we are To orient yourself in space another circular tool is used, the compass. Both objects have practical utility and in turn contain a deep symbolism.

adorn yourself with circles

Human beings have used jewelry since time immemorial, not only to decorate, but also as a form of protection and with symbolic meaning. Many are circular in shape: necklaces, bracelets, rings.

Still today, get high a ring on the finger implies certain qualities:…