Comparative & Scholarly
Symbol · Science & Alchemy
Golden Ratio
The Divine Proportion
One proportion repeating at every scale, revered as beauty's rule and evidence of an ordered cosmos.
What it meansPacioli called it the divine proportion and gave three reasons: it is one, it is irrational and therefore incomprehensible, and it is defined by three terms — a trinity. The reverence is theological before it is aesthetic, and the proportion was chosen to fit the argument.
Symbol · Science & Alchemy
Vesica Piscis
The Womb of the Universe
The almond-shaped intersection of two circles of the same radius, representing the bridge between worlds.
What it meansTwo circles each passing through the other's centre, and the almond between them belongs to both. Medieval art put Christ inside it as the mandorla, at the join of heaven and earth. The figure is read as what overlap produces — a third thing neither circle contains alone.
Symbol · Science & Alchemy
Platonic Solids
The Elements of Geometry
Five shapes mapped onto the elements: the claim that reality is built on a small, perfect geometry.
What it meansFive solids, and only five are possible — a fact of geometry, not a choice. The Timaeus assigns four to the elements and the dodecahedron to the cosmos itself. Kepler built a model of the solar system from them. The appeal is that the limit is imposed by mathematics rather than by doctrine.
Books and texts 2
Teachings 1
Symbols 5
People 3
Threads 71
- AnimismComparative Religion
- Blood and the Anthropology of MenstruationComparative Religion
- Casting LotsSymbols of the Religions
- Did Alchemy Have One Origin?Science & Alchemy
- Dream ManualsDivination & Cosmos
- Feeding the AncestorsRites and Doctrine
- Guidebooks for the DeadOccult Cosmology
- How Many Souls a Person HasComparative Religion
- How Meditation Travelled WestEast Asian Traditions
- How the I Ching Reached the WestEast Asian Traditions
- Images ForbiddenSymbols of the Religions
- Invented TraditionsComparative Religion
- Inventing the Mystic EastComparative Religion
- Iolo Morganwg and the Invented Bardic PastNorthern European Folk
- Karma's Western CareerIndian Traditions
- Leaving the BodyComparative Religion
- Left and RightSymbols of the Religions
- Mana as a Floating SignifierOceanian Traditions
- Memory as a LibraryComparative Religion
- Microcosm and MacrocosmSymbols of the Religions
- Mirrors and ScryingCeremonial Magic and the Golden Dawn
- Myth and RitualComparative Religion
- NondualityComparative Religion
- One Origin for EverythingComparative Religion
- Oracle Bones and Shoulder BladesEast Asian Traditions
- ParallelomaniaComparative Religion
- Plastic Shamans and the 1993 DeclarationNorth American Traditions
- Reincarnation's Western CareerComparative Religion
- Rites of PassageComparative Religion
- Rune Divination Was InventedNorthern European Folk
- Sacred Geometry as a Modern CategoryModern Currents
- Sacrifice and the ScapegoatRites and Doctrine
- Shamanism as a CategoryComparative Religion
- SigilsCeremonial Magic and the Golden Dawn
- Sleeping in the TempleThe Ancient World
- Soma and HaomaModern Currents
- Songlines and What Chatwin Made of ThemOceanian Traditions
- Spirit PossessionComparative Religion
- Stones That Fell From HeavenSymbols of the Religions
- Symbols Captured by the Far RightSymbols of the Religions
- Syncretism and MaskingAfrican Traditions
- The Alphabet as Building MaterialSymbols of the Religions
- The Caches That Rewrote the RecordComparative Religion
- The Descent to the UnderworldSymbols of the Religions
- The Dreaming Is a Translation ArgumentOceanian Traditions
- The Dying and Rising GodComparative Religion
- The Elixir of ImmortalityCeremonial Magic and the Golden Dawn
- The Evil EyeSymbols of the Religions
- The FetishComparative Religion
- The Four DirectionsSymbols of the Religions
- The Great Goddess and Matriarchal PrehistoryComparative Religion
- The Horned GodModern Currents
- The Invention of World ReligionsComparative Religion
- The Kykeon and the Ergot HypothesisThe Ancient World
- The Labyrinth Across CulturesSymbols of the Religions
- The Near-Death JourneyComparative Religion
- The Sacred KingComparative Religion
- The SerpentSymbols of the Religions
- The Seven SistersSymbols of the Religions
- The Subtle BodyComparative Religion
- The Tarot's Egyptian Origin StoryCeremonial Magic and the Golden Dawn
- The Teachers Who Came WestComparative Religion
- The Two Babylons and the Pagan-Origins GenreComparative Religion
- The Witch-Cult and the Nine MillionComparative Religion
- The Word 'Esotericism'Comparative Religion
- The World TreeModern Currents
- Tobacco Was the Master PlantAndean and Amazonian Traditions
- What Was Published Without ConsentNorth American Traditions
- Who Decided It Was African ReligionAfrican Traditions
- Wisdom as a WomanSymbols of the Religions
- Witchcraft Accusation Across SocietiesComparative Religion