The Curious History of the Flower of Life

An ancient-looking pattern, a modern spiritual symbol, and a very satisfying little rabbit hole.

There are some symbols that seem to invite a second look.

The Flower of Life is one of them.

At first glance, it appears to be a beautiful arrangement of circles. Look a little longer, though, and more shapes begin to emerge — petals, lenses, hexagons and repeating patterns that seem to unfold from one another.

Today, you'll find the Flower of Life on jewellery, crystal grids, meditation spaces, tattoos and spiritual artwork.

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But where did it actually come from?

And why are we still so fascinated by it?

"Something complex emerges from something beautifully simple."

The Flower of Life is created from overlapping circles of equal size, arranged so that the centre of each circle sits on the circumference of those around it.

The result is a remarkably intricate-looking pattern made from one extremely simple shape.

A circle.

Repeated again and again.

And perhaps that is part of its appeal.

Something complex emerges from something beautifully simple.

✦ So, what exactly is the Flower of Life?

This is where things become particularly interesting.

The geometry behind the Flower of Life is certainly old. Interlocking circles and related geometric forms appear in art and architecture from different cultures and historical periods.

One frequently mentioned example can be found at the Temple of Osiris at Abydos in Egypt, where overlapping-circle designs were inscribed onto stone.

However, the history becomes a little murkier when modern claims enter the story.

You may encounter statements suggesting that the Flower of Life was universally recognised by ancient civilisations as a sacred symbol containing hidden knowledge about the universe.

Those claims are much harder to substantiate.

The familiar name “Flower of Life” and many of the spiritual meanings attached to it today appear to be comparatively modern interpretations.

Which doesn't make the symbol any less interesting.

In fact, perhaps it makes it more interesting.

Symbols don't simply belong to history.

Sometimes we continue giving them meaning.

✦ Why circles?

Long before anyone called this particular pattern the Flower of Life, the circle itself carried enormous symbolic weight.

A circle has no obvious beginning. No obvious end.

It has therefore been associated in different traditions and contexts with ideas such as wholeness, unity, cycles, eternity and continuity.

In nature...

We also encounter circles constantly in the natural world.

The moon.

The sun.

Ripples moving across water.

Seeds.

Eyes.

Fruit.

Cells beneath a microscope.

Perhaps our fascination with circular patterns isn't particularly surprising.

We have been surrounded by them all along.

✦ Sacred Geometry and the search for meaning

Today, the Flower of Life is commonly associated with sacred geometry — the idea that certain geometric patterns can symbolically represent the underlying order, harmony or interconnectedness of existence.

Modern interpretations of the Flower of Life often connect it with ideas such as:

• creation

• unity

• balance

• interconnectedness

• consciousness

• the cycles of life

✦ Look closer: The Vesica Piscis

Hidden inside the Flower of Life is another ancient geometric form.

Take two circles of equal size and overlap them so that the centre of each sits on the circumference of the other.

The almond-shaped space created in the middle is called the Vesica Piscis.

It's an extraordinarily simple construction, yet variations of this intersecting-circle geometry have appeared in art, architecture and religious imagery for centuries.

Symbolically, it has often been interpreted as a meeting place between two things:

two circles

two worlds

two ideas

two possibilities

And from their overlap...

something new appears.

Which is rather lovely when you think about it.

✦ Your Tonic for Today
Today, notice a repeating pattern somewhere in the world around you. It might be the veins of a leaf. Ripples in water. The spiral of a shell. Petals around the centre of a flower. Shadows repeating across a fence. Or circles left behind by raindrops. You don't need to know what it means. You don't even need to photograph it. Just notice it. Because sometimes curiosity doesn't need to lead anywhere at all. Being curious is enough. ✦