God is a Circle

God is a circle whose centre is everywhere and circumference is nowhere" (Hermes Trismegistus*).

The circle has long been associated with sacredness, a natural and perfect shape with no beginning and no end. The rotation of the earth around the sun is now known to be both spherical and spiraling, another symbol of eternity of time enclosing space, of space-less-ness above and below.

In modern culture Pi has become a symbol for the mystical, the autonomous, irrational, infinite or transcendental value found in the geometry of a sphere.

This concept of infinity in relation to the path of human evolution through the lens of transcendental philosophy converges with the concept of pi and the circle in that pi is a transcendental number the base of which is complex and elusive, and at the same time based on a simplistic theory (3.14). I.e., it represents the return to the constant through disintregration and regeneration, aptly symbolized by the tail-biting ouroboros, the ancient symbol of the alchemists.

The ouroboros is also an ancient symbol found worldwide and is not merely a symbol of infinity, but one of death and regeneration. To the alchemist Hermes, it might have represented the latent power of infinity through the unmanifest or unredeemed and the understanding that once the concept of infinity is mastered the field becomes static, much like the archetype or the old King who must relinquish his power. The godhead must at some point fall.

The myth of Osiris a case in point. It was through death and disintegration that Osiris was reborn, the power of the Gods transformed through the alchemy of Isis.

The circle has long been a sacred symbol of the universal man. The Greek philosopher Pythagoras theorized the earth and all the planets as also spherical. He believed that the most perfect or harmonious geometric form was the circle consisting of four parts, perhaps evolving into Plato’s Symposium; the theory of the “round man” as an entity of primordial wholeness. It would naturally follow that the very idea that the solar system being anything but circular would have been met with a charge of heresy as the lines between theology and science blurred.

My point is that the universe is not perfect, nor is man, nor is the circle. Transcending our imperfections may mean accepting them rather than aiming for a degree of perfection that doesn't exist.

So with all this talk of the circle as the most perfect symbol of life in our universe, where does the square fit in, the four points? It is the salt of the earth, what humanity cannot live without.

*The thrice (Trismegistus) great teacher Hermes (circa 250 B.C.) is accredited with imparting the knowledge and wisdom of the healing arts, astrology, philosophy, writing and alchemy to humankind.

*