The Spiral: A Key to the Riddle of Existence, Design and Creation

An age-old symbol of our identity with the universe, the spiral has been entrenched in culture, lore, seasons, dance and art throughout history. The spiral represents the journey of consciousness, beginning from its centre expanding outwardly. The path to birth, death and reincarnation. Paralleling these inner movements of our mind, the spiral also finds form in nature, be it the macrocosm of the vast spiral cosmos we are a tiny part of, or the sub-atomic spiralling double helix structure of the DNA molecule; this symbol is quite literally coded into the fibre of our being.

As matter was created, it took physical form, and tried to move towards attaining perfection, the idea of the spiral captured the essence of this process. The adage of “form follows function” has been an all pervading law of nature which mankind has tried to replicate with art and architecture. The delicate curl of a bird’s feather, the patterns of the petals of a flower, are all created with a force that necessitates its form. Another one of the most essential rules of nature’s design; The Golden Ratio, is also derived from a logarithmic spiral. The nautilus shell is a fantastic encapsulation of nature’s architecture and this universal constant for self replication. Each chamber of the nautilus shell is an approximate copy of the last one, however scaled slightly by a constant factor. This allows for a logarithmic spiral; The Divine Proportion.

Scientists and mathematicians through the centuries have studied the The Golden Ratio (often represented by the Greek letter φ) and derived from a numerical pattern known as the Fibonacci sequence. The sequence is simply a list of numbers that are the sum of the previous two numbers in the sequence. (0+1= 1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3 and so on) When a Fibonacci number is divided by the Fibonacci number before it, we approach The Golden Ratio, an irrational number that starts out as 1.6180.. and continues on infinitely.

In our seemingly chaotic and unpredictable world it's strange to realise our connection to highly organised laws of mathematics where each piece accurately slots into position perfectly designed and created. The Golden Ratio and the spiral be it in whirlpools, pine cones or flowers petals; perhaps hurricanes, spiders webs or our star spangled galaxy, The Milky Way, all originate from the same concept. Mathematics, history, art and architecture, the universe and creation all coalesce in the spiral. Nature has been a guide and teacher to mankind since our origin, and this influence of nature is present throughout human history. Paintings imitate nature with vibrant hues, sculpture with reliefs and dance with movements and poses of the body. Music imitates it with inarticulate sounds and poetry, with metered speech.

Our ethos and spirit of creation is imbibed from respecting this legacy of nature. At Dakshinam, we aim to imbibe every delicately woven thread, intricate weave and rich embroidery with the spirit of creation. We are inspirited by the Spiral, a key to the riddle of existence, design and creation.