Three that is Two that is One
p.54
As I did not want too much show-through for the complex drawings on the previous page, this image is quite minimal, though it acts an introduction for the opposite page.
The diagram here shows how the point of no dimension, is linked to the line of one dimension, through creating a plane of two dimension - a triangle. Three is the activity that brings the un-manifest into the world of the manifest. Three is the number of Spirit.
p.55
Three that is Two that is One. Perhaps this can be more readily understood by reading the words in a reverse order. If One includes everything, there cannot be two Ones. So One divides itself from within to become Two - it is the same but different. The Creator begets the Created in its own likeness.
Two, Three and Five are the first three Primary numbers - and the first three numbers of the Fibonacci sequence( after One, as One was thought to include everything). Two was significant as it represented the concept of sameness and difference. Five, was also important as it included the Golden Proportion, which was a more specialised and dynamic form of Two: but also creating self-similar versions of itself, Two and Five can be thus expanded more fully, as representing Sameness and Difference in both its static and dynamic roles.
‘Plato considered geometry and number as the most reduced and essential, and therefore the ideal, philosophical language. But it is only by virtue of functioning at a certain ‘level’ that geometry and number become a vehicle for philosophical contemplation)…..and …’The archetypal is concerned with universal or dynamic patterns which can be considered independently of any structure or material form’. Robert Lawlor.
So Two in this context should be thought of as Two-ness: including all the properties of Duality.
Two-ness expressed its static mode.
Two-ness here is most obviously seen in the drawing of the double-circles, where one circle is reflected outwards to create another : the same as itself but different. Two-ness in its static form can be found in various other far-reaching principles: e.g. Paradox, Alternation, Exchange, Ambiguity, Inverse correspondence.
Examples of these are as follows.
Paradox is here represented in the drawing of the two circles on the left : the line connecting the two centres at the same time unites and divides yet heals duality ( other examples are further examined on pp. 56-57, 68-69).
Alternation is the pulse of life: our heart beat, our breath, the action of walking. The flow of Yin and Yang.
Exchange. Einstein’s E=MC squared. One medium is exchanged for another: energy and matter.
Ambiguity. the wave/particle duality of Quantum Physics.
Inverse correspondence. In music: half the length of string or pipe gives twice the vibrational frequency.
Two-ness expressed in its dynamic mode.
The Golden Proportion. As described in recent pages, the Golden Proportion can be realised in many forms. For instance in geometric figures: rectangle, spiral, triangle, and mathematical fractals. It also appears in countless other ways where it governs the unfolding processes in nature: in plant formation, breeding patterns of rabbits, organisational hierarchies.
However, there cannot be Two things without a third element which is the relationship between them. So Three is the Unifier, the Mediator. Three is the active ingredient. - the verb. Three informs how Two behaves. Three is the number of Spirit.
God in all Worlds
p.58
The page opens with three circles at the top. In the centre is placed a circle with knots within it, and with the words that read ‘the circumference of the circle is the activity of the invisible centre’. Lower down it reads ‘though each knot is different it is essentially the same: all are knots in the continuum’. The text continues ‘ So the invisible centre and its circumference are fundamentally two aspects of One.’
Two is created by the opening of the compasses. Each knot on the circumference, though different unique and individual, are each in the same relationship to the centre through the radius. There are potentially an unlimited number of knots on the circumference. The point is the invisible centre of a circle. It is the seed - the Bindu. It has no dimension - no bias, yet contains all possibilities. The circumference is the visible manifestation of the circle. The opening of the compasses signifies the opening of the drama of life.
To the right of the central column is another circle, with its heading below: the Green Square. This refers to the paradox of sameness and difference discussed earlier in the book on p.57: the green squares dotted round the circle are the same green, but they appear to be different according to their added background colour. The text reads on ‘ Everything that comes into existence is essentially a form of energy. Thus a particular colour of green will keep its own vibrational frequency’. The particular is found to be part of the infinite.
To the left of the central column is another circle with its heading below: Life on Earth. Instead of the green dots around the circle, there are images of various life forms in the universe, which also carry the same essential message: that All is One. The infinite is found to be part of the particular.
p.59
The next page opens with the title ‘God in all worlds’, flanked by the words by Robert Frost: ‘We dance round the ring and suppose, But the secret sits in the centre and knows’. The central text below this is a short poem by Kathleen Raine, followed by text written by Lao Tzu.
Flanking this central column are various spiritual texts by other authors relevant to this theme. The writers of the texts include, Shiva Samhita, Hermes Trismegistus, Words written inside a mosque in Isfahan, The Dalai Lama, The Gospel of Thomas and T.S. Eliot.
Constancy in Change: the paradox of sameness and difference
p.56.
Below the title there is a text: The One creates the Other, which refers back to the drawings on pp.18-19 called the Primal Act: the division of Unity (in the Circle and the Square). Taking the image of the circle, the drawing of the double circles here creates the concept of duality: the second circle being a mirror image of the first - they are the same but different. The overlap between them and a line drawn between the two centres- paradoxically unites and divides the two spheres.
Either side of the double circles is a list of properties assigned to each side : on the left, the universal realm, the unlimited, the unchanging, Quantum waves. And on the right is the circle with their matching but opposing properties: the particular, the limited, the changing, Quantum particle. The overlap between them is the place of incarnation. Everything that comes into this world therefore is born of spirit and matter - the crossing of opposing dualities creating the fabric of tangible form.
In Christian iconography, Christ Incarnate sits in the central almond-shaped overlap of the two circles (this image is called the Vesica Pisces ( and is often found in medieval cathedrals and churches - usually carved in above the entrance). In this context, Christ is seen as mediator between the two worlds of spirit and matter - fusing them together in paradox: the archetypal paradox being Christ himself being God and man.
Also in mathematical terms, if the line across this almond shape is 1 unit, the vertical line is √3. Interestingly √3 is also the diagonal of a cube - volume: this world of matter. Christ is incarnated into this world.
Linked with this image to the side of the page is some more text in red about In-formation. This is an interesting word as it has different meanings. It can mean facts given towards understanding, or an embodiment: spirit being birthed into matter. And perhaps the two meanings are linked as understanding is a form of realisation. There is a particular significance property of six, as though the circumference of a circle is an immeasurable number PI : 3.14159….., it can be divided by its own radius exactly 6 times. This gives the resultant hexagram a particular cohesion with the circle - the primary symbol of unity.
A further image is the astrological sign for Pisces. It is the twelfth and final sign in the Zodiac wheel of about two thousand years, and in which era Christ was born. The sign is of two arcs of a circle back to back moving away from each other, but with the space between them joined by a horizontal bar.
p.57
This page looks at Constancy in Change: Sameness and Difference in other contexts. Firstly in terms of structure, take the image of a coloured asymmetric triangle: it is always the same triangle (sameness) - but it can behave in different ways. Here there are only 3 possibilities: mirror, rotation, and glide. The image can be any a-symmetric shape. Together with the fact that only the square, triangle and hexagon tesselate and can tile the plane, there can be only 17 regular groupings. However, there can be an infinite number of irregular patterns.
This device is often used in decorative patterns in many cultures: tile patterns in Islamic buildings, wallpaper coverings, and church mosaics. Nature often uses the same principle of sameness and difference in patterns, showing how a high degree of complexity can arise from simple beginnings, for instance, crystal formations, snowflakes (always 6-sided), and honeycombs.
In the example shown on the right, the two squares are the same colour of green. The green has its own identity, but its colour appears to look different when surrounded by other coloured backgrounds So the Absolute and the Unchanging (the Relative and the Changing) are encoded in the same image. It is a paradox.
This paradox is important as essence can then be retained at the same time as flexibility, the Absolute with the Relative ( a both/and situation rather than either/or) which in any complex situation is valuable: whether it is in a social context where the individual can retain their own integrity at the same time as being congruent within society, in the human body where each organ is both part of a whole and the whole of smaller parts, or in the various intermingling of texts on a page. This understanding is immensely important in creating complex work, as when handling a vocabulary of different elements (each art form - music, dance etc will have its own ingredients) the correct threads and balances can more easily be orchestrated.
Paradox is important, as it fosters an economy of means, as each element contains both possibilities, thus restricting the number of elements needed to act in an unlimited number of ways, creating infinite diversity.