Sacred Geometry
Garden Shapes - Do You Prefer Square or Round ?

Configuration - Why are things shaped the way there are?

From Neolithic times, architecture has served mankind’s emotional and spiritual as well as practical needs. Buildings therefore chronicle our developing thoughts about ourselves and the world, and reflect our higher aspirations.

The dimensions of many structures, particularly sacred ones, have been strongly influenced by the symbolic meanings of form. Architects believed hat by following certain geometric guidelines, their works would become infused with sacred power.

The traditional teachings of many religions propose the idea of the body as a temple of the spirit, created by the divine architect. Believing that the human form in some way mirrors the proportions of the macrocosm, early architects have used it as a template for their designs.

Many churches were laid out in the form of the human form, with arms outstretched. The Universal Man carries great symbolic significance to the concept of basing architectural proportions to that of the human body. The Bible tells us that God made Man “in his own image”, thus man’s body is held to be a reflection of the structure of the universe.

Geometrically, the Golden Mean reflects the essence of sacred architecture.

“Psychologists have notes that mandala-like shapes are drawn spontaneously in psychotherapy by people with no grounding in eastern mysticism such drawings are thought to represent an attempt by the conscious self to recognize and integrate unconscious knowledge.”

Sacred geometry is the understanding of the meaning behind various shapes in our world, the square, circle, triangle to name the basics. Each shape represents several levels of meaning.

A square represents solidity, wholeness and completion, a perfection that is static, earthly and material. It connotes dependability, honesty, shelter, safety. It also represents the four cardinals points, the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) and the four seasons. It is the most frequent shape in Hindu symbology (as in the Yantra), it stands for order in the universe and the balance of opposites.

The triangle reflects the number three, which underlies all aspects of creations: mind- body-spirit, birth-life-death, past- present-future and the Trinity (Father-Son-Holy Spirit) which occurs in many religions, symbolizing unity in diversity. Pointing upward, the triangle stands for ascent to heaven, fire, the active male principle; reversed, it symbolizes grace descending from heaven, water, the passive feminine element.

The circle represents infinity; perfection and the eternal, often used a symbol of God.
The Template Design is based on the Mandala/Yantra structure. The square is the basis of the garden infrastructure. The phenomenal world extends in four directions. There se four directions represent the totality of space and they bind the earth in order. The square too is the simplest and perfect manifestation of the number four, by virtue of the perfect, equal lines bounding its form. Hence, it is visualized as the perfect symbol to denote the terrestrial world.

This mundane, physical world is the one which must be transcended by spiritual practice. The square pattern has four gates, one in each of the cardinal directions. They are known as cosmic doors because it is through them that the aspirant symbolically enters to Yantra. They represent the passage from the earthly realm to the inner sacred space of the Yantra.

These gates are in initiatory threshold which simultaneously opposes the phenomenal and embraces to numeral. These gates may also be guarded by divine forces which protect the sacred precinct within from negative and disintegrating forces.

The outermost square sanctuary has a landing before each of it’s our gates. This is a two dimensional representation of a low flight of steps leading up from the ground to the raised floor of the sanctuary. This sanctuary is the seat of the divinity. This is exactly the model on which various temples are built. Hence each “site” becomes a symbolic temple.

Once the spiritual seeker enters the square enclosure, and starts moving toward the center, the symbol of the flowering lotus represents the awakening of his/her consciousness to its maximum potential. As the journey progresses, the adept encounters the various aspects of manifestation inherent in nature, symbolized, by the male and female principles (the triangles) . These are bounded within a circle. This symbolizes that all reality is confined within these concepts.

The journey toward the center encompasses both distance and the course of time. This space time continuum is represented by the straight line. Finely, the devotee reaches the center, the reservoir of all knowledge and the final goal of his journey. But the spiritual awareness generated within him during his penetrations to the central essence makes him realize that is the point is nothing but the center of his own heart, the innermost realm of this being. This realization is the ultimate aim of the experience of the Spiritual Garden.

The circle has significant meaning as well as the square and rectangle. As an image of eternity - often pictured as a snake with its tail in its mouth - the circle also symbolized the cyclical nature of life, the wheel that is ever turning. Because it echoes the shapes of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, earth, the circle has always stood for the cosmic order and the spirit that animates the cosmos.

The circle is emblematic of heaven whereas the square is more at the earth plane and thus represents a more grounding element for the garden. The circle is not necessarily tossed out of consideration for the “shape” of the garden, but the square because of its ability to related to the earthly cardinal directions, the sun, moon and seasons is more appropriate as the basis for the garden template.

The circle is more ephemeral, but is significant more in its symbolism rather than its physical as aspect of creating an enclosure or defining a space. More complex gardens may be enclosed by a square or rectangle while a circle may form the focal point, the center, or be the configuration of the pathways around the center.

John Stuart Leslie is creator and founder of Virtual Garden Designer. Now you can work with an experienced landscape desiger online to have your garden or landscape designed professionally with ease and convenience. He holds a Master's degree in Landscape Architecture and has been a landscape designer and contractor for over 20 years.