Illustration by Leslie Watkins

April, Sacred Geometry
By Leslie Watkins

As we start thinking of the beautiful new gardens we will create this year, we wonder where will they be located, what size will they be, and what shape? What will they look like? What will they mean? The ancient walled gardens of Persia were designed to be experienced as earthly paradise. They featured precious water as the main theme, in rills and founts. The four quadrants represented the world and the four rivers of Eden. Light and shade were integral to the overall design. Imagine the contrast of the hot, arid landscape to the relief these shady cool retreats provided. More than a collection of plants and water features, many underlying designs were based on sacred geometry and divine proportion.

Plato studied geometry and developed what are known as the Platonic Solids, three dimensional geometric forms associated with the four classical elements. Aristotle added a fifth shape to symbolize ether, and made connections between the solids and philosophy that occur throughout nature and the cosmos. Aristotle, Pythagoras and his wife Theano used the golden mean, the desirable middle between two extremes, to symbolize balance. This concept is found in Buddhism as the “Middle Way” and is also observed in the Christian, Islamist and Jewish theologies.

Found in every culture throughout history from the ancient Persians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese and Mayans, great design begins with mathematics. The golden mean is found in the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Great Mosque of Kairouan, the Parthenon (also reflected in the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC), Notre Dame de Paris, the Taj Mahal and perhaps even in pre-columbian buildings built by the Mayans.

The golden mean is in virtually every example of classical art from architecture, sculpture to painting. The Greeks regarded it as aesthetically pleasing, a mathematical expression of beauty, harmony and truth. Beauty was an expression of love and the Greeks incorporated it into their lives through architecture, education and even politics.

The golden ratio is based on the mathematical formula “Phi” and is found throughout nature, geometry and science. Mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci discovered the unique properties of the Fibonacci sequence around 1200. This sequence relates to the golden ratio. If you take any two successive Fibonacci numbers, their ratio is very close to the golden ratio. We see these shapes reflected in natural design as seen in the chambered nautilus, sunflowers, pinecones, honeycomb, cabbage, insect eyes and even in the human form.

DaVinci’s drawing of the Vitruvian Man is a system of measurement demonstrating the geometric proportions found in classical architecture. The drawing is named in honor of the architect Vetruvio and relates man to nature. It implies the symmetry of the human form as a symbol of the universe as a whole.

We can incorporate these great ideas into the layout of our own garden designs. Meditation gardens, sacred mazes, gardens at Versailles, Victorian garden displays, medieval cloisters, temple and church gardens all feature some form of the golden mean. Why not create a space where you can contemplate the mysteries of the ages, while picking herbs for tonight’s dinner? As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts”.

April Garden Checklist

Start your pepper, tomato and broccoli seeds

Remove winter coverings

Rake out beds and add compost

Put up cleaned out birdhouses

Bring in some pussy willows and forsythia

Plant cold tolerant peas, spinach and onions

Plant roses and lily bulbs

Clean up twigs and branches

Put a pot of pansies out

Take a walk and discover what’s unfolding!