Vesica Piscis – The mother of all forms
Vesica Piscis – The mother of all forms
Two symbols function as seeds from which all geometric figures sprout: vesica piscis and mandorla.
Vesica Piscis is built from the intertwining of two circles with the same radius, being each one’s center on the other’s perimeter. It is estimated that humanity used it from the beginning, constituting the basis of Sacred Geometry. It is a simple, elementary form, from which, without complicated calculations, geometric figures of equal sides can be created, such as the triangle, the square, the pentagon, etc.
In Latin, Vesica means bag of air, which fish have in the abdomen so that they float, and piscis is fish, that is: fish bladder. Research indicates that the term vesica piscis arose during the early days of Christianity, when the image of two arcs drawn on the sand symbolized the Ichthus – the word “fish” in Greek. The Christians associated it with letters and syllables forming the phrase: Iesous Christos Theous Uious Soter, that is: Jesus Christ Son of God the Savior.
It’s also considered a symbol of early Christianity because it represented the fish, which was the product of the work of fishermen, the profession of some of Christ’s apostles. It was used as a secret communication code during the persecution of the Christians. When the apostles went out to preach and arrived at some location, they drew half the fish in the sand or clay: if there were Christians there, these completed the other half of the drawing and this way they were recognized by the apostles.
There are indications of the use of this geometric form from the Neolithic period to the Renaissance, in works of art, sculptures and constructions around the world. See some examples in the image gallery.
From the middle of Vesica Piscis, mandorla is born. The word comes from Italian and means almond. The shape is ogival and can be created without the need for complete representation of the two intertwined circles. It is present in the outline of almost all the images of saints in Christianity and in porticos in cathedrals, castles and temples around the world.
It is a drawing that, like other geometric shapes, has intrigued humanity for thousands of years by the knowledge contained in its traces and its mathematical proportions. Plato, a Greek philosopher, declared that the world was organized from forms and numbers, and the use of words was unnecessary.
For some authors, such an ancient form of Sacred Geometry as Vesica Piscis, consisting of the overlapping of two circles that interpenetrate in the same proportion, carries in itself the meaning of composition, completeness, union. Unchanged through time, Vesica Piscis exalts duality as a representation of the balance between simple and complex, dense and subtle, material and spiritual, being the seed for innumerable creations.
Wikipedia.org
– https://medium.com/the-collector/the-fascinating-iconography-of-vesica-piscis-5674bd834dd7
– Londontoolkit.com
– Instagram blog: sacred geometry
– osfantasticosnumerosprimos.com.br/005-texto-009-vesica-piscis-figuras-geometrica.html
– http://hdl.handle.net/10451/10249 – Tese de Mestrado em Belas Artes de Felipe Alberto Silva, da Universidade de Lisboa, datada de 2013: A figura da Mandorla e da Vesica Piscis: as suas possibilidades de construção.
– Blog: Astroteologia – Antonio Farjani
– Google Maps
– Holy Bible
