Dear Curiosity Journal,
My curiosity has carried me down a spiral rabbit hole. This geometric motif has been a ubiquitous feature in art since the Upper Paleolithic age and in nature even longer. The spiral has been used as a metaphor for time, consciousness, the human nervous system, seasons, math, the sun, the portal to the spirit world, cycles, life, eternity, and infinity. How do we begin to make sense of this abstract universality? We hypothesize that it was a calendrical device which enabled the calculation of the length of the year, lunar cycles, and the solstice and equinox solar alignments. Others speculate that the spiral has neurological origins, related to the anatomical and neurophysiological nature of our visual cortex. According to paleoanthropologists, spirals were a prevalent shape reported in trances, hallucinations, shamanic journeys, and other altered states of consciousness. What causes a universal pattern to emerge? What is the symbolic significance of this geometric configuration across time and space? This design has captivated the human psyche for ages, and I continue to marvel every time one appears in my own line of vision.
~Joy