This month's full moon altar celebrates a powerful spiritual symbol rather than a goddess per se. The Sacred Spiral of Life is found in multiple spiritual traditions, including that of the Divine Feminine. So many things in "life, the universe and everything" feature a spiral shape, it almost seems to be one of Nature's common "factory settings" --
My February altar reflects as many spiral items as I could gather from around my home --
I've had the batik spiral altar cloth for many years. My large gold spiral decor accent piece was purchased in a local flower and gift shop.
My Rare One painted this spiral Serpent of Wisdom on a river rock about a dozen years ago. She graciously loaned it to me for this altar.
I found this mother-of-pearl spiral shell in a Winnipeg curio shop about 30 years ago. I have always loved it! It was featured on a previous altar as well.
At the centre of the altar is a spiral arrangement of Goddess Prayer Beads which my sister beaded for me a few years ago. The different coloured beads represent the three aspects of the Divine Feminine -- Maiden (white), Mother (red) and Crone (black). The beads are anchored at either end with women's spirituality symbols -- a gemstone pentacle inside a crescent moon at the beginning of the beads (Alpha) and a labrys double-headed axe at the end (Omega).
I include the next photo simply because I think it is an interesting light-and-shadow shot.
And to finish this post, here's one of my favourite internet photos of a Sacred Spiral expressed in stained glass and spiritual architecture -- stunning, isn't it?
[Photos # 7 to 11 © Debra She Who Seeks, January 2023; all others courtesy of the internet]
P.S. If you're keen for more info about those Goddess Prayer Beads, their symbolism and how they're used, I wrote a series of posts about them a few years ago, found here, here, here and here.
39 comments:
i love this altar. my daughter made a trip to utah just to see the spiral jetty.
Fibonacci lives! Yes, the spiral is everything. My favorite is the nautilus, which as it outgrows a section if shell, closes it and moves on, bigger, newer, on its spiral journey.
Lovely photos. Very nice alter. I decided to add a spiral ammonite fossil to mine to celebrate the month.
I always look forward to your Full Moons Altars. This one does not disappoint!
I hate to baring hard mathematics into the spiritual world, but the spiral is also known as the Fibonacci spiral, named for the thirteen century mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. The mathematical sequence that runs through all nature is a sequence where each number is the sum of the preceding two numbers.
Your alter is beautiful.
the Ol'Buzzard
@ pam nash -- Wonderful!
@ Ol'Buzzard -- That's great information! Thanks! Spiritual things are even better if they have a scientific foundation!
@ jaz@octoberfarm -- I had to look up Spiral Jetty but wow! Magnificent! Thanks for educating me today!
I do like a spiral! I especially like your photo of the spiral with the spiral shadow on the wall. Shadow pictures are always interesting. -Jenn
These are so beautiful and inspiring. There are some especially gifted women featured in this post.
This post reminds me of the oft-photographed Shaker spiral staircase from one of their largest meetinghouses in the U.S.... and knowing Shaker craftsmanship, there probably wasn't a single nail in it!
Perfection!!!
@ Tundra Bunny -- I had to look this up on the internet but wow, what beautiful workmanship! Thanks for telling me about it. Those Shakers, eh? They did nothing by halves.
I love the nautilus... lovely photos!
I love the last picture. I think I'll add something like that over my living room! HA!
I was just reading where the Fibonacci Sequence shows up in most things in life. The conch shell would be one of them.
I have sad feelings today. So i was ready to hear about spirals. Sure enough, even in here in my room there are spirals. I am one of those people who 'whom' admires ammonites, those spiraly fossil shells from the Time Before Us. I do feel sad today. It is not an emergency. I expect that like an ammonite, i will put on a another layer of experience. I feel sad.
I have food and wine,so maybe tomorrow will be a better day. I cant fix everything, i cant even fix myself. I really appreciate everyone, but today i have the blues.
Beautiful display of helixes. The spiral looks are just outstanding.
Love the sacred spiral They truly are everywhere in nature your alter looks amazing
Dear Ol Buzzard thanks. Sunflowers are the best example of this. Pinecones also show it. When you look around, spirals are everywhere. I have the blues today.
But yesterday, i forgot to tell you that a whole little gang of quails, i don't what their name is, i think they are called Gambels Quails in English, if i was speaking in Jaliscense, i would probably call them coturniz.
Anyway, i heard them rummaging around and calling to each other. They have a distinct sound. Ti TAhka, ti ta kah. So that was really nice. I have the blues today, i dont know how much longer i can carry this. But it was nice to see them. It was a special occasion.
Beautiful spirals!
I love Your Rare One's painting!
Love,
Janie
Just in case, you might be a space alien from Hain, courtesy of my favorite auntie. She made this whole story about Gethen, where... anyway she wrote this whole story. U K Leguin is the author. I think it is called "the lefthand of darkness". I love that story. In Utah, our books are censored. Texas looks like amateurs when it comes to censoring to books.
They don't use books over there.
@ Richard -- I hope your mood spirals upwards soon rather than downwards, my friend. Take care!
Had no idea there were so many spiral items. Found the post very interesting. Happy February to you.
An inspiring altar.
I have never noticed that so much of the world is spiral.
I love your altar cloth.
I missed the full moon again. Love the serpent.
You have a picture of a galaxy, but on a smaller scale (but still pretty big as far as we puny humans go) the solar system is a spiral, the planets spiraling around the sun, and if a planet has a moon or moons, then those will spiral around the planet. The planets themselves are thought to have been formed by spiraling space dust. And when sun finally burns out, it will turn into a black hole, and the whole of the solar system will spiral down into it, like water going down a drain.
1 3 5 8 13 21 33 - but I see I am not the first Fibonacci spiral in the thread
What lovely things!
My moon app chimed this morning to tell me it was precisely full moon time. Love it so.
How gorgeous, Debra! The large gold spiral piece is amazing. Perfect for this altar.
for the life of me I can't remember the book I read(loooong time ago)that described the spiral in plants seashells, etc..was fascinating..wish I could read the book again..jackie you dumb ass..
Such a beautiful altar. The spiral is such a mesmerizing shape and so essential to life. I love it when the spiritual and the scientific are in harmony.
E
This is for yellowdoggranny- can you please stop calling yourself a dumb ass? Show us the credentials, please. That kind of language might be fine and dandy in West, Texas.
It is not ok for you to call yourself a dumb ass.
There are many of us who live with actual asses.Not to mention our donkeys, burros and beasts of burden.
There is no way, jackiesue, that you can claim to be a dumb ass. I will blame this misunderstanding on the peculiar Texan dialect.
I have heard the spiral thing before
What a beautiful alter for this month! I've always been attracted to spirals and the stained glass is mesmerizing!
Love this post and your altar, Debra, even if it contains fiddleheads ~ lol! I am drawn to spirals which are often the Fibonacci spiral. Sometime I'd like to come back as a mathematician ~ lol.
Those windows are stunning! I do like using prayer beads in my practice too.
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