Sacred Geometry In The Age Of Pisces: The Vesica Piscis

We currently live in the Age of Pisces, the Fish. Simply put, that means that for the last 2000 years give or take a bit, the sun sets with the constellation Pisces as it’s backdrop in the heavens.

Sacred geometry is based on the idea that geometric shapes, as they appear in nature and as they may be constructed by human art, are a means by which mystics aim to teach the secrets of the universe to those who wish to know.  Symbols are, after all, a language in and of themselves.

The sacred geometric shape that we are going to look at here is called a “Vesica Piscis”, translated literally it means a “fish bladder.”  The Vesica Piscis is made by linking two cicles together, bringing the outside edge of each to the midway point of the other.  The almond-shaped center of the image is called a mandorla (Latin for almond).

As shown here, the overlapping area shared by the two circles drawn through each other’s centers at top and bottom defines the Vesica Piscis”.  Why is it of any importance to us?  This shape helped give the gothic cathedrals their compelling vertical thrust, and this shape appears in countless other images from Islamic as well as Christian art.

The Vesica Piscis forms the “eye” shape created by the overlapping of two identical circles so that the center of each falls on the perimeter of the other.  It was used in the floorplans of numerous late Renaissance and early Baroque cathedrals as an alternative to the usual rectangular, round, or cross-shaped floorplans.

This is the Vesica Piscis:
Take a look at this photo of an arched cathedral wall:
Let’s look at the  Vesica Piscis again:

Now, let’s turn it on it’s side and add a little something:

It kind of looks a little like this:

Now you know!

Many mystical and spiritual practicioners, including Architects and designers draw upon concepts of sacred geometry when they choose particular forms to create new symbols.  Where else have you seen the Vesica Piscis in your daily life? 

How about here?

Not clear enough for you?  Take a look at a much earlier version:

God’s self-expression in the creation of matter, the two circles symbolize spirit and body, and the zone where they overlap is the intersection of the spiritual and the physical. 

The link between the Fish and Christianity came from the early centuries of the Christian movement, when believers who wished to stay well hidden from persecutors would signal subtly through the sign of the fish because the Greek ichthys is an anagram for the words meaning “Jesus Christ, God and Savior.” As everyone knows, some of the original disciples of Jesus were fishermen, he empowered all his devoted followers to be “fishers of men,” and one of the Latin titles still used by the pope of Rome is Piscator, “the Fisherman.”

Stay tuned, there is much more to come…