World Religions > Christianity
Spirals in Language
spirit (noun) c.1250, primary definitions: an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms
Spirit derives from the Latin spiritus (breath) and the verb spirare (to blow or breathe)
(from Merriam-Webster)
spire (noun) has roots in both Old English and Latin and Greek:
Old English (pre-12th century): a tapering roof or analogous pyramidal construction surmounting a tower, from spīr
Latin and Greek (1545): spiral or coil, from the Latin spira and the Greek speira
(from Merriam-Webster)
Latin Roots
Spiral
Spirit
Spiritus
Anglo-Saxon Roots
Spire (church spire)
Spire (plant stem or blade of grass)
Spire/Spear
Copenhagen, Denmark
Turn, Turn, Turn
This song by the Byrds (music by Pete Seeger, words adapted from the Bible, Book of Ecclesiastes) reflects the idea that the pattern of life, marked by the events described in Ecclesiastes, is an endlessly revolving cycle.
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to build up,a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear its not too late
Simple Gifts
“Simple Gifts” is a Shaker hymn written in 1848. The hymn speaks of turning as spiritual practice and the path to redemption.
'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham’d.
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come round right.
The Downward Spiral:
Tower of Babel & Descent into Hell
The spiral is not only a symbol of enlightenment but also a potent metaphor for chaos, dissolution, and decay.
The Tower of Babel is one of the most famous symbols for the yearning to reach god, manifested through the construction of spiral buildings. The demise of the Tower also represents the inescapable forces of dissolution and death that are the fate of all spiral structures—and everything in the universe, for that matter—including the majestic galaxies that spin for billions of years. Everything that spirals eventually spirals out of control.
Church Spires
Church spires have two main symbolic functions. By reaching up toward the skies, they summon the congregation to worship and send their prayers up to God. The church spire also represents a large spear and is meant to give the impression of military strength.
Spiral pathway to Jerusalem, from a 19th century edition of Pilgrim's Progress
Click for large Image
Illuminated manuscript
from Berthold Missal, Germany
Early 13th Century
Look closely and you can see the letter T, which symbolizes the cross and, in this illustration, the tree of knowledge.
Christ Disputing with the Doctors
Detail of painting by Butihnone
Italy, 15th Century
The tower of Saint Ivo della Sapenzia
Designed by architect Francesco Boromini, Rome, Italy, 1650's
The spiral tower represents an ascending path to God, topped by a crown of fire, which represents enlightenment.
Map of Dante's Inferno
Sandro Bottecelli, Florence, Italy, 1480s
The Tower of Babel by Athanasius Kircher,
17th century German Jesuit scholar
The Confusion of Tongues
Gustave Doré, France, 1865
It is thought that Doré conceived this representation of the Tower of Babel based on the extant Minaret of Samarra.
The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder
The Netherlands, 1563
Eve Tempted by the Serpent by William Blake (above)
England, 1799-1800
Blake based his painting on the temptation scene from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament and on John Milton's “Paradise Lost” (1667). In the story of Adam and Eve, the serpent, typically depicted in its signature curves and coils, represents evil. It tempts Eve to eat the forbidden apple, leading God to banish Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
Jacob's Ladder by William Blake
Jacob's Ladder, shown here as a winding staircase, is a concept from the Old Testament. In Christian theology, it is symbolic of man's journey through life as well as his ascension to heaven.
Female Serpent
Detail from Michelangelo’s
Fall and
Expulsion of
Adam and Eve,
1510, Fresco, Sistine Chapel, Rome
Eve Tempted by the Serpent by William Blake (right)
Blake re-explores the temptation scene in this 1807 pencil drawing.
No apple is visible; instead, the snake is shown coiled around Eve’s body. "Embraces are comminglings from the Head even to the Foot," Blake wrote.
Bishops Crook
Crozier with Serpent Devouring a Flower,
circa 1200–1220
Limoges, France
As early as the sixth century, the pastoral staff,
or crozier, conveyed the authority of a bishop, abbot, or abbess. The volute of this elegant example is in the form of a serpent grasping an enameled flower in its mouth. It alludes to the rod of Moses that, in the presence of Pharaoh, miraculously turned into a serpent at God’s command as well as to the flowering rod of Aaron, the symbol of his election to the priesthood by God.(see Exodus 7:9–12; Numbers 17:6–8).
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