Circles.

 

Why are we drawn to them so? What is it about the geometry of a circle that strums the ancient chords of our soul strings? Why are circles considered sacred among all peoples?

 

3.141592654    ∏    Pi is the first letter in the Greek word for Perimeter. Pi is the ratio between a circle's diameter and its circumference. We've known for over 4,000 years the mathematical formula for this elusive and yet inclusive shape but even our most powerful super computers cannot find the end of this infinite form.

 

Perhaps we recognize or remember somehow through the eons of our collective DNA, the memory of infinity's fact      there is no beginning and there is no end.

 

Home from work Saturday, I found my wife reconstructing her Sacred Circle. Summer's floods had weakened the carefully stacked stone walls. Lynn sat patiently, with artist's eye, reconstructing her personal Place of Peace. She retreats there often. Morning found us climbing into our circular cedar wood fired hot tub to welcome the sunrise. The big orange orb fit perfectly into its reflection. Not a bad way to start the day    which, come to think of it, is kind of circular as well.

 

Sunrises and sunsets are you and I standing on the circle of Earth facing forward to tomorrow or backwards as today slips away.

 

I am drawn to circles and draw them into building plans. The curves are Yin counter-balances to Yang's heavier handed structure. Circles seem complete, holding things inside yet, they remain endless. Clients often favor rounded rooms. They feel at home in a circle's embrace and "Home" feels homier and rounder than "house" because

 

You can hear the sound of a circle. It's the hum of the Aborigine whirling a flat tethered stick, a silhouetted song against a full moaning moon. It's the Ohmm of a Buddhist's meditation. It's the Glory in Hallelujah. It's the sound a scientist hears when his radio telescope is focused on the Big Bang.

 

"In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was God." G. O. D. Now say the word "Word". It feels like an "O", que no? Your mouth forms a circle when you say it, oh, and the air moves to a very particular vibration. Pi has a vibration. Say the sound of a circle.

 

You can taste a circle. A perfect Merlot is praised as "Round". Taste the wetness of all of it on your tongue and cheeks and around your teeth. The ruddy redness penetrates the roof of your mouth, spiraling up your nasal cavity until you taste a circle.

 

The strings of our souls indeed know circles. Circles vibrate our very beings. They sing to us. Put on your Eagle's wings and soar above CastleRock Texas. You'll look down and see many Magic Circles. Listen to them. Taste them. Feel them hug you.

Marley Porter