Flower of life

What it means

The pattern is pure geometry. Draw one circle, set the compass point on its edge and draw again, and the circles fall into a field of six-petalled flowers. Modern readings see in it the unity of all living things: a whole world grown from one simple rule.

Where it comes from

The oldest known example is carved on an Assyrian palace threshold, now in the Louvre. The six-petal rosette was a favourite of Roman mosaics and of medieval builders, and Alpine farmers carved it on houses as the sun of the Alps. Leonardo da Vinci studied its proportions in his notebooks.

In old English buildings the same rosette, called a daisy wheel or hexafoil, is scratched into beams and walls. Some historians read it as a protective mark, others as masons practising their geometry. The drawings at the Temple of Osiris in Abydos, often called the oldest, were added long after the temple was built.

At home

People hang the pattern as wall art, wear it as a pendant, or lay a crystal at its centre on a shelf. It sits well near a meditation corner, where its even rhythm gives the eye somewhere to rest.

The seven circles at its heart, the seed of life, are often used alone on smaller pieces. Drawn by hand, the full pattern takes ten unhurried minutes and a steady wrist, and that is part of its pleasure.

Choosing one

Look for even lines and true circles: the beauty of this pattern is its precision. Metal and wooden pieces need only a dry cloth.