I stood like a dwarfed creature in the middle of the giant sequoias in California some months ago, watching the late sun throw golden shapes onto the woods. The impressive trees stood tall with elegant pride. And then it hit me—how orderly the world feels when we stop to observe it. Not just emotionally or spiritually but physically.
The curve of the horizon, the arc of a bird in flight, the spiral of a rosebud—it all feels intentional. That moment reminded me of something I’d once read: that numbers and shapes form the language of creation. It’s not just math. It’s meaning.
The ancient world had a name for this awe-inspiring wonder: sacred geometry.
The Geometry of the Divine
Sacred geometry is the idea that specific shapes and numbers have spiritual significance. They reflect creation’s underlying order. Ancients long held that behind every natural design is the divine blueprint.
Think of the triangle, the circle, the square. These aren’t just human inventions. They’re embedded in the architecture of life. From the petals of a flower to the layout of the Great Pyramids, these forms whisper of a mind more significant than ours, weaving unity into the seemingly random.
Long before calculators, people stood in awe before the stars, measured time by moon phases, and drew mandalas in the sand. For them, shapes weren’t just beautiful—they were sacred.
Numbers: The Spiritual Building Blocks
As we move from the shapes that define the visible world to the numbers that underline them, we uncover another layer of sacred geometry. If sacred geometry is the alphabet of the creaturely order, numbers are its vocabulary. Each one resonates with a spiritual significance. Here’s how I understand a few of them. Details of each of the numbers from 1 to 10 will follow, as the weeks progress.
1, 2, 3
One symbolizes the beginning, unity, and source, for every count begins with one.With two comes tension—and beauty. Day and night, body and soul, darkness and light, heaven and earth, birth and death. The number 2 represents contrast and the dance of relationship. Three completes the minimum for a structure: the triangle. In Christian tradition, it’s the Trinity—Father, Son, Spirit.
4, 5, 6
The Number 4 grounds us—four seasons, four elements, four directions; it speaks of stability and earthly things. Picture the square—firm, reliable, unmoving. There is yet the number 5, humanity and growth. It is the number of our senses, our fingers, our toes. Often tied to the golden ratio, it is found in art, music, and even the branching of trees.
Ancients loved it. It captured the complexity and creativity of human life. Biblical depiction of creation indicates what needs noticing about the number 6. The world was made in six days. The hexagon shows up in honeycombs, snowflakes, and the structure of crystals. It’s the number of work, design, and function.
7, 8, 9
Seven is a mystery. It appears in Scripture—like the seven days of creation and the seven churches in Revelation. God rests on the seventh day, Scripture says, and it is symbolic of rest. In nature, it appears in the moon’s phases and the rainbow’s seven colors. It is woven into ritual, marking spiritual completion and divine rhythm. It’s not easily pinned down; perhaps that’s why it’s so spiritually rich.
The number 8 turns back on itself. It is about a new octave and a new beginning. In Christian symbolism, eight is the number of resurrection and rebirth. Baptismal fonts are often octagonal to reflect the idea of starting again—renewal.
Nine signals the end of a cycle and carries the energy of culmination. In the human biological process, the nine-month period of pregnancy and birth reflects its deep resonance with life. The nine fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22–23 point to spiritual maturity and completeness. The number nine is indeed worthy of attention.
10
Then comes number 10—divine order and law. Ten speaks of wholeness with authority. Think of the Ten Commandments, the base-10 system, and the tithe. It often signals completion with structure and governance.
Signs of the Sacred All Around Us
Once you begin to look, you’ll see sacred geometry everywhere. It’s in the spiral of a galaxy and the spiral of your own DNA. The arch of a rainbow and the design of Gothic cathedrals reveal it. It’s in the symmetry of a sunflower and the proportions of the human body.
Mystics, artists, designers, and architects alike have leaned into this mystery—mystics through meditative symbols, artists through anatomical and visual proportion, and architects through sacred structures designed to lift the human soul toward the divine.
Da Vinci studied it. Michelangelo carved it. Picasso saw its simplicity. Churches and temples were built on their beauty rules and to draw the soul heavenward.
Why It Matters
While some dismiss it as coincidence, I’ve seen it as a quiet language of intention—evidence of a deeper harmony embedded in creation. It inspired me as I designed tech for faith rituals, and its language is audacious and precise.
If God created the world, wouldn’t it make sense that his signature is hidden in its very form? Doesn’t it make sense that we who participate in the divine life draw from this creative power and replicate the experience of these numbers in our little ways?
Sacred geometry reminds me that the world isn’t just functional—it’s reverent. It’s birthing and creative.
