How the World Is Made: The Story of Creation according to Sacred Geometry [Hardcover]

John Michell (Author), Allan Brown (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2009

Understanding the role of sacred geometry in cosmology and human affairs

• Explains how ancient societies that grasped the timeless principles of sacred geometry were able to create flourishing societies

• Illustrates the social and spiritual values in the natural progression of number

• Contains more than 300 full-color drawings showing the interplay of number and sacred geometry

Galileo described the universe as a large book written in the language of mathematics, which can only be read by those with knowledge of its characters--triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures. The laws of geometry are not human inventions. They are found ready-made in nature and hold a truth that is the same in all times and all places and is older than the world itself.

In How the World Is Made John Michell explains how ancient societies that grasped the timeless principles of sacred geometry were able to create flourishing societies. His more than 300 full-color illustrations reveal the secret code within these geometrical figures and how they express the spiritual meanings in the key numbers of 1 through 12. For example, the number 8 and its octagon are symbols of peace and stability, the holy 7 and its seven-sided figure are connected to the world-soul. He identifies the various regular shapes and shows their constructions; their natural symbolism; their meetings, matings, and ways of breeding; and their functions within the universal order. Some are musical and structural, others relate to life and humanity. In the process of making these discoveries, Michell helps us see the world in a new light. Disparate shapes and their corresponding numbers are woven together, resolving themselves into an all-inclusive world image--that “pattern in the heavens,” as Socrates called it, “which anyone can find and establish within themselves.”

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Readers interested in sacred geometry or in Michell's eclectic body of writings will likely be attracted to this book. . . . may also want to recommend it to those studying numerology."
(Janine DePaulo, New Age Retailer, Holiday 2009 )

"Those willing to follow along on this enchanted path will find themselves filled with wonder, and a new way of seeing the world."
(Robert Simmons, The Metaphysical Buyers Guide, Holiday 2009 )

"This is a delightful book: clear, witty, beautiful, and illuminating. It is well worth buying for yourself--and for your friends."
(Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist and author of  A New Science of Life, The Spectator, Jan 2010 )

". . . a beautifully illustrated geometry primer with philosophical commentary. . . . Michell's finest prose--cool, succinct, and rational . . . a time-capsule of ancient wisdom that will eventually find it's way to those ready to receive it. . . . attractive and accessible . . . eventually some future Pythagoras will pick it up and gasp in wonder . . ." (Steve Marshall, Fortean Times, Dec 2009 )

" . . . a ravishing book. . . . John [Michell] was the most contented man I ever knew, and a wise philosopher to boot . . ."
(Candida Lycett Green, Country Life, Nov 2009 )

". . . looks at how these patterns underlie our whole world since ancient times. . . . a fascinating book."
(Prediction Magazine online, Dec 2009 )

"His [John Michell] approach serves both as a reconnection with the sacred and as a corrective to the present state of alienation throughout the world."
(Richard D. Wright, New Age Retailer, October 2010 )

“. . . a brilliant way to introduce the mathematically inclined youth to Sacred Geometry.”
(EarthRites.org, May 2011 )

From the Inside Flap

SACRED GEOMETRY / ANCIENT MYSTERIES

How the World Is Made

Galileo described the universe as a large book written in the language of mathematics, which can only be read by those with knowledge of its characters--triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures. The laws of geometry are not human inventions. They are found ready-made in nature and hold a truth that is the same in all times and all places and is older than the world itself.

In How the World Is Made, John Michell explains how ancient societies that grasped the timeless principles of sacred geometry were able to create flourishing societies. His more than 300 full-color illustrations reveal the secret code within these geometrical figures and how they express the spiritual meanings in the key numbers of 1 through 12. For example, the number 8 and its octagon are symbols of peace and stability, the holy 7 and its seven-sided figure are connected to the world soul. He identifies the various regular shapes and shows their constructions; their natural symbolism; their meetings, matings, and ways of breeding; and their functions within the universal order. Some are musical and structural, others relate to life and humanity. In the process of making these discoveries, Michell helps us see the world in a new light. Disparate shapes and their corresponding numbers are woven together, resolving themselves into an all-inclusive world image--that “pattern in the heavens,” as Socrates called it, “which anyone can find and establish within themselves.”

JOHN MICHELL (1933-2009), educated at Eton and Cambridge, was the pioneer researcher and specialist in the field of ancient, traditional science. He is the author of more than 40 books that have profoundly influenced modern thinking, including The Dimensions of Paradise, The New View over Atlantis, and The Sacred Center.

ALLAN BROWN is an illustrator who specializes in sacred geometrical figures. He lives in Brighton.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Inner Traditions (October 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594773246
• ISBN-13: 978-1594773242
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Divination > Numerology
  • #52 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Mysticism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sacred Universal Order, February 7, 2010

By 

Julie Clayton "Julie Clayton ~New Consciousne... (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How the World Is Made: The Story of Creation according to Sacred Geometry (Hardcover)

Something ancient stirred within me the moment I saw the cover of this book. Not surprising really, since sacred geometry is a nature-made creation story that predates language, homo sapiens, or even the world itself. According to Galileo, "the `grand book' of the universe was written in the language of mathematics and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is impossible to understand a single word of it."

What makes sacred geometry sacred, is that it connects us with the only world order "in which human nature can happily exist...the cosmological expression of ideal harmony and proportion which constituted the base behind every ancient lasting civilization."

This book is beautifully written and contains over 300 color drawings that illustrate the archetypal patterns that numbers and shapes represent, and how they illuminate social and spiritual development, both in contemporary and historical worlds.

As someone who is mathematically functional, but not sophisticated, there is perhaps more "mathematics" explained in this book than I enjoy or appreciate. But this is a personal bias and in no way reflects the quality of information, knowledge, and wisdom offered in this fascinating and compelling look at sacred universal order.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intellegent Insights, April 6, 2011

By 

Robert N. Taylor "Secular Scholar" (Appalacian Mountains) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How the World Is Made: The Story of Creation according to Sacred Geometry (Hardcover)

This beautifully crafted book is a fitting tribute to the lifetime authorship of John Michell (1933-2009)

The books of John Michell were something I grew up with. My father's library contained all of Michell's works that were in print at the time. Later in adulthood I continued to follow his writings as they emerged. He has certainly left a legacy of some intelligent insights. This final volume deals with the arcane subject of sacred geometry, something that was more or less invested in all of his writings. Here you will find the underlying principles that informed much of his writing and thought over the years.

Lavishly illustrated with his geometric art and text, I am sure this will be a book I will return to for reference for many years to come.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In a word: Indispensable, December 13, 2010

By 

king wolf (Jotunheim) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How the World Is Made: The Story of Creation according to Sacred Geometry (Hardcover)

What a paradox. At the very bottom of the Iron Age, the Kali Yuga, that is modernity, the greatest wisdom mankind ever achieved is slowly re-emerging and being made available to anyone with an internet connection and a credit card.

Perhaps it is not a paradox, but simply the barest beginning of the inevitable reversal of the great cycle. Precious few things can give one such hope, but recent developments in the sacred science of measure is one of them. Of course there can be nothing to invent in this area, but there is much to discover, and once discovered it is impossible to ever disagree about, for it is mathematically precise and completely objective - literally as much so as a Euclidian proof.

Case in point: the work of John Michell. While my own take on what has come to be called "sacred geometry" is a little different from its organization in this book, there is no denying that the subject matter herein is the most important subject there is; indeed it the only subject to which a serious person can devote himself. This book, by itself, is worth more than whole libraries of new age and pseudo-occult deviations that pass as wisdom among the uninitiated. For an obvious example, I would not trade this book for the complete works of Blavatsky, Crowley, Gurdjieff and their ilk.

Place this one alongside Lawlor's textbook, alongside Schwaller's Temple of Man, alongside the Wooden Books series, as the highest level of thought to which modern man can aspire. Oh, and the physical quality of this volume is superb as well. To say I recommend that you purchase it would obviously be both redundant and an understatement.