The Triskelion.
I have been intrigued by patterns since I was a child. Maybe it was my artistic background. Maybe it is why I became an artist in the first place. Maybe it was my love of nature. I’m not really sure. I do know that there are patterns to everything. Even the things that we think have no pattern are either collections of many smaller patterns or are fragments of larger patterns.
In the conceptual sense, there are patterns that are not seen but understood. Patterns are then in literally everything from finance to geology to relationships to medicine. It is the true genius that can see the larger pattern and understand it.
These are the people who are the trendsetters, the visionaries, the leaders in their field. I don’t claim to be one of these individuals by any means, but I can appreciate it.
I don’t want to get too esoteric here today. Suffice it to say that we are surrounded by patterns every day. Once you are keyed in to looking for patterns you will see them everywhere.
Now what in the world does this have to do with Permaculture? Permaculture is all about design. When we design, we use patterns. Sometimes we don’t realize we are using a pattern. We may think we are just placing a path based on the way the land slopes. In reality we are creating a pattern.
Today I am going to focus on spiral patterns. These patterns would be amazing templates for gardens, orchards, forests, paths, waterways, anything you can think of. Here are some of my favorite:
Variation of the Triquetra known as the Trinity Knot.
Variation of the Celtic Knot.
Variation of the Chi Rho.
Nautilus Shell.
Spiral Aloe.
Millipede.
Sunflower.
Hurricane Isabel.
Romanesco Cauliflower.
A Fingerprint.
Labyrinth at Barvaux (Duruy), Belgium
The Herb Spiral.
