Excerpts from Symbols and the Question of Unity* (1975)
‘Basics of Symbols, the Language of Unity’
by Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet (Thea)
The Circle is truly the most beautiful of symbols, the most perfect of forms. It contains all the Knowledge and from it we can understand everything in creation, because as a symbol it represents Creation itself, the Divine Mother, the complete Manifestation.
It is the representation of a unified multiplicity, and at the same time therefore it is the symbol of Unity, because we cannot conceive of unity without the ingredient of multiplicity. Beyond all this, the Circle indicates to us not only outer creation but that which is its very breath and essence, the substance of the entire Manifestation, and thus it is for us the closest symbolic representation of Consciousness, and of Love. If we can capture the essence of Love in a symbol, it can only be done by the Circle.
It is the representation of a unified multiplicity, and at the same time therefore it is the symbol of Unity, because we cannot conceive of unity without the ingredient of multiplicity. Beyond all this, the Circle indicates to us not only outer creation but that which is its very breath and essence, the substance of the entire Manifestation, and thus it is for us the closest symbolic representation of Consciousness, and of Love. If we can capture the essence of Love in a symbol, it can only be done by the Circle.
Hence the Circle is the only means for representing the Divine Mother in symbol form to man, because her essence is Love, the essence of Creation is Love, and all things arise, progress, evolve within and return to the origin of Love. She is Consciousness.
By dwelling in silence on the symbol and all its possible divisions, we can receive the true knowledge and wisdom, because it is all contained therein, – and as we penetrate its secrets, or better said, as it reveals its many faces, we come to realise that all forms are contained in the Circle, all emanate from it, all ultimately evolve into it, in it there is neither beginning nor end, nor any one stage of its progression which is outstanding or prevalent over the Whole. It is a total and unified, simultaneous movement, where without the vision of unity and wholeness, its secrets can never come forth, because its secret is Unity.
The 360° of its face are only understood when each degree is known to contain the entire 360°, and each degree within those 360° within that degree, again contains the whole 360°, and so on into infinity and eternity. Therefore it is the symbol of the Infinite and Eternal in Manifestation. It contains the knowledge of that which carries us beyond time and space. It is the Eternal Now.
The Circle is Perfection because it gives birth and growth to all things and knows the precise place and position of all things within the All, each element being in perfect relation to each other element, for each thing is made perfect by the consciousness of its place and meaning and indispensability in the symphony of the Whole. The Circle gives us the understanding of the rightness of all things, which is Perfection.
Its number is 9. ...
[Thea goes on to discuss the square, the triangle and the line, all born of the circle, and then the Point or Dot.]
Here we have the final symbol, the Dot, or Point, which represents the absorption of the All, of Creation, into its Origin. The Point is therefore the Origin. It is material creation sucked back into the Source, a dissolving of the manifestation into the ocean of its Origin. The Dot is thus equal to the Circle. It is the Circle, just as each degree or dot of the Circle represents the entire Circle, and consequently the Dot contains all and any possibility of manifestation of creation. The Circle cannot be comprehended without the knowledge of the Dot, and likewise the Dot is the key to the Circle. Both are equal and the entire display of symbols between the two represents the various stages in the play between the Father (Point) and the Mother (Circle).
The number of the Point is Zero, and as the Point breathes out the Circle which contains all the forms, so the 0 contains all the possibilities of numbers. All numbers spring from the 0, none would have their being without this essential Naught. No number can be comprehended unless there is an understanding of the 0. But the 0 and the 9 are equal, and with the understanding of either, there is the immediate understanding of the other. In this sense it is impossible to conceive of inhalation or exhalation separately as breath. Both constitute breath, and thus in this way we can say the Point represents the Divine Breath, and all the stages from this Point, through to the 9, or the circle, are different phases of the Supreme’s Breath.
We speak of the Point as the symbol of the divine Breath, but in reality it represents the suspension between inhalation and exhalation, the diastole, while the Circle is the suspension between the exhale and the inhale, the systole. The 0 Point sythesises the out-going movement, and the 9 or Circle synthesises the in-going. Both together are the fullest symbolic representation of Unity man can conceive of, and joined in this way they give us the symbol of the Sun, our representation of the Divine, in the realm of Ideas as well as in the physical universe.
As symbols they are equal, and also numerologically they are equal. In between them there are the Square, the Triangle, and the Line, or the numbers 4, 3 and 2, which together also equal 9. As numbers, these contain the wisdom of the Ages.
It is this key therefore, the 9 – and its silent partner, the 0 – which is capable of unraveling the mysteries of the Universe, the knowledge of the Divine Mother, and the essence of Unity. …
© Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, 1973-75
*All the articles but two of [Symbols and the Question of Unity] have appeared in Mother India, the monthly cultural review of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, India, from January, 1973 to January, 1974
Additional Notes: The first 3 images are as portrayed in the original. I have added the last image of the Sun Symbol and Circle of 9. Symbols and the Question of Unity includes further discussion of the Circle of 9, the enneagram and the 9 planets of our solar system. Here is an image from page 125 of SQU wherein the 9 planets are seen in relation to the 9 numbers of the our number system, and the Circle of 9. Note that the root base of the symbol of Pluto, the 9th planet, is the Sun Symbol itself ... the Sun is the 0 of the system.
