SPATIAL STRATEGIES SOLUTIONS

SPATIALITY

Now we have come to the part about what was it that made me feel like I did while standing at Meteora and at the Acropolis? One can assume it was the “spirit” of the two places, but by that nothing is really explained. That spirit, the genius loci, however complex it might be, is not a mystical power that exists by itself. It is born from interactions of space, time and society, and can be understood through analyzing the relations of these aspects.

In previous posts I have written about the values of two cultures that have shaped the genius loci of these places and the related imageries, and later on I interpreted the symbolic meaning of these imageries, the relative positions, the “spatial” relations of feminine and masculine principles in two cultures embodied in the two sacred places, describing the underlying patterns, through the symbols of the I Ching. These previous posts were about the appearance of a specific spatial strategy – the appreciation and depreciation of feminine principle by placing it “high” or “low” – in the immaterial domains of society and patterns of change in time. Now I would like to share the discovery of how this immaterial domains shape the material world, or how this spatial strategy appears in the real spatial dimension.

”Even the life and beauty of the most awe-inspiring great religious buildings came from the language their builders used." writes  Christopher Alexander in his great work Timeless Way of Building. So, let me show some of the words and sentences of Acropolis and the Meteora monasteries as I read them, as the words that express the relationships of feminine and masculine principles and create the specific genius loci of these two places. Of dimensions, styles, architectural elements and compositions many words have been written already. These are easy to find, so I will not repeat those. Here I would like to discuss the spatiality of the two places from the point of view of meanings and values materialized in spatial relations.

The first major spatial difference between these two sacred places can be found in their respective positions in relation to physical and social surroundings. Despite that both the Acropolis and Meteora are located on high places above plains – Acropolis on a rocky outcrop about 150 m high, and the Meteora monasteries on natural sandstone rock pillars with average elevation 313 m – their positions in relation to the surroundings are quite different.

The Acropolis stands in the middle of Athens, as it did from the ancient days of the city, marking and forming the city center along with 4 other hills. This group of hills is also in center of the central plain of Attica (Athens Basin or Attica Basin), bounded by four large mountains.

The spot is a place of worship and the natural center of the community, of the human settlement organized around it from Paleolithic times (6th millennium BC) as some suggest, but it is pretty sure that it was a central sacred spot from Mycenaean times (ca. 1600–1100 BC). And it seems that it was dedicated to the goddess protecting the city ever since the beginnings. The central high position of this spot linked to the adoration of a female deity in relation to the patriarchal society of the settlement surrounding the spot evokes the image of hexagram 11. T’ai – the yin high grounds, the yang low and the feminine high, the masculine low – of the I Ching, as I wrote in previous post.

The Meteora Monasteries were also built on high rock pillars, but unlike the centrally positioned Acropolis, they are in a peripheral position at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus mountains. The monasteries on pillars stand on the edge of the town Kalabaka, far above the settlement, justifying their name Meteora, which means "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above".

While the town is standing at the place of an ancient Greek settlement, Aiginion, the stone pillars outside the town were not serving any particular purpose for the human community in the vicinity until in 9th century AD, when the first monastic community was formed there. The monasteries were built mainly in 14th and 15th century, resulting in 24 monasteries, of which only 6 survived to our days. The peripheral position, the high standing of these monasteries and the exclusively masculine sphere of divine that is worshipped there, all point to the hexagram 12. Pi – yang high, yin low or masculine high, feminine low, no connection – as described in the previous post.

Another important difference would be the accessibility, as expressed by the entrance to the two places. The entrance to the Acropolis is the work of Mnesicles, the magnificent Propylaea, the culmination of the Sacred Way that led the Panathenaic procession from Eleusis (another sacred place of utmost importance dedicated to goddess Demeter) to the Acropolis. It is an essential, if not the most important factor of the “WOW” effect Acropolis had on me.

The gateway was designed to make that impression, to make clear that ascending the steps one is leaving behind the realm of men and seeking entrance to the land of gods. It is built to emphasize the difference between profane and holy space and to be a vehicle of spiritual transition from the secular to the sacred. It is a place of spiritual cleansing where the feeling of transformation is almost palpable. Standing at the bottom of the stairs the divine sparkle of every human being strives upwards, just like the ultimate yang trigram in hexagram 11. T’ai, and standing at the top one is overcome with the feeling of unity of things above and things below. It is the same feeling that appears in the imagery of ancient Greek goddesses, as shown in the previous posts.

In contrast, the access to Meteora monasteries was originally (and deliberately) difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or large nets to be used to haul up both goods and people arriving to the bottom of the rock pillars through steep and narrow paths. To enter a monastery required quite a leap of faith – the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only "when the Lord let them break". This way of entering a place was not particularly inviting, in fact, it is more about isolation than ascension.

In the 1920s there was an improvement in the arrangements. Steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. Still, these steps are very narrow, leading through dark tunnels and under flanking rock outcrops, conditioning the one climbing to bend down, to nuzzle against the high, overbearing wall.

Standing at the bottom of entrance to the Great Meteoron, the largest of monasteries it is not the call to join the celestial kingdom what one feels, looking up the entrance tower, it is rather the feeling of one’s own insignificance and being unwanted. Naturally, after such manner of entry, it is not the unity of all things one feels standing at the top.

From the isolated monastery virtually suspended in the air, the fertile plain down below looks very far, low, unimportant, very earth- and flesh-bound compared to the prowess of spiritual accomplishment of the ones leaving the material world behind to live halfway to Heaven. That is what the visitors are supposed to feel standing so close to Heaven. That is to say, male visitors, who, unlike the female ones, are not expected to wrap themselves in black rugs (aprons) as ugly as can be found. The only reason for this aprons (that are compulsory for women even if otherwise covered up so that no flesh except for the face can be seen) I can imagine of, is to make women aware of being the lower, unworthy half of mankind, the half that should not be allowed so close to Heaven. This feeling of gender separation, and the strive to “leave behind the world of matter and flesh and join the sphere of spirit and heaven” which is implied by the manner of entrance to the monasteries suggests that the hexagram of I Ching to describe this setting is 12. Pi – yang, masculine on top and yin, feminine on bottom – in which no interaction between Heaven and Earth happens, as well as in the Christian imagery as I have analyzed in the previous posts.

To cut a very long story short, of other important differences I would mention only the one accentuated by the dispersion/concentration of objects, functions and meanings. Acropolis is a complex of many temples housing many gods, concentrated at a single plateau, while Meteora consists of monasteries worshipping one god, but placed each on its own inaccessible rock.

These arrangements point to the differences in functions and characters. At the Acropolis, in the center of human community where people come together, the gathering of divine powers is also represented by concentration of sacral objects. The human and the divine worlds meet there to celebrate their unity, the appearance of the heavenly patterns in every aspect of human existence. The spatial order implies the unity of the higher order with the material world.

Though praying to only one god, every monastery of Meteora is placed on the top of its own inaccessible rock pillar, preventing access to anyone from outside, and even to the monks of other monasteries of the complex. The monastic community is not only is isolated from the world below, but is divided within itself to micro-communities of monasteries secluded from each other.

By these characteristics, the place reminds more of a penitentiary, than of a place of celebration. Indeed, the place is defined by contrition; the very idea of monasticism is to repent for the sin of being separated from God by separating oneself from the world of His creation. Thus this spatial order points out that the divine and human domain are separated, alienated, the only possibility to re-establish unity with God is to renounce and punish the flesh, and with it the scorned, sinful material world – and, of course, women, who are considered the cause and source of the state of separation from God.

Showing the differences of imageries, symbolic values, spatial organizations and underlying patterns and values is a nice intellectual exercise, one might say, but what is the use of that in the contemporary world? Well, though our world seemingly is secularized, and the religious patterns of medieval Christianity appear to be non-existent, the very root of our culture is shaped by those patterns and even today those patterns appear to be quite vital, able to transform and adapt, ever recurring in the social processes. Some thoughts on that will be the topic of the concluding part of this series.

SYMBOLISM

In the first part I have taken you to the tour of religious imageries and the position of feminine principle that can be derived from these imageries, which I understood through the symbols of I Ching.

Now, what Pallas Athene and Virgin Mary have to do with a very-very old philosophy book from the other end of the world? Some would say nothing at all. But, my job is basically to find out what people really do, why they are doing that, how they think and what to do with it, so I am used to think in symbols and to look for underlying patterns of universal principles in most unlikely places. And, standing on the Acropolis I have found the connection

Many years after the Christian and Ancient Greek imageries, I have discovered the I Ching, the ancient Chinese Book of Changes and was intrigued by the eternal circular dance of polarities, of feminine and masculine principles establishing and re-establishing dynamic balance in the constantly evolving spiral of creation and annihilation in time and space. After 15 or so years of studying and practicing Feng Shui and other spatial-social sciences, the visit to the Acropolis and the Meteora monasteries made me realize that the system of relation of feminine and masculine values, as described by the imageries of Ancient Greek gods and of Christianity could be interpreted through the yin-yang concept and hexagrams of I Ching. It has occurred to me that the Greek imagery can be likened to hexagram 11 T`ai (Peace), while the Christian imagery and it`s demotion of feminine principle is represented by the opposite hexagram, 12 Pi (Stagnation).

Now how did I come to that? First let`s see how this hexagrams are formed and what do they mean. The polarities in I Ching are referred to as Yin and Yang.

Yin is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with space, matter, water, earth, the moon, femininity and nighttime. It is represented by broken lines. Yang, by contrast, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive; and is associated with time, ideas, fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and daytime. It is represented by solid lines. The lines then combine into trigrams which are more yang or more yin depending on the number of broken and solid lines.

Of trigrams, the one composed of three broken lines is the most yin, associated with feminine principle, the mother and the Earth, while the one composed of three solid lines is the most yang, associated with the masculine principle, the father and the Heaven.

The yin trigram, being the representation of the feminine polarity and mother, could be likened to Eros, the instinct for life, love and sexuality in its broadest sense, the drive toward attraction and reproduction. That would point the ultimate yang trigram, the masculine principle to be interpreted as opposite to Eros, which would be Thanatos, the instinct of death, aggression, the drive toward repulsion and destruction. It is also interesting to note that C. G. Jung, also very much influenced by the teachings of Yin and Yang, equated the feminine principle to Eros, while the counterpart, the masculine principle he saw as Logos, the principle of rationality, of ideas that manifest in “the Word” that has the power of creation.

The trigrams are combined – one on top of the other – into hexagrams, where the upper position, sometimes referred to as outer, is considered yang, while the lower position, also mentioned as inner, is considered yin.

Applied to ancient Greek imagery, the feminine principle that is placed among the forces of Heaven (Olympos) if symbolized by ultimate yin trigram, would be in upper, yang position, while the masculine symbol, the ultimate yang trigram is in the lower, yin position. This results in the image of hexagram 11. T`ai (Peace):

Here both of extreme polarities are counterbalanced by the quality of their positions, which prevents extreme effects. The movement of the yang Heaven trigram is upward, while the yin Earth trigram strives downward, so the two primary powers meet in a fruitful creative union, through which all things enter upon union and development. This hexagram is called T`ai, which is usually translated as Peace, or Blessings of Heaven and Earth. T`ai is a hexagram wherein the masculine and the feminine are intersecting smoothly and without obstruction, intermingling with each other harmoniously and peacefully, which is an ongoing state, not the end result.

The I Cing also talks about societal impacts of such symbolism, about unity of high and low in directing their wills to a common goal. The position of yang trigram below or inside also symbolizes that power is in the center, held by good persons, the influence directed outside, while the weak persons at the periphery, the outside that are dependent on this power are subject to the influence of this good. The movement of the hexagram as a whole produces finally a victorious ascendancy of the principles of good man.

Every hexagram is a step iin the cycle of change, a state that occurs in a moment of time. This hexagram describes the season and state of spring, both in the year and history. And isn`t it precisely as we like to think of the Ancient Greece, the Athens of Pericles: as an era of superior good, lofty ideas and supreme beauty ruling the human world? And it indeed is the state of mind that I felt the Acropolis brings about.

On the other hand, the hexagram that could describe Christian imagery and the feeling of place at Meteora monasteries, places the feminine principle, the ultimate yin trigram down, while the masculine principle is placed up, which is the arrangement of Hexagram Pi, which is translated as Stagnation.

The yin place of the yin trigram intensifies its basic character to the extreme and the yang place of the yang trigram does the same. Heaven stays above and the masculine tends to move, while earth stays below and the feminine tends to remain still; therefore they are separating. There is no intersection or association between masculinity and femininity, so no life can be created.

The I Ching describes societal impacts of this state as the complete opposite of those in previous hexagram: when those above and those below are disunited, political and social life stagnate. Within, at the center should be light; instead, the dark is there, and light is pushed to the outside. Inferior men are at the center of government, and the superior men are forced to the periphery. The three solid lines at the upper position also symbolize withdrawal, escape from pressing difficulties caused by the inferior men, and rejection of material rewards.

In time, this is the season of autumn, both in year and history. And do we not refer to the long period after the fall of Roman Empire as “the Dark Ages”, characterized by falling apart of structures and order, the appearance and growth of monasticism, the withdrawal from the society, the outer world? And it is the feeling, the state of mind that the awe-inspiring complex of inaccessible monasteries of Meteora evoke.

The spatial setting of the two complexes seem to be very similar at first sight: both are built on high rocks, both are designed to be sacral places, places of worship and spiritual lidership. But the diametrically opposite effects I felt at these two places indicated that the here described symbolic meanings of both Acropolis and Meteora are materialized and spatialized. In part 3 I will analyze these material-spatial differences in which the differences of values and meanings are embodyed.

SPATIAL AND SOCIAL STRATEGIES OF VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION

A simple, ancient, but nonetheless effective spatial strategy: placing high implies appreciation, placing low implies depreciation. Buildings situated high above our heads, on top of the hills or on high rocks we usually perceive as places of high importance, places of power. Heaven is the place of ultimate power (God, or Gods) in many cultures, and closeness to it, whether in terms of value or terms of spatiality, bestows the one close to it with authority and divine power of control over all those placed lower in both societal and spatial terms.

This concept is quite widely known and applied, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unconsciously, in both cases leading to similar effects. But it was only recently that I understood how this concept that was applied to the feminine principle some two thousand years ago, still deeply influences our culture and our individual lives today. Still, I did not realize how deep and compelling this influence was, until I had the chance to stand on two holy places from different times and feeling the different energies despite the quite similar spatial setting. In Meteora monasteries the energies made me feel like unwanted as a women, as a person, like I have to cover up, to show as little of myself as possible. Like this:

After going up the Propylaea to the Acropolis (of Athens, naturallly), I felt entitled (as a woman again) to exist, to live and move, to straighten up, to lift my head and my eyes, showing myself. Like this:

Some say there is a war on women going on these days. The most recent Study on violence against women in Europe conducted by The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)  has found that one in three women in Europe is a victim of violence, be the violence physical or psychological. What I understood standing on the Acropolis was that this war is not new, and it is not aimed exclusively against women. It is the war against the feminine principle, against Eros, against matter and nature, waged by the masculine principle, the immaterial idea and time, Logos, or Thanatos. It is the very root of our culture.

The war started two millennia ago when Christianity in one bold move demoted the feminine principle from heaven to earth. The masculine principle was driven even higher in closeness to heaven, assigning the power of giving and sustaining life to a vague – but essentially masculine – concept of the Holy Spirit, while the feminine principle was placed low, bound to earth and matter, deprived of any claim for celestial existence by her own right. This move permeates the very roots of our realities through imagery, social structures, languages, symbolic values, and is, of course, expressed also spatially.

“The soul never thinks without a picture” says Aristotle, so let me share my path of discovery starting with images through which our souls are conditioned to think during these millennia.

IMAGERY

Born and raised a Catholic, imbued by the representations of humble and modest female saints their eyes cast down or gazing upwards with veils over their hair and most of their bodies hidden beneath the rich drapes of their clothing, I was not too happy to be born a girl.

It seemed quite witless and utterly boring to go through life wearing that meek face in a submissive posture, with hands frozen in eternal gestures of quitting, giving, renouncing myself. I wanted to be a boy. Slaying dragons, riding horses, leading a crusade, even teaching or writing seemed infinitely more interesting than the role that was obviously dedicated to me. Old Freud got me there – I envied the boys, albeit not for parts of their anatomy as Freud suggested, but for the advantages and liberties the society credited the boys based on that.

Later on, living in the region where Eastern and Western Christianity meets (often conflicts) I was bound to meet the characteristic images of the “other” faith, the Icons of Orthodox Christianity. Here I found female saints with empty gazes, swollen, tired eyes and emotionless faces, even more disguised and covered up then their Catholic counterparts. It seemed to me, that in Eastern Christianity girls should not exist at all. Then I have found out that, unlike other feminine saints, Virgin Mary is widely worshipped throughout the Orthodox churches, even in such exclusively male monastic communities where neither women, nor any female creature can set foot, like Mount Athos at Athos peninsula in Greece. (I wander how they keep female mosquitoes out of the place?) It seemed quite a weird thing to exclude anything female, while worshipping a women-saint. What about other women?

The dilemma was clarified when I found out that the Orthodox Church rarely mentions Mary by her name, and almost exclusively refers to her as Theotokos, the literal translation of which would be "God-bearer" or "Birth-Giver of God". She is also called Panagia, the "All-Holy," indicating her closeness to God in her obedience (according to OrthodoxWiki). Though she has many names and titles in Orthodox Christianity like Gregorousa (the Vigilant), Hypermachos Strategos (the Defending General) or Pantanassa (the Queen of All), mentions and representations of those roles are rarely, if ever, found.

While Catholic imagery relatively often represents Mary alone, without a child in her Regina Coeli (queen of Heaven) or Stella Maris (Star of the Sea) and similar capacities – though with meek face, dumb smile, self-renouncing gestures and everything – the Orthodox Mary is almost never without the child. Most popular and wide-spread representations are the Theotokos (God-bearer) and the Hodegetria (She who shows the Way).

What I saw in these Icons was that Theotokos is an emotionless woman with a big hole in the middle, practically a flesh-wrap for her baby-son, while Hodegetria is a dark cocoon-figure holding the Son in one of her arms, and pointing to her baby-son with other hand. Unlike other saints, represented with signs of their offices and their names, Virgin Mary has nothing but her son. Clearly, being a womb without a name, office or personality, and having a child (son, of course) that will justify his mothers existence by his success is the best a woman can and should aspire to.

Then, at some early stage of my education I have come upon images of ancient Greek gods and goddesses. Yes, goddesses. Women with dignified faces that stood upright, eyes that were not twisted up or down. I saw gorgeous women in postures indicating self-consciousness, competence, power, action.

They represented feminine role models immeasurably more to my liking then the meek and humble provincial Madonnas and the pale female saints of neobaroque churches of Catholic Mitteleurope, not to mention the cocoon-wombs of the Orthodoxia. The Ancient Greek goddesses were actively involved in every aspect of life at Olympus, had their opinions, aspirations, decisions, actions. They had their offices, carried all the responsibilities and exercised all the rights that go with it. Hera could punish the illegitimate son of her husband, making him go to a great length to appease her (Heracles – meaning Glory of Hera – and his 12 labors); Aphrodite`s beauty exposed her awkward jealous husband to ridicule; Demeter commanded such respect that even the supreme Zeus could not dictate her, but had to do her bidding and bring back her beloved daughter Persephone to convince Demeter to come back to Olympus and resume her office.

Naturally, the virgin goddess, Athena Pallas became my favorite at the time. She had it all: wisdom, courage, beauty, freedom, power, wits. She invented many things. She chose not to marry and not to have children, which did not decrease her worth at all. She was born out of her father’s head, fought just wars and outwitted anyone. Nothing about her was meek, subservient or self-renouncing. Seeing her, seeing how women are depicted as real, independent, active human beings of integrity, it seemed quite a good thing to be a girl.

What puzzled me, though, was that the ancient Greek goddesses and the cocoon-womb Theotokos came from the same place: from Greece, but from different times Then, standing at the Acropolis, I have seen what happened, and I have seen it with clarity through symbols of another culture, through the hexagrams of I Ching, the ancient Book of Changes coming from China. And that will be the topic of my next post. After that, I am going to show the spatial language that expresses these relations.

Written by Dr Anna Markovic Plestovic

The moment that started the end of the cold war: Arrival of General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev of the USSR for his first meeting with President Reagan for the Geneva Summit at Fleur D’Eau in Switzerland. (from Ronald Reagan Presidential library collection)

Reading an excerpt on the role feng shui played at the first Reagan-Gorbachev summit (1985) in the book of Judit Szilvásy, my first feng shui teacher, the founder and director of First Hungarian feng Shui Academy, I could not avoid remembering the '80-ies, the feeling of relief upon the end of the cold war and the feeling of rampant enthusiasm on the possibility to build a new, free world. The other thing that could not be avoided was comparation of hopes of those times with the results as seen today. I do not intend to involve in endless debates on ideologies and politics, but have to say that it seems quite clear these days that the USA has won the cold war and has established military and economic world domination, while the Soviet Union (SSSR) and the eastern bloc ceased to exist, leaving behind Russia still struggling to regain influence in eurasian and global politics and economy, along with quite a number of minor states stuck on different levels of devastation, coloquially known as "transition".

The path to this end begun at the mentioned summit of the two most powerful people of the world at the time: Ronald Reagan, the President of USA and Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which took place in Geneva 1985. The USA administration and secret services went to great length to choose the perfect place and prepare it in secrecy for a meeting of such importance. There are rumors about feng shui being largely involved in these preparations, rumors that seem not at all unlikely, given that President Reagan and his First Lady were known for often consulting astrology regarding serious decisions. The results of the process that begun there and then also suggest that some kind of spatial strategy was applied to ensure precedence of the western president. I have become curious to find out whether feng shui really has been used.

Though I was not able to find from whom the feng shui advices came from, it seems very probable that the spatial setting of the meeting was carefully chosen by the USA, in feng shui terms, as a place that favors west over east, the American President over the Soviet Secretary General. The actual meeting took place in Versoix, a small, elegant suburbia of Geneva, in Chateau Fleur-d'Eau a castle overlooking the lake. Looking at the site through basic feng shui methods reveals interesting layers of meanings and strategic-spatial relations that could not be assumed by using other methods of spatial analysis.

The town

The whole of Versoix is oriented towards the lake, the back of the settlement being guarded by the mountain range running parallel with the lake shore. The same mountain range encircles the the southern end of the lake, creating a shape resembling a vast accumulation basin at the lakeshore. And, indeed, in this basin the city of Geneva "accumulated". In terms of feng shui, the area of Geneva in relation to Versoix can be red as the "white tiger". The white tiger is associated with the western direction, the place of result, accomplishment, authority, and the future. At given place, USA, and the Western bloc could be associated with west, and thus be sure of the support of accumulated energy on the tiger side of Versoix.

On the opposite side of the town – on dragon side, or eastern side, side of beginnings, creative energy and rootedness – lays open space, a strip of relatively flat land, with a slight elevation of terrain further on the shore towards Lausanne, that could represent a very weak "dragon". Thus the energy of this eastern side can be considered weakened, and – having no point of concentration of equal spatial scale before Geneve - allowing an unhindered flow of energy towards the western side, where it accumulates. The eastern side, naturally, can be associated with the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc, which was given a weaker spatial-semiotic position in negotiations by this setting. Thus the tiger (the west) was not countered by the dragon (the east) and has taken over the spot. The spot in this case can be considered symbolic of the whole world, since it was the fate of the world the two powerful leaders were deliberating on in Versoix. This interpretation is backed also by the fact that the whole world has gradually become dominated by west as the result of ending the cold war, that led to Perestrojka, Glasnost, and falling apart of Soviet Union.

The site

Still, the choice of this spatial setting could be just a lucky coincidence, the supposed influences of which are easy to interpret post festum, knowing the outcomes 25 years later. The repetition of the large-scale pattern of placing at a smaller scale by choosing the Chateau Fleur-d'Eau seems more than a coincidence. The castle is located on the "dragon" side of Versoix, which puts the center of the town in position of the "tiger", ensuring the dominance of west over east at this spatial level, while the main road circumvents the back of the castle, chanelling the flow from east to west, the center of accumulation (town center) avoiding the castle, which could otherwise also accumulate energy.

And for the end...some shorthand symbolic considerations

One more thing that a very basic feng shui knowledge can reveal is that the spatialization of symbolic values of two superpowers at the spot also favours the western power. The Chateau Fleur-d'Eau is oriented towards the lake, to east, while it has solid ground and protective, stable mountains in the back, to west. In order to establish a dialogue at the place, the western power turns its "face" towards east, thus having firm, stable protective back and an open wiew in front. At the same time, the eastern power has to turn its "face" towards west, thus having water and lower ground providing no support in the back, and a mountain range as an obstacle in front. It is very easy to imagine the eastern empire to fall into the water on a slight push, which actually has happened later on.

It is also very hard to resist the temptation to see the likenes of the "white tiger attacking the spot" (the world) in antiterrorist and other wars that followed the end of the cold war era, in forced globalization or in global financial crisis. But I will not go down that alley, can not blame the pictoresque little chateau for everything.

Certainly it was not the Chateau Fleur-d'Eau that defeated the Eastern bloc. The fall of the eastern Empire was the inevidable result of numerous other factors, and the end result of long-term global processes. But the details, signs, symbols and relations indicating that complex spatial strategies were employed to ensure the results the west should not allow for the influence of the place or of spatial strategies to be be easily dismissed. At the end, my assumptions can not be proven right nor wrong, since we will never know, how things would have developed had the first summit take place in a different spatial setting.

By Dr Anna Markovic Plestovic

I have posted this article in May 2012 on my site in serbo-croatian. Now, on the margins of the events in Istambul, where the people are defending the trees and their lives from the ever growing appetite of "development", i have translated it...

" A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in."

Greek proverb

The imagery of progress outlined by this ancient proverb is just the opposite to the associations imposed by our contemporary "development" processes where we see growing deforestation, cutting down of lines of old beautiful trees and destroying public parks to make place for new buildings, for wider roads for the development of ever underdeveloped infrastructure. Concrete surface that frame the small oases predominantly planted with grass has become the standard arrangement of "green space". Here are just some examples of designs that won international awards and collected many praises:

Ben Gurion University campus central square, Izrael

Public square in Innsbruck, Austria

Riverbank park, Ljubno ob Savinji, Slovenja

At the same time, unlike the traditional society that has created the above proverb, modern society, that associates development with a reduction in area under the trees, and with increasing amounts of concrete and asphalt, is faced with problems that are new, related to the new, global ways of functioning of society - global warming and climate change, pollution, increasing poverty, constant conflict ... and the economic crisis, which, as it seems, is planned to last. Does the Greek proverb from another time still true today, and is there, indeed, a connection between the trees and the state of society?

An interesting study published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning, entitled "The need for an urban forest in the cities of the U.S.," concluded that there is a direct link between the presence of trees in the area and material well-being of residents in that area. To put it simply: richer people are surrounded with more trees.

The authors investigated the relationship between income per capita of a certain urban area and coverage of the trees of the same urban area. They ren a forest coverage test of 210 U.S. cities on the basis of data on natural resources and the satellite images, and compared this data with economic statistics on the prices of land, income, consumption patterns, and many others.

The study found that for every 1% increase in revenue, tree coverage of metropolitan area increased by 1.76%. Pretty clear correlation, the researchers said. Higher revenues allow larger yards, where people can plant more trees. Cities with higher tax revenue can spend more on greening and maintenance of public greenery. This relationship indicates that the total amount of trees of urban areas – the "urban forest" – is treated the social perception not as necessity, but as luxury goods, as a way of showing wealth. Following that line of logic, the lack of trees in an area talks about the poverty of the population.

Intrigued by this study, a journalist and blogger Tim de Chant checked whether the statistical data is recognizable in visual-spatial forms. He comparied the presence of trees in rich and poor neighborhoods of the cities as seen on Google's maps and found that this difference really is visible by "naked eye". Some of the illustrations I am re-posting here, others can be found at his website.

Houston - uperr picture River Oaks, lower picture Fourth Ward

Beijing. Upper picture Chaoyang, lower picture Fengtai

Inspired by these interesting pictures I conducted a quick check to determine whether this phenomenon is characteristic of our cities. Although the spatial stratification by financial status in Serbia is less prominent than in the U.S., pictures of parts of Belgrade and Novi Sad show very convincing difference between "better" and "worse" neighborhoods, even when they are adjacent.

Belgrade, Serbia. Upper Picture Savski Venac, lower picture Dusanovac

Novi Sad, Serbia. Upper picture city center, lowe picture Adice

More money is obviously shown by more trees. However, is this relationship a one-way street, or maybe more trees can create more money, greater well-being, as the Greek proverb says? Could the creation of the "urban landscape of wealth" change the social climate in the direction of creating wealth? Does removing trees impoverish society literally in material-economic terms? Numerous studies related to the interaction between society and space show that the presence of trees beautify the environment, improves the investment climate of settlements, reduces air pollution, improves the health status of the population, reduces stress, and even reduces crime rates. But these are all indirect links that are difficult to quantify and directly connect to the movement of money.

According to the teachings of Feng Sui direct connection between the state of the environment and the state of society can be established if we look at it through the theory of the dynamic unity of opposites (Yin-Yang). Shan-Tung Hsu, founder and director of the institute of "Blue Mountain Feng Shui" does just that in a review titled "Ask Mother Earth for Answers", in which he explains the connection of modern war against trees with growing intensity of problems in the world:

"Human beings are living between heaven and earth, cherished and nourished by yin and yang energy. Energy of Heaven descends from above and becomes visible as the sun light, rain, and many other phenomena. Energy of the earth rises from below and is manifested in water, food and other products necessary for life. Yang energy of Heaven includes dynamic expansion, moving, expanding, while Yin earth energy means gathering, cooperation, maintenance. If the impact of energy of the Earth - gathering, networking and collaboration – is disabled, which appears as a counterweight to rectilinear expansion forces of Heaven, in the human world can only strife and conflict can exist. Vegetation, and within it, trees and forests are the most powerful expression of energy of the Earth. Places with most conflicts in the world are often places without noise or places where the major part of forests were destroyed in relatively short term. In recent history, a direct correlation can be observed between reduction of forest areas and the growth of strife and chaos in the world. disappearance of forests and trees is the source of the problem. "

The politics, economics and any other specialized field of social sciences constantly strive to bring the conflict and chaos under control. The emphasis is not on problem solving, but rather on "managing", assuming that the deepening of the existing and creation of further problems can be prevented without introducing major changes in the functioning of the system. According to one of the favourite quotes from Einstein "no problem can not solved at the level of thinking from which it originated". Let's try to look at these issues on a different level, through Feng Shui. From this perspective, the problems must be seen at the level of energy, at the level of Qi, its movement and polarities, and solutions can be found in the establishment of natural cycles and relationships.

Chaos, conflict, poverty (lack of "food") indicate the presence of too much straight lines, too much speed, too much focus and too much centrifugal force, or too much Yang energy. To balance the speed of expansion by cooperation, and to bend the destructive power of Jang rectilinear movement to a creative driving force, it is necessary to strengthen the quality of the collection, networking, cooperation, care and maintenance, the Yin energy. The strongest expression Jin energy of the Earth are the trees, so the most effective measures to solve or at leas ease the mentioned problems would be planting trees.

One of the major effects of rapid movement and centrifugal force of Yang energy is the weakening of community, the public domain and the devaluation of the public space, which are all expressions of the Earth, and Yin energy. This effect also occurs in distinct physical-spatial forms. Imbalance of Yin energy of unity, cooperation, and networking, or atomization of society in relatively "poorer" parts is visible in the absence of greenery in public spaces (streets, squares, parks), trees are grown individually, apart from others, in one`s own backyard. A more balanced relationship between yin and yang, that characterizes the relatively "better" parts, is manifested in a balanced relationship of "public" and "private" trees. This relationship can be seen in the above pictures of Belgrade and Novi Sad. Following the logic of feng shui, the crumbling public-common domain and the balance between individual and the society could be restored by emphasizing Yin energy in public spaces, planting trees in the streets, squares, empty spaces.

Where the trees are in abundance, water is abundant, and the water is for the earth as blood for body. The water itself is connected to money in feng shui, so we can say that the money will be in abundance, where trees are abundant. To get back to the Greek proverb from the beginning, the society will create an urban landscape of wealth by planting trees in public spaces, while the measures of "planning" area that exclude trees will create urban landscapes of alienation, division, aggression and impoverishment.

Sources:

- Tim de Chant: Urban trees reveal income inequality, http://persquaremile.com/

- Pengyu Zhu, Yaoqi Zhang: Demand for urban forests in United States cities, Landscape Urban Planning (2007)

- Shan-Tung Hsu: Ask Mother Earth for Answers,

Written by: Boris Pecigosh

http://atelier-hayat.com/

Symbols exist in the immaterial domain of ideas, wherefrom they come forth to influence people through processes of materialization – painting, drawing, sculpting, writing, etc. Becoming material, they also become spatial, exerting their influence in physical space, relating to other elements of space, creating structures that also have their symbolic meanings, partially coming from added-up symbolic meanings of the symbols that the structure is created from, but also developing a new, complex quality that comes from the spatial interactions.

Different spatial arrangements of the same symbols spell different meanings and effects, and also lay out different paths to human actions. Human actions and movement in accordance with symbols and spatial arrangements, gain a ritual quality of being connected to the higher order of things, the quality of magic.

That spatial moment of magic we tried to create in the installation/event/performance Door of the Universe. That moment of magic that you have caught by your conscious presence, or you missed it, like so many magical moments that life presents us and only takes a blink of an eye, like a rainbow, a sunset, a shooting star or a friend's smile

The labyrinth installation that was the spatial relational frame of the paintings of mystical numbers (presented in my previous article) we designed to be the Door of the Universe. The labyrinth was built as a circular –concentric design formed by salt on the floor, supplemented with pebbles representing the material dimension.

We opened this door on the winter solstice of 2012. walking and dancing the path outlaid by the numbers that describe the universe. On the second day, the lines of the labyrinth were highlited with candles symbolizing the new light that was born, and did some more walking and dancing.

The Door of the Universe was open:

Written by Anna Markovic Plestovic

Previously I wrote about the influence spatial forms may have on individuals and various levels of society. Now I would like to give an example how individuals express their values in spatial arrangements. Of course, if those individuals are prominent public figures of considerable power and wealth, their individual spatial expressions are likely to have a much further reaching influence, then just their individual lives. And if they happen to be the Emperor...

If it was a desk of a manager of a company and I was asked to give feng shui consultations to assess the success of the company, I would have said without hesitation, that this desk was a disaster, and it should be repositioned immediately in order to regain control over the situation. Of course, the damage would not be done by the desk, but the person choosing to place ant orient the desk. So, the better advice would be to chose another manager. Obviously, Franz Josef I., the Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Krakow did not ask for feng shui consultations.

Following the obligatory tourist route in Vienna, I have visited the Hofburg apartments of the last Emperor of the Habsburg (Austrian or Austro-Hungarian) Empire, Franz Joseph I. The restored original design and furnishing of the apartments these days radiate an undeniably petit bourgeois flair. Not very surprising, since the Imperial court and household, as arbiter elegantiae, had set the standards that middle-class housewives were eagerly trying to live up to all around the ex-Empire, and many still do more than a century later.

It was just one detail that caught me as surprising – the placement of the Emperor's desk in his study, at which, as we were told, Franz Joseph was working daily from as early as 5 in the morning and into the late evening hours. The desk was placed sideways in front of a window, which did put the desk right onto the passageway created by the two doors that are in line on both side walls of the room. The desk was facing the door of bedroom, rendering the back of the person sitting at the desk open and undefended to the door of the council chamber.

Now why did I find this so odd? Because it is a very exposed, uncertain position even for lower ranking officials, or for minor executives in a company, while the Emperor is the highest-ranking official, emblematic of the whole Empire and impersonating it. The usual design logic requires the person "in control" to be placed in a controlling position in space. The controlling position is basically defined by military logic: secure the back and the flanks and focus on the space (battlefield) in front. Even though the arrangement of Emperor's study contradicted the design principles for the studies or offices of people in high positions in politics and business applied through history up to these days, I thought it might be just a mistake in reconstruction.

The Emperor's desk in Hofburg

The next day I went to Schönbrunn palace, where among other things, the apartments of the last imperial couple of Austria are shown to the visitor. Once again I have seen the study of Franz Josef I, now in another palace. The desk in this study was placed the same way like the one in Hofburg. I have even found a contemporary photograph, which shows that the placement is no mistake, but a historical fact, the result of choice of Franz Joseph himself.

Since he chose to place and orient his desks in both places in a specific manner, we can assume that it is a specific spatial expression of the person. The specific spatial expression speaks about the person.

What do the desks tell about Franz Joseph I?

Facing the private rooms and turning back to the premises representing the public domain – the government and the Empire – would indicate a man completely involved in his own conceptions and plans. These conceptions and plans are most unlikely to come to realization, since the field where they should be realized, the outside "real" world in front of the palaces, is left sideways. Thus this man is unlikely to face and resolve situations arising in the relation of his position and the community he represents to the outside world, he is unable to react properly.

Choosing the smallest chamber in the row, the narrow pass from public to private sphere for the study shows a determination to keep these two spheres apart, which could represent a deep-rooted resistance to the role he has to play in the outside world, unwillingness to identify with the Empire. That the desks are placed outside the bigger, safer part of the room, in a place for a person who runs on errands for others also tells a story of lack of self-confidence and the influence someone – most likely from the family, where his focus was – had over Franz Joseph. The history has it, that he was indeed greatly under the influence of his mother, Princess Sophie of Bavaria.

Facing inwards and leaving the real world and the public domain sideways and behind also may speak of a man tired and frightened of the outside world and it's pressures. It could also depict a man focused into past (family) not willing to accept present and future.

The back rendered open to the public domain would point out the lack of control over the politics and over the officials of the Empire, upon whom he relies. It also enables the officials to act on their own agendas, furthering policies potentially harmful for the Emperor and to the Empire.

And what does history say about Franz Joseph I?

The 68 years (1848-1916) long reign of Franz Joseph I seems to be his greatest accomplishment, the one for which the period is now remembered across the territory of former Austro-Hungary as a period of order, progress and prosperity. Long rules are usually associated in memory with a well-ordered society lacking political and economic perturbations.

In reality, the reign of Franz Josef I was the period of building up and surfacing of most of the economic, national and religious tensions and conflicts present to this day in the region of Central and Southeastern Europe. It was also a period of decline of the family of Habsburg and the influence and importance of the Habsburg Empire in the European political arena. It was a period of decline of an Empire ending in the World War I, and death of Austro-Hungary.

To illustrate the above assessment of his performances based on his spatial choice, here is a short description of the reign of the last Emperor of Habsburg monarchy, based on Wikipedia:

He ascended to throne in 1848., after the abdication of his uncle, an arrangement that should end the revolutions of 1848. Largely considered to be a reactionary, Franz Jozeph spent his early reign resisting constitutionalism in his domains.

The Austrian Empire was forced to cede most of its claim to territories of Lombardy-Venetia to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia following the conclusion of the second Italian War of Independence (1859), and the Third Italian War of Independence (1866). Although Franz Joseph ceded no territory to the Kingdom of after the Austrian defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, the Peace of Prague (1866) prevented the unification of Germany under the House of Habsburg.

Franz Joseph was troubled by nationalism, and the raise of national movements during his entire reign. He granted greater autonomy to Hungary in 1867, hence transforming the Austrian Empire into the Austro-Hungarian Empire under his Dual Monarchy. After the Austro-Prussian War, Austria-Hungary turned its attention to the Balkans, which was a hotspot of international tension due to conflicting interests with the Russian Empire. The Bosnian crisis was a result of Franz Joseph's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, after it had been occupied by Austrian troops since the Congress of Berlin (1878).

On 28 June 1914, the assassination of the heir to Austro-Hungarian throne by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, resulted in Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against the Kingdom of Serbia, which was Russia's ally. This activated a system of alliances which resulted in World War I.

During his reign Franz Joseph personally suffered the tragedies of the suicide of his son, the Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889, and the assassination of his wife, the Empress Elisabeth in 1898. Though the love story of young Franz Joseph and Elizabeth (Sissie) inspired romantic movies and literature, their married life was anything but happy. In order to avoid restrictions imposed on her by the Court and Princess Sophia, her mother-in-law, the Empress was mostly visiting fashionable places around Europe, spending very little time, if any, in Vienna, where the Emperor had his official mistress, the actress Katharina Schratt.

Now, is the desk to blame?

No, the desk just shows a man not related to his position or to the outside world. The specific spatial aspects of chosen positioning and orientation point to the specific set of values, conceptions and behaviors characteristic of the man, wherefrom his decisions and actions originated, and through that it could help to foresee outcomes of his actions in any given circumstances.

Written by: Boris Pecigosh

http/www.atelier-hayat.com

The symbolism of numbers is often exploited in architecture, particularly for religious buildings. Although commonly used proportion is the golden ratio, from antiquity through the Renaissance to the present day, it is not the only use of the geometric relationships of numbers. The symbolism of the numbers reflected in the decoration of the altar, the front, the number of towers and domes, etc., equally in the East and in the West. Observing these buildings today, we admire their harmony and beauty. However, rarely will the sight of beauty abet the viewer to wonder what makes the beauty beautiful.

Besides the proportions pleasant to the eye, which are merely reflecting the ratios that occur in nature (the universe), such architecture reflects the symbolism of numbers. Twelve Apostles on the facade of a cathedral are not only a reflection of the belief in the existence of the twelve apostles, but a more profound symbolism of number 12. Neither are the 108 characters at a Hindu-Buddhist temple reflecting merely characters from their traditions, but the symbolism of this number, which, among other things, includes the golden ratio.

We continue with the presentation of symbolism of "mystical" numbers.

The cycle of paintings “The Mystical Numbers” painted in 2011 embodies the vibration and the meaning of the numbers according to numerological interpretations of number symbolism in various mythologies, religions and mystery schools.

My other pictures and their meanings can be seen here 

To help understand the symbolism shortened meanings of the prime numbers 1-9 and zero are listed here. Other numbers are reduced to the prime numbers by summation of their digits, so they carry the meaning of the prime number and combination of the meanings of individual digits. For example, number 21 carries a joint meaning of the numbers 2 and 1, and the number 3, because 2 + 1 = 3.

THE MEANING OF SOME OTHER NUMBERS

10 - Ten

It wears a cumulative vibration of the One and Zero, and the vibration of One (sum of digits 1 + 0 = 1). The number 10 bears change, completion of the old and the beginning of a new, it is the number of great power and energy to achieve the goals, the number of wholeness and completeness.

11 - Eleven

Twice as strong vibrational frequency as of One, as well as vibration of Two (1 + 1 = 2). The number equilibrium (1 and 1 next to each other, and Two in the sum), balance of emotions and thoughts, male and female aspects, work and play, etc., higher ideals, invention, refinement, matching, visionary, psychic abilities, channeling, being medium, the door between worlds, the enlightenment, the social life.

12 - Twelve

Number which carries the meaning of the first three prime numbers which form a complete sequence, the number of powerful spiritual significance in many religions, which indicates the integrity, the whole, ”package” that is complete (12 months, 12 apostles, a dozen, etc.).

13 - Thirteen

The number of enlightenment, resurrection and ascension, the number of change of the state of consciousness and achieving spiritual completeness, the number that combines the meanings of the prime numbers 1, 3 and 4.

21 - Twenty-one

The symbol of success and prosperity, good reputation and material wealth, the number that in a row contains the meaning of the numbers 2, 1 and 3.

100 - One hundred

The symbolism of the number 100 is that it is a fraction of fraction, integral part of a larger whole, which in turn is part of even larger whole, etc., it is a microcosm of the macrocosm and represents individuality of the microcosm.

101 - One hundred and one

Doors of the Universe. A number that is a combination of number 11 (= gate) and 0 (=cosmos, womb, cycle), behind the door there is a connection with the Creator through the ether, wisdom, love and cosmic cycles. Doors are open!

108 - One hundred and eight

Sacred number that indicates the integrityand unity of existence. It reduces itself to the number 9, the number of totality (1 + 0 + 8 = 9), and in addition 108 = 9 x 12.

In a previous article I wrote about hierarchies of places deliberately shaped by the designs of spatial patterns. Now I would like to show the other way round, that spatial hierarchies can also define sense of social order and values through individual spatial experience. These influences are present and active on a long timeline, even transmitted to next generations through a process which I could describe as "spatial anchoring" of individual values into the patterns of space and the qualities carried by them. Let us see an example of

Spatial anchoring

The part of a settlement sketched in the picture was built in the beginning of the 20th century at the outskirts of a small town, linked to the hemp-processing plant that was founded not long before. The town was a center of hemp production, the products were famous throughout Europe at the time, the ropes and other products of the factory were widely exported. Even the British Royal Navy used the ropes made here. The owner of the factory, a visionary in his time, channeled the prosperity pouring in into providing high-standard living conditions for the workers of the factory –in accordance with the standards of the period.

The first level of spatial differences was obvious in the opposition between the structure of the major part of the town defined by agricultural production, and the structure of the new settlement defined by industrial production patterns. In this relation, the industrial structure had the value of being more modern or developed. It offered an easier living, higher living standard, more opportunities and connections to the outside world, more possibilities to personal social and spatial mobility, than the traditional, conservative, earth- and place-bound agricultural structure of the old part of the town.

The story I am going to follow here begins some decades later, during World War II, when the most recent "industrial part" was already imbedded into the tissue of the town.

We can easily imagine that, for a child growing up in the "industrial" part, who doesn't have to help his parents in the fields, or take care of the livestock in early ages as his schoolmates from the "agricultural" part have, perceives industrial production as a higher social standing and a desirable future. With this difference the first "spatial anchor" is dropped, drawing a number of consequences in the child's system of values, too many to explain them in details here.

Just as an illustration: industrial production involves mechanics, control by human will and decision, predictable processes in controllable environments with limited input factors and known outputs, while agricultural production process is far less predictable and controllable. It is very likely that, on some deep-unconscious level, the child will associate controlled environments and mental processes of reducing uncertainty with a "higher" form of life, and see human will and work as the only power shaping the reality. Seems a bit far-fetching, but it is reminiscent of the defining value-pattern of last century or two of industrialization that could be simplified and summarized teenage-style as "agriculture (nature) sucks, industry (man) rules".

The next degree of differences affecting personal level appears in the spatial hierarchic stratification of different types of housing in the industrial settlement. The plant itself was obviously the center of community, the "source of life", around which all the leisure activities are concentrated: the community house, the public pools and other sports facilities, the kindergarten, parks, the open stage for plays and concerts, and, of course the local pub. On the edge of this community-production center, the individual houses were organized in rows, the one closest to this center formed by luxurious twin houses sitting in gardens, designed for the management personnel – mostly engineers – of the factory and their families.

The luxury level of the houses and the plots of land in following rows were declining proportionally to the lowering of the rank of inhabitants in the production process, the last row was the housing for skilled workers. It was a line of two-chambered (one room and one kitchen) apartments, each of them with a narrow strip of land for vegetable garden.

The child growing up in this spatial setting will probably drop the second "spatial anchor" in accordance with the position of its family in this setting. For a child growing up in the first row, in the highest-ranking houses, the luxury is the norm, the leisure activities are the only thing "closer" to the center then their homes, and engineering is – in simple terms – something that daddy leaves the house to do. Engineers will probably not rank so high in this child's system of value, as professions linked to leisure, like sport stars, actors, musicians, authors and other public figures.

The spatial experience of a child from the last row, from skilled worker's apartments would be quite different. Passing every day by the houses of higher spatial (and social) status while going to the center of the community, the child will probably have the spatial experience that shows that the higher rank in industrial production is "closer" in both spatial and social senses to the community center, and the enjoyable leisure activities. The road to this desired way of living is also clearly laid out in space: one has to become an engineer to be at the top of the world.

With these anchors dropped, broad sections of sets of values governing the life of these children are defined for a long term. They will uphold these values influenced by the spatialisation of social order, and will try to convey it to their children. And there is nothing wrong with it, that is the way of the world. However, it works only if the spatial and social frames do not change. Otherwise

Anchors become restrictions

Let us suppose, that in the same spatial setting the boy from the "skilled worker" housing goes to college, earns a degree in engineering and eventually becomes one of the managers of the factory. Naturally, he will be assigned one of the first-row luxury houses, where he will bring his parents from the "skilled worker" row, along with his wife and children. In a short time, three sets of values collide. The parents made their living as skilled workers most of their adult lives, and probably have developed a lifestyle in accordance to that.

Their son aspired and succeeded to get to a socially higher level that implies a different lifestyle, for which the specific house was designed. The children are growing up in a quite different spatial position than their father did, probably more interested in leisure activities than in industrial production, but at the same time trying to conform to the values their parents and grandparents are advocating (unconsciously).

So, this minor spatial change creates a number of collision lines of competing sets of values. Some of them are external, like for instance the collision line between the son expecting to enjoy that "higher" standard and parents defending their accomplishments and positions in the community by trying to live the same way they did in the previous space. Some of them are internal, like the collision line between the son's loyalty and gratitude to his parents, and his loyalty to himself, his visions and chosen lifestyle. Probably the most intense collision line appears in the case of children, who have a quite different spatial experience then the previous generations, but the values resulting from spatial anchors of previous generation are imposed on them.

The most obvious way of easing collisions and tensions is to change spatial distribution – either the parents or the son's family moves out of the house. However, even if that happens, even if some of them move to other town, the anchors once dropped in a set of values through personal spatial experience remain fixed in the same place, the person carries along the defining set of values, and with them the spatial patterns expressing this values. In any new environment the person will tend to re-create these patterns in both space and life.

Let us follow a bit further the line of the story of the son who has reached the "top of the world" becoming an engineer only to find out that neither the previous, nor the next generation had the same reverence for his status and accomplishments. The most logical step for him is to change surroundings, to move in a bigger town with a stronger and more diversified industry, where engineers are probably valued even more. Doing that, in the new environment he will try to find the housing that carry the same symbolic values as the house he came from. In search for his new home, he will probably disregard the inherent patterns of the place – the new town – and rather be guided by the patterns of his hometown, by his specific spatial anchors.

He will likely choose to live in some new development or in new part of the city, preferably in one that some industrial establishment assigns to it's managerial staff, which is not necessarily the "best" or socially highest ranking part of the town. In traditional towns of the region typically the town center has the highest social standing, social rank is measured among other things with spatial distance from the center, while new developments are allowed to be built only on the edges of traditional town area. Thus, he will probably find his place in a spatially peripheral position, which carries a socially inferior status, and thus re-create the spatial pattern of his childhood and perpetuate the frustration. By this he also puts his children in the same spatial position relative to the new town as in which he was as a child in his birth town.

Pull the spatial anchors

Fatalistic as it might seem, the story did not have to end like this, if the spatial patterns at work had been realized.

In the story told above, the first opportunity to pull the anchors was the point when the boy become part of the management and was assigned the house of managerial staff. He could have realized that his anchors are his own, and that his parents were not sharing his longing for being "somebody" by living in the first row of houses. The second major opportunity presented itself with the relocation in a bigger town, where he could realize that the social-hierarchical spatial patterns of the new environment are different from the patterns he brought along, and thus he could position himself in the social-spatial segment he felt he deserved. A different spatial choice (different apartment in different part of town) could have brought him much closer to the desired position.

In order to avoid the re-creation of the same patterns or to neutralize conflicting patterns of past and present, it is necessary to understand where spatial anchors were dropped, and to which values they bind us. Understanding that, we recognize the pattern and understand how these spatial patterns are re-created in our present life and surroundings. It is also useful to find out the patterns of our present surroundings and chosen lifestyle, so that the points of conflict could be addressed on both spatial and psychological level.

Written by: Boris Pecigosh

www.atelier-hayat.com

In the psychology of man, there is an inherent propensity to symbols. We like things that represent something for us and carries some special meaning. Those things can remind us of some beautiful memories of life, or the beloved person, but can carry much deeper meanings. Such symbols can talk about our beliefs, or represent the external manifestation of our desires and aspirations. People also assign mystical and magical value to these symbols, projecting their own power of creation onto them, because it is often easier to believe in the power of charms and amulets, esoteric records and ancient characters than in themselves.

Anyway, the symbols have their purpose and using them consciously can really help us. There are collective symbols typical of the entire culture or nation, or even of all humankind. There are also personal symbols, the ones that resonate with our own psychological structure and language of the subconscious.

When you are drawn to one of the images, when you feel it`s energy, when your stomach flickers, it is a sign that you resonate with the specific symbol-picture. It goes beyond mere visual aesthetic experience. It carries a special meaning for you. It is a symbol of your material, emotional, intellectual or spiritual longings, desires, hopes and beliefs. The image is representative of your self-realization. It supports you. Pictures you chose are also personal talismans. They emanate the meanings, information and energy of these symbols into the space around them.

I am often asked about the meaning of pictures, about the appearing motifs and the message it carries, the meanings woven into the picture. The images I would like to present here are symbols, permeated with metaphysical, spiritual and philosophical message. They are the materialization of universal symbols – the numbers. The cycle of paintings “The Mystical Numbers” painted in 2011 embodies the vibration and the meaning of the numbers according to numerological interpretations of number symbolism in various mythologies, religions and mystery schools.

My other pictures and their meanings can be seen here

To help understand the symbolism shortened meanings of the prime numbers 1-9 and zero are listed. Other numbers are reduced to the prime numbers by summation of their digits, so they carry the meaning of the prime number and combination of the meanings of individual digits. For example, number 21 carries a joint meaning of the numbers 2 and 1, and the number 3, because 2 + 1 = 3.

THE PRIME NUMBERS

0 - Zero

Potential, possibility, seed, womb, egg, emptiness, nothingness, mystery, eternity, infinity, the unlimited, cyclicality, cycle, evolution, Ouroboros, everything and nothing at the same time (Zen).

1 - One

The beginning, the initial point, the original impulse of Being, discovering the previously un-manifested, the point of entry, clarity, focus, concentration, unity, and also the completion (alpha and omega), the symbol of Man and the Father, energy of leader, individuality, independence, courage, willpower, inventiveness, visionary, ambition, pride, ego (which serves a higher purpose).

2 - Two

Duality, polarity, balance, harmony, the opposites in harmony or in split, contrast, contradictions (and their union), the choices, dilemmas, reunification with similar, relationships, couples, attraction of the opposites, sharing, communication, symbol of the Mother and symbol of the Tao (Yin and Yang).

3 - Three

Creativity, expression, creativity and expressing of oneself and one’s talents, wisdom, a symbol of rewards and success in the enterprise, fortune, being in the right place at the right time, stability, order, structure (triangle), chronology, an identifier of time (past, present, future ), uniting the two parts thus they become Whole, reproduction, procreation, the symbol of the Child, 1 + 2 = 3.

4 - Four

Stability (square, pyramid), being anchored, foundations, groundedness, one’s own roots, stability, stabilizing energy, energy of home, symbol of the Earth, the intersections (crossroads), order, systematicity, methodicity, patience, practicality, analyticity, logic, maturity, reliability, loyalty.

5 - Five

Change, movement (physical, but also in spirit or mind), travel, adventure, unpredictability, instability, wild and chaotic vibrations (and the art of enjoying them), health and contact with the physical (the five senses, five fingers, five elements, the pentagram, Vitruvian man, etc.), connecting and unifying element, a symbol of happiness for Chinese people, an active role in society, liberalism, free spirit, passion, being unconstrained, detachment.

6 - Six

Honesty, truth, love, forgiveness, tactfulness, finding a peaceful solution, harmony, balance, communion, unity, equality, association, the opposites merging into a very powerful entity, two sets of creativity form six (3 + 3 = 6), perfection, pacifists, helpers, aid workers, creative people, a symbol of the spiral, hexagram, and cube.

7 - Seven

The intellect, analytical mind, the wisdom, law, order, structure, governance, revelation, progress, evolution, achievements, perfection, completed cycle (seven days, seven colors, seven tones, etc.), esoteric, mysteries, magic, awareness, activation of imagination and manifesting the results in life through the use of conscious thoughts, scholars, poets.

8 - Eight

Abundance, wealth, prosperity, success, business, courage, fortitude, justice, intentions, capabilities, expansion, expression, fluidity, continuity, cycles that are repeated, growth with each new cycle, recycling flow of energy, the cosmic balance, time, infinity sign.

9 - Nine

Completion, the end of the cycle, the culmination, achievement, fulfillment, satisfaction, integration, integrity, being recognized, influence, connection with oneself, the ability of presenting the internal attributes to outside world with the purpose of positive influence, the art of managing a group of people, changing (every end brings the new), a symbol of the spiral, being a “solo-player.”