How the World Is Made

A penetrating exploration of the role of sacred geometry in cosmology and human affairs

Explores how ancient people who grasped the timeless principles of sacred geometry were able to create flourishing societies. This title features more than 300 colour illustrations that reveal the secret code within the geometrical figures and shows how they express the spiritual meanings in the key numbers of 1 through 12.New in paperback, How the World Is Made explores how ancient peoples who grasped the timeless principles of sacred geometry were able to create flourishing societies. 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. More than 300 colour illustrations reveal the secret code within these geometrical figures and how they express the spiritual meanings in the key numbers of 1 through 12. 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. In the process, 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.’ ‘A delightful book: clear, witty, beautiful and illuminating. It is well worth buying for yourself – and for your friends’ – The Spectator ‘Utterly gorgeous … 288 full-colour pages of wisdom and wonder on thick, art-quality paper that should survive many years of use. A thing to be cherished, a work of art, it is also a beautifully illustrated geometry primer with philosophical commentary … the text is Michell’s finest prose – cool, succinct and rational’ – Fortean Times ‘Instructive and illustrative … John Michell has stamped this book with the freshness and originality that are his hallmark. It is a worthy bequest of an extraordinary mind … a source of inspiration for seekers in the arts, mathematics and the Mysteries’ – Temenos Academy Review ‘A real treasure! … it will delight anyone associated with sacred cosmology or sacred landscape’ – Gatekeeper Magazine