The formations, Hailey Wood, Nr Ashbury, Oxfordshire, and, Hinton Downs, Bishopstone, Oxfordshire, reported on July 16, 2007 may not seem to be directly related, but for synchronistic reasons in my personal life, and for more easily substantiated reasons, I feel that I should write about a ‘message’ these two may be offering us when we consider them as two parts of one great midsummer crop letter. 

First of all, I want to address the synchronicity in my own life.  July 16, is my birthday, so I always look to see what gifts have descended on that day.  This time I saw two formations in the same county, Oxfordshire.  Since I have many years of experience working with interpretation of dreams, I felt I would look at these two from that perspective.  Just as most of the time, all dream sequences in one night are related in terms of the meaning one can extract from them, these two formations could be seen as two parts of one message.  The Butterfly announces the activity and the activator in a way, and the Fractal Tree gives us an idea of the effect.  Another synchronistic event in my personal life that day was the fact that when I took photos of the many butterflies I saw on a walk on Toronto Island, I noticed that one actually shows the butterfly’s wings fluttering.  This made me more alert to the fact that there was something important to be checked out more thoroughly.

    Toronto Island, July 16, 2007 – Monarch butterfly fluttering wings 

The more substantial reasons for the connection of the two formations is that both, one as a reference to the ‘Butterfly Effect’ (i.e. sensitive dependence on initial conditions  http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly–effect ), and the other as a reference to Fractal Growth in Nature http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal , belong in terms of mathematics and science, to the studies of chaotic dynamical systems.  In this light, these formations can be seen as documents of one process that is taking place around and within our Earth and us. 

First I would like to discuss the symbolism of the formations in order to unite the science and mathematical aspects with some historical, religious, traditional/cultural understandings.  The symbols included in this discussion are: the butterfly, the mound/tumulus/hill, the tree, the circle with the central dot, and the soul. 

The Hailey Wood Butterfly invites us to investigate the fact that the butterfly is universally known as a symbol of the soul.  It is also a symbol for the Great Goddess, the Sun and rebirth. 

            As well as the soul, the butterfly symbolizes the Mother Goddess.

In the Hinton Downs Fractal Tree, we see a tumulus with a central tree, whose pattern is then repeated as a series of different sized circles, most of which have central dots.  

The tumulus/hill/mound is considered in Ancient Egypt to be what first emerged out of Chaos, a manifestation of the creation of the world.  It is also known to represent the Earth Mother, and an entrance to the ‘Otherworld’.  It shares some of the symbolism of the mountain as the  ‘world axis’ and as the mediator between the natural and supernatural worlds.  

    Pyramids have been interpreted as replicating the shape of the primeval mound.

The tree in the centre corresponds to the dots in the centers of the fractal repetitions. The tree symbolizes among many things, the Tree of Life that grows in the centre of the Earth, the site of the Goddess’s chief temple.  The Tree of Life itself represents the birth-giving Goddess in the old Northern Teutonic tradition.  There is a smaller chakra residing within the Anahata chakra. It bears a small Wish-fulfilling Tree, Kalpa Taru.  It symbolizes the ability to manifest whatever you wish to happen in the world.

It is associated with love and compassion, charity to others, and forms of psychic healing.

                                The tree is often associated with creation of life.

The circle with the central dot as a symbol has at least four referents: the Sun, Gold, Air, and Eye of God.  Not only does this formation depict the self-replication characteristic of the fractal, but also, because of the numbers and different sizes of the circles, it seems to insist that it actually be read as a multi-meaning symbol.  The Sun is closely associated with and relates to many male and female solar deities around the world.  It represents the idea of enlightenment, illumination, divinity, and creator being.  In Aztec tradition, our Sun, the fifth sun, is represented by a butterfly.

The sun’s rays transmit celestial influence to the earth.  The sun’s rays lighting up the domestic threshold symbolize communication of divine energy to the womb of the world, as it is the axis, which turns the heavenly and earthly whole.  Like a rainbow, they form the bridge along which God descends to man and man ascends to God. (Mammoth 425). 

The gold symbolism has similar connotations such as, the sun, the solar deities, the spirit of enlightenment, mineralized light in the Hindu tradition and the Alchemical Great Work, the evolution of the material into the spiritual, and in Aztec tradition, periodic renewal in Nature. 

                    Divinity is universally associated with the Sun and Gold. 

The circle symbol itself, leads us to see that there is some connection between the divine spiritual solar qualities of the sun and gold, and the elemental, purifying, elusive quality of Air that it also symbolizes.  Air is associated with the wind, breath and the soul.  It is the Hindu deity Vayu, the Word, who like breath, inspires, and connects the physical being to the mental/emotional being on three different levels.  Air is a palpable symbol of the invisible (Penguin 10), a universal driving force and like Vayu, a purifier, a renewing force.

The element of air often brings about the new and changes. 

According to the Ismaili esoteric understanding, air is the principle of harmonization and fructification.  It corresponds to the function of the universal soul.  It is a medium for light, scent, colour, flight, interplanetary vibrations, and a channel of communication between Heaven and Earth.  

The soul is obviously implicated in both formations. Like the butterfly, it is an elusive entity.  It is known as the governing active principle, the creative and immortal part of human beings. 

The soul is vital inspiration, an element of invisible life, of which we see only manifestations, and is connected to the symbolism of air, of breath.  It is the male element or animus, seat of desires and passions, and the female element or anima, concerned with the inhalation and exhalation of air (Mammoth 39). 

According to St. Paul, psyche (soul) radiates influence of spirit throughout the body and consequently throughout an individual as a whole, that is the body, which lives and moves in this world and will be resurrected in the life to come (Penguin 897)

    Soul images apart from the breath or ghost/shadow usually have the ability to fly. 

Like Air, according to the Ismaili tradition, the soul governs and enables the material existence and creativity of humanity, and like the Sun, it radiates a higher energy to the material plane. 

In both formations, the soul is implicated in the activity and the results. The Butterfly Effect describes the influence of a source, no matter how small, on a much greater future result.  The butterfly formation could represent both the World Soul and the individual soul, and the potential effect the fluttering of soul wings could have.  The Fractal Tree formation could represent the idea of a new creation, since there are so many allusions to creation in the symbolism.  The vehicle by which that new creation would come about is also represented here.  That is, the effort, energy and activity of the soul as the one who purifies, the one who intends (wishes).  The results come about as our present natural reality evolves, as a function of fractal growth, with individual elements relating to each other intimately.  

So do we get any idea of what our role is in all this?  Perhaps the way we activate our own intentions, perhaps the intentions themselves have a crucial impact on the future of Earth.  Perhaps the connection to the soul aspect of our being and an honest relationship with our own inner being while we are going about life actually does make a difference.

And perhaps all of our thoughts, feelings and activities do have real consequences, repercussions in the world.

Whatever, we make of these wonderful signs, there is definitely a vast and exciting change happening to every inch of this planet, and it seems to be communicating itself in a most loving, playful and creative fashion. 

References: 

Bruce-Mitford, Miranda.  An Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols.  Reader’s Digest. Montreal.  1996.

Chevalier, Jean & A. Gheerbrant.  Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Penguin Books. London. 1982.

Cirlot, J.E.  A Dictionary of Symbols.  Routledge & Kegan Paul.  London.  1962.

Cooper, J.C.  An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols. Thames & Hudson. London.  1978.

De Vries, Ad.  Dictionary of Symbols & Imagery.  North-Holland Publishing Co  Amsterdam.  1974.

Dictionary of Symbols: Illustrated guide to traditional images, icons & emblems

Mythology:  the Illustrated Anthology of World Myth & Storytelling.  C. Scott Littleton,  Gen. Ed.  Duncan Baird Publishers. London.  2002.

Julien, Nadia.  Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols. Robinson Publishing.  London. 1996.

Tresidder, Jack.  Dictionary of Symbols: an illustrated guide to traditional images, icons,       & emblems.  Chronicle Books.  San Francisco.  1997.

Walker, Barbara G.  The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects. Castle       Books.  Edison, NJ. 1988. 

www./llewellynencyclopedia.com/article/255  

www.kheper.net/topics/chakras/anahata.htm 

http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/