Seed of Life Meaning and Symbolism

The Seed of Life symbol and its meanings is an intriguing topic to study. As an environmentalist, patterns found in nature and their corresponding symbolism fascinate me because it implies that all life on Earth (and the Universe) is interconnected. In fact, for some of us, life on Earth is a divine creation. The Seed of Life and its foundation in Sacred Geometry crystalize this concept. In this post, you’ll learn about the Seed of Life, Sacred Geometry, and their profound meanings for our existence.

Table of Contents

What is the Seed of Life?
Scared Geometry and the Seed of Life
Number 7 Meanings
Seed of Life Meaning
Seed of Life Tattoo

What is the Seed of Life?

The Seed of Life is a two-dimensional illustration that consists of seven circles of the same size, which overlap. There are six circles on the outside, which interconnect with the seventh circle in the middle. The image looks like a set of equally proportioned flowers. The design is not only beautiful; it has profound symbolic meaning.

Scared Geometry and the Seed of Life

Rooted in the Seed of Life’s meaning is a school of thought referred to as Sacred Geometry. According to Sacred Geometry, patterns in nature are viewed from a mathematical viewpoint and they have broad implications.

The “sacred” part is a belief that these patterns, their mathematical formulas, and their structure are evidence of divine planning and creation. One example of Sacred Geometry is the Fibonacci Spiral, which I wrote about in my post about Snake Meanings and Symbolism.

The Fibonacci Spiral is a pattern that repeats throughout nature and the greater Universe. From sunflowers to hurricanes, galaxies, seashells, and even coiled snakes, we can find spirals. Symbolically, a spiral represents the expansion outward from a single source, which grows or gains power.

Many spirals found in nature follow the mathematical pattern of the Fibonacci number sequence, which starts with 0 and 1 and then increases with the sum of the previous two numbers, such as 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on.

Building Blocks of Existence

For followers of Sacred Geometry, the Seed of Life symbol contains the building blocks for existence. For those who believe in the divine creation of the Universe, the first step began with the creation of an octahedron.

An octahedron is a shape that has eight faces, 12 edges, and six vertices. According to Sacred Geometry, a divine creator built the shape and then spun it on its axis like a top. From there, a sphere began to form, which held the consciousness of the Creator. The Creator then made a second sphere, which intersected with the first.

The two spheres are represented by a symbol called a vesica piscis:

Followers of Sacred Geometry believe these spheres were the blueprint for more complex structures, which formed life and the Universe. From the two spheres, the Creator added a third sphere that interconnected with the first two, and then a fourth, a fifth, and so on.

Seed of Life Stages — Seed of Life stages. Illustration: Mike Oprisko.

This creation, leading to seven interconnected spheres, which are illustrated in the Seed of Life Symbol, coincide with the story of creation in the Book of Genesis. According to the story, the Creator made the world in seven days.

Number 7 Meanings

Sacred Geometry looks at patterns that repeat in the Universe as evidence of the building blocks of existence. Thus, it’s worthwhile to take a deeper look at the number 7, which appears in important ways in our world and culture.

For example, there are seven items in:

Notes or pitches in a diatonic musical scale: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.
Colors in the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
The chakras, or energy fields in our bodies: Muladhara, Swadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajna, and Sahasrara.
As mentioned above, the creation of the word in seven days as told in the Book of Genesis.
The New Testament: The number 7 is said to be the sum of the Holy Trinity and the four corners of the world.
The Book of Revelation also repeatedly features the number 7, such as referencing seven letters to seven churches, seven spirits before God’s throne, seven golden lamp stands, seven stars in Christ’s right hand, seven seals of God’s judgment, and seven angels with seven trumpets.¹
Hinduism: There are seven higher worlds and seven underworlds.
Islam: The Koran mentions seven heavens. And at Mecca, Muslims walk around the Kaaba seven times.
In Buddhism there are seven steps to enlightenment: mindfulness, investigation, effort, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity.

There are even more examples of the importance of the number 7 in nature and human culture. For example, the Harvard psychologist George Miller found that most humans can retain seven items of information in their short-term memory.² Hence, phone numbers in the U.S. and other countries contain seven numbers.

Needless to say, the number 7 is a sacred number for many people. For followers of Sacred Geometry, the frequency with which it appears in important ways in nature and human consciousness is no coincidence.