Seed of Life Meaning and Symbolism

Seed of Life Meaning

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.

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.

Spirtal in Nature

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.

Octahedron
Octahedron. Image: Kjell André

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:

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.

Seed of Life Meaning

In essence, the Seed of Life symbol, with its seven interconnected circles, symbolizes the interconnection of life on Earth and universal existence. It also symbolizes that all life originated from a single source in a divine plan.

Seed of Life Tattoo

As symbolism is such an essential aspect to tattoo art, a Seed of Life symbol can be a wonderful design for a tattoo. The beauty is that in the simplest of designs, a deeply profound explanation for our existence can be explained.

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15 Responses

  1. I also have the seed of life tattooed on my back, centered between the area of my neck and shoulders. Seems like a pattern with some of these other comments. 7 circles, and recently being guided to the idea of putting 777 underneath it, then the next day finding out my life path number is 7.. wow. Intuition is a crazy thing.

  2. God created the first creation by seeding particles of matter. Magnetism drew the particles of matter together to form planets and galaxies. This was the first creation. God created mortal beings on planet Earth. First the body was formed. When the body became independent, the spirit emerged in a symbiotic relationship with the body. Neither can exist in physical space without the other. This is the second creation.We develop our spirit good or bad as we will. At the end of mortal life the body and spirit separate with the body returning to dust and the spirit, good or evil, enters the afterlife as the third creation.

  3. I had a dream, the seed of life was tattooed on my back. I have booked my first tattoo with the above design. Thank you for all the information shared on your wonderful site!

    1. I have a tattoo seed of life on my back. 10 years ago my inner guides told me to get this tattoo to initiate me. until now I didn’t even know what exactly this symbol meant

  4. I have a seed of life tattoo it has a lot of meaning to me. I had too look up it’s meaning,but when I read it in my mind I had never really forgotten.

  5. Can you please clarify the source of said text, “According to Sacred Geometry, a divine creator built the shape and then spun it on its axis like a top.” Who is Sacred Geometry in this quote?

    1. Hi Vincent, Thank you for your question. The earliest known reference I have of this theory of God spinning an octahedron like a top is ancient Greece. I may have first heard this in school! The Greeks called the platonic solids, of which the octahedron is one, the “dice of the gods.” I think this may have started with Pythagoras and his followers. Plato (as in the “platonic” solids) studied what Pythagoras taught. Pythagoras believed that numbers (and therefore math and geometry) originated from a divine source. Here’s an interesting web page that talks a bit about this: http://dbanach.com/homepage/pyth2.htm. Mathematics and physics also study octahedron spheres. I emailed Jain 108, a sacred geometry expert, to see if he knows the original source of this theory. If so, I’ll add it here.

  6. Excellent article of the sacred geometry and the natural occurrence of the sacred number seven. Wonderful of the beautiful mysteries in our world and universe!
    Thank you for sharing these informative articles.

  7. Thank you for this article. It explains very well about the seed Of life and how I have been drawn to sacred geometry lately. Are there any books you could recommend for someone just starting out on their sacred geometry journey? Thanks!

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Kristen M. Stanton

Hello. Thanks for visiting UniGuide. My name is Kristen and I started UniGuide as a tribute to nature, animals, and spiritual exploration. I hope you enjoy your experience here!