Math for Mystics and Me?
When I was in school I struggled with math; still do actually. Back then though, failing math was a big deal as it could really set you back in school. One day in grade five though, I had a wonderful experience. All of a sudden I could do the complex equations. They just came to me intuitively or like magic and I understood that they were the correct answers; I could see those equations sliding into place…
That ‘Aha!’ euphoria lasted for about thirty minutes or less. At first, my teacher was overjoyed that I finally ‘got math’. But when I couldn’t show her and the class how I arrived at my answers and I couldn’t explain it satisfactorily, I was summarily relegated to the ’still a dummy’ and ‘cheater’ category of student. I was devastated. My brilliance at math never shone again.
Do you use your fingers to do math equations? I do — always have. It’s a habit that my parents and my teachers were never able to break me of. And it’s always been a source of embarrassment for me. It turns out though that using one’s fingers for math has ancient sacred roots — an act of magic itself. I never knew that until a few days ago.
What is it with teacher’s these days and their insistence on suppressing the ancient ways? Actually, I guess that too is a time honoured tradition for some.
The other day, I was ‘wandering around’ Amazon, looking for a good book to read. Oddly enough, I came across a math book that has captured my interest. Ordinarily, I do not read let alone buy math books, but this one really has got me curious enough to do so. The book: Math for Mystics: From the Fibonacci sequence to Luna’s Labyrinth to the Golden Section and Other Secrets of Sacred Geometry by Renna Shesso.
The book is described at Amazon thus:
A Magical Mystery Tour of Math History.
Much of what we know as math comes to us directly from early astronomer magi who needed to be able to describe and record what they saw in the night sky. Everyone needed math: whether you were the king’s court astrologer or a farmer marking the best time for planting, timekeeping and numbers really mattered. Mistake a numerical pattern of petals and you could poison yourself. Lose the rhythm of a sacred dance or the meter of a ritually told story and the intricately woven threads that hold life together were spoiled. Ignore the celestial clock of equinoxes and solstices, and you’d risk being caught short of food for the winter.
That’s really interesting but I found that the author’s bio clinched it for me. (Well that and reading the excerpts at Amazon.)
Renna Shesso is a former math-phobe who previously viewed the “M” word with fear and loathing, but she gave numbers a second chance. Through her search she discovered their contemporary use as magical tools and as vital components of esoteric heritage. Math for Mystics is for readers, like her, who have viewed math with trepidation, but have an interest in numbers as a practical tool for magical, esoteric or spiritual purposes.
Shesso brings a life-long study of mystical traditions to her writing. Inspired by her herbalist/astrologer grandmother, she studies mythology and history, archeology, tarot, the vast lore of the Goddess traditions, and many other good mysteries. A long-time resident of Colorado, she is a shamanic practitioner and a teacher and priestess of Wicca.
(You can find Renna online at www.rennashesso.com)
All in all, I think this is one math book that I can actually enjoy, and who knows, I may just be able to do something about that math block I have.
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