Spiral of Life: Why We Revisit The Same Lessons In Life Again and Again: Have you ever noticed how we keep learning the lessons of life in spiralling motion?
“The path isn’t a straight line; it’s a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths.”
~ Barry H. Gillespie
You can find these stunning patterns abundantly in nature, from tornadoes and hurricanes to budding tips of ferns, seeds of a sunflower, curved horn of the ram, shell of a snail, our DNA structure, earth’s magnetic field and even galaxies in space.
Believed to be the earliest symbol known to us, spirals are an integral part of our spiritual growth, our life experiences and lessons of life.
It is our connection with the mysteries of the cosmos. The spiral of life is a source of spiritual energy that allows us to evolve and transform throughout our lives.
“The human mind always makes progress, but it is a progress in spirals.” – Madame de Stael
Life is a spiral, not a cycle
“Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping.” – Julia Margaret Cameron
Ancient philosophies from different cultures believed that our life is more like a spiral as every lesson we learn in life comes back to us until we learn the deeper meaning. And most likely it will be even more challenging each time. Anything that we have failed to learn from our lessons of life will lead to bitter consequences, while everything we have learned will lead to infinite possibilities.
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Life always gives us second chances.
If you haven’t succeeded in something in your life until now, then it’s a reflection of your inability to accommodate the various aspects of your being. You will attract failure and lack of acceptance unless you accept yourself wholly. You will keep repeating the same mistakes and going through the same lessons in life till you learn what the spiral wants you to. But once you understand the true meaning of each lesson, you will be able to rewrite the script of your life.
What is the spiral of life?
“We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.” – Hermann Hesse
The Spiral of Life is a celtic symbol that depicts the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. It is also believed that this profoundly mystical symbol epitomizes the male, female, and child moving ahead on the path of life. The spiral of life symbol for trinity (the tri-spiral) is prevalent in ancient Irish cultures and can be found in stone carvings. It is also believed that the triple spiral of life depicts the Eternal Truth which states that the meaning of our lives is to practice harmony among the 3 dimensions of our being.
Some of the oldest and most popular spirals can be found in Newgrange, County Meath in Ireland. Dating back to 2500 BC, these ancient spirals were discovered in a huge man-made mound constructed with stone & earth, which might have served as a tomb. The Newgrange spirals are believed to represent the cycle of rebirth as well as a symbol of a mother goddess.
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Symbolism of the spiral
“This seems to be the law of progress in everything we do; it moves along a spiral rather than a perpendicular; we seem to be actually going out of the way, and yet it turns out that we were really moving upward all the time.” – Frances E. Willard
A representation of the interplay of birth, growth, death, and rebirth, the majestic spiral of life depicts the progression of the universe from the oneness of God or the supreme being. Hence, it is regarded as a symbol of energy which finds divine order out of chaos.
Spirals can be found in scores of ancient Celtic artefacts. In spirituality, the spiral is a symbol of the path that takes us from the outer consciousness to the inner soul. It is the evolution of our consciousness from external awareness and ego to enlightenment and cosmic awareness. The flow between the outer manifested world and the inner intuitive world is marked by the winding spiral rings. This portrays our evolution on a collective and individual level. According to mystics, when it comes to rebirth the spiral of life exemplifies the consciousness of nature and is believed to be the way everything works as it starts from the center and expands outwards.
In ancient Celtic art, both single spiral and triple spiral (Triskelion) can be found.
1. Single Spiral
This clockwise spiral is believed to be a representation of the birth, growth, expansion of consciousness and cosmic energy. Whereas, the anticlockwise spiral is a symbol of the sun. Ancient cultures believed that both spiritual and physical energy flowed in nature in a spiral way. The spiral is a symbol of both feminine and masculine energies.
2. Triple Spiral
The triple spiral or Triskelion is believed to be created by the ancient Celts and it represents their 3 worlds – the spiritual world, the celestial world and the present world. According to the Celts, all activities in life & death occurred in 3 different stages which are crucial for keeping nature’s balance. It is also believed that the 3 spirals represents the mind, body and soul; the past, present and future; creation, preservation and destruction; and mother, father and child. It is the symbol of actions, evolution, progress, cycles and completion.
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Coming back to the same lessons
“The growth of understanding follows an ascending spiral rather than a straight line.”- Marion Milner
Do you find yourself coming back to the same lessons and themes over and over again? Well, it means that you are an evolving soul. However, it can be rather frustrating revisit certain things repeatedly, especially when you are focused on the process of your self-awareness. But when you realize that your journey towards awakening and enlightenment is not a race, you will become more open to coming back to old lessons of life that heal your soul and helps you understand the deeper meanings of life. Although, your ego may consider this as a setback to achieving your goal of awakening.
The fact is we evolve and grow not only in this life but also in what lies beyond it. When we are focused on accomplishing a particular goal in our life, then our vision and spiritual experience become highly restricted. Hence, we need to be open to our growth. The direction of the spiral of life reminds us that despite how much we grow and expand, we can never go too far from our core or center. It also tells that in our spiritual journey, we can only go upwards. At times, we may be compelled to go backwards or regress, but eventually, we will move in an upward direction in life, even if it may not seem so initially.
So when we come across a similar lesson which we might have experienced earlier in our life path, we need to remember that right now we are at a higher point in the spiral than where we were when we first experienced this lesson. This gives us a better perspective at the lesson and a vantage point from where we can better observe the situation and gain a greater level of experience.
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You are the core of the spiral
“Spiral minds are harder to twist.” – Kris Saknussemm
Who do you spend most of your time with? Is it your significant other? Your family? Your friend? Coworkers? Regardless of what you answer, you’re wrong. Because you spend most of your time with yourself. No one can influence or impact you as much as you can. The quality of the relationship you enjoy with own yourself will dictate every other relationship you have in life.
Most of the time, we show compassion and kindness to others while we shame and judge ourselves for even the smallest mistakes. However, as we start criticizing ourselves we develop a negative mindset and we begin to judge others and view them in the same manner as we view ourselves. And this criticism often comes at people we love and care about the most.
It is only by developing a loving and compassionate relationship with our inner selves, the love inside us can spiral out and reach others and enhance our relationships in life. The relationship we have with our mind, body and soul impacts the relationship we have with our spouse, family and friends.
By redefining our inner self which has been corrupted by self-reproach, criticism and self-deprecating thoughts, we will be better equipped to be more mindful and be present in each moment in life to experience the true happiness of being alive. It is only by focusing on the center of the spiral, which is your inner self, you can spread love and joy to others and be your genuine self.
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Accepting stillness
“Silence is the root of everything. If you spiral into its void a hundred voices will thunder messages you long to hear.” – Rumi
Understanding our spiritual evolution starts with understanding the relationship between our ego and our consciousness. As our awareness evolves, our ego realizes the the light of our enriched soul will lead to its collapse. As the ego becomes desperate to stay alive, it tries to convert spiritual philosophies into fear-based assumptions clouding our judgement. It makes us believe that we are not perfect or healed enough to tap into our spiritual energies. This gives the ego something to work on and stay relevant by preventing the expansion of our consciousness.
However, there is a way to defeat this ego. Unconditional acceptance can be discovered in our inner nothingness. The stillness inside us makes us neutral and non-judgmental and this inner silence is the enemy of the ego. It is only when we don’t give ourselves the permission to be our authentic selves, we become frustrated and judgmental. But this is exactly when we need to remind ourselves that “it’s okay!” Tell yourself that it is okay to feel whatever emotions that are coming up naturally. It’s okay if you are struggling to forgive someone who has wronged you. It’s okay if you are still hurting. And it’s okay if there is still too much noise inside. Know that everything will fall into place as you move up the spiral of life. You will learn to forgive, you will learn to control your thoughts and emotions and you will find peace.
When we judge ourselves, our ego becomes empowered. And this is when we start revisiting experiences and lessons that we have been through again and again. Embracing unconditional acceptance will help you transcend self-criticism and find inner peace that will enable you to get out of the loop of falling into similar situations and lessons of life repeatedly. Your soul will never start to heal as long as you keep shaming and forcing yourself to being someone you are not.
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A spiral full of possibilities
“The world does not move through time as if it were a straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead time moves through and within us, in endless spirals. Eternity does not mean infinite time, but simply timelessness.” – Elif Safak
Unconditional acceptance makes the ego dumb and mute with neutrality and non-judgement. This is the path to being comfortable with your inner stillness. As we accept ourselves, our flaws, inappropriate perspectives and unwanted circumstances in life without judgment and with undiluted awareness, they cease to re-enter our lives and become a memory of the past.
The spiral of life represents both evolution & surrender. It gives us the freedom to be who we are inside and feel exactly as we want. This is the impetus that makes our ego surrender and makes way for the evolution of our consciousness. When you start practicing self-love, you will not feel the compulsion to making decisions that adjust with your insecure ego. By operating solely from the wisdom of our soul, we can open ourselves to new avenues and more meaningful possibilities.
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