“Spoil a picture a bit, in order to finish it.” ~Eugène Delacroix

 

Left: Robert Henri, Cafferty (1921). Private Collection.

Hooray for the Circle!

Give me the Maya calendar from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, over our present Gregorian system, any day. Maya culture believed in the circularity of nature—and of life. For these sophisticated and innovative peoples, the days and years moved in one grand arching loop, only to return to the same point, decades later. Cycles of agriculture, victories and defeats in war, life and death, and the power of the stars and planets to influence events here on earth (borne through the cosmos on the back of a giant turtle, by the way) were all embedded in the various cycles of days that followed, one after the other. Both micro decisions-like when best to plant maze-to macro strategies, such as when to launch an attack on those annoying neighbors, were all discernible with a quick consult with that giant carved circular stone down in the town square. The repetition of the various calendric cycles, the natural cycles of observable phenomena, and the recurrence and renewal of death-rebirth imagery in their mythological traditions were important influences upon Maya societies. This conceptual view, in which the “cyclical nature” of time is highlighted, was a pre-eminent one, and many rituals were concerned with the completion and re-occurrences of various cycles. artes fine arts magazine

If I have any questions, no matter how spurious, I want to be able to go to my refrigerator door, and—rather than being told the mere month and day—I want that big old round print version of a Maya calendar held in place there by a magnet, to tell me whether it’s a good day to even venture out the door, let alone whether it might it be timely to begin those accordion lessons, or finally take up base jumping!?

We had a good thing going in Mesoamerica before the Europeans arrived, with the possible drawback of sacrificing virgins on the altar and eating the hearts of our enemies on the battle field. That would be problematic by today’s standards—even for Tea Party conservatives. But, the Spaniards brought with them that essential European document—the age-old Bible. Their hope was to convert the “heathens” to a new way of looking at the world, and with it would come their salvation. And the Spanish were willing to kill the natives, in the cause of Christianity, to prove the point…not the most effective way to build a congregation!

Key to understanding Biblical teaching was a central theme promoted by that other brilliant culture from half a world away, the Israelites. Their familiar book of teaching begins with a phrase that would alter our thinking about the structure of life here on earth. It was a simple three words: “In the beginning…” With that simple explication, human history would be turned on its ear, because, for the first time in recorded history, the text of Genesis implied that time was linear, not circular. If there was a ‘beginning,’ there also had to be a middle, and an end! This paradigm—like it or not—would apply to each individual soul, as well as the grand course of history, and the exigencies of nature enveloping our daily existence. In other words, there was no going back. Repairs had to be made on the roadside, and the journey was to continue. According to Old Testament Biblical teachings, there were no Mulligans in the game of life. The New Testament, however, offered promise and salvation in the form of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. Mankind would see in the teachings of Christianity an instructional path to eternal life, although it would be small consolation to the millions of New World inhabitants who lost their lives at the hands of their well-intentioned pedagogues.

The circle, nevertheless, has managed to maintain its mystical grasp over the minds and imaginations of scientists and theologians around the world. In the Middle Ages, the circle—the purest form in nature—was believed to represent the orbits of the planets and sun around the earth…God’s perfect plan. It was an axiom of the Church that could only be challenged under penalty of death or excommunication, as Galileo was to learn. If not to be found in nature, the circle came to represent perfection in art. In Giorgio Vasari’s, The Lives of the Artists, he relates a story in which a papal envoy asks the early Renaissance artist, Giotto for an example of his work, and the artist offers a drawing of a circle. Rather than censoring him for his arrogance, the pope and his courtiers declare—on the basis of the circle–that Giotto surpassed in excellence all the other painters of his time.”

Circles are found in the deeply contemplative ink painting of the Chinese, in Rembrandt’s self-portrait and in works of art throughout modern history: It is the shape of the halo, symbolizing human consciousness of the divine; the Eastern Dharmic wheel of fortune; the Buddhist mandala, the Yin and Yang symbol for opposite universal forces, and the Hindu’s Shiva Nataruja, Lord of the Dance (left); the Rose Window in the Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame, the prehistoric formation at Stonehenge; and in the shape of the rainbow, a segmented circle connecting heaven and earth, to name a few.

The circle is fundamental. The circle is spiritual. The circle embraces us, offering security (“Circle the wagons!”). The circle is used to get the job done (notice a football huddle, or the arch of a bridge). A true circle is non-existent in nature, and still serves as an aspiration toward perfection for humankind. I sat with a cute five-year old the other day, as she manipulated pencil and paper, inscribing endless wobbly and mostly-ovoid shapes on the page. They were soon transformed into faces; baskets filled with apples; dogs or cats; big oogly, disembodied eyes; and spindly-legged creatures for another planet. Her circle exercises were a fundamental form of creative expression, hard-wired into her young nervous system, aimed at finding that perfect symbol for her rational mind and its new-found ability to embrace and internalize the world around her. In her own focused way, she was in search of meaning as old as civilization: to discover the eternally-magical and transformative power found in the circle.

Here’s a New Year’s toast to the Maya!

Thanks for reading ARTES,

Richard Friswell, Publisher & Managing Editor

p.s.- To the couple from Florida—writers recently relocated to Mystic, Connecticut—who contacted me in December about writing for ARTES, I have lost your email information and would love to hear from you again. Please contact me! -RF