CONSTRUCTING SPHERICAL IMAGERY WITH THE (LUO SHU) MAGIC SQUARE

The circle and the square have a sacred place in human evolution.  Examples of the two icons are replete in art and architecture from the earliest of times.  The circle represents Heaven, the square represents the earth.  Adding to this, the male energy is represented by Heaven as the female energy is represented by earth.  The early Chinese refer to these energies, or qi, as yin (earthly and female) and yang (heavenly and male). 

My expertise is the study of magic squares in the Luo Shu format.  These squares are of an odd order and have peculiar characteristics that gave this “set of squares” a revered status.  The Luo Shu magic square was used in religious ceremonies, was the basis for religious art, and served as the ground plan for temple design and city layouts as this arrangement of numbers had a mystical connection to Heaven. 

These observations have been well documented by some of the greatest Sinologists such as Schuyler Cammaan, Alfred Schinz, and Paul Wheatley.  However, it was not until my discovery of the formula that describes the 3x3 magic square that it became evident that the Chinese magic square, referred to as the Luo Shu, actually refers to all orders of magic squares that can be derived from this formula.  Also, constructing magic squares using the Persian or Hindu method will generate squares of this type.

The study of these magic squares will demonstrate a unique Pythagorean triad of numbers associated with each order of square.  A cross of odd numbers run thru the vertical and horizontal axis of every square, regardless of size, and generates the cross-in-square template used in temple and tomb design (referred to as si fang).  Therefore math, and in particular, the Right-Angle Triangle theorem, is being highlighted in these squares.  Because the Pythagorean Theorem is the most important mathematical relationship to the evolution of humankind, these squares had special status to many cultures.

There has now been a new discovery with these squares that I refer to as magic squares in the Luo Shu format.

Tasha Lindsay has created spherical images based on these squares that are perfectly symmetrical generating as beautiful a mandala as can be since these images are based on a perfect kind of math.  The early Chinese believed the Luo Shu was a gift (or mandate) from Heaven and if used ceremoniously as well as functionally, humankind could improve their prospects to evolve and prosper. 

If it is true that these magic squares are not human constructs but the stuff bestowed upon us from Heaven, then Ms. Lindsay has made the visual and artistic* connection with Heaven.  Or at least with the magic square and circle. 

*COPYRIGHT 2016 
Tasha Lindsay