Current mood:	cheerful
Current music:	yerba buena "bilingual girl"
Entry tags:	analemma, art, infinity, leminscate, math, ouroboros, philosophy

atavistic patterns
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

--William Blake, Auguries of Innocence


the roots of infinity as a symbol used in mathematics are often traced back to John Wallis in 1655, and Bernoulli in 1694.

although the truth is that there's an even deeper history when you scratch below the surface...

the leminscate (from "lemniscus" ...which, according to Gérard P. Michon, Ph.D. of numericana.com, is Latin for "pendant ribbon") is perhaps related to the analemma (which, according to Brian Tung of Astronomical Games, comes from the Greek word "analambanein", meaning "to take up, to resume, to repair")

i also found some anthroposophical stuff that incorporates the idea of the leminscate one way or another...
from an anthroposophical criticism forum, "mysplum" wrote:
A leminscate is a sign that resembles the figure 8 which stands for eternity. The leminscate is a very holy symbol in Anthroposophy. Steiner's first Goetheanum (mystical temple) was built to represent the leminscate (eternity). If you read Anthroposophic books you will notice that many illustrations explaining Steiner's "science" utilize the leminscate. For example Steiner drew a leminscate to show how the astral body travels at night in the cosmos. It is an important and basic symbol of Anthroposophy with healing powers. I read once that children knit in order to be exposed to the healing powers of leminscates. The fingers make leminscates with the wool around the needles.

also, q.v.:
The Ogdoad
ouroboros
Möbius Strip
M.C. Escher's Moebius Strip I
M.C. Escher's Moebius Strip II
Deep Mathematics and Meta-systems Theory

...and my further explorations of the nature of philosophical perspectives on the idea of infinity