The Star structures within this Tree of Life design
The geometrical star structures in this Tree of Life model can be drawn using only a straightedge and compass. The study of how to divide a line into thirds and a circle into sevenths using only a straight edge and compass was what first got me interested in the Tree of Life design. I knew that it was supposedly impossible to divide a line into thirds or a circle into sevenths by only using a straightedge and compass; but non the less, I wanted to see what else I could discover and how close I could get in the process. I was motivated to do this exercise because this was supposedly one of the practices that the Pythagoreans made their students go through for years in order for them to better understand the mysteries of geometry and numbers.
By doing this exercise I became aware that achieving perfection was not always necessary to achieve a practical solution to these unsolvable problems. By exploring different approaches to these particular challenges, it also revealed to me many different ways of creating different geometrical forms and relationships that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
I wasn’t intending to develop another Tree of Life model when I first started this geometrical exercise, however this form that resembled the Tree of Life form kept emerging out of the process of trying to divide the line into thirds. This prompted me to delve deeper into the notions being put forth in other Tree of Life designs around the world and throughout history. All these different cultural approaches, although varied in form, shared a common appreciation of the intrinsic nature of numbers and the value of harmonious geometrical structures. This led me to research even more esoteric topics from around the world relating to geometry and numbers that have continued to fascinate me for years now.