Geometric Design Principles
The caption reads, "From a man and woman make a circle, then a square, then a triangle, finally a circle, and you will obtain the Philosopher's Stone".Note the cap and cape, the compasses and the square (as cross on the ground), and the 'speed square' marking angles. Of note as well is the fact that the triangle doesn't touch the outer circle. We are reminded of the triangle in the upright rectangle on the previous page. The top of that rectangle marks 60 degrees on the circle. It also appears that the base of the triangle in this image is close to the location of the base of a square inscribed in that circle.
If you think about it for a second, and draw a vertical center line through the image, then turn it on its side, you can see that the compasses are indicating the corner of the 51.5 degree triangle. Measuring the angle formed by the compasses you find it to be 38.5, the reciporocal of 51.5 (51.5+38.5 = 90), and the latitude of Delphi. Greenwich is at 51.4. The chord that is cut by the compasses marks the side of a heptagon. I suggest that this image represents an occult blind, not on the scale of deception that we see in the Kircher tree, but a blind none the less. All the elements are there, but they are not presented in an orderly fashion on purpose. The description of a circle in a circle reminds us doubling the circle with the vesica, and the triangle and square remind us of the traingulum and the quadratum. The compasses add the 52.5 degree triangle. Let's look at that first.
Using the vesica we generate rectangles located at 30 and 60 degrees. Compare that image to the Glastonbury image on the last page. In the upright rectangle we draw a line from the center of the top line to each of the bottom corners. A circle tangent two both of these lines is also tangent to the base line of the 51.5 degree triangle, the corner of which is being indicated by the compasses. Note how the man's body is tangent to that line in three places.
If we add a bisected equilateral triangle we see that another line tangent to the circle is being emphasized (pointing to the woman's hand). It has already been shown that the base of the small red triangle is very nearly equal to the side of a regular heptagon. Again, the chord that is cut by the compasses marks one side of a heptagon (above). Below you can see that he has mixed his meatphors. He is using the (red) square as the base line for his inner square, and is drawing his diagonals to that and not to the corners of the upright rectangle. The third image below is a meridiana from the Vatican which shows that the diagonals from the square should touch the circle at the top.
![]() It should be noted that the Philosopher's Stone is generally considered to be a cube, which is depicted by a hexagon or three rhombus. The hexagon is formed by two equilateral triangles as we see in the lower left in the image above. Below we see the way that the 22 Hebrew letters are depicted/grouped. We see, 3, 7 and 12 letters. You see the same form used in the center of the Rose Cross Lamen of the Golden Dawn. 4 is missing; 3+4 = 7 and 3x4 = 12.
![]() The central triangle is the small triangle that sets the scale for the heptagon. The twelve pointed figure derives from the vesica, and is fomed of two hexagrams and an oblique square. It appears to be a 12 sided figure next to the hexagram on the ground above. The suggestion appears to be that the Philospher's Stone needs to accomodate the 51.5 degree triangle that represents the heptagon and the number seven. John Michell recommends that as nomadic people settled down they switched from a lunar calendar to a solar one, and switched from a seven based mythology to a twelve based one. Note that Hebrews and Muslims use a lunar calendar today, and that there are seven days in a week. He effectively removes one layer of meaning from the 'pattern'. After speaking of a system of number and proportion that was common around the world, instead of pointing to a dozen or so examples, he directs us to the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21.
[10] And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, A city is described as measuring 12,000 in width, breadth and height; a wall is described as being 144 cubits. The city is described as having three gates in the north, east, south and the west. Every thing is square and number 12 is emphasized. The gates are equal to the tribes, we are told. The image below appears to work well here. It's an astrology chart but it could also describe the Hebrew camp in the desert.
![]() In City of Revelation, Michell writes that the Holy City was not a product of Christian revelation, but was an image of eternal truth, the model of the cosmic order translated to the earth. He recommends that even though the New Jerusalem is cubic and the Stonehenge is round, they are analogous. Remember that Gilgameshs' ark was a 60x60x60 cube. As you can see, the two images above are indeed analogous. What Michell was trying to do was to present a template for the pattern, which he presumes is represented by the New Jerusalem somehow. Rather than dealing with squares and cubes that are described in the Bible, Michell gives us circles. If you do a search of the KJV, you will find the word 'circle' once. The word 'triangle' is not in there. On page 43 he writes that we follow the pattern of the New Jerusalem by placing a circle in a square, and a hexagon in the circle? If you read Revelation 21 you will see only squares and cubes mentioned?
![]() As you can see, he has the twelve outer points marked, but here are several problems. This figure is based on multiple circles not a square with 12 gates. Notice how he bunches his circles to represent the notion of three north, three east, three south, and three west. He has translated the quadratum formula into a circular one. Unless you draw a hexagon in there somewhere, there is no way that you could say that a circular image represents a cubic city. Ignoring for a moment the fact that Michell is replacing a quadratic view with a triangulum view (based on a hexagon in a circle), and a square with a circle in general, let's look at his template. As you can see what he needed instead of 12 circles around the edge was one small circle in the center (to continue the reductions).
![]() We can locate that (red) circle several ways. We can use a vesica on his central circle generating parallel horizontal (blue) lines. We get the same upper line by bisecting the equilateral triangle. We can also used the diagonals of the upright rectangle. The area of this circle is half his central circle, which is half the next circle. That is what we mean by a system of proportion. Michell's suggestion is that this is the geometer's template and it was used for the Stonehenge. Below it reads, "The circles of the New Jerusalem design define the measurements of the concentric stone rings at Stonehenge". Looking closely, you can see that the top image below is the center of the bottom image. (The black lines are mine.) In the bottom image he is highlighting the top circle and the circle at the points of the star at the bottom. On the right below you see that this circle is not proportional to any of the other circles that we see.
![]() Looking at the top of the image on the right we see that the circle that is proportional is the next circle in. I have marked those in red on the left image. We can begin there and work out from the larger image. Compare to the calendar stone. Only the purple circle is missing in the Stonehenge, nested inside the 51.5 degree triangle. The Stonehenge has two circles not in the calendar stone, one is the ring that Michell emphasizes, and the one outside of that. The Stonehenge features 10 rings. Where are the 12 gates; three in the north, east, south and west?
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![]() Lines that bisect the sides of an equilateral traingle also bisect the opposite sides producing 30 degree angles. If we reduce a bisected equilateral triangle so that the base angle are 51.5 degrees, these diagonals become 23+ degrees. Coincidently, the diagonals of the rectangle generated by the Station Stones at the Stonehenge produce 23+ degree angles, and 51 degree triangles inscribed in a circle. Think of the sri yantra. Also compare to the Glastonbury image.
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![]() Above we see a closeup of the DC map showing the same shortened triangles and diagonals. Continue to a discussion of the Amiens Cathedral and the notion of the Cosmic Man by Robert Lawler.
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