By Paul Goehrke

Medieval scholars believed that God arranged the universe according to mathematical principles. Because God used numbers in creating the cosmos and God is perfect, so too must numbers must be perfect. Thus, numerology is a legitimate tool to be used in establishing a link between the material world and the metaphysical realm. Everything that exists comes from God, and everything that comes from God has its proper number. Therefore, to come to any understanding of God one must understand number. The numerology of the present diagram, then, is as important as its content. According to the medieval way of viewing things, its effectiveness as a meditative tool owes as much to its perfect proportions as to its subject, the linkage of the works of Christ's passion with the monastic liturgical round and the human senses.

Click to download a PDF of the full paper.

Figure 1

The diagram itself is made up of two symmetrical rhombuses. Each rhombus is a "perfect" shape, meaning each side is the same length. Because this diagram was drawn by hand, there is slight variation in the length of each side.

Figure 2

These are the measured lengths of the seven sides and two diagonals. The average length of the diagonals is 87.5 mm. The average length of the sides is 114.1 mm.

Figure 3

These are the side lengths that would make these rhombuses geometrically perfect. The average side length (114.1 mm) is only 1.6 mm greater (1.422%) than the "perfect" side length of 112.5 mm. Considering the fact that this diagram was drawn by hand, this very slight margin of error can be overlooked.

Figure 4

The dimensions of these perfect rhombuses can be reduced to a proportion of 7 to 9 (diagonal length to side length). The division of this proportion (7 divided by 9, or the division of any diagonal into any corresponding side) yields a quotient of .77777777, repeating. In effect, this diagram is perfect, and perfectly infused with the quality of "seven-ness".