I haven't done much drawing lately, but I did accomplish one project - a gift for a dear friend's wedding. On one of my FB drawing groups, a recent theme was the nautilus. Because it spoke to me, I researched symbolism associated with the nautilus, which turned out to be wonderfully applicable to many life situations.
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The Nautilus shell, coiling upwards and lined with mother-of-pearl, is subdivided into as many as 30 chambers. This sea creature lives in a chamber for a season until it outgrows that particular space and must build another larger chamber for the next stage of its life. As the shell grows, its body moves forward into the new larger chamber and produces a wall to seal off the older chambers. It has no choice but to keep moving on. The cycles of its growth as a series of chambers are arranged in a precise Golden Mean spiral. This spiral is symbolic of life’s unfolding mysteries.
"Though sealed off from previous chambers, the nautilus remains connected to each compartment by means of a thin tube. It uses its outgrown chambers, its past, only to maintain its balance and facilitate movement in the present. Thus, the nautilus is forever connected to its center, the point of origin, and carries the unique story of its past wherever it goes. However, the past does not weigh it down. Instead, age and maturity actually enhance its balance and make the journey easier by creating additional buoyancy to float along without effort. The nautilus allows us to understand that discovery and growth involves continunal buoyancy to float along without effort."
~ Loretta D. Melancon, Healing Environment Services
"Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year’s dwelling for the new . . . "
~"The Chambered Nautilus" by Oliver Wendell Holmes
* * * * *
The Nautilus shell, coiling upwards and lined with mother-of-pearl, is subdivided into as many as 30 chambers. This sea creature lives in a chamber for a season until it outgrows that particular space and must build another larger chamber for the next stage of its life. As the shell grows, its body moves forward into the new larger chamber and produces a wall to seal off the older chambers. It has no choice but to keep moving on. The cycles of its growth as a series of chambers are arranged in a precise Golden Mean spiral. This spiral is symbolic of life’s unfolding mysteries.
"Though sealed off from previous chambers, the nautilus remains connected to each compartment by means of a thin tube. It uses its outgrown chambers, its past, only to maintain its balance and facilitate movement in the present. Thus, the nautilus is forever connected to its center, the point of origin, and carries the unique story of its past wherever it goes. However, the past does not weigh it down. Instead, age and maturity actually enhance its balance and make the journey easier by creating additional buoyancy to float along without effort. The nautilus allows us to understand that discovery and growth involves continunal buoyancy to float along without effort."
~ Loretta D. Melancon, Healing Environment Services
"Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year’s dwelling for the new . . . "
~"The Chambered Nautilus" by Oliver Wendell Holmes
The card I made for the gift was a tangle in the wedding colors of silver and blue.
