Circles & Spirals… Oh my!
“The spiral is the fingerprint of the divine — ever unfolding, ever returning, always becoming.”
JUNE 2025
The Triskele or Tripal Spiral
A Journey into the Symbolism of Spirals and Circles in Spirituality
In every corner of the natural world, from the tiniest nautilus shell to the grand arcs of galaxies, the spiral and the circle appear as eternal motifs. These simple yet profound forms transcend language, culture and time, offering a visual language for life, growth, and the divine mystery that flows through all things.
I have found myself drawn to these symbols and began using them intuitively in my healing space, without truly understanding the significance of these symbols. So I thought I should do a deep dive and see what I could uncover on the mystical symbology of the spiral and circle. These two shapes are potent carriers of wisdom — reminders of sacred cycles, inner journeys and our interconnectedness with the universe. I’ll explore the spiritual meanings of spirals and circles across cultures, their presence in the natural world, and what they can teach us about our own healing and spiritual evolution.
The Spiral in Nature and Soul
Spirals are one of the oldest geometric shapes found in ancient artwork and nature. From the DNA helix and sunflowers to whirlpools and galaxies, the spiral is encoded into the very structure of existence. It represents growth, expansion, and cosmic rhythm.
Spiritually, the spiral reflects the journey of the self—winding inward to discover the soul, and then outward again to share that light with the world. This is often referred to as the spiral path of transformation. Unlike a straight line or even a circle, the spiral suggests movement with layers upon layers of information, transformation and ultimately enlightenment. The spiral is the perfect symbology of our personal healing: non-linear, layered and continuous.
Many who walk a spiritual or healing path will recognise this—how we revisit lessons, but from new levels of awareness each time. The spiral reassures us that we’re not ‘going in circles’—we’re evolving.
The Circle: Wholeness, Unity, and the Infinite
The circle is one of the most universal symbols found in spiritual traditions. It represents wholeness, protection, and eternity—a sacred container with no beginning and no end. The circle is used in everything from mandalas and sacred geometry to ritual circles and halos depicted in ancient art representing the union of the individual with Source.
In many cultures, the circle is seen as a symbol of the Divine Feminine, reflecting the cycles of nature—the moon, menstruation, seasons, and birth-death-rebirth. It is also a visual representation of oneness—that we are all connected, part of something greater than ourselves.
To sit in circle, to draw a circle around a sacred object, to gaze into a circular labyrinth or mandala—these are practices that bring us back to centre, to presence, and to the sacred.
Spirals and Circles Across Cultures
Celtic Traditions: The Triskelion and Triple Spiral
The Celtic spiral, especially the triskele or triskelion, symbolises the threefold nature of existence: life–death–rebirth, land–sea–sky, or body–mind–spirit. Often carved into ancient stones like those found at Newgrange in Ireland, spirals in Celtic art spoke to both earthly cycles and spiritual evolution.
For the Celts, spirals weren't just decorative—they were portals. Spirals opened the soul to other worlds, deepening connection to the ancestors and the spirit realms.
Indigenous Australia
While circles and spirals appear in various forms across Aboriginal art, they are often interpreted contextually. In many Indigenous communities, circles represent campsites, gatherings, or sacred places. These symbols are often part of Dreamtime stories—mapping journeys of creation, ancestral wisdom, and connection to Country.
What’s powerful here is the emphasis on story embedded in place—a circle not just as a shape, but as a sacred map of belonging.
Hindu and Buddhist Mandalas
The mandala, from Sanskrit for circle, is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism representing the universe. Mandalas are used in meditation and healing, illustrating how the universe emanates from and returns to a central point—just like the spiritual journey of the self.
Tibetan monks create intricate sand mandalas that take days to complete—only to sweep them away in ceremony. This embodies impermanence and the beauty of cycles—both spiritual and physical.
Native American Symbolism
The medicine wheel or sacred hoop is a deeply meaningful circle in many Indigenous American cultures. It symbolises the interconnectedness of all life, the four directions, the elements, and the seasons. The circle is used in ceremony, healing, and teaching, emphasising balance, harmony, and the cyclic nature of life.
The spiral is also present in petroglyphs across the Americas, often marking places of spiritual significance, pathways, or water sources.
The Spiral Path in Personal Healing
In energy healing and spiritual work, the spiral often emerges intuitively—seen in visions, drawn in journals, traced in light language, or embedded in sacred geometry. It may arise as a symbol in Reiki, Field Tuning, or channelling sessions.
In many shamanic cultures, the spiral is a symbol of the shaman’s journey—descending into the underworld to gain knowledge and then spiralling upward to bring wisdom to the tribe. The spiral here represents both descent and ascent—something that resonates in trauma healing too.
Rather than expecting ourselves to heal ‘once and for all’, the spiral teaches us to honour the layered nature of growth. We come back to old wounds, but with new insight. We revisit themes, not to repeat them, but to deepen our healing.
Circles in Ceremony, Space and Energy
Circles are often used to define sacred space. Whether in medicine circles, stone circles, crystal grids, or spiritual development circles, the act of creating a circle invites in safety, equality, and connection.
When we sit in circle, we dissolve hierarchy. Every voice is equal. Every person has a place. It mirrors the ancient and intuitive understanding that healing is relational, not individual.
In energetic work, circles also help to contain intention and energy. You might visualise a circle of light when doing distance healing or protective work. The circle becomes a boundary, a sacred vessel.
At Henosis, many of our offerings, such as Light Language transmissions, Reiki, and Sacred Space Clearing, naturally work with the intelligence of circles and spirals— drawing stagnant energy out of the individual’s field or space, and anchoring new energy inward in alignment with higher wisdom.
The Spirals of Time
Time, too, moves in spirals. While we often think of it as linear, many ancient cultures and spiritual teachings speak of time as cyclical or spiral-shaped—looping through ages, seasons, and soul patterns. The spiral of time suggests that we don’t just move forward, but revisit themes with new wisdom, encountering echoes of the past in the present. This way of understanding time encourages patience and grace with our growth. We are not experiencing this life with a fixed start and endpoint, we are ascending in spirals, gathering insight as we return to familiar places with new eyes.
What these Symbols Teach Us
These ancient symbols are teachers. They remind us:
Everything moves in cycles. Growth isn’t linear. Healing is seasonal.
We are connected. The circle holds space for community, belonging, and the divine web of life.
The journey is sacred. Whether you're deep in your inner spiral or sitting in sacred circle with others, every step has meaning.
Return is not regression. Revisiting lessons is a sign of deepening, not failing.
When we embrace spiral consciousness, we soften into life. We begin to trust that each step, no matter how familiar or strange, is part of a greater rhythm—one that spirals us home.
Musing In Summary
The next time you see a shell, a coiled fern, a moon cycle, or a circular stone circle—pause. Let it speak to you. What message does it carry?
Spirals and circles remind us that we are always evolving, always held. They appear in our art, our dreams, and our healing spaces as echoes of something ancient and wise. At Henosis, we honour these sacred shapes in all we do—offering space for your healing journey to unfold in its own perfect timing.