Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Origami Tessellation

Picture is courtesy of "Mélisande" who published it on Flickr. 
After scanning many Origami works I got the impression that making Origami Stars of David is quite common.

Harmony of the Triangles

Harmony of the Triangles HexagramThe following paragraph is from Dr. Asher Eder’s book The Star of David, which was published in 1987 in English in Jerusalem by Rubin Mass Ltd. The publication here is courtesy of Oren Mass.
This version includes corrections and new materials that do not appear on the printed version.
The joining of the two triangles, whether they represent the relationship between God and Man, male and female, Israel and the nations, or religion and science, has to be harmonious - a symmetrical star.
If one of the two entities represented by a triangle insists on having only his own concept prevail and his own position acknowledged, we would have, not a star, but a single triangle resting on its base, similar to a pyramid. Such an individual's upward aspiration for a "better world" would in practice become more constricted, until the sides of the triangle intersect. As a point cannot be defined either mathematically or otherwise, likewise this point of intersection cannot be defined, but it could easily turn out to be the point of isolated fanaticism, or obsession, where misplaced enthusiasm or sheer despotism replaces insight.
The fate of such a "single-triangle" individual can be compared to that of the builders of the Tower of Babel, with its broad base yet narrow top intended to reach heaven and serve as a rallying point. Both sides of that triangle act as a shelter to screen off any influence from above. However, although this influence is not acknowledged by the adherents to this kind of thinking, it is still there, and causes the "Babylonian confusion".
If such an attitude prevails, and one could manage to impose it on others, the triangles of the hexagram would not be interwoven; instead, one triangle would impose itself on the other, repressing it and pushing it into the background.
The result would be that the individual who holds such a view, and any individuals who have been persuaded to believe it possible to abandon their own in its favor, would find themselves, first, in opposition to the Divine, and ultimately, at odds with each other - for every individual's proper place in the scheme of things is as unique and as unalterable as his fingerprints. Thus, as the "tower" rises and narrows, the individual's uniqueness would find itself increasingly constricted; tensions would arise and eventually erupt. As each person's individuality finally asserts itself, it would become clear that, all declarations of "loyalty to the cause" notwithstanding, each participant had been laboring towards his own goal... a goal different from that of any other participant. Confusion and chaos would inevitably ensue
This sign does not show harmony and peace but rather tension and imposition, which trigger revolt. Human history so far has indeed been the "history of the revolts of the oppressed against the oppressors."
Imposition and oppression are, of course, not the purpose of history, regardless of whether such oppressions emanate from political, clerical, feudal, industrial or other causes. As the Lord God does not impose upon Man, likewise Man is not meant to impose upon, or oppress, his fellows.
In view of our present subject (religion and science), this means that both sides should see themselves as servants of God and Man, of the Creator and all His Creation, with each one contributing and receiving his due, and accepting the other's role in complementary cooperation, as symbolized by the six-pointed star:
In our symmetric six-pointed star the joining of its two triangles symbolizes, and even teaches us well the Divine Principle of harmonious mutuality and complementation of the related energy fields.
True peace, whether on the personal, cultural, social or political level, will be achieved only to the degree that we can raise our awareness from the selfish to the holistic level, in which everyone plays his part in completing the whole.
Indeed, the word Shalom, peace, means completion, literally and figuratively. It derives from the root word, shalem, complete, whole. As a verb, shalem means to recompense, to pay a debt, to make whole. Thus the word conveys a universal truth: we will have peace only inasmuch as we pay what we owe to one another as well as to the Creator and the rest of His Creation.
As C.G. Jung says: "The right way, like the wrong way, must be paid for." The difference is that for the right way we pay in advance, following our insight, while for the wrong way we pay afterwards - a much higher and more painful price.
But what about the pentagram which symbolizes the sciences? Science, according to its own definition, deals with the counting, weighing and measuring of the phenomena of the created world, and with the condensing of the findings into law. Thus, we could put the pentagram into the middle field of the hexagram:
However, this would not contribute anything, as both the pentagram and the middle field of the hexagram, which expresses by its two triangles the harmonious balance of both the material and spiritual aspects of the universe, does not need any supplement; it is complete in itself.
In recent years, it became fashionable to depict the hexagram in different shapes -- triangles with unequal sides; prolonged triangles; one of the two triangles replaced by a dove resembling a triangle; giving one or two sides of a triangle the shape of a letter, and so on. While this may be eye catching, we ought to remember that symbols, including the hexagram, have specific and powerful messages that should not be tampered with.

Chanukah Cookies

Picture is courtesy of "BreeHartwig" who published it on Flickr. I guess the blue filling and the white frame of these delicious Star of David Chanukah Cookies are meant to allude to the Israeli flag colors...