SPIRALS (2026)

jan19-feb17 — the spirals of our lives, bodies, movement.

the spiral as a visualization of our path through life. larger lower spirals represent ancestors, their spirals growing larger as they continue growing even past their death, as spirits and in our memories. they overlap with younger and younger spirals. we cross over the paths of our ancestors as we turn along our own path. 

a strand of DNA weaves through the spirals: all of our genetic information is held in a spiraling helix; a well-protected and tightly-packed spiraling string of life direction.

we move our bodies through space in spirals. the programmed mind may think our movement is more straight and rigid—throwing our right leg forward and then our left—but each step is a spiral, and each arm swing following the rhythm of each step is also a spiral. we spiral in our shoulders and hips, and we twist our bones and muscles around our spine as we move.

we keep homeostasis by making small spirals in all of our joints; our skull upon our neck, our torso upon our pelvis. we use the spiral to find our center, and maintain balance.

feb18-mar18 — moon spiraling away. twisted trees.

the earth and all planets are ever drifting away from the sun (right), and the moon is ever drifting away from the earth. every year, earth drifts .6” from the sun, and the moon drifts 1.5” from earth. the spiraling away from source is a path of life, coinciding on infinite time scales.

the moon is spiraling around a tree which is growing in a twisted pattern. trees grow in twisted patterns for a few reasons (see more @ oct11 cycle). especially on dry and exposed ridges, a twisted shape increases their flexibility. their torsion helps them against the forces of wind and snow, so they are less likely to snap than a straight trunk or branch.

mar19-apr17 — new growth spirals.

plants take spiral forms in their growth. the scorpionweed at left and diddleneck at right are both in the borage plant family, many of which produce flowers on a spiraling flowerhead. they bloom in progression from base to tip of the peduncle (the stem holding the flowers). the spiral keeps the tiny developing buds safe while the blooms open above. 

the areoles, flowers, and fruits of a pincushion cactus grow in an outward spiral. a thistle bud grows its phyllaries in a spiral around the yet-to-open bud, with extending spikes holding and protecting the bud.

apr18-may16 — sun-guided spiraling.

the formation and blooming of saguaro flowers moves from east-facing to north-facing over their ~7-8 week flowering season, with flowers opening more east in mid/late April, and opening more north in late may/june. their flowering follows the moving shade, as the sun is also moving northward day by day at this time. (see more Saguaro NP’s Saguaro Flower Project)

may17-jun14 — the spiral prints we carry on our body. plant leaf spirals.

the two spirals on human bodies: our fingerprints and our hair whorls. some people’s fingerprints are more spiral than others, but they all follow a radiating, tightly packed pattern. concentric lines giving us traction; a small prayer toward all the things we will hold in our life. our unique identity is held in our fingers, one of the body forms that makes us human/primate. dogs and cats hold their unique identity patterns on the bare skin of the nose, an organ which makes them who they are. we don’t always see our hair whorls, especially if hair is not short. the direction of the hair whorl has been used for divination, both in folk and in science- who is lucky, who is naughty, who is a good boy, what is the destiny?

a sotol and an agave plant grow leaves in a radiating spiral pattern. young new growth in the middle is ever growing, protected by so many layers of outer leaves, the oldest and outermost eventually receiving less water and nutrients from the plant, then drying and falling.

jun15-jul14 — spiraling air. spirals in flowers and pods.

vultures spiral above, scanning for food and gliding on the currents. they conserve energy by riding on thermals of upward-moving warm air that are created as the earth warms through the day. they coast along on these active though invisible-to-us currents, hardly having to flap.

dust devils form in places of extreme earth surface heating, specially at thresholds between places, such as irrigated fields and roads, or dirt and asphalt. as hot air rises, a void is left and more air quickly sucks in to replace it. if that air is also hot, it will form a narrow column of rising air and its rapid movement over dry ground will often pick up dust and debris, adding a visual to this air spiral for our eyes to see.

datura flowers clench themselves into a contracted spiral just before their wide open whole earth bloom release.

fairy duster seeds grow in long pods, and when they are dry their seams split and they instantaneously release into a spiraled shape, scattering their seeds onto the ground.

jul15-aug12 — heart vortices. snails and shells.

some say the heart is more like a whirlpool than a pump. gil hedley says “the heart is the place where blood spins itself”. blood enters the heart from different directions and confluences into a compact mass of fluid that enters the ventricles in a vortex, ring-shaped, spiraling pattern. vortices are highly efficient forms in nature, and fluid motion often chooses to spiral rather to stream linearly. when streams of blood are meeting from different directions, vortices help them converge without collision or loss of energy.

the ventricles themselves are made of tissue that is coiled in a conch shell pattern. 

there is question whether the heart’s pumping action is ACTUALLY the thing propelling all of our blood around our body; it is an incredibly long and complex system of vessels for one muscle, up to 5ft away, to be propelling. there is some thought that a spiral, vortical action is also perpetuating the momentum and propulsion of our blood throughout the body.

conch shells from the gulf and ocean to the west have been found at several archaeological sites around the region, dating back to at least 600-700c.e. they were used ceremonially and as communication tools, perhaps connecting communities across long distances, known to be used by Hopi, Zuni, and Pueblo people. 

these tiny snails are called talus snails, and there are ~80 species in this region. they are tiny, < 3/4”, and found in rocky mountain areas. snails or caracols are an important symbol to the zapatistas; symbols that represent windows through which to see+speak into the heart, or to see+speak out from the heart. the snail is a megaphone to get the word out to faraway, and the snail helps to listen to the farthest word.

aug13-sep10 — spirals of gravity, water, and ice. seed nestling.

a person swims through a creek, and just as our walking movements are spirals of equilibrium and balance, so is our swimming. our gravity is altered and spirals are even wider. doggie paddling is the epitome of spiral exercise and an excellent activity to do while meditating on spirals.

a whirlpool forms in a creek bend, a spiral of momentum with an added component of gravity. water spirals itself outward, making space for its own absence and for air to dip below the water’s surface. an electrically exciting swirl.

someone meditates upon life’s place within the gigantic spiral galaxy we live in… the biggest galaxy we “know of”. since we live within the spiral we don’t see it from the top down; we see it as a band across the sky, “the milky way”, best seen in summer when it is horizontal up in the sky in early evening, and becomes diagonal throughout the night.

hail is formed in small spirals high up in the atmosphere! if a storm-forming updraft is strong enough, it carries moisture tens of thousands of feet up into the air. usually the moisture falls back down as rain, but if the updraft is strong enough, the moisture is pulled even higher and the raindrops freeze. they swirl around meet other frozen drops, becoming seeds of hail. it spirals around, collecting more ice crystals, and when it is finally too heavy to be held any longer, it falls. when hail falls to us, it is a charm of an incredibly epic and turbulent journey, carrying down with it all of the wild spinning colliding energy of the upper realms. yummm.

a cranesbill seed has spiral-shaped awns that move about in response to humidity changes, helping the seed to actively twist itself into the ground!

sep11-oct10 — spiral wayfinder. spiral web.

squash moves around the earth in long spiraling tendrils, looking for the right thing and then coiling on. spiral as wayfinder, and spiral as a grasp.

a sunflowers’ seeds form an incredible spiral which impeccably radiates outward in BOTH directions at the same time. two spirals in one.

a spider’s web is an ultimate crafting of the spiraling life journey outward, and they rebuild them over and over and over! they suspend their spirals in air by lay down radial lines first, then stringing their spiral, each line anchored to the skeleton.

oct11-nov9 — big horned sheep. pine cones. tree spirals nutrients.

horns circled the heads of big horn sheep. they distribute the blow when sheep head-bang with each other, and they protect the skull. 

each ring around the horn is formed under stress: often during rutting or mating periods, when they are not eating much. for desert bighorns, the ring is formed in summer. 

like sunflowers, pine cones also form an incredible spiral impeccably radiating outward in BOTH directions at once. gaze at the center and spin a pinecone in a circle.

many trees have a spiral grain beneath their bark, which is extra visible when trees have fallen and their bark has come off. the spiral pattern allows them to transport nutrients and water evenly and efficiently all over the tree. if the transport channels ran straight up and down, the tree would be much more vulnerable. if straight, if certain branches were lost, the roots directly below would also die because no energy would be sent down to them. and if the roots were damaged in one area, that whole side of the tree would suffer. spiral as a method of even nutrient distribution.

nov10-dec8 — spiral of listening. spiral of teeth.

a jackrabbit hears the sound of footprints in the distance. this sensation is received by a spiral structure within the ear called the cochlea, containing two liquid-filled tubes. different frequencies reach their peak at different positions along the tube, so they can be distinguished and interpreted.

a pocket gopher’s teeth grow constantly through their whole life, in a curved and spiraling shape, 9-14”/year. they must be constantly filed by chewing: roots, stems, leaves, bark. and whatever else, to keep up with their life task of wearing down their teeth.

screwbean mesquite pods or tornillos are similar in taste and texture to other mesquite pods, but grow in a bunch of long tight coils, perhaps in protection of the seeds.

dec9-jan7 — spirals of warmth: hawks riding the rising heat, snake coiling.

hawks soar in circles on a winter day as it warms up from the night chill. sometimes mistakenly thought to be circling their prey, they are usually traveling on thermals, and perhaps they circle in order to stay on the thermal they are riding. a thermal is a column of upward-moving air that forms as the sun heats the earth, and hawks ride these upward and use them to glide long distances while spending very little energy.

a garter snake coils for warmth. spiraling the body against itself helps the snake to hold in their heat and moisture, and protects them from predators.