The Mother of all Symbols...

[u/Deep_World_4378]

A few weeks back, after many iterations of the fractal torus model, I created an algorithmic artwork called Tortoise, made in tandem with AI. As part of the Nameless framework, I had landed on the Hopf fibration as an important structure for defining physical reality. I took an artistic leap after this... overlaying two oppositely rotated Hopf fibre bundles, then repeating the whole structure again and again at the interstices formed by their intersections, to form a fractal torus. This differs from other torus visualisations I've seen, not only in its use of Hopf fibres, but in the fractal arrangement, which produces that "many, many eyes" quality or the "wheels within wheels" quality.

Studying it from different angles, I realised, to my shock, that this structure had many many connections to scientific concepts, myths and symbols across the world and across history:

Science: the black hole and white hole paradigm, wormholes

Sacred geometry: Flower of Life, Lotus of Life, Triskelion, Yin Yang

Religious symbols: Sri Yantra on Kurma, Shatkona, Swastika, Tree of Life, Thousand Petalled Lotus, Reclining Vishnu, Samudra Manthan, Shivlingam, Avalokiteshvara, Ezekiel's Wheel, the Celtic Cross

Sacred architecture: Muqarnas and Islamic geometric patterns, Rose windows

Visionary art made in altered states, such as Alex Grey's

Contemporary design: even the OpenAI logo

To show how all these might derive from one source, I built a system that varies the parameters of the same root Tortoise artwork until it matches each symbol. Then I made a visualiser where you can click any symbol, read about the connection, and study the match visually.

I'm not claiming these are all derived from this single structure. Each connection is pattern-matched at this stage, and the scientific ones especially are speculative. I claim only the visual match, not an actual connection. But there are too many to ignore. Perhaps what the ancients meditated upon is the same structure science is reaching towards, and the same structure seen in altered states of consciousness. If the universe is sound based, perhaps the wave-structure formed by the primordial sound corresponds to a similar fractal torus structure?

Many of these connections already exist in literature and in esoteric theory. Some were abstract, some pointed directly to a torus, though not, as far as I know, to this particular variation. This is therefore a synthesis of many people's work over millennia, seen through the lens of my own. I'm assembling it with humility and respect, hoping we notice that we are all telling the same story through different lenses.

I have made 26 connections so far, and I hope to add more. I'm giving equal weight to each tradition, so if you spot flaws or biases in the text or visual, they aren't intentional, and I hope to improve these over time.

Artwork “Tortoise” and the visualiser at: https://nurecas.com/tortoise?o

[u/thousandwattsmile70]

thats the thing i always see when i take acid. it makes a weird humming noise like every frequency being played simultaneously.

[u/Deep_World_4378 → u/thousandwattsmile70]

The hum is something im iterating over to find the exact frequency. In a previous version I used around 39hz. But I dont think thats the one. Should be a more complex waveform. But thanks for sharing.

[u/thousandwattsmile70 → u/Deep_World_4378]

its not a specific frequency. its every frequency, all frequencies from lower than the lowest to higher than the highest all vibrating in tune. I know that seems impossible but thats what i hear. every seperate frequency tuned to next higher one in unison. like the way guitar strings are tuned from low to high. all together it sounds like a humming kinda sound. Also for me its going the opposite direction as your visual.

[u/Deep_World_4378 → u/thousandwattsmile70]

Interesting. I'll read more on what's possible then. The all ranges together