Olympic Geometry

Olympic Geometry

In 2012 the Olympic Games were held in England, the cradle of the modern crop circles. Months before the Games started, the Olympic symbol (five interlocking rings or circles) kept calling me. Finally I gave in and focused my attention on the rings. The geometry of the Olympic symbol is very intriguing. At its core is the same geometry as the geometry that generates the Philosopher’s Stone. This Philosopher's Stone is the most sought-after goal in Western alchemy and for the alchemist the consummation of the Magnum Opus, the Great Work. Once you have done the Great Work, you will have created the Philosopher’s Stone. Read: the Philosopher’s Stone.

About 3000 years ago the first Olympic Games were held at Olympia in Greece. These Olympic Games reached their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but then gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece. In 393 AD the Roman emperor Theodosius I declared that all pagan cults and practices illegal and with that the Olympic Games.

Pierre de Coubertin

After the demise of the Olympics, they were not held again until the late 19th century. Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (1 January 1863 – 2 September 1937) is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games. The idea for reviving the Olympic Games as an international competition came to Coubertin in 1889 and he spent the following five years organizing an international meeting of athletes and sports enthusiasts that might make it happen.

In 1896 the first international Olympic Games in the Modern era were held. Because Ancient Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games, Athens was perceived to be an appropriate choice to stage the inaugural modern Games.

Olympic torch relay through Marlborough on 23 May 2012

Olympic torch in Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK.
23 May 2012

The symbol of the modern Olympic Games is composed of five interlocking rings, coloured blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white field and was originally designed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1912. It came to him when he was in charge of the USFSA. Pierre de Coubertin's Olympic symbol is based on a design used by the USFSA, Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques, an association founded by the union of two French sports associations and until 1925, responsible for representing the International Olympic Committee in France. The emblem of the union was two interlaced rings and originally the idea of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. Teams representing the USFSA wore a uniform based on the colours of the flag of France. This included a white shirt with two interlinking rings, one red and one blue.

Lets first have a look at this emblem of the USFSA, the two interlocking rings. At first glance you would think we are looking at a vesica piscis, but a closer inspection will proof this to be wrong. The vesica piscis is a shape that is the intersection of two circles with the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the centre of each circle lies on the perimeter of the other.
The USFSA rings are closer together.

This intrigued me, as well as the fact that the original design was based on an idea of Carl Gustav Jung. Jung was fascinated by the relationship between the human psyche on one hand and geometry on the other. He extensively studied mandalas and wrote more than once about the concept of ‘squaring the circle’. There it is again: ‘Squaring the Circle’. Could it be that there is a relationship between the USFSA symbol and ‘squaring the circle’? Lets have a look.

The diagram above on the left shows a so called vesica piscis. It is easy to see that the two circles are much further apart than the two rings of the USFSA logo.
The middle diagram above shows a new starting point: perfect 'squaring the circle'. Next the red circle is copied and placed as shown in the diagram above on the right.

This red circle is part of a second 'squaring the circle'. See diagram above on the left. We now have two rings based on 'squaring the circle'. And the total diagram in itself is also based on 'squaring the circle'. Notice how the distance between the two rings is identical as the distance of the rings in the USFSA logo! See diagram on the right. The original USFSA logo is based on 'squaring the circle'! Twice!

Since the original symbol of the USFSA was based on ‘squaring the circle’, it was a logical step to start my efforts to decode the fundaments of the Olympic Rings with the same ‘squaring the circle’.

Click on the diagrams to see them enlarged!

The ‘squaring the circle’ I started with, is the same as the starting point for constructing the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ as depicted in the book ‘Atalanta Fugiens’ written by Michael Maier back in 1617. See: 2011 - the Philosopher’s Stone. Two more ‘squaring the circle’ are added as shown in the diagrams above.

Another set of two ‘squaring the circle’ is constructed. The two sets are brought together, and voilà ... the Olympic rings are born! Click here to see how magical the two sets of ‘squaring the circle’ are entangled.

Olympic rings based on squaring the circle

It is truly amazing that both symbols, the original USFSA logo and the Olympic rings, are based on ‘squaring the circle’. Was this done on purpose? Did Pierre de Coubertin know what he was doing? Or did it happen because of a subconscious knowing? Did Carl Gustav Jung purposely construct two overlapping rings in such a way that they did not create a vesica piscis, but did create ‘squaring the circle’ instead? Or was Jung’s design also based on subconscious knowledge? All options are equally and totally fascinating. How many times have we looked at the Olympic rings, and how many times did it touch us? How many times did the rings talk to our inner knowing? The Olympic rings, and the crop circle rings in the fields.

Did Jung know about the 'squaring the circle' feature?
Or did he not, and is ‘squaring the circle’ archetypal, which Jung unintentional demonstrated by using 'squaring the circle' without knowing? A majestic act of his brilliant, subconscious mind?

© Bert Janssen, 2012.

Please join us on our Magical and Mystical Tour to England 2019 and lets investigate!