Collection: Flower of Life Jewelry

What the Flower of Life is

Nineteen overlapping circles of identical size, arranged in a hexagonal grid, contained in a larger circle. That's the whole thing. It has been carved into the Temple of Osiris at Abydos, drawn in Leonardo's notebooks, and painted onto walls in China, Turkey and Spain, in most cases by people with no contact with each other.

The reason it recurs is that it's what you get when you keep drawing circles of the same radius through each other's centres. It isn't mystical in origin — it's inevitable. Which is arguably more interesting.

Why people wear it

The pattern is read as a symbol of interconnection: every circle overlaps its neighbours, and none of them can be removed without breaking the shape. Within it sit several other figures — the Seed of Life, the Egg of Life, and Metatron's Cube — which is why it's often described as containing everything else.

As a piece to wear, it appeals to people who find most spiritual jewelry a bit soft. It's geometry. There's nothing to believe, and it still means something.

Choosing a piece

Detail is everything here. The pattern only reads if the circles are cut cleanly and the piece is large enough to show them — below roughly 15mm it starts to look like texture rather than geometry. Open-work versions let light through the overlaps and are the most striking; solid engraved discs are more subtle and more durable.

If you like the symmetry but want something warmer, mandala jewelry works the same instinct with more ornament.

What you're buying

Sterling silver or gold plate over base metal, specified on each listing. Open-work sacred geometry has fine internal bridges — sturdy in normal wear, but not the piece to sleep in. Clean with warm water and a soft brush; our jewelry cleaning guide covers detailed open-work.

Mystic Soul Jewelry — Canadian small business, Calgary, Alberta, since 2008.