In the Seventeenth Century, John Wallis, an English mathematician, sought to create an elegant symbol to represent the idea of infinity – the state of boundlessness – a state of no beginning and of no end.
He chose the simple figure eight, laid on its side, to represent the anything-but-simple concept of the unbounded path of the continuum – a timeless belief was in the completeness and permanence of our universe. It was woven throughout the fabric of many ancient and far-flung cultures, and it remains as powerful a concept in the human psyche today.
The figure eight is clearly visible in renditions of the ancient Celtic knot. On the Magician’s card of the Tarot, it is the symbol of infinite power and possibility. In ancient Egyptian culture, the Ouroburus is depicted as a snake biting its tail, symbolizing that endings and loss are essential to make way for new beginnings or the everlasting circle will cease to be. In ancient India and Tibet the symbol represents the paradoxical unity between male and female, in spite of the dualism of their individual natures. It reflects the balance of opposites: the male and the female, day and night, dark and light. And in Eastern cultures the symbol of infinity represents reincarnation – the possibility of eternal life.
I am drawn to incorporating the perfect balance and symmetry of the Infinity symbol into my designs – a mystical blend of the ancient – but with a flair for the modern. This symbol remains a powerful reminder that throughout life we will experience recurring cycles of loss and gain, sadness and joy, turbulence and peace.
But the symbol’s most important meaning is that the power of love remains a force without end.
