Phi Day! .618

You may know that international Pi Day is March 14 each year, 3.14. (You can see my special triangular art for Pi Day 2017 here.)

I've long been interested in divine proportion (also called sacred geometry, the golden mean, etc.) and I think there should be an international Phi Day too, .618, June 18th. If it takes off, you can tell all your friends it started here!

Current page from my 2018 Tangle-a-Day calendar.

I chose Phicops for the 18th in my Tangle-a-Day calendar because the name starts with Phi and the inspiration for it is related to shells and golden proportion. Step-outs for the tangle Phicops are here. On this calendar page I actually worked backwards, beginning with the 18th, then the nautilus spiral on the 17th, and ending with part of the spiral and Paradox on the 16th.

Tangles: Phicops

.618 (or 1.618) is the number associated with sacred geometry, even though divine proportion is about relationship and proportion, not measurement. The number is the short version of the infinitely long and non-repeating decimal places.

The Golden Mean is essentially the division of a line into two unequal parts.  The ratio of the whole line to the large part is the same as the ratio of the large part to the small part. The result is an irrational number: 1:0.6180339… 

.618 is very close to two thirds.  Many art instructions recommend placing major objects approximately one-third of the way from either side, and one-third of the way up or down.  This is called the Rule of Thirds and makes the composition more pleasing to the eye.

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Saskatchewan landscape: canola field in bloom and The Tree, a prairie landmark.
The Rule of Thirds with the focal point at one intersection.

There is so much more to this once you delve into it: sunflower seeds, Greek philosophers, da Vinci, the Masonic Guild, eggs, arms and legs, Fibonacci, nautilus spirals, pine cones, piano keys, spiral galaxies, and on and on and on. (For more information and a great video on the Fibonacci number sequence see this post.)

In the meantime, have a PHIne day!