One Stone One People

Long before recorded time, all people, from all lands have been fascinated with the ammonite and the spiral that defines it. Drawn, painted and carved on cave walls, rock outcroppings and cliff faces from Australia to Greenland, Hawaii to Indonesia, early man has recorded the form of the ammonite, knowing that it had a special significance in the understanding of life. Perhaps from the contemplation of the spiral form; the broadly generated curve that grows proportionately ever smaller, reducing itself to nothing came the genesis of understanding for the concept of math or numbers. From everything to nothing and back again, symbolizing life and death, infinity to zero.

The ammonite is the most recognized fossil and the spiral is the oldest and most widely found of ancient petroglyphs. For the Zuni and Pueblo peoples of Arizona, the spiral meant wind, water and the animals found in water. It also represented the journey of the people in their search for the Center.

The Hopi tell of their peoples travels to the ends of all lands before returning to the center of the universe. The spiral is the symbol of man's journey to find the spiritual center and the God within. The spiral is an ancient, yet still universally recognized, cross-cultural icon for growth and evolution. Following the spiral you cross similar points with each cycle changing your depth of perspective.

Neolithic (Copper Age) grave sites across Europe from Ireland to Sardinia are engraved with spirals on megalithic monuments. Early man would carve the spiral to be used as a path to the next world.

Spiral rock temples were built in places of high natural electro-magnetic energy. Chakras are spirals in the human energy field. Spiral carvings in China, Pakistan and Easter Island are believed by some to be over 50,000 years old.

The number 9 is derived from the ammonite spiral. The Anasazi used spirals to follow the sun's position and mark the equinox and solstice. India's Brahmanic mythology names the ammonite Salagrama and believes it to contain the body of Vishnu's wife.

The spiral is a depiction of wind, a snake, wave, or spring, growth, expansion, or cosmic energy. For the Celtic people the spiral was used to represent life from the sun and the journey of death.

The double spiral of Yin Yang signifies the duality of nature and balance.

Triple spirals were used by the Christian monks in illustrated manuscripts to represent the holy Trinity.

Today, some believe them to store the memories of hundreds of millions of years of evolution and that they may help us to understand cosmic forces. The spiral symbolises both infinity and eternity and; spiritually, the ammonite may encourage the success of just causes.