The chambered nautilus is an ancient creature related to squids and octopuses and appeared in the seas long before before the first dinosaurs. It is known as a “living fossil” because it has remained relatively unchanged in the past 450 million years.
The nautilus lives in a beautiful spiraled shell divided into increasingly larger chambers. When it first hatches from the egg, it has 4 chambers already formed. As it grows, it moves into the next largest space in the shell and builds a wall to seal off the old chamber.
Nautiluses are known to outgrow and build up to 30 chambers in the course of their adult lives. It’s interesting to note that these chambers do not go to waste, as Nature does not waste anything – the nautilus keeps these inner chambers filled with gas to help control its buoyancy. When it wants to dive, it adds water to the chambers. Seeing the cross-section of a chambered nautilus in real life is a sight to behold. It is shaped like an elegant spiral and lined with bright mother-of-pearl.
Nautilus Shell Sacred Geometry
The spiral of the nautilus is not just any spiral. Measuring it reveals that it conforms to the shape of the Golden Ratio spiral, what is known as a “sacred geometry”. It is considered sacred because it can be found in a wide variety of things in nature, such as the shape of our galaxy, of hurricanes, in the arrangements of sunflower seeds in the flower, in cauliflower, and pine cones.
Nautilus Shell Symbolism
As a symbol, the chambered nautilus is a powerful metaphor for one’s spiritual evolution. From the moment we are born and begin to crawl, we continuously discover, learn and outgrow our previous thoughts and views of the world. To learn and grow requires us to think in a new or different way, essentially, to think “outside the box”.
In conclusion, the nautilus is a reminder to us never to stop learning, growing and expanding our view of the world. And because it is in the shape of a Golden Ratio spiral, it reminds us that our own bodies contain the Golden Ratio and that we are all part of a greater whole.
Source:
Nautilus Consulting and Tutoring LLC 