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The Sanctuary Room: Sacred Geometry to
Soothe the Soul
by Elizabeth Cutting
As you enter the Sanctuary Room, something within you immediately responds. You start
to experience a sense of calm. You begin to relax. Your stress seems to ease. Thoughts
of the outside world drift away. You begin to notice your mind becoming clearer.
In this small, quiet room you realize you have entered a uniquely tranquil and peaceful
place, one where you can connect with your soul.
A Sanctuary Room, similar to a meditation room, is specifically designed and built
using the ancient principles of sacred geometry. A prototype, by developer Kenneth
McCue of Sacred Geometry Design Group, was recently completed at ParExsalonce Salon
& Day Spa in Overland Park, Kan.
Ancient temples & modern spas
In ancient Greece, people went to temples throughout the countryside. They stayed
for days or weeks, in beautiful, natural, environments and came out renewed. They
came in times of illness or crisis, or when in need of spiritual guidance. Their
temples were the equivalent to our modern day spas.
"One of the main reasons spas, day spas, and spa resorts are becoming so popular
is that they are places where people can go to get away, to be pampered, be with
themselves. They can have experiences of being away from the world in a soothing
environment," McCue said in a recent interview. "That's why I chose to
build this first Sanctuary Room in a spa. A spa is the closest thing we have, at
this point in time, to the ancient healing temples.
"Dr. Andrew Weil stated that the healing centers of the future will be a combination
of a hospital and a spa. Good examples are The Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Ariz., and
The Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas. The healing programs in both centers are headed
by Medical doctors and provide a complete body-mind-spirit approach to health and
well-being."
A new vision
"When I was young I wanted to be an architect," McCue said. "Instead,
I ended up getting a degree in business. However, my interest in architecture and
buildings lead me to a career in the real estate business as a broker, builder and
developer. At the same time, my interest in metaphysics lead me on a spiritual journey.
Now I bring my knowledge of sacred geometry into designing and building spiritual
spaces. This work resonates with me at a deep, inner level. It is something in my
soul that I feel called to do in this lifetime, and that is a big part of who I am
and what I am about. It is something I want to offer to the world.
"Around the world people are once again remembering how to build with natural
laws. A new, spiritually oriented architecture is emerging. In these spaces, you
feel a spiritual connection. You feel a resonance with God. Your soul resonates with
the energy that is felt within the space, an energy that is created when using the
principles of sacred design.
"That design of a particular building, cathedral or temple is a microcosm of
the universe. If we really open our eyes we will see the universal patterns that
God created, from the spiral of the Milky Way to the spinning of the atom. These
same patterns are in trees, plants, seashells, and even our own bodies. They repeat
themselves throughout the universe."
Sacred Geometry
Sacred geometry is the name given to universal patterns found in our physical world
and in nature. It is the divine pattern of the universe, and the blueprint of all
life. These same key patterns bring the formless world of spirit into the formed
world of matter.
What makes geometry sacred? According to McCue, it is just another way of saying
that God is the great architect of the universe.
"Geometry is how spirit comes into matter," he said. "Everything has
a pattern or a matrix behind it. There are trillions upon trillions of patterns in
the universe. The energy behind all of them comes from the creator of that pattern
and energy. That is why it is sacred."
BioGeometry
McCue explained that bio-geometry, a branch of Sacred Geometry, is an ancient science
that relates to the effects of geometrical shapes and forms on the energy fields
of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. There are historical examples
of similar concepts from centuries ago. The first recorded antecedence to BioGeometry
is in ancient Egypt around 3100 BC with the building of temples and pyramids.
"In ancient times," he said, "these principles were not called bio-geometry
or sacred geometry. It was considered the science of ancient harmonics. It was the
secret language of the temples. They considered geometry the most sacred of all the
arts back then. Pythagoras started with geometry when he started teaching in the
mystery schools. Everything else evolved from that.
"From the construction in ancient Egypt, to the building of Greek temples during
the time of Pythagoras, to the Masonic Guilds who erected the grand cathedrals of
Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries, the knowledge of sacred geometry was the common
foundation for these great endeavors. There, the Catholic church hired builders and
stonemasons who still understood the ancient Egyptian and Greek method of building
sacred temples and structures, to build numerous gothic-style cathedrals.
"The gothic cathedrals were built to inspire and expand the soul, so that the
soul could soar and flow, thereby freeing it from its bondage. The magnitude of those
cathedrals, especially Notre Dame and Chartres, provided an uplifting, almost transcending
spiritual experience to the many people who traveled and worshipped there.
"This brief period of vast construction of spiritually inspirited architecture
ended almost as suddenly as it started. This ancient knowledge of sacred geometry,
shapes and proportions was largely forgotten after the 14th century. Due to the secret
efforts of certain groups and individuals from the past who recognized the importance
of maintaining this knowledge, this information is once again being brought forth.
"The modern day application of bio-geometry has been developed and re-introduced
by a well-known Egyptian architect, Dr. Ibrahim Karim of Cairo. Dr. Karim has spent
more than 30 years researching and studying this ancient knowledge, as well as developing
a scientific measurement of its many forms and uses, of its many applications. He
comes from a long line of Egyptian architects. Mr. McCue is one of the few of people
in the United States who has studied with Dr. Karim."
The Sanctuary Room
While it is easy to use the room and release tension and connect with spirit, a tremendous
amount of strategy and ancient wisdom went into creating that ease.
"The room had to be totally balanced," Joan Sandstrom, owner of ParExsalonce
said. "We moved a wall because it was a half of an inch off. The ceiling had
to be precise. The walls had to be precise. The door had to be precise. The dome
had to be precise. Both the painter from the East Coast and the sculptor from the
West Coast wanted to create this room in the center of the United States. Everything
we did was about coming into balance."
Bio-geometry is one of the primary components in the Sanctuary Room. McCue said it
contributes to the energetic flow within the space.
"Some people are more sensitive to bio-geometry than others," he said.
"When you walk into a room that has been designed with these principles, the
energy is very calming and very soothing. This is as a result of the higher frequencies
that are generated in the space. In other words, any negative energy is neutralized
and a more positive energy is added.
"One of the principles of bio-geometry is that every room, building and town
should have a physical center. Out of that center comes the vortex. Out of that vortex
comes the energy. Out of that vortex comes the spiral. We always go back to our source.
That source is the center of our being, or the center of a room, or the center of
a building, or the center of a home."
He said most places constructed now do not have a center, contributing to a lack
of centeredness among the population. He said one of the reasons we are so off center
and off balance is that our homes are off center and off balance.
"The sanctuary room is proportioned to ancient means of balance and harmony,"
McCue said. "You can have any size room as long as it has that proportion. That
creates a resonance and brings geometric balance.
"Beauty is part of balance. Beauty is part of wisdom. When
you see the beauty of anything, whether a work of art, a building,
a body, nature, or a piece of furniture, then you are tapping
into the spiritual qualities. Beauty is our natural state. It
is a good way to measure spirituality.
"The law of resonance is one of the key principles. We resonate with whatever
is in our environment, whoever is in our environment. The dimensions of the room,
the choice of color and music are all chosen to create a positive and healing resonance.
We resonate at the cellular level and at our consciousness level with our environment.
Our environment should support and enhance our well-being at all levels. If things
are balanced, our hearts will recognize it as soon as we enter. There is part of
our being that will instantly recognize that space."
Music that soothes your heart
When people go into the Sanctuary Room, healing music softly plays. Lights are tuned
low. The colors of the room have been strategically created to let the walls begin
to fade away. Like lights that drift in the dawn sky, colors shift softly, maintaining
gentle movement in the room. The music has a rhythm designed to calm your heart.
One can lean back, listen to the music, and let the world fade away.
The music played while one is in the Sanctuary Room was created specifically for
its calming and soothing effect. The composer and artist is Music Therapist Janalea
Hoffman of Rhythmic Medicine.
The key to her music is the rhythm, which is kept specific and steady. In her rhythmic
medicine, she uses very slow rhythms, 50 to 60 beats a minute to resonate with the
heart and encourages calm. She makes music with all natural instruments, believing
that the sound from natural instruments have a more therapeutic effect than music
from synthesized sound. The overtones, related to the sacred geometry of sound, bring
forth the richness and the soul of the music.
Through a phenomena called entrainment, bodies will try to synchronize to whatever
is the strongest rhythm in a room, whether you consciously want to or not. They will
synchronize to soothing music or click of a fan. She is very interested in the how
the "sound environment" of our environment affects us. She said for the
most part, our spaces have become noisier.
A chair with musical massage
At the exact center of the room is a specially designed chair developed by NASA for
astronauts. There are speakers placed throughout the chair so you feel the vibration
of the music everywhere in your body. The chair is designed to support the body in
full comfort without pressure.
Hoffman said that people tell her, "Oh, I feel like I am being hugged by the
music."
"Most people are used to feeling music through their ears," she said. "To
hear it with your whole body is a wonderful experience that is very comforting to
most people."
Not only what you hear, but what you see in the Sanctuary Room has been created with
intention.
Lazure is a painting technique created by Rudolph Steiner in the 1920s. Robert Logsdan,
the world's premier Lazure painter, created the technique on the walls of the Sanctuary
Room. The effect gives an energetic quality, where the colors intermingle. Lazure
creates a transparency or a translucent effect that in effect takes the walls away
from your field of awareness. You tend to look beyond the walls and out into space.
People may feel as if they actually pass through the walls.
Sanctuary of your Soul
"We are so busy in modern society meeting other's needs -- those of our boss,
our spouse, our family our friends -- that most of us forget to create a time in
our day to spend with ourselves," McCue said. "We need some time to not
do anything and just let ourselves be. The sanctuary room is a healing environment
that physically supports being quiet and reconnecting with ourselves.
"We each seek to connect with our soul. Everything that we seek is within us.
There is a little saying I have outside the Sanctuary Room that says, 'All that you
seek you will find in the sanctuary of your soul.'
"Once we connect to that energy it transforms us. That's what happens in a sacred
space. What I try to create is a place to where people can go to take a half-hour
or an hour, whatever time they want to spend there, to reconnect with source, with
the creator.
"This is the first room I've done. It is a very basic, very simple model of
a sacred space. There is enough energy that the spiritual energy comes in and it
effects people at all levels; body, mind and spirit."
True temple is within
McCue said the space offers us something else, solitude, which allows us to reconnect
with our inner being. Spending some time in silence allows us to calm our mind and
listen within.
"The true temple is within us," McCue said. "The spiritual part of
our being, our soul, is connected to the higher realms through our bodies. Our bodies
are the temples of our souls. Our soul is the higher form of that temple. We can
communicate directly with the spiritual realms from our inner world. That is what
our inner voice is. Here at the physical level, a sanctuary is a space that we can
go and communicate with the spiritual levels."
As architect Carol Venolia says in her book Healing Environments, "In
a place of healing, the place itself must be healing." The Sanctuary Room is
such a place.
If you wish to contact Kenneth McCue at Sacred Geometry Design Group, e-mail KWMcCue@aol.com.
Janalea Hoffman can be reached at Rhythmic Medicine www.rhythmicmedicine.com. To
visit the Sanctuary Room, contact ParExsalonce Salon & Spa, 11849 College Blvd.,
Overland Park, Kan., at (913) 469-9532 or www.ParExsalonce.com.
Elizabeth Cutting is a writer, astrologer and seminar producer. You can contact
her at (816) 532-4727 or e-mail eacutting@aol.com
Copyright (c) 2002 Elizabeth Cutting
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