The Platonic city: sacred geometry and zodiacal symbolism in ancient Greece

Platonic land division in ancient Greece.

In the history of Western esotericism, the work of Jean Richer (1915-1992) makes a unique and important contribution. Recognised in France as an outstanding esotericist, Richer expanded the range of zodiacal symbolism and its interpretation in art, architecture, and landscape, from ancient Greece to eighteenth-century Europe. Applied to sacred geography, this symbolism echoes Plato’s description of the ideal city-state. This would radiate in twelve zones around a central shrine, each one corresponding to a sign of the zodiac. The plan of the city would thus mirror the heavenly order. Evidence exists that this strand of traditional thinking permeated ancient Greece on every level. From imagery on vases to locations of oracle centres, zodiacal symbolism and its cosmic harmony emerges as a great unity underlying the classical world.

Christine Rhone is co-author, with John Michell, of Twelve-Tribe Nations and the Science of Enchanting the Landscape; the translator of Sacred Geography of the Ancient Greeks by Jean Richer, Theosophy, Imagination, Tradition by Antoine Faivre, Saint Francis of Assisi by Jacques Le Goff. She has contributed to many small press publications; is an educator; a priestess in the Fellowship of Isis and a cartoonist.

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