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Spirals of Ancestral Knowing
The spiral turns inward and outward simultaneously—it is the shape of growth and return, of expansion and centering, of the journey that always leads back to source. "Aboriginal Spirals" draws connection between two indigenous traditions separated by the Pacific Ocean yet unified in their recognition of this primordial symbol: the Taíno peoples of the Caribbean and the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, both of whom carved and painted spirals as sacred knowledge, as map and memory, as connection to the Dreaming.
In Taíno cosmology, spirals adorned the walls of caves that served as ceremonial spaces, places of burial, portals to the underworld realm of Coaybay where ancestors dwelled. The spiral represented the hurricane—that devastating spiral storm that defines Caribbean weather patterns, feared and respected as manifestation of divine power. It represented the navel, the umbilical connection to ancestry. It marked the journey of the soul, spiraling through death into rebirth. The Taíno carved these spirals alongside representations of cemíes—the spiritual beings who animated all of nature—understanding that the spiral was itself a language, a way of marking cosmic truth onto stone so it would endure beyond individual lifetimes.
Australian Aboriginal cultures, containing the world's oldest continuous artistic tradition spanning more than 60,000 years, painted spirals across rock faces from Kakadu to the Kimberleys, from desert ochre paintings to coastal engravings. In Aboriginal cosmology, spirals are djang (Dreaming) sites—they mark waterholes, camping places, the paths traveled by ancestral beings during the Dreamtime when the world was sung into being. Each spiral is both literal map (showing where resources exist) and spiritual diagram (showing how to navigate sacred landscape). The spiral represents the journey—physical, spiritual, temporal—and the understanding that all journeys are circular, that we are always walking the paths our ancestors walked, adding our footprints to theirs.
What connects Taíno and Aboriginal spiral traditions is indigenous epistemology—the understanding that knowledge is cyclical, experiential, and encoded in symbol and story. Both cultures recognized that the spiral appears everywhere in nature: in shells and galaxies, in fingerprints and weather patterns, in the unfurling fern and the coiled serpent. By marking spirals on stone, they were documenting cosmic law, asserting: we see the patterns, we understand the design, we are literate in the language of creation itself. "Aboriginal Spirals" honors this parallel wisdom, recognizing that indigenous peoples worldwide arrived at similar truths because they observed the same universe with unclouded eyes, then marked what they saw so future generations would remember: the spiral is the shape of time, of life, of the cosmos—and we knew this first, carved it deepest, painted it to last forever.
Professional quality ultra high resolution and fade-resistant Giclee printing on natural white 210gsm matte fine art paper. Natural, renewable, and sustainable materials.
Printed with water based inks on recyclable paper, with optional timber frame from our FSC certified supplier with acrylic glass. Professional quality full colour fine art poster prints.
Size Guide
Centimeters
|
A4 |
A3 |
A2 |
A1 |
| Width |
21 |
29.7 |
42 |
59.4 |
| Height |
29.7 |
42 |
59.4 |
84.1 |
Printed with water based inks on recyclable paper, with optional timber frame from our FSC certified supplier. Professional quality full colour fine art poster prints.
Product Specification
Printed with water based inks on recyclable paper, with optional timber frame from our FSC certified supplier with acrylic glass. Professional quality full colour fine art poster prints.
