The Nautilus, a deep sea cephalopod grows into increasingly larger chambers of its shell throughout its life. It is one of the natural expressions of an equiangular spiral. The shell is often considered a symbol for expansion and renewal. As the nautilus moves into a new chamber, it moves into a new portion of its life that is built onto the old, yet the old is integral to its current reality and forms a beautiful shell. As the nautilus creates new life, the chambers form a spiral around itself. Thus at times, the nautilus passes a place it was in the past only in a new expanded place in the present. Carl Jung talks about the idea of circumambulation. He says, "the goal of psychic development is the self. There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the self." Circumambulation is often referred to in spiritual rituals where one walks in a circle around a sacred object. The famous pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the pillars of Islam, entails the Hajj which is a circling around the Sacred House. In a Jewish wedding, the groom (and/or bride) will circle around his or her beloved. In some Christian spirituality, a person might take a circling walk through a labyrinth. Thus, as we circumambulate our selves, we change, we grow, we expand, we approach our wounds from different places, we are renewed, we are transformed. And so goes the circle of life.
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