The patterns and dimensions of human faces and skulls have fascinated scientists, artists and mystics for centuries. This month in Nautilus, film expert Walter Murch offers one simple observation about movie cuts that leads to a broad generalization. Great directors intuitively use the golden ratio in pointing their cameras at the eyes. But that is not the whole story. The geometry of the human face itself incorporates the golden ratio. Turns out the golden ratio (with the mathematical name – phi (φ) ) is aesthetically pleasing, a critical feature of beauty in the human form and in nature as a whole.
In my exchange with Walter Murch in the comment section (see: The Natural Harmony of Faces), Walter kindly shared a short video he had prepared of a wide range of movie cuts from some of the greatest movies and directors. For you movie fans, the video is a true delight: Walter Murch Video Collage
Beyond Walter’s observations, we can look to Johns Hopkins University for recent research on the golden ratio and the human form: Golden Ratio Observed in Human Skulls.
For the fashion conscious, there is also the Marquardt Beauty Mask, a patented technique for analyzing and accentuating the beauty of the human face, using phi (φ): Beauty Analysis.
For a more extensive exploration of the mathematics of phi (φ) generally and its potential spiritual significance, I refer you to:
Philosophical Speculations on the Meaning of Spirals
Is There a Spiritual Significance of the Number phi (φ) (Essay)
“Spirals are everywhere in nature. Spirals are also linked to fascinating mathematical concepts including the Fibonacci Sequence, the Golden Ratio, and the number phi (φ).”
“Phi (φ) is the infinite unfolding of the number one, the efficiency coefficient of the universe, and the image of regeneration – spiritual growth towards a perfect reciprocal union with God. “
