I was at the eye doctor last week and I found myself captivated, as I often am, by my retina scan. (I forgot to ask if I could get a copy)

These images reminded me of Stephen Ellcock’s The Cosmic Dance, and what he wrote of “the cosmic egg”:

THE COSMIC EGG, or world egg, features in the creation stories of many Indo-European cultures. The idea first appeared in Sanskrit scriptures, where it is known as Brahmanda, a conflation of “creator god” and “egg.” In this very, the universe hatches from the egg, breaking into two to form the heavens and the Earth. In Chinese mythology, the universe and the deity Panga both form within a cosmic egg, which Pangu breaks open, separating yin from yang and creating the heavens and the Earth. In the ancient Greek Orphic tradition, the hermaphroditic deity Phones hatches out of the egg and immediately creates other gods.

Above: a collection of cosmic eggs, most collected in The Cosmic Dance. 

Top row: Hildegard von Bingen, 1165; woodcut illustration from 1657; Hilma af Klint, early 1900s

Bottom row: Shaligram painted by Badrinath Pandit, c 1960; Cosmic Eggs, painted in Northern India, 20th century

“The world keeps showing me these pictures.”