The Tortoiseshell

The Tortoiseshell is an extraction from the Pentegraph Orb, of which it is half of the Orb. It consists of 3 Penters, with a Gate at the top performed with the 2 arms, and a Penter beneath performed with the foot, knee or pelvis. It is extremely difficult !

The Tortoise Shell Dance is I believe a very ancient sacred dance and possibly the dance that Shiva is depicted of performing in statuettes and paintings. The traditional four arms are for conveying the movement of the dance, as it is utterly anatomically impossible for more than one arm to work within the shoulder joint.

It is a performance that if not done very well, will just make you look ridiculous, and therefore it is something to practice privately and in secret. But when able to be performed very well, you will be the manifestation of Shiva.

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Is this depiction of Shiva Nataraja representing some random movements, or is there a specific pattern of natural geometry that is being performed? Do the paths of the arms and legs follow some arbitrary or contrived and meaningless route, or is this the pinnacle of demonstrating advanced movement capability using sacred geometry?

I believe it is a form similar to the Pentegraph artefacts of the Tortoiseshell or Orb traversal, and if not this pattern, then which, and why.

Did the person who created this sculpture actually know the dance and the exact positions of the limbs? Probably not as he is using an extra set of arms to represent the movement, though the 32 flame nodules around the outside is interestingly the same number of circles that there are in the Pentegraph Orb.

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The Split Tortoiseshell (below), is the template to use for practice. The knee is used for the tracing of the bottom Penter, while the hands do the Gate above it.

The knee's path is shown by the blue ball in the animation below, or it could be the foot that travels this path.

The bottom Penter can also be used by the pelvis while the arms are performing the Gate. For this, the split makes the bottom Penter be performed in the Zedex to the Gate's Exwhy.

This Tortoiseshell uses the pelvis for the bottom Penter instead of the knee or foot, allowing a movement along the ground which is synchronous to the arm movement. The pelvis draws the path of the dance, the feet falling where they may to be optimum for supporting the body, while its arms perform the Gate.

We are so used to leading our movement with our feet, it is only when the pelvis movement is tethered to the Penter do the feet have to follow and get out of the way of the path which is being laid out. There should be an optimum positioning of the feet around the pelvic Penter which could be drawn to help the development of this. Acute sensitisation of the pattern and the body position relative to the feet from the pelvis. Body can be perpendicular to the pelvis and move about fixed to the pelvic movement or the body can be stationary while the pelvis follows the Penter. The two can be combined to accommodate awkward positions (e.g. prevent a double foot movement occuring to keep the centre of gravity above the feet).

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The sequence of circles and their rotations in the split Tortoiseshell.

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All the above are the Top Gate Tortoiseshell or Katabasis Tortoiseshell – Upper Gate with Lower Penter. The Bottom Gate Tortoiseshell or Anabasis Tortoiseshell (Lower Gate with Upper Penter) is inverted.

Regardless of whether it is a top Gate or bottom Gate Tortoiseshell, it is the central circle — Mesokirkos — which is focussed upon, with the movement of the arms around the other Kirkoi being observed with the peripheral vision. By staring straight ahead at the Mesokirkos while performing the Tortoiseshell, 180º eyesight will develop.

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The Doublegate Tortoiseshell

The double Gate within the Orb (also known as the "Big Thumb"), and it unfolded below. This is the Open Bottom Doublegate Tortoiseshell.

When performed with only the two arms, the performance is of two Slanting Gates transitioning to the top Gate between them. Three Gates are therefore performed.

The Open Bottom Doublegate below in 3D perspective.

The Open Top Doublegate below in 3D perspective.