Why This Symbol Represents The Sovereign Self
The Circle, the Still Point and the Return to Who We Are
If you have spent any time with The Sovereign Self, you will have seen this symbol. It appeared on the cover of my first book and has since become the central symbol of the work.
It is remarkably simple. A gold circle with a single gold point at its centre.
There are no words, no elaborate designs and nothing to explain what you are looking at.
Yet within those two simple elements lies much of what I have spent years studying, exploring and attempting to bring into everyday living.
I would like to take you a little deeper into what this symbol represents, where similar symbols have appeared throughout history, what modern physics might contribute to our understanding, and why it is so closely connected to the meaning of living sovereign.
An Ancient Symbol with Several Meanings
The circle with a point at its centre is sometimes called the circumpunct. It has appeared in different forms and contexts throughout history, particularly in astronomy, astrology and alchemy.
One of its most established historical uses is as a symbol of the Sun.
The Sun is central to the life of our solar system. Its energy sustains life on Earth, and its apparent movement has helped humanity understand the passage of time for thousands of years.
Solar imagery also occupied an important place in ancient Egyptian religion and symbolism. The Sun was associated with life, creation, renewal and divine power.
In Western alchemy, the circle with a central point was also used to represent gold.
Alchemy is often remembered for the attempt to turn ordinary metals into gold. That was indeed an important part of its history. But alchemy also developed a rich body of philosophical and symbolic ideas about the nature of matter and the possibility of transformation.
Gold became associated with qualities such as purity, completeness and perfection.
It is worth making a distinction here. These historical uses do not establish one universal meaning for the symbol, nor do they prove that it carries any particular metaphysical truth. Symbols can develop independently in different cultures, and their meanings change according to the people who use them.
What interests me is how these associations provide a starting point for examining something much closer to home: our own existence.
The Circle: The Whole of Life
Let's begin with the outer circle.
A circle has no obvious beginning or end. Every point along its circumference belongs to the same continuous line. It is a simple form, yet it lends itself naturally to ideas of wholeness, unity and completeness.
Within The Sovereign Self, I use the circle to represent the greater field of life and existence.
Think for a moment about everything that makes up your experience of being alive.
There is your physical body, your thoughts, your emotions and your memories. There are your relationships, your responsibilities, your achievements and disappointments. There is the natural world, other human beings and everything happening around you.
And there are the deeper questions about consciousness, spirit, the Divine and the nature of reality itself.
We experience ourselves as individuals, yet our lives unfold within something far greater than ourselves.
The circle allows us to consider that larger whole.
For those approaching this from a theological perspective, the circle may also invite reflection on creation, the Divine and the relationship between the individual and the source of existence.
For others, it may simply represent the interconnected nature of life.
Both interpretations offer something worth considering.
The important point is that we do not exist in isolation from the life we are living.
We are participants in it.
The Point at the Centre: The Still Point of Awareness
Now consider the small point at the centre of the circle.
This is the part of the symbol that holds particular significance for The Sovereign Self.
I use it to represent what I call the still point of awareness.
Consider your own experience for a moment.
Your thoughts are constantly changing. Your emotions come and go. Your circumstances change, your body ages, your beliefs develop, and even the person you believe yourself to be can change considerably over a lifetime.
Yet there is something interesting about your ability to recognise these changes.
You can become aware of a thought without necessarily agreeing with it. You can recognise that you are angry without having to act on your anger. You can notice fear without allowing it to make every decision for you.
You can observe what is happening within you.
This capacity for awareness is central to what I mean by returning to yourself.
The point represents that place of awareness from which we can begin to recognise what is happening, rather than becoming completely caught up in it.
I sometimes refer to this as the zero point, not as a claim about a physical location or a scientific phenomenon, but as a way of describing the still centre to which we can return.
This is also where an important distinction arises.
The centre is not the ego declaring itself the most important thing in existence.
Quite the opposite.
It represents the possibility of recognising that we are more than the identities, opinions, fears and personal stories with which we have come to identify ourselves.
And that recognition can change the way we live.
The Centre and the Whole
There is another aspect of this symbol that I find particularly meaningful.
The point is not outside the circle. It is not above it or separated from it.
It exists within the whole.
This is an important part of how I understand sovereignty.
Living sovereign does not mean withdrawing from the world, placing ourselves above others or becoming so independent that we no longer need anyone.
We remain part of life. We still have families, relationships, work, responsibilities and difficult circumstances. We still experience uncertainty, sadness, disappointment and joy.
The difference lies in how we meet those experiences.
When we lose touch with our centre, we can become so absorbed in what is happening around us that our circumstances begin to govern our inner lives.
An unkind remark can determine our mood for the day. Fear can make our decisions. The expectations of others can lead us to live lives that bear little resemblance to who we really are.
But when we return to that centre of awareness, something becomes possible.
We begin to recognise that although we cannot control everything that happens, we can develop a different relationship with what happens.
We can begin to respond rather than simply react.
We can take responsibility for our choices.
We can remain engaged with the world without allowing every event to determine who we are.
That is the relationship between the point and the circle that I want this symbol to remind us of.
The centre remains within the whole, but it need not be governed by every movement taking place around it.
What Quantum Physics Reveals About Matter and Space
There is another perspective I want to introduce, one that brings us into the extraordinary world of quantum physics.
Most of us have grown up believing that the material world around us is solid.
We see a table, a chair, a tree or our own bodies, and we experience them as substantial physical objects. We assume that what appears solid must be made up of solid material throughout.
But when scientists began examining the structure of matter at the atomic level, they discovered something remarkable.
What we experience as solid matter is made up of atoms whose dense nuclei occupy only a tiny fraction of their overall volume.
At the centre of an atom is a nucleus containing protons and, in most atoms, neutrons. Surrounding that nucleus are electrons.
You may remember the familiar schoolbook illustration of an atom, with electrons circling the nucleus like planets around the Sun.
That picture is useful as an introduction, but modern quantum physics reveals something considerably more interesting.
Electrons do not follow neat, predictable planetary orbits. Instead, quantum mechanics describes them through states that give us probabilities of where they may be found.
The nucleus itself is extraordinarily small compared with the atom as a whole.
To give you some idea of the scale, imagine enlarging an atom until it was the size of a large stadium. Its nucleus would be only a tiny object near the centre, while the electron cloud would extend across the much greater space around it.
What we think of as a solid object is therefore very different from the picture our senses suggest.
You may have heard the popular claim that if all the empty space were removed from the matter in the universe, everything would fit into a thimble.
The underlying observation remains extraordinary: at the atomic scale, most of the volume of ordinary matter is not occupied by a dense nucleus, and under extreme physical conditions matter can be compressed enormously.
Even the human body contains an astonishing amount of space at the atomic level.
Yet here we are, apparently solid, able to sit in chairs, walk on the ground and hold objects in our hands.
Why don't we simply pass through one another?
Because solidity is not merely a matter of tiny hard particles being packed together. It arises from the interactions of particles and fields, particularly electromagnetic forces and the quantum rules governing electrons.
The material world is far more complex than our everyday experience suggests.
Is Empty Space Really Empty?
This is where the subject becomes especially interesting to me.
For a long time, the idea of empty space suggested an absence of anything at all. But quantum field theory gives us a different understanding.
Modern physics describes fundamental particles in terms of quantum fields. These fields extend throughout space, and particles can be understood as excitations of those fields.
Even a vacuum, understood as the lowest-energy state, is not simply equivalent to absolute nothingness.
Quantum fields remain relevant, and the vacuum has physical properties that scientists can investigate.
One important example is the Higgs field, which exists throughout space and helps explain why certain fundamental particles have mass.
This is established physics, not merely philosophical speculation.
And it raises an interesting question about our everyday understanding of reality.
How much of what we call the physical world is actually as we perceive it to be?
The table in front of you is real. So is the chair you are sitting on. But their apparent solidity is the result of physical interactions taking place at scales far beyond our ordinary senses.
Our everyday experience gives us a useful picture of the world, but not a complete account of its underlying nature.
Space, Ether, Plasma and Essence
Throughout history, people have used different words to describe what might exist beyond visible matter.
One of those words is ether, sometimes written aether.
In classical philosophy, aether was associated with a higher or more fundamental substance. In later physics, a different concept of ether was proposed as a medium through which light might travel.
That classical light-carrying ether was eventually abandoned as physics developed.
Today, quantum fields provide a scientific description of physical phenomena that can exist throughout space. Scientists sometimes use ether as a loose analogy for a pervasive field, but the concepts are not identical.
Plasma is something different again. It is a physical state of matter containing charged particles, commonly found in stars and in phenomena such as lightning. It is not simply another name for empty space.
Essence, on the other hand, belongs more naturally to philosophy and metaphysics. It raises questions about the fundamental nature of something — what it is, rather than merely how it appears.
I find these distinctions important.
We should not use scientific terms and spiritual terms as though they all mean the same thing. But we can recognise that both physics and metaphysics, in their different ways, encourage us to look beyond appearances.
Physics investigates the physical structure and behaviour of reality through mathematics, observation and experiment.
Metaphysics asks broader questions about existence, being, causation and the fundamental nature of reality.
Theology brings into the discussion our understanding of God, the Divine and the relationship between the sacred and human existence.
It is where these different lines of enquiry meet that I find some of the most interesting questions.
What Does This Mean for Our Symbol?
Now look again at the circle and the point at its centre.
There is an obvious visual resemblance between our symbol and the simplified image of an atom: a central nucleus surrounded by a much larger region.
I find that resemblance fascinating, although I would not suggest that the symbol is a scientifically accurate model of atomic structure.
Its value for me is symbolic.
The visible centre draws our attention, but the greater surrounding region is also essential to the whole.
The two cannot be understood independently in the physical atom, and that relationship offers a useful metaphor for considering our own existence.
We tend to identify ourselves with what is most obvious: our bodies, thoughts, emotions, memories, histories and personalities.
But could our understanding of ourselves also be incomplete?
Could there be dimensions of our experience that we have not yet properly examined?
And might our understanding of consciousness and our place within existence change as we learn more?
Quantum physics does not establish that consciousness is a fundamental field, that the Divine is the quantum vacuum, or that a particular spiritual practice follows from atomic structure.
Those are separate philosophical and theological questions, and they deserve to be treated as such.
Nevertheless, the discoveries of modern physics provide a powerful reminder that reality is not necessarily limited to what our senses present to us.
For me, that is a valuable starting point for metaphysical enquiry.
The Greater Question of Being
There is one more connection I want to make.
The atom reveals a relationship between particles, fields and the larger physical structure within which they exist.
The circle and point invite us to consider a relationship between individual awareness and the greater whole of existence.
These are not the same relationship, and we should not pretend that one proves the other.
But they lead me towards a question that sits at the heart of metaphysical theology.
Is the individual self entirely separate from the greater reality within which it exists, or is our individuality an expression of something more fundamental?
Different philosophical and theological traditions have approached this question in very different ways.
It is not something that can be answered simply by examining an atom.
But the scientific discovery that the physical world is profoundly different from our everyday perception should encourage a little humility about what we think we know.
It reminds me that there may be much more to understand about ourselves and the nature of existence.
And it is precisely that willingness to question our assumptions that I want to encourage through The Deeper Questions.
A Connection with Carl Jung's Understanding of the Self
There is an interesting parallel here with the work of the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.
Jung explored the significance of circles and mandalas in his understanding of the human psyche. He distinguished between the ego, which he associated with the centre of conscious experience, and what he called the Self, which represented the greater totality of the psyche, including conscious and unconscious aspects.
In Jung's understanding, the Self could be represented symbolically through circular forms organised around a centre.
His work on individuation also explored the process through which a person becomes more fully aware of the different aspects of their psychological life and develops a more integrated sense of self.
I am not suggesting that Jung's psychological understanding and the metaphysical understanding developed through The Sovereign Self are identical. They arise from different foundations and should not simply be treated as interchangeable.
Nevertheless, there is a meaningful connection worth exploring.
Both invite us to look beyond the everyday identity we have constructed and consider a more complete understanding of who we are.
For me, that is one of the great values of examining different philosophical, psychological, scientific and theological perspectives.
We may find points of connection without needing to pretend that everyone is saying exactly the same thing.
What Does This Have to Do with the Heart
This brings us back to what I consider the most important practical question.
What does a circle with a point at its centre have to do with allowing the heart to govern our lives?
Quite a lot, as I understand it.
Much of our everyday existence is directed by the activity of the mind. We analyse, compare, judge, remember, anticipate and worry. We develop beliefs about ourselves and the world, and then interpret much of our experience through those beliefs.
The mind is an extraordinary part of being human. We need it, and I have never suggested that we should somehow abandon our ability to think.
But there is a difference between using the mind and allowing the mind to govern everything.
When our lives are driven entirely by thought, fear, conditioning and the need to control outcomes, we can lose touch with a quieter and more considered way of being.
This is where I speak about the heart.
I am not referring simply to emotion or sentiment. Nor am I suggesting that every feeling should be trusted without question.
I am speaking about a way of living in which awareness, honesty, compassion, discernment and responsibility guide how we use our minds and make our choices.
The return to the centre creates the space in which that becomes possible.
Instead of allowing our immediate thoughts or emotions to determine our actions, we can recognise them, consider them and choose how we wish to respond.
The mind continues to serve an essential purpose, but it is no longer our unquestioned master.
This is what I mean by the movement from a mind-led life to a heart-governed life.
And it is why the central point of the symbol is so important.
A Metaphysical and Theological Question
There is, of course, another level to this discussion.
Up to this point, we have considered the symbol in relation to history, human awareness, psychology and the physical structure of matter.
But metaphysics and theology invite us to look further.
What is the nature of the awareness we experience? Is consciousness entirely a product of physical processes, or is there more to it? What is the relationship between the individual and the greater reality within which that individual exists?
And where does the Divine enter this understanding?
These are questions that cannot be settled simply by pointing to a symbol, or by appealing to discoveries in quantum physics.
Different philosophical and theological traditions offer different answers. Some understand consciousness as inseparable from physical existence. Others propose that consciousness has a more fundamental place in reality. Religious traditions offer a wide range of understandings of the relationship between the human being and God.
I believe these questions deserve serious examination rather than easy answers.
For The Sovereign Self, the relationship between the centre and the whole provides a useful starting point.
We can consider whether our individuality is simply an isolated experience, or whether it is part of a much greater reality.
We can examine what it means to speak of our divine nature, and whether that language describes a literal metaphysical relationship, a spiritual experience or an interpretation of human potential.
And we can consider how our answers influence the way we understand sovereignty itself.
These are some of the deeper questions I intend to explore in this series.
Why Gold Against Black?
There is also a reason the symbol appears in gold against a dark background.
The historical association between the solar symbol and gold is interesting, but for The Sovereign Self, the colours carry their own significance.
Gold suggests something precious, enduring and worthy of our attention.
I like its association with transformation, not because I believe we must turn ourselves into something superior, but because there is something valuable in recognising what has always been present beneath the identities and conditioning we have accumulated.
The dark background allows the symbol to stand without distraction.
I also like the possibility of reading that darkness as the vast territory of existence we do not yet understand.
There is still so much we do not know about consciousness, reality and the nature of being human.
The symbol does not pretend to answer all those questions.
Instead, the small point of gold reminds us that awareness can begin right where we are, even when much of life remains uncertain.
The Return Is Not an Escape
There is one final point I want to make, because I believe it is essential to understanding this work.
When I speak about returning to yourself, I am not suggesting that we should turn our backs on ordinary life.
I am speaking about learning to live that ordinary life differently.
We still have bills to pay, people to care for, decisions to make and difficulties to face. We will still make mistakes and find ourselves reacting in ways we later regret.
Living sovereign does not remove those experiences.
It changes how we approach them.
The return is the opportunity to recognise when we have lost ourselves in our thoughts, fears or circumstances, and to come back to a place from which we can see more clearly.
Sometimes that return takes only a moment.
We recognise that we are about to respond in anger, and we choose to wait.
We notice that fear is making a decision for us, and we give ourselves time to consider another possibility.
We become aware that we are trying to meet someone else's expectations at the expense of our own integrity, and we begin to question why.
These may seem like small things, but they can fundamentally change our experience of life.
And this is why the symbol matters to me.
It is not simply a picture of an abstract philosophical idea.
It is a reminder of something we can practise.
One Circle. One Point. One Return.
When I look at this symbol, I see several ideas brought together.
The circle reminds me that I am part of a greater whole, that my life is connected to others and that existence reaches far beyond the boundaries of my personal experience.
The point reminds me of the still centre of awareness to which I can return, regardless of what is happening around me.
And the relationship between them reminds me that sovereignty is not about escaping life. It is about finding a different way of living within it.
Modern physics adds another dimension to that reflection. It reminds me that even the apparently familiar world around us is far more extraordinary than our everyday senses suggest.
There is nothing magical about the image. It does not possess a power of its own, and I do not expect anyone to accept my interpretation simply because I have given it one.
Its value lies in what it can help us recognise.
For me, it represents the movement from being governed by everything happening within and around us towards living with greater awareness, freedom and responsibility.
It represents the possibility of allowing the heart to govern while the mind serves.
And perhaps, at its deepest level, it invites us to consider whether the self we have come to believe we are is the whole of who we really are.
That is why this simple symbol has become the symbol of The Sovereign Self.
The point within the circle. The still centre within the whole of life.
A reminder that wherever life takes us, the opportunity to return remains.
I would be interested to hear what you see when you look at this symbol, and whether the idea of returning to a still centre has any meaning in your own experience.
There is much more for us to explore about consciousness, awareness, our understanding of the Divine and the nature of the self. This is simply one place to begin.
The Sovereign Self Online Course
A six-module journey from mind-led living toward a more grounded, heart-governed way of being.
The Sovereign Circle
An ongoing membership space for those who want to stay close to the work through regular returns, deeper resources, and access to the wider Sovereign Self journey.
Offerings
Discover the books, ceremonies, course, reflections and other ways to enter The Sovereign Self.
About Brian
Read more about the lived experience and journey from which this work emerged.
Comments