How To: Seed of Life

The intricate and complex "seed of life" pattern is visually stunning and is so fun to work into your henna & jagua designs. This sacred geometry pattern, also called the "flower of life", can be found in religious structures, sites and artwork around the world.

Attempting it in henna may seem a bit daunting at first, but you can master it after learning the steps here!

Attempting this pattern in henna or jagua can seem a bit daunting at first, but we’ll help break it down for you here.

With practice, you’ll get it mastered!

The primary techniques used in this design are draping straight lines and teardrops. Read on for step by step instructions with photos!

Step 1

Start by drawing a large open circle. You can "scratch" on a very light amount of henna to get the basic shape before laying down a bolder line.

Step 2

Draw a long vertical line down the center of the circle. The draping technique will allow you to make super straight lines.

Next, drape additional lines parallel to the center line, and try to space them apart as evenly as possible (It helps to use a stringy henna like Sūraja or our fresh paste).

Step 3

Next, draw a series of parallel lines at an angle to the first set of lines.

Step 4

Now, draw another series of parallel lines. These should cross over the intersecting points of the previous two lines. Even if your lines aren’t perfectly straight, continue to connect the lines from intersection to intersection.

Step 5

Finally, we're going to go over each set of parallel lines by making teardrops. Use cone pressure to widen and narrow the lines between each intersecting point.

Once you’ve gone over the lines in one direction, continue with the next set of "teardrop lines" in another direction.

Step 6

Add the final set of teardrops.

Congrats! You've just drawn a henna-style seed of life pattern!

If you’d like to see a video of the start to finish, head over here:

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