I was searching for a particular video on the internet the other day because I am trying to enthuse an American PhD student to learn to ring handbells before returning across the pond.  She has had a few tower bell handling lessons and perhaps handbells will prove useful if big bells are hard to access. I remembered a fascinating talk given by Emily Russell on the interface between mathematics and ringing and thought it a perfect introduction for this individual so did some googling.  Along the way I stumbled on some papers discussing the Fibonacci sequence and arguing that the patterns observable in nature are an indication of the existence of God.

One of the most common excuses for not believing in God is that one cannot see Him, but some people believe that He reveals Himself through the universe, particularly through His love of organisation, as displayed via Fibonacci numbers.

Nature is not as random as it appears.  Certain pattern occur again and again, and one such pattern was discovered by Leonardo Fibonacci during the Renaissance. Many objects and concepts from flower petals to lightning bolts and DNA molecules follow the Fibonacci pattern - namely, the next number in a sequence is the sum of the two before it – 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21 34 up to infinity.  There are also concepts such as the Golden Ratio 1:1.618 and the Fibonacci spiral.  I don't pretend to understand all this, but if we examine a simple daisy we find that the petal counts are all numbers in the Fibonacci sequence.  Ditto seed patterns in a sunflower head, cauliflower florets, pineapple skins, tree branches as they leave the trunk.  The shells of creatures follow the Fibonacci spiral rules. 

I have no idea of the truth as to whether this has anything to do with the attributes of God displayed in what He has created, but when it comes to bell ringing could the earliest attempts to work out patterns be the obverse of this hypothetical communication line? My brother asked an innocent question the other day.  He is not a ringer, although he is a musician.  As I attempted my usual clumsy explanation of how methods work and the search to ring permutations of 6 or more bells so that no row is ever repeated and every possible row is included ( 6! or 6x5x4x3x2x1=720; 7! or 7x6x5x4x3x2x1=5040 ), he queried as to whether the early ringers were in some way attempting to talk directly to God?  Not announce His presence to the world, but rather directly communicate in God's language. Was the genesis of method ringing an attempt to set up a direct line to a higher presence?

What a fascinating idea.  Do these intricate patterns represent mens' attempts to discover a lingua dei? Throughout history and across cultures humans have attempted to talk directly to God. Dreams, visions, thoughts and petal patterns are how many people believe God communicates with them, but how anyone chooses to talk to God is an intensely personal thing.  Whatever one's religion, learning to communicate with God is central and perhaps, just perhaps, those early ringers who wove their aural patterns were attempting to talk to God through the bells.

Is that still true today? Do some people believe that the bells are a direct line to God and the patterns that they weave are a form of communication with a higher being?

I appreciate that for many people, especially modern ringers, bell ringing is a fun, sociable and intellectually stimulating hobby. However there are others who have different motives when they take a rope and do any of them hope that their efforts will be heard and understood by a higher being? Furthermore, if the band all had a little chew on a magic mushroom before calling "Look to", would it improve their fluency?

It has just occurred to me – unorthodox I know, but if we repeatedly rang 1 2 3 5 8(13 if available), the first numbers in the Fibonacci sequence, might a message get through?

( just to make it clear, I am not recommending the use of Class A drugs by bell ringers. I am just wondering whether method ringing might have originally been an attempt to develop a language that God might better understand than our sometimes puny attempts at prayer.)