The pre-historic Emperor Yu saw this magical turtle coming out of the Lo River at the time of a great flood when people were offering sacrifices to one the gods of the flooding rivers, the Lo River, to try to calm his anger. This turtle emerged with a pattern of circular dots on its shell that later became known as the Lo Shu square. The famous ancient classic, the Iching, is rooted in this image.

“This cosmos has the shape of the Numinous Turtle who swims the endless seas of the Way. The round upper shell of the Numinous Turtle is the Heaven above; the flat lower shell is the square Earth and the Ghost River that runs beneath it. The space between the two shells of the Turtle is the world we live in, the human world... This is where we are born, lead our lives, fulfill our destinies and return to the source of all.” — Stephen Karcher