IS IT by a mere chance that the clock-hands were made to move from left to right or "clockwise" – as we call it? In fact, the origin of the movement of the clock-hands is linked to the sundial that was used to measure time during 1500-1300 BC.
The direction of movement and height of the sun were the key. Depending on the movement of the sun from the east to west, the shadow of the sundial moves from left to right, the path the Sun follows in the Northern Hemisphere.
There are a few exceptions to that common direction of movement. The hands of the Hebrew Clock on the clock tower of the Jewish Town Hall in Prague move in the anticlockwise direction.
Moving anticlockwise or counter-clockwise is also known as Widdershins or in German language - against + sense - going "in a direction contrary to the course of the sun". The origin of the word widersinnig perhaps was linked to the faith of the sun-worshiping traditions where going against sun-wise circling or the path of the sun was considered bad luck.
Circular movements are common in nature, various forms of rituals in other human acts, either clockwise or anticlockwise.
The Earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the Sun anticlockwise. The process of giving birth starts with the "fertilization dance", an anticlockwise movement of the sperm encircling the ovum to find the gateway to enter inside - the earliest process to give birth a life.
There are other natural rotational movements that go in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions. In the human heart, the outer superficial muscle fibers begin at the upper part of the heart and sweep down in anticlockwise curves to the tip of the heart. In contrast, fibers that lie deeper at the top of the ventricles spiral down in a clockwise fashion.
During the circulation inside the heart, carbon-dioxide carrying blood that is produced in the cells of the body enters the right atrium and turns forward in a clockwise direction to be expelled into the lungs after entering the right ventricle. On the other hand, the oxygen-rich blood coming from the lungs enters the left atrium moves in anticlockwise to be distributed in the body before entering the left ventricle.
The natural dictum of clockwise or anticlockwise movement is more intriguing when the structures of the major molecules of living systems such as proteins and carbohydrates became known. In living organisms building blocks of all carbohydrates are dextrorotatory while the same for proteins are levorotatory. These are connected to the ability of the building blocks to rotate the plane of a polarized light ray to the right, i.e. clockwise (for dextrorotatory) or left, i.e. anticlockwise (for levorotatory) - facing the light path.
Circular windstorms such as Hurricanes originating in the northern hemisphere rotate anticlockwise. And those developing in the southern hemisphere spin clockwise.
Our body has a network of energy channels popularly known as meridian channels which cannot be described exactly in a physical term as opposed to our arteries and veins that carry blood. The same energy network is named differently such as, in Siamese (Thai) culture it is "sen" lines, the Yogis who established Ayurvedic medicine call it "nadis", while the Japanese, Tibetan, and Chinese physicians called them "channels".
The form of life energy, also called Chi or Qi, flows clockwise through these meridian channels crossing major organs of the body such as liver, heart, kidney, and stomach and shifts between Yin (cold) and Yang (hot) energies.
Certain human acts do obey rotational motion. Common among those are also known as circumambulation that are common in different religions.
According to the Jews tradition, worshippers walk seven times around the bimah – a raised platform equipped with a reading desk that holds the Torah scrolls while they are read. Walking in an anticlockwise direction is an important event of the ritual "Hoshanah Rabbah" - the sev
enth and final day of Sukkot.
Muslims who perform Hajj (pilgrims), one the five pillars of Islam, circumambulate (known as tawaf) seven times in the anticlockwise direction around the Kaaba. For Muslims, Kaaba located in Mecca is the only place where circumambulation is permitted.
In Christianity, circumambulation is an important part of pilgrimages such as that of Saint Patrick's Purgatory on an islet in Lough Derg in Ireland, where pilgrims walk clockwise around the basilica four times. However, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, it is normal for processions around a church to go anticlockwise. It has also been the custom in Ireland, Holland, Germany, and elsewhere in northern Europe to carry the casket in clockwise procession three times, around the cemetery before burial.
In Hindu tradition, the clockwise circling, known as pradakṣiṇa, is performed encircling the sacred fire, the temple (or shrines), or even a sacred object. The Hindu cremation rite begins as the chief mourner circles the pyre four times anticlockwise, carrying the flaming bundle of sacred kuśa grass and touching the body symbolically with each round, finally lighting the pyre at the head.
Tibetan Buddhists walk clockwise when circumambulating around the outside of shrines, temples, or other sacred sites. The acts of circumambulation however, go beyond rites and rituals.
According to the ancient ayurvedic traditions, clockwise movements during the pressure therapy give and stimulate the marma - dots or mystic points of the body; while the anticlockwise movements liberate and dispel blocked or stagnant prana - the life-giving force.
The International Olympic Committee attempted to introduce clockwise racing - albeit for a short while, during 1906-1908 . After that the racing was set to its erstwhile anticlockwise direction and continues until today. Long before the modern athletic races, Roman Chariot racing followed anticlockwise direction too.
Why a natural rotation follows a certain direction – clockwise or anticlockwise - might remain a mystery.
The meaning of the circular motion is perhaps deeper than we could fathom until now.
Imagine that there is no circular movement in the universe, such as earth does not rotate on her axis or does not revolve around the sun - we would not know how to keep counting the time.
It is the circular motion that gives us the beginning of a day, a month and a year. As long as that motion continues – time continues. Same goes with our living – as long as the blood moves in a cycle in and out from the heart – it makes us breathe for living.
With the invention of the digital clocks, we no longer need analog clocks with hands moving clockwise and telling us the time – tik-tik. The clockwise or anticlockwise motion, however, in nature and in our actions continues.
* The writer is Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya and President, Malaysian Society of Oral Microbiologists and Oral Immunol