The several numbers such as 7, 6, 10 and 20 which are introduced into the narrative may admittedly be merely historical. Since, however, they posses distinct symbolical meanings, particularly those concerning the involution and evolution of life, first from spiritual levels into the mineral and later through the plant, animal and human kingdoms and thence on to superhumanity.The number 7, for example, represents not final perfection but the completion of a phase of development, followed by temporary cessation. The number 6, thus regarded, refers to a stage in which a cycle is not yet completed, but nearly so. The number 10 is a combination of the vertical line of self-consciousness and the ellipse or circle of super-consciousness. It is the number of perfection and suggests the completion of the out-pouring of the life-forces through a directive Logos. The number 20, or 2, stands for the dualism of manifested life, the Divine on the one hand and Nature on the other, Spirit and matter and their inter-relationships.
Number can be used as symbols, because the Universe is establised upona co-ordinated plan in which quatitaive relations are repeated through different states and planes. Number is common to all planes of Nature, and thus unites them. By the study of numbers, therefore, one may learn the fundamental laws of the creation, constitution and progressive events in the lives of both Universes and men; for man is a modification of cosmic elements, a concentration of cosmic forces.
Every number has a certain power which is not expressed by the figure or symbol employed to denote quantity only. This power rests in an occult connection existing between the relations of things and the principles in Nature of which they are the expression.
All numbers are represented by ten symbols, beginning with 0 (zero) and ending with 9. In this series:
0 stands for infinity; the Infinite, Boundless Being, the egg of the Universe, and the Solar System in its entirety.Universality, cosmopolitanism, circumambulation, voyaging, the cycles, negation, circumference and limitation are implied. 0 (zero) also denotes the infinitely great and the point at the centre, the atom, the absence of quality, absolute freedom, and the infinite and eternal Absolute which can only be described as No-Thing, because it is nothing that man can name. Zero also indicates boundless, infinitely potential, living light, the Rootless Root, the Sourceless Source.
1 Symbolises manifestation, assertion, the positive and active principle. It is 0 (zero) made manifest, and so is the symbol of the Infinite and Unmanifest. It represents the Ego, self-assertion, positivism, egotism, separateness, selfhood, isolation, self-reliance, dignity and rulership. In a religious sense it symbolises the Lord. In a philosophical and scientific sense it is the synthesis and fundamental unity of all things, and in a material sense it is the unit of life, the individual. In man it is the Monad and Spirit-Self manifesting as individuality; the unfolding unit or immortal, reincarnating Ego.
2 expresses antithesis; all opposing polarities including active and passive, male female, positive and negative, profit and loss. In the Universe it stands for the dualism of manifested life – God and Nature, Spirit and matter, and their relationships. Duplication, reflection, alternation, sympathy and antagonism; pure wisdom, as the mirror in which the Divine in both Universe and man sees Itself; these are also implied in the number 2. In man it is the spiritual intuitiveness which illuminates the mind and manifests in the personality as grasp of inner principles, abstract ideas and basic formulae, as also of the fact of the inevitable duality of being on all planes of manifestation.
3 Signifies the trilogy; the trinity of life, substance and intelligence, of force, matter and consciousness. Creation, preservation, transformation, multiplication, development, growth, and therefore expression, are all implied.
3-denotes the outworking of the principles reflected from1 by 2. This suggests sanctifying intelligence, understanding in contrast to wisdom, which reflects knowledge of the inmost Self. The family –father, mother and child; the tree dimensions-length, breadth and height; the three postulates-the thinker, the thought and the the thing; are also represented by the number-3.
4 is the number of reality concretion, order, measurement, classification, recording, tabulation and memory, the measuring intelligence. 4-typifies the material Universe, pysical laws, physiognomy; also logic, reason, discernment, discrimination, discretion and relativity; cognition by perception, experience, knowledge and science. The cross, segmentation, partition, order, classification, the swastika, the wheel of the law, sequence, enumeration, are denoted by-4. Applied to man it symbolises the personal nature-the lower quaternary.
5 being the middle number between 1 (beginning) and 9 (completion), implies mediation; as also adptation, process and methods. Law is seen by the wise as the manifestation of perfect justice, and they adapt natural conditions to the end of progressive liberation from all bondage. Expansion, inclusiveness, comprehension, understanding, judgement, increase, propagation, justice, reaping, harvesting, reproduction of oneself in the material world, fatherhood, rewards and punishments under the law, are all represented by this number. The unchanging aspects, the strength and apparent severity of the operations of law, inspire fear in the uninstructed. Actually this law is the impersonal root of all operations of the life-force.
6 is the symbol of balance, equillibrium, symmetry, harmony of opposites, reciprocity, complementary activities and intelligent mediation. 6-represents co-operation, marriage, connubiality, the relations of the sexes, a link, counterpoise, the interaction of the spiritual and the material, the mental and the physical, in man. The psyche, psychology, divination, psychism and psychometry are symbolised by the number-6.
7 represents temporary cessation, but not final perfection, which is reserved for the number-9. Number-7 stands for the logical consequence of the ideas symbolised by the preceding numbers. This includes rest, safety, security, victory, but not final cessation or completion. It also implies time and space, duration, distance, old age, decadence, death, endurance, stability, immotality. The seven ages days of the week, seals, principles in man (the triad and quaternary), notes and colours, are also referred to by the number 7.
8 is the digit with the meaning of ebb and flow, alternate cycles, involution and evolution, the emergence of opposite forms of expression from a single cause, rhythm, and dissolution at the end of cycles. 8-also denotes reaction, revolution, fracture, rupture, disintegration, seggregation, decomposition, anarchism, seperation, divorce, expiration following inspiration, afflatus, genius, invention, deflection, eccentricity, aberration and madness. The process of balancing accounts with Nature, receiving payment and paying debts, karmic adjustment in which, for example, both benefices and adversities may be received in preparation for advancement intoa new cycle-all this is indicated by the number-8. It is the number of magic and occult science.
9 is the number of completion, but not absolute cessation, attainment, fulfillment, the end of one cycle merging into the beginning of its successor which will lead to greater attainment, since every end is the seed of a new beginning. 9-is thus the number of regeneration, spirituality, sense-extension, premonition, going forth, voyaging, reformation, nebulosity, pulsation, rhythm, reaching out, extension, archery, prediction, revelation and mystery.
10 is a combination of the vertical line of self-consciousness and the ellipse or circle of superconsciousness. It is the number of perfection and dominion, and suggests the outpouring of the limitless life-force through a directive Logos. 10-indicates the resplendent intelligence, full of life and power, and consciousness of mastery founded upon the perfecting and organising power of understanding.
No comments:
Post a Comment