The Great Wheel
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Over the years I have developed my own numerological style which is somewhat at variance with the usual meanings found in your typical numerological book currently on the market. Like any thing that I am interested in, I use the witch’s method of enquiry. I put my attention on it, open the third eye, and allow its essence to communicate itself to me. You may be interested in the system I work with, which I have found to be extremely effective and illuminating, particularly in association with Tarot readings.
The number zero is empty space, open-ness, the unformed and un-manifested space in which action and consciousness takes place. Without it, there could be no existence, no action, no motion, and no being. Yet it is none of these things itself, but behind them, supporting them, giving rise to them. Therefore it is also the primal womb, and the Great Mother from whom all manifested reality in all worlds spring.
The number one is the primordial impulse to movement and consciousness, the unit of singular awareness, the differentiation of self from other. It is the God, the primal masculine essence, the inseminating and enlivening principle, the urge to self hood. In its phallic form, it represents the male genitalia, and male sexual energy.
The number two signifies the first manifestation of the female principle in shape and form, to provide a means by which the male principle can seek its reunion with the Great Mother, and which can provide a focus and draw for its inseminating and enlivening energy, and transmute it, into further creation. It is therefore the creating and gestating energy of the Goddess. The number two calls to mind the two breasts, and in Roman numerals, represented as two vertical strokes, the two lips of the vagina. It thus represents the qualities of nurturing, and receptivity, and female sexual energy. It thus also represents the primal balance between self and other, male and female.
The number three represents the sacred union of the God and the Goddess. All manifestation is created through the sacred union, both microcosmically and macrocosmically. Thus three represents both the world of form and creation, and the child of promise within each person, the child of the Gods, which is born from the alchemical crucible when the heavenly and earthly energies are harmonised within one. The child of promise is formed when intellect is married to intuition, sun is married to moon, and the whole-person takes shape, whose self identity is neither bound to reason nor to intuition, but is beyond both, encompassing both, and formed of both the individual and the whole, the inner essence and the outer essence, giving rise to the self aware soul who partakes of the Divine nature.
The number four represents the first impulse of the self aware soul, the child of promise, which is to manifest and build within the physical world. Thus begins the lessons of experience as activity is undertaken, and successes and failures evaluated. Thus four represents learning through experience, practicality, and the impulse to do and to build. It is thus a resonance with the one energy, and reflects the God manifested and manifesting within the world of nature and physicality. This is symbolically represented by the square. The right angle is the secret of building, and this is reflected in the set-square which is the symbol of the free-masons. The right angle is formed by the numbers three, four and five, through Pythagorus’ theorem. And this has a symbolic significance!
The number five represents the manifested form of the Goddess. Symbolically it is associated with the five pointed star, which from ancient times has been associated with the planet and Goddess Venus. Thus five represents the Goddess manifested in human form, and the social and emotional dimension required for social and interpersonal harmony. It thus also represents the enlightened human being, whose awareness of the Goddess enables them to live harmoniously with others and with nature. There are a great many resonances with the number five, ranging from the awakened human, Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings, the five senses, the five fingers and toes on each limb, the five limbs (including the head and neck), the four elements plus spirit, and the symbolism of the pentacle. To my mind, these revolve around the awakened human and the manifested Goddess.
We may now see that the secret of building, the right angle, formed from the numbers three, four and five, represents the soul aware human (child of promise), taking action and learning through experience, under the guidance of, and in service to, the Goddess.
The number six, symbolised by the star of David, two interlocking triangles, represents the sacred union of the God (four) and Goddess (five), manifesting on the material plane. The Hermetic adage, “as above, so below” resonates with the number six. Here we have the adept, who has journeyed as the child of promise, learnt from experience, and awakened themselves to the reality of the Goddess, being thus re-born with the mastery of the creative process, which is the ability to conjoin the God and Goddess and give rise to the fruitful kingdom, the promised land. However the fruitful kingdom inevitably becomes a wasteland, through ignorance of the underworld forces shaping ourselves, others, and the world around us. This necessitates our underworld journey to seek the causes of the wasteland, and correct them, symbolised by the number seven.
Thus in the numbers four, five and six, we have the God, the Goddess, and the fruit of their union, resonating in the middle worlds. In the numbers one, two and three, we have the God, the Goddess, and the fruit of their creation resonating in the upper worlds, or the spiritual worlds. It is through the three, the spiritual dimension of the sacred marriage, that the upper world is connected to the middle worlds of human action and experience. Likewise, there is a resonance of the God, the Goddess and the sacred marriage in the under worlds, in the numbers seven, eight and nine. It is through the number six, the balance of adepthood and service, that one is fitted to gain access to the underworld power. It is also the number six, through the failure of the fruitful kingdom, which necessitates the decent into the underworld.
The number seven then represents the Lord of the underworld. It represents the masculine Saturnine energies of discipline and restriction, associated with the seventh day of the week, Satur(n)day. It represents the qualities of the unconscious realm, such as dreams, obsessions, compulsions, fears, phobias, the power which comes from them, and the discipline required to overcome them in oneself, and master one’s own underworld domain. For while the underworld is unmastered, it rules one’s life, forcing one to live out destructive patterns and habits, repeat mistakes, and attract negativity and failure to oneself through poor self image. However mastery does not imply forceful submission, but understanding of the rules and laws that govern this realm, and the ability to use them constructively. As much as one may master these underworld forces in oneself, one may choose to also use this mastery to influence the lives of others, for good or for ill, to serve the greater good, or to serve one’s own interests. Thus seven represents the choice that every adept must face in how to use their power. Typically, if one hasn’t mastered one’s own underworld domain, one is tempted to choose to influence and control others for one’s own (misguided) benefit, thus projecting mastery externally. Thus seven also resonates with the dark night of the soul, the journey through the underworld, where one confronts and masters one’s unconscious nature and urges, and with them the impetus for turning the fruitful kingdom into the waste land.
The number eight then represents the return to the middle worlds, in order to build in accordance with the Divine plan. The adept who has mastered the underworld is at last capable of manifesting within the world according to the Divine plan. The Divine plan is not something external to the adept, but something that is now a part of them. They can’t help themselves. This is symbolised by two squares, representing building on the physical planes, and building on the spiritual planes. Through the number eight they are both manifesting the Divine plan spiritually, which creates a spiritual template for all receptive beings to work through, and physically, to create consonant conditions on the material plane for that plan to take form and shape. The number eight also resonates with the wheel of the year, the eight solar festivals, another manifestation of living in accordance with the Divine plan of nature. As such, the number eight is a resonance of the Goddess, as Persephone, in regular movement between the underworld and her consort its Lord, and the middle world and the life of humanity, thus creating the movement of the seasons, and manifesting the yearly growth cycle of the plant world, on which we depend for our continued existence. Plants, of course, have their roots in the underworld, and their fruits in the middle world.
The number nine represents the completion and fulfilment of the cycle. Once again, we have the sacred marriage of the underworld Lord (seven) and Lady (eight), leading to their creative offspring, the fully formed one, the completion of the work. Just as in the myths of Merlin, who is said to retire from the sphere of influence and action, to seek a life of quiet contemplation, so also in the life of the adept. A time of rest and completion must follow the work of the eight, sinking gracefully into the underworld, both as physical death, and as acceptance of all that which is, and all that which one has brought about. This completion stage is really the beginning of a new creative cycle, and the nine represents one’s return to the womb of the Great Mother, the zero. This return journey is mimicked by the roman numeral for nine, which can be seen as a pathway leading to a zero, and also as reminiscent of a human sperm. For this silence and stillness and completion is actually the seed and sperm which will act upon the primordial womb to bring about another round of growth and manifestation, via the same process all over again.
Thus there is a never ending cycle of manifestation, growth and becoming. The energy proceeds from the upper world, through the middle world, to the under world, and as in Dante’s inferno, where a stairway to heaven lies in the very centre of hell, so from the underworld, a new creative cycle is manifested again, and ever onwards like a great rolling wheel of becoming and transformation. Let those whose eyes are open work in harmony with this great wheel, while the rest are swept around by the forces of so-called fate, at times on the ascendant, and at other times, crushed by the relentless revolutions.
Blessed Be,
Robyn