The seven
The seven opens the third triad: seven-eight-nine, which we will summarise here only briefly. The seven is the number of completion, the number of Crossing the border, the beginning of cosmic consciousness. It is the sum of three and four, of Spirit and matter.
In geometry, a heptagon can no longer be constructed in the usual way with ruler and compass. While the six was still able to structure a plane, but no longer a body, as we have seen, the seven can no longer give structure to a plane. In the seven, space and planes are dissolved.
The seven is considered a sacred number (septos = sacred). Everything is ordered and constructed on its basis: heaven, creation and the light. The seventh day is holy.
Seven is the number of the Apocalypse that tells us about seven churches, seven trumpets, seven seals, the seven divine spirits … Moreover, there are the seven rays and seven gates of initiation. They touch the human being, who has prepared for it, by their spiritual light and awaken the immortal element in a human being. Seven is the number of reversal and liberation.
As mirror images, as messengers of the divine, there are seven colours on earth: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, which are contained in the white light, and there are also the seven tones of the scale
c – d – e – f – g – a – b
We also know the rhythm of development of our life in stages of seven years. The cells of our body are completely renewed after seven years.
The number seven is also familiar from fairy tales. They tell of seven mountains, seven valleys, seven ravens, Snow-white and the seven dwarves …
Geometry shows us the importance of the seven in a sober way: if we draw six circles within a circle, a seventh circle with the same diameter is generated in the middle that touches the other circles in six points. If we see these six circles as a symbol of the world of the six (that, after all, represents perfection), the latter is kept together by the circle in the middle (the world of the seven). Thus it becomes visible that on the one hand, the seventh circle is generated by the world of the six and, on the other hand, it represents the controlling principle of the six.
From five and six,
so says the Witch,
make seven and eight,
so it’s full weight.
– Goethe, Faust, Part one
The eight
Just as the seven, its opposite pole, the eight, belongs to non-material nature. Again, it represents the polarity, but on a higher spiral:
On the way to the eight, the tension of the two is transformed and dissolved. By the shape of the eight, the originally divine is manifested (with the help of the three). The eight links the deepest level of the human subconscious with the highest peaks of the human mind. The visitations that a person encounters in the eight are those of the m(e)ight, namely through the awakening of the supernatural powers that once again may be used in two ways: by striving for what is spiritual, or in the temptation of occultism. With the eight, the responsibility increases to use the ever-stronger powers of the Light in the right way. The eight contains the perfection of life as to its highest responsibility. Eight is the number of ethics and of the purity of our motives.
The nine
The nine represents the definitive victory and liberation from the wheel of birth and death. It is the result of a long path of purification through matter until the resurrection in eternal life is reached. Friedrich Weinreb wrote in Zahl, Zeichen, Wort (Number, Symbol, Word): Tradition says that ‘tet’, the ninth letter, is the womb, that is, the realm where the new develops, grows and finally appears. By it, the ancients not only referred to the human womb, but also to the darkness in general, in which what is new is first prepared before stepping into the light.
And nine is one,
and ten is none.
– Goethe, Faust, Part one
The ten
The ten is the symbol of the end. In it, the one is linked with the zero and thus, the range of numbers is concluded that started with the one and returns to the one, though on a higher level. The mighty fullness of the hidden God (the circle), manifesting itself in the ten, underlies the one. By the ten, a new level of life is manifested. Here, too, we see the beginning of a new cycle.
In this article, we only briefly referred to how we can understand the quality of numbers. If we go deeper into their secrets, we will recognise a structural order that is also shown by the basic forms of geometry and the Platonic bodies.
Sources:
Heinrich Elijah Benedikt, Die Kabbala als jüdisch-christlicher Einweihungsweg, 1999
Ernst Bindel, Die geistigen Grundlagen der Zahlen, 1958
Konrad Dietzfelbinger, Pythagoras. Die Einheit von Naturwissenschaft und Religion, 2005
Marie-Louise von Franz, Zahl und Zeit. Psychologische Überlegungen zu einer Annäherung von Tiefenpsychologie und Physik, 1970
Priya Hemenway, Der geheime Code. Die rätselhafte Formel, die Kunst, Natur und Wissenschaft bestimmt, 2008
Peter Schottler und Freunde, Umstülpung und Übergang. Umstülp-Bewegungen als Übergänge zwischen polaren Qualitäten, 2009
Michael Stelzner, Die Weltformel der Unsterblichkeit. Vom Sinn der Zahlen, 1996
Rolf Umbach, Vom Flug der Fische. Die Bibel kabbalistisch gelesen, 1995
Friedrich Weinreb, Zahl, Zeichen, Wort, 1978
Christa Zettel, Das Geheimnis der Zahl. Geheimlehre und Numerologie, 1998
