Conference hydra::dejavu

An addendum to this note:  Maybe there are others that have similar experiences
with numbers in thier lives and would like to share in this notesfile.

Addie

Re .0,.1:

The number scheme in Qabala (or Kabbala, Qabbalah, or any other of several
different and equally correct spellings) relates only tangentially to what
you're _really_ asking about here, which is numerology.

Numerology goes back to at least the Pythagoreans (of which one of the great-
est magi, Apollonius of Tyana, was a member), and it suggests that numbers have
significance in and of themselves.  Some forms incorporate a nine-number sys-
tem (1-9), others a ten (either 0-9 or 1-10); the nine-numbered system is the
more traditional.  The Qabalistic sephira are 10, if you count the visible
and 11 bif you count the "hidden" Daath, of the Tree.  The paths between the
sephira have been associated with the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck; these
collectively are interesting, but not central to the Pythagorean roots of
numerology.  In a mystic sense, a very superficial meaning of the numbers
traditionally taken is: 1=creator/creative principle; 2=antagonism/opposites;
3=creation; 4=earth/matter; 5=sensuality/naturalism; 6=love/domesticity;7=
completion/fulfillment;8=failure or great success, materially; 9=the world/
end of cycle.  

Numerology assumes that we are affected, individually, by Number, and that
names can be reduced to Number.  One such scheme is to assign a numerical
value to each letter of the alphabet (e.g., a=1, b=2, ..., y=25, z=26), 
then use this to get the "value" of the name.  Thus, "Bob" might be 2+15+2
=19, which "reduces" thus: 1+9=10; 1+0=1; therefore the "value" of "Bob"
would be "1" in this scheme.

Other numerologies are a little more complicated.  The Number of The Beast
in Revelations 13:18 (666, variously identified [incorrectly] with Satan
or [possibly more likely] the Antichrist) is thought to be a numerological 
codification of a person's name.  Many scholars suggest it was Nero, who was
famous for his persecution of the early Christians, and whose name could
"reduce" to 666, if done in Latin.

The idea of "lucky numbers" comes from this, too.

Steve Kallis, Jr.

What about the "un-lucky" number 13?  Many home were built with either 12
or 14 step to their stair in fear of the number 13.

Although, I must say, I find the number 13 in my life quite frequently. 
For instance, I was out car hunting, we had pulled into the lot and I saw
this beautiful car, and dismissed the thought of even looking at it for the
fear of the price being to high.   My boyfriend saw the number 13 on the
back window (written in yellow marker) and said to me that, that car would
be mine.  I laughed and say no way!  I couldn't afford that.  We then looked
around the lot and found nothing, so out of curiousity, I asked the sales
man to show me the car.  He did, I loved it, he went to get the key and to
find out that some one had bought it.  I then placed a deposit in case the
person was to change his mind... and he did, and I am now driving my dream
car.

Also, when I met my husband to be... I was living in apt. building #13!!!

The basic superstition of #13 being unlicky came primarily from the under-
standing that there were 13 people at the Last Supper.

However, there are a number of fortunate 13s.  There were 13 colonies, for
one, that formed the United States.

Steve Kallis, Jr.

	    [RE .2]:  I also read somewhere that Hebrew alphabet letters
	are also numbers, and two Hebrew spellings of "Julias Caesar"
	come out to be 666 and 616 (some translations of the Book of
	Revelations use the number 616).
	    Then again, I imagine that the Book of Revelations was writ-
	ten in Greek?

	    [RE .3 & .4]:  13 is a wonderful number, occurring in many
	parts of nature as well as being the annual number of times the
	moon goes through its phases.  I've heard it suggested that the
	reason the Zodiac has 12 signs (instead of 13) is that somebody
	was afraid of the "natural" 13 and felt more comfortable with
	the "classical" 12.
	     (BTW, fans of _Hitchiker's_Guide_, the question, "What do
	you get when you multiply six by nine?" can properly be answered
	with "Forty-two," but only if you're doing the math in base 13!)

			<_Jym_>

Re .5:
>	I also read somewhere that Hebrew alphabet letters
>	are also numbers, and that two Hebrew spellings of "Julias Caesar"
>	come out to be 666 and 616 (some translations of the Book of
>	Revelations use the number 616).
>	    Then again, I imagine that the Book of Revelations was writ-
>	ten in Greek?

In reverse order:  Yes, it was writtenn in Greek.  Effectivbely, the whole
New Testament was.  

Yes, the Hebrew letters had numerical value (for that matter, so do Roman
letters: 666 in Roman numerals is CCCLXVI, which I think someone once
used to "prove" that Pope Clement VI was the Beast).  I think Julius
Caesar would have been an odd choice, though, because he'd been assassin-
ated before the birth of Christ, much less when St. John recorded his
revelation.  

"Beasting" people got to be a popular pastime: people used various numer-
ological schemes to "prove" that one personage or another was the Beast;
the only one who went out of his way to claim kinship was the notorious
Alister Crowley, who often signed himself "666."

Steve Kallis, Jr.

Interestingly, node 6.65 is JAXVAX, and 6.67 is KAISER, but there is not 
presently a node 6.66 on the Easynet..

Tom

Re 666:
An interesting bit of interpretation on this is done in Robert Graves' The
White Goddess, which I highly recommend if you don't mind spending a few
years on the same book!  He's demonstrating what he calls his "sideways
glance" method of solving scholarly riddles, in which he meditates on the
Roman equivalent, DCLXVI, until in a flash he sees "Domitius Caesar Legatos
X---- Violenter Interfecit," or some such thing, an accusation terming either
Nero, or another degraded ruler, the Antichrist.
     
Speaking of numbers, has anyone [besides me] ever kept a diary over an extended
period, and checked the timing for possible cycles?

Doug

Re .8:

THE WHITE GODDESS is at once fascinationg, ingenious, irritating, spurious,
and the perfect illustration of a high-rank mind at work.  His marvelous
derivation of the Unspoken Name of God was marvelous.

The book is heavy slogging, and I certainly wouldn't recomment it to everyone,
but it is quite worthwhile for those who like to stretch their minds, and
particularly if they'll suspent the highest logical facilities.

Neopagans with scholastic bents should love it.

Regrettably, Robert Graves passed away a few weeks ago.

Steve Kallis, Jr.