The key to the universe; or a spiritual interpretation of numbers and symbols

Front matter

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Book.

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Table Of Contents

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Foreword ix

Preface xiii

Foreword

These are days of great unrest in all walks of life. Many are running to and fro seeking a firm foundation on which to erect their Temple of Truth. These are the days foretold by the prophet Amos: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." 1 It takes but little insight to see in present day conditions the literal fulfillment of the prophecy : "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many, * * * Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there ; believe it not." 3 But that we may not be deceived there must be some firm foundation on which we can rest assured and build. Where shall this be found? This is the question which this volume seeks to answer through the interpretation of the spiritual meanings of the unchanging symbols handed down to mankind in the only exact science, numbers. It does not profess to be the 1 and only Book of Wisdom, the only true and satisfying solution of the world's problems, but it does strive to set forth an exposition of the framework on which the cosmic philosophy of the ancient Wisdom Religion was based (subject to the human limitations of the transmitting personalities), together with such inspirational Light as has been vouchsafed to the authors, who make no claim to aught save the office of transmitters and distributors of the spiritual food especially stored and preserved in the storehouse of the King, in readiness for this time of famine.

Today many are striving to appease this Soul-hunger. Many well-intentioned teachers who have had a

1 Amos, viii, 11. a St. Matthew, xxiv, 5-23.

x Foreword

realization of a phase of Truth strive to fill the need, but because they have not a cosmic and all-inclusive philosophy, they can give but a few crumbs to an hungry 1 here and there, while the great mass — those who are not content to take any single phase of Truth — still seek, hungering, starving or feeding on the husks of materialistic conceptions. Others, in an effort to be less personal, are telling the hungry ones to cease seeking for help from teachers and look only to the Within. In fact, we have in our hands a little circular which voices, in the following words, the note of almost universal despair and disappointment with teachers: "To you, who thought you had found in some great teacher, who was perhaps the acknowledged head of some Society, Fraternity or Religion, and who appeared to you to be a 'Master,' so marvelous was the wisdom he taught and the works he performed ; only to awaken later to the realization that that 'Master' was but a human personality, with faults and weaknesses, and secret sins, the same as you, even tho' that personality may have been a channel thru which was voiced many beautiful teachings, which seemed to you the highest 'Truth.' * * * To yon, I AM come. * * * For I AM your real Teacher, * * * and the only MASTER."

This idea that all wisdom, comfort and help can be found within is but a further fulfillment of the prophecy as given in St. Matthew (xxiv, 26) : "Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert [of mere intellectual learning] ; go not forth : behold, he is in the secret chambers [the Within] ; believe it not." Here we find the 2 opposite poles of teaching, as common in the days of the Apostles as today, anticipated and provided for. Where then shall we find rest, peace and spiritual food?

Foreword xi

Dear Reader, long ere the famine was sent into the land the preparation for it was made. Joseph was sent into the darkness of Egypt to prepare for the 7 years of famine by gathering up the over-plus of corn and wine during the 7 years of plenty, and preserving them in the King's granaries and storehouses, so that when the lean years came there should be food a-plenty for all who asked it of the King. So the Spiritual Teachers of the Race, the Masters of Wisdom and Elder Brothers of humanity, have for our sakes dwelt in Egypt that They might store up in the granaries of the King of Kings the spiritual philosophy which alone can bring satisfaction when the days of famine of the Word are upon us. They it is who have marked out the Way which leads direct to the storehouse of the King of Kings.

Think you in the days of famine in Egypt, those who came seeking the food so lavishly furnished them by Joseph caviled at his personality? Did they say, "This man is a Canaanite. He has served time in prison. He has been sold as a slave. He is but human like ourselves, with faults and weaknesses and secret sins, even as we ourselves. He cannot feed us. We will have none of him. The same God who gave him the forethought to store up the corn and wine is our God. We will find Him within, and He shall feed us, for all things are ours?" It is obvious that such an 1 would have gone hungry and been forced to prove the fallacy of his doctrine. And so must it ever be. For while the I AM is The Christ within every Soul, there is no greater sin — if by sin we mean mistake — than the great "heresy of separateness." It takes all humanity to complete the expression of the Divine, hence, since the wisdom of no 1 man has ever evolved a complete science or formulated a philosophy without the aid of his predecessors, so no 1 Soul can unaided find the xii Foreword

whole Truth within himself. All a Soul can find within is its own Truth, the Truth that shall make it free. The voice of The Christ within giveth testimony unto Truth, i. e., the I AM tells us unmistakably what is Truth and what is not. Also it should be remembered that all Truth comes to man through an human intellect, either through your own or that of another, while the I AM simply knows and recognizes Truth, witnesses to and affirms it. Therefore, as long as we listen to this Voice within no personality, teacher or teaching can deceive or disappoint us ; for we will "take, eat" only from The Christ the bread that He has broken and given to His disciples to be distributed to the multitude ; we will drink only from the Cup that He has blessed and filled with His own spiritual life-force. This is the basis on which we ask you to consider the teachings of this volume. If you hear the assenting Voice within or feel the thrill of Truth confirmed, then partake of it to the upbuilding of your spiritual life. If not, then pass it by until a riper understanding reveals it to you.

The Wisdom Religion is the accumulated wisdom, 1st of Revelation; 2nd of Inner Assent by The Christ within ; and 3rd of Experience, not of any 1 man, but of many men in all ages who have struggled, sinned, suffered, triumphed and finally mastered the problems and forces of life. These have left behind them a well trodden Path leading to the very door of the storehouse of the King, where They ever stand ready to pass on to soul-hungry, starving humanity the life-giving food ; for They have eaten of it and found it utterly satisfying and will neither hunger nor thirst any more. Some morsels are offered herein. Take, eat, if you will, and be satisfied.

Preface

"The twenty-two sounds and letters are the Foundation of all things. Three mothers, seven doubles and twelve simples." — Sepher Yetzirah, II, 1.

Our great desire in presenting this work to the public is that it shall be a practical treatise; that it shall explain to the student the reason for and the nature of the many mysterious experiences which he encounters as the Path of Attainment unfolds before and within him, to the end that he may understand their significance, learn their lessons and avoid the mistakes and discouragements which result from ignorance of the Law. In other words, we shall endeavor to show that all personal experiences are expressions of the 1 Great Law manifesting according to mathematical principles, demonstrating that the unfoldment of the godlike possibilities inherent in each Soul follows, step by step, the same order of events that is followed in the evolution of the Cosmos, and that such steps are symbolized by the first 22 numbers — the Signature or Name of God. This signature is impressed upon the Cosmos through the Divine Trinity, the 7 Sacred Planets and the 12 signs of the Zodiac.

"In fact, in the 'Sepher Yetzirah,' God considered as the Infinite and consequently the indefinable Being, extended throughout all things by His power and existence, is while above, yet not outside of numbers, sounds and letters, — the principles and general laws which we recognize !" x

Our effort throughout will be not to compile a work for scholars only, but to popularize occult philosophy by presenting in a form easily comprehensible by the

1 La Kabbale, Franck, quoted by Westcott in The Sepher Yetzirah, 8.

xiv Preface

average intelligent reader, the philosophic principles symbolized by the 1st 22 numbers. These few numbers, as we explain herein, truly form the key to the evolution of both man and the Cosmos, or The Key to the Universe, for they symbolize and illustrate the cosmic principles back of all manifestation, and prove mathematically the relationship between the microcosm and the macrocosm. They also mathematically demonstrate the principles of Christian Mysticism as expounded by The Order of Christian Mystics (Order of the 15).^

In addition to giving the spiritual interpretation of the 1st 22 numbers, we also include an explanation of the esoteric meaning of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet which correspond to them, together with the symbology of the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot cards.

"The alphabet of the Hebrews is composed of 22 letters; these letters, however, are not placed by chance, one after the other. Each of them corresponds with a number according to its work, with a hieroglyphic according to its form, with a symbol according to its affinities with other letters." 2

While accepting many of the more spiritual interpretations of other writers on numbers and the Tarot, by the presentation of a great mass of original material derived from inspirational sources, we shall avoid making this work either a mere compilation of the statements of others presented without elucidation or a dry mathematical treatise.

Another feature of this work is the liberal quotations from that wonderful mine of information and the foremost authority on occultism in the Western world, The Secret Doctrine, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. This work is so large and expensive that it is possessed only by a comparatively few scholars. Hence, for the benefit of the great mass of occult students who would

3 The Tarot, Papus, 94.

Preface xv

otherwise never partake of its riches, we will quote extensively from it, as well as paraphrase other portions whenever they will either elucidate or substantiate our point or interpretation. That these quotations may be easily distinguished from the original matter, and for convenience in reference, they will be placed in a special style of type.

The Secret Doctrine and The Voice of Isis will be referred to so frequently herein that their titles will be abbreviated in the footings to S. D., vol., etc., and V. of L, respectively.

A number of our monthly lessons are referred to in the footnotes. These will be sent free of charge until the supply is exhausted, when requested by the purchasers of this volume.

San Francisco, Cal., Sept. 15th, 1915.

Chapter 1 The Origin Of Numerical Systems

"Every cosmogony, from the earliest to the latest, is based upon, interlinked with, and most closely related to, numerals and geometrical figures." — The Secret Doctrine, Blavatasky, III, 69.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." — Psalms, xc, 12.

"God is a Number endowed with motion, which is felt but not demonstrated." — Balzac.

Mathematics is the only exact science; the only 1 whose propositions are capable of conclusive proof and demonstration. All other so-called "exact sciences" are based upon assumptions, deductions and "working hypotheses" which are more or less useful until further investigation and discovery proves them to be but partial truths. And in these days of rapid progress, the changes of base in the "exact sciences" are so frequent that the scientific text-books have to be rewritten every few years, so rapidly are the materialistic conceptions of matter and the universe outgrown. Only 3 centuries ago the "exact science" of the day was unanimous in the opinion that the earth was flat, and opposed the idea of the infinity of the universe and the plurality of worlds to such a degree that its leaders burned Giordano Bruno at the stake for daring to oppose their dictum. Within a decade or 2 "exact science" ridiculed the possibility of the transmutation of metals, classing it as a mere vagary of unbalanced mystics, yet today we have the transmutation of metals going on in many laboratories as a matter of course. Only a few years ago we were taught that the atom was a particle of matter, but today the same "exact science" asks us to believe that it is not "matter" at all, but the union of 2 units of force called "electrons." The facts as taught by the mystics of all ages remain; modern interpretation of them evolves and expands.

Words are symbols of ideas, but numbers are symbols of divine realities ; spiritual verities eternal in the heavens, which express themselves periodically in the worlds of objectivity. "If as Pythagoras said: 'The world is built upon the power of numbers,' then numbers must be the key to the understanding of the world." "They are a key to the ancient views on cosmogony, in its broad sense, including man and beings, and the evolution of the human race, spiritually as well as physically." x

"Hence we find numbers and figures used as an expression and a record of thought in every archaic symbolical scripture. They are ever the same, with certain variations only, arising from the first figures." 2

Following Prof. Max Midler, it is commonly accepted that our present numerical system was invented by the Arabs, for he tells us that, "The two words cipher and zero, which are but one, are sufficient to prove that our figures are borrowed from the Arabs." 3 As a matter of fact the system was introduced into Europe by Pythagoras, who found it already fully developed in India. It is true that later the system was widely spread by Arab traders, but they also obtained it from India. Prof. Muller later admits this origin himself when he says elsewhere : "Cipher is the Arabic cipron, which means simply, a translation of the Sans-

1 Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky, II, 407.

* Our Figures, M'iiller.

krit name of nought." * Among the Hebrews the kabalistic word Sephiroth also corresponds to the word cipher, not in the sense of nothing, but rather in the sense of containing within itself the powers of creation by number and degrees of evolution, altho as yet unmanifested, hence a void.

The Hindus, however, do not claim to have originated the science, for the sages declare that it was revealed to them by the Devas (the Gods). Also, "The Pythagoreans asserted that the doctrine of Numbers, the chief of all in Esotericism, had been revealed to man by the Celestial Deities ; that the World had been called forth out of Chaos by Sound or Harmony, and according to the principles of musical proportion." 5 These are but confirmations of the occult teaching that the science of numbers was not slowly evolved by primitive man learning to count on his fingers — which is deduced as the probable origin by exoteric investigators — but was a fully elaborated system of computation revealed to the priesthood of the early Races by the Elder Brothers and Spiritual Teachers of mankind. 6

"The symbol was the origin of measures, shadowing forth creative law or design. * * * Reflection becomes more involved when it is considered that the power of expression of the law, exactly, by numbers clearly defining a system, was not the accident of the language, but was its very essence, and of its primary organic construction; therefore, neither the language, nor the mathematical system attaching to it, could be of man's invention, unless both were founded upon a prior language which afterzvards became obsolete." 7

No matter how far back into the night of time archeological or other investigations are extended, high stages of civilization are found, each having an elabo-

• A volume might easily be written substantiating this statement, but its truth is so self-evident to all who have investigated the subject that we do not consider it necessary to present further evidence than is contained in this volume.

7 The Source of Pleasures, Skinner, 204.

rate numerical system, where, according to modern scientific theories, only the most primitive conditions might be expected. Even today we find primitive systems existing side by side with the most advanced. They are found, however, only among the sub-races which are not in touch with the highest civilization of their age. Relics of so-called primitive people — the so-called "cave-man" and other degenerate remnants of the earlier sub-races — are no more an index of the stage of development to which mankind as a whole had reached in those bygone days, than the development of the present Bushmen of Australia or the Ainos of Japan are an index to the height to which civilization has reached today. The 2 extremes exist at the same time, if not side by side. 8 The almost incalculable antiquity of elaborate astronomical and numerical systems is sufficiently indicated to sustain the occult teaching by the following quotation :

"Diogenes Laertius carried back the astronomical calculations of the Egyptians to 48,863 years before Alexander the Great. Martianus Capella corroborates this by telling posterity that the Egyptians had secretly studied Astronomy for over 40,000 years, before they imparted their knowledge of the world. * * * Mr. Proctor shows, in his Myths and Marvels of Astronomy, that the ancient Astronomers had acquired a system of the most accurate Astronomy 2,400 years B. C. ; the Hindus date their Kali Yuga from a great periodical conjunction of the Planets thirty-one centuries B.C.*** Simplicimus, in the sixth century, A. D., writes that he had always heard that the Egyptians had kept astronomical observations and records for a period of 630,000 years. This statement appears to frighten Mr. Gerald Massey, who remarks that : 'If we read this number of years by the month which Euxodus said the Egyptians termed a year, i. e., a course of time, that would still yield the length of two cycles of precession (51,736 years)'." 9

8 For the occult teaching on the origin of Races see the Voice of Isis, Curtiss, Chapters xiii, xv, xvii. 8 5*. D., I, 712-3.

Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians founded a system of a 12 god theogony. Hence we find in Egypt the duo-decimal system, or method of reckoning by 12, in common use. And it is to the use of that system in the construction of the pyramids, that the origin of the English foot of 12 inches has been traced. Among the early Races the decimal system, or reckoning by 10, was esoteric and known only to the higher Initiates among the priesthood.

"Now, if, on the one hand, the most ancient Indian MSS. show as yet no trace of decimal notation in them, and Max Miiller states very clearly that until now he has found but nine letters, the initials of the Sanskrit numerals ; on the other hand, we have records as ancient, to supply the wanted proof. We speak of the sculptures and the sacred imagery in the most ancient temples of the Far East." 10

The decimal system was held sacred because the priesthood, having received it directly from the Divine Teachers of mankind and having been taught its sacred significance, understood that in the numbers from 1 to 10 the whole evolution of the Cosmos and of man, the descent of Spirit into matter that matter might be redeemed, together with man's At-one-ment with the Divine, were portrayed and revealed to those who had eyes to see and hearts to understand.

"We know that the decimal system must have been used by mankind of the earliest archaic ages, since the whole astronomical and geometrical portion of the secret sacerdotal language was built upon the number 10, or the combination of the male and female principles. * * * The 10, being the sacred number of the Universe, was secret and esoteric, both as regards the unit and cipher, or zero, the circle." 10

The priesthood knew the dire results of the misuse, perversion, debasement or reversal of any symbol, hence would have saved mankind from all the degradation and suffering which has resulted from the fraudulent manipulation of these sacred symbols by man to acquire personal advance or power at the expense of his fellow men; for example, the acquiring of individual wealth at the expense of the community and mankind in general (i. e., the worship of the Beast), in contradistinction to the creation of wealth through agriculture, mining, manufacturing, etc.

We may here mention that 1 of the most common ways of perverting the potencies of numbers, and perhaps the most insidious and demoralizing in its effects upon mankind, is the use of numbers in games of chance or gambling. It is said that every confirmed gambler has a more or less well developed system which he believes is bound to win. The so-called element of chance as applied to numbers has been demonstrated to be subject to certain laws which bring success for a time, and it is this mysterious property of numbers, which the gambler senses and tries to control, that lures him on to his inevitable ruin. For the law of numbers does not belong to the realm of chance. Numbers are potent factors in the working out of Divine Law, hence no system devised by man for his own aggrandizement or advantage at the expense of others, can ultimately succeed. It may seemingly do so up to a certain point or until the cycle of that particular combination of numbers reverts back to its true rate of vibration or the key-note which belongs to that particular expression of the Divine Law, and fulfills its real mission. The Law of Numbers, being the law of the progressive manifestation of the Christos or the Divine Light penetrating Chaos and evolving all manifested things back to ultimate unity, in certain stages may seemingly lend itself to the furtherance of evil, but in the end this will be shown to be but the gathering together of the forces of Chaos (chance) that they may be swept aside, swallowed up and ultimately transmuted into unity.

"Number is, as the great writer (Balzac) thought, an Entity, and, at the same time, a Breath emanating from what he called God and what we call the ALL, the Breath which alone could organize the physical Cosmos, 'where naught obtains its form but through Diety,' which is an effect of Number." 11

Numbers may be compared to the bones of the body in that they are the framework upon which the superstructure of manifestation is erected. Therefore, even if the study of occult mathematics may seem to some but a study of dry bones, it is as necessary to the occult student as a study of osteology to the medical student. Its study was considered so important by the Greeks, that it, together with physical culture, comprised the entire educational curriculum. Their system of mathematics, however, embraced 4 categories, arithmetic or the laws of numbers ; geometry or the laws of plane and solid figures ; astronomy, which included astrology, or the laws of both planetary motions and their spiritual and magnetic influences ; and, finally, music, under which heading they included harmony, rhythm and poetry, their poetry in turn embracing the history of the world.

In the Bible, from the days of creation to the Apocalypse, great stress is laid upon numbers, especially 3, 4, 7, and 12. In the Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, Upanishads, etc., numbers underlie every hymn, and stress is laid upon 1, 3 and 7; the same system upon which Vach or the sacred speech of Zoroaster was built. Hence it is impossible to become an Adept and fully grasp the deep problems of either the Brahmanical, Buddhistic, Zoroastrian or Christian sacred books without a knowledge of the significance of numbers. The power of a mantram or hymn, or a reading from 1 of the sacred books, varies with the numbers and syllables of the words, the rhythm of the meter and the vibrations of the tones used, in addition to the meaning of the words themselves. This is recognized more or less clearly in all religions, from the chanting of the sacred sentence Om mani padme hum of the Hindu and Thibetan monks, the rhythmic reading from Granth Sahib and the repetition of the sacred name Wahguru of the Sikhs, to the intoning of the service in many branches of the Christian church. If these various forms of mantra are intoned slowly and with a rhythmic cadence a certain effect is produced ; if quickly and sharply quite a different effect results. These effects, being founded upon the laws of vibration, are not imaginary nor merely the result of suggestion upon especially sensitive persons. The nerves are like the strings of a musical instrument and try to respond and adjust themselves to the vibrations playing upon them, and the effects are plainly apparent both upon the mind and the emotions. This is the secret of the soothing and healing power of music, as well as the stimulating effect of martial airs.

Since all things manifest according to the laws of numbers and vibration, everything can be made to respond to these laws. Hence, 1 who has gained the mastery over his voice, or as the occultist would say, can command the "Army of the Voice," is master over all. This is the only true magic, "Know thyself." Know the key-note of that which you desire, harmonize yourself with it and then sound it.

"God geometrizes" is an ancient occult axiom which cryptically expresses the fact that all manifestations of God, life, nature, as they come into objectivity from subjectivity, flow along geometrical lines and follow geometrical laws. "It is an interesting fact that the superior metals crystallize at the angle or complemental angle of a regular polygon. If they sometimes followed one form and sometimes another we should not recognize them for what they are. We depend for the fidelity of our perceptions upon the integrity of the Great Geometer. * * * If we steadily regard the geometry of Nature in the same patient and sincere manner as did Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Kepler, Tycho, Newton, Kelvin, and others we shall probably come to the conclusion that number, as expressed in geometrical relations, is the most intimate expression of the Soul of things." 12 Each such expression has its number, rate of vibration or wave-length, its sound, color and form, and its own place in the Grand Plan or scheme of the universe. This is as true of the forces which create a world as of those which create a snow crystal. As we have said elsewhere : "All Nature-shapes can be traced back to and analyzed into simple geometrical figures: • |ADO just as all musical notes produce characteristic designs when made to pass through sand or other suitable material." 13

"Thus the evolution and correlation of the mysteries of Kosmos, of its growth and development — spiritual and physical, abstract and concrete — were first recorded in geometrical changes of shape." 14

In view of the above facts, some understanding of the origin and significance of numbers and geometrical forms is necessary to the larger conception of divine manifestation, whether in man, nature or the universe. For numbers are not arbitrary symbols, but constitute a sacred science, its symbols being generated by the manifestation of all nature and the Cosmos itself, as we shall endeavor to show herein.

12 The Kabala of Numbers, Sepharial, II, 23-7. 11 V. of I., 357. l « 5". D., I, 341.

Chapter 2 The Symbol Of The O And The Serpent

"God is a circle, the center of which is everywhere and the circumference nowhere." — Pascal.

"Alone, the One Form of Existence stretched boundless, infinite, causeless, in Dreamless Sleep; and Life pulsated unconscious in Universal Space, throughout that All-Presence, which is sensed by the Open Eye of Dangma." — Stanzas of Dzyan, I, 8.

In numerical systems the O is the 1st symbol to be considered, as it is the 1 from which all others proceed. It is a symbol of Unmanifested Deity; in the Bible, the darkness of Chaos from which the Cosmos emerges. It is the Night of Brahm in which all is latent, "a boundless darkness on the ground of which appears the first central point in white." It may sound paradoxical to call the Deity, whom we are wont to think of as Universal Life and Omnipotent Being, a circle of darkness, yet right here the student must begin to adjust his point of view to the occult and mystical conceptions. A fundamental axiom is that "extremes meet," also that vibrations of light and life may be so intense that they cannot be perceived by man's physical senses — the solar spectrum above violet, for instance — hence are apparently darkness and nonexistence. Such a boundless circle of pulsating, vibrant yet undifferentiated life-force proceeding from the Center of All Life, forms the "waters of the Great Deep," deep in that they are unfathomable and incomprehensible to undeveloped man. Only when the Spirit of God moves upon these waters and the Word — the