SYMBOLS OF TEN
1. Pythagoras
The law of three added to the law of seven obviously gives ten. Probably the most ancient (alchemical )symbol of these two fundamental laws of Cosmos combined as the Decad is the tetractys, first introduced by Pythagoras.
Without narrating a life of Pythagoras, there are two important things to remember about him. First Pythagoras was an initiate of all the ancient mysteries. This fact is reflected first hand in The Life of Pythagoras by Iamblichus (B.250 AD). After receiving all the available teachings of ancient Greece and presumably initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries and after consulting all the Greek oracles, he travelled to Egypt on the advice of his teacher, Thales. Here, he was initiated into the mysteries of Isis at the hands of priests at Memphis and Thebes. Like his future successor Plato, he was placed on the Tau wooden cross and raised on the third day from the granite sarcophagus in the Kings chamber. Later, he travelled to Phoenicia and Syria where he was initiated into all the mysteries of Adonis at Byblos and Tyre. Taken captive by the soldiers of Cambyses, he was carried off to Babylon, where he was later initiated by the magi in the Chaldean lore of astronomy and geometry. Although Iamblichus does not mention this sojourn, he is said to have travelled through Media and Persia into India where he studied for several years as a pupil of the Brahmin priests of Elephanta and Ellora. The name of Pythagoras is still preserved in Brahmin records as Yavancharya, the Ionian teacher.
Pythagoras was said by all ancient biographers to be the incarnated son of Apollo and Pythais and Friend of Zeus. He certainly taught of the incarnation of the soul, which was exoterically confused with the transmigration theory later attributed to him. Fragments from the Doxographers say " He said that the soul is immortal, and that it changes from one body to another; so he was wont to say that he himself had been born before the Trojan war as Aethalides, and at the time of the Trojan war as Euphorbus, and after that as Hermontimus of Samos, then as Pyrrhos of Delos, fifth as Pythagoras." His father built a temple to Apollo, inscribed to Pythais and his birth was predicted by the Pythian Oracle. Certainly, Pythagoras was a messenger from the Gods and his wisdom a synthesis of all then existing mystery schools. We really do not see another such an eclectic esoteric person until the life of Apollonius of Tyana, a contemporary of Christ.
Second, as a great initiate, Pythagoras was part of the messianic cycle leading to the birth of Christ. R. Steiner has spoken on numerous occasions that the messianic cycle preparing for the birth of Christ was more than the scripture of the Jewish-Hebrew tradition dating from Moses and the Exodus. In fact, all the ancient mystery schools contributed through their mystery wisdom and rites of initiation to the birth, life and death of Christ as Golgatha. A glimpse of this secret knowledge was discussed supra when it was related how the Egyptian initiation in the King's chamber enacted the drama of Christ as nailed to the Tau cross, death in the crypt for three days and resurrection to a new spiritual life.
Another glimpse of this secret key known to ancient mystery wisdom has been revealed by Steiner in a series of lectures on the birth of the Christ child as follows.
About 100 years prior to the birth of the Christ child, an incarnation of the Gautama Buddha was born in the Holy Land named Jesus Ben (son of) Pandira. He became the founder of the Essence religions sect, which later taught the Christ child after he left the temple at age twelve. His purpose was to prepare the world for the birth of Christ. He had a pupil named Matthew whose name passed over to other pupils and the Matthew Synoptic gospel was written in the form of rituals taken from the ancient mysteries by the first Matthew. (This is why the Matthew gospel was first written in Hebrew and not Greek as translated by St. Jerome.)
The good Madame H.P.B. confirms this historical event in her paper entitled, The Esoteric Character of the Gospels, referring to the Rabbinical tradition in the Babylonian Gemera called Sepher Toldus Jeshu about Jesus being the son of one named Pandira, and having lived a century earlier than the Christian era, namely, during the reign of the Jewish King Alexander Jannaeus and his wife Salome who reigned from 106 to 79 B.C. "accused by the Jews of having stolen from the Holy of Holies the Incommunicable name, Jehoshua (Greek for Jesus) was put to death by the Sanhedrin at Lud. He was stoned and then crucified on a tree, on the eve of Passover. The narrative is ascribed to the Talmudistic authors."
In the Bible, Jesus descended from the House of David. However, two Jesus children were born, one from the Solomon line of the House of David and one from the Nathan line of the House of David. The individuality who was the Solomon Jesus child was an incarnation of Zarathustra; the founder of the cultural epoch of Persia and the mystery school of the Magi. At age twelve, through on occult process, the individuality of Zarathustra forsook the body of the Solomon Jesus child and went over to the etheric body of the Nathan Jesus child. The body of the Nathan Jesus child was prepared by and contained the astral body of the Gautama Buddha. After leaving the temple at age twelve, the now Jesus of Nazareth child, bearing the etheric body of Zarathustra and the astral body of Buddha, wandered the near east visiting the sites of the ancient mysteries, including the Mithras cult. I say the now Jesus of Nazareth because after age twelve, the mother of the Nathan Jesus boy died and the father of the Solomon Jesus boy died. The surviving spouses married and the brothers and sisters of the Solomon child became part of his family, now living in Nazareth.
Later, Jesus of Nazareth spent many years with the Essene sect, where he met John the Baptist. At the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, the ego of Christ as solar logos descended upon him completing the four bodies of his lower quaternary.
Knowing the Zarathustra connection in the Messianic cycle, the Pythagoran connection can be explained. Porphyry (b.233 A.D.) the Greek neoplatonic philosopher in writing an the life of Pythagoras says that, "In Babylon he associated himself with the other Chaldeans, especially attaching himself to Zaratus (Zarathustra), by whom he was purified from the pollution of his past life...and here, Pythagoras acquired the greater part of his wisdom." The name Zarathustra as well as the names of other ancient savants like Mani, Manu, Hermes, Rishi, etc. once stood for an original person, but in the mystery tradition, the students take the name of the teacher, so that after several generations, the name becomes generic representing an esoteric stream of knowledge. This is why modern scholars can never exactly date the life and death of the great adepts.
Steiner says that Zarathustra incarnated as Zaratus (as per Porphyry) or Nazarathes, the teacher of Pythagoras in Babylon. Here, in Babylon, Pythagoras became initiated in the Messianic cycle as did the Jews of the Babylonian captivity. In subsequent incarnations, Pythagoras was reborn as one of the three Magi who visited the crib of Jesus in Bethlehem and later became a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth.
The good Madame H.P.B. also confirms the Zarathustra connection in the Messianic cycle. The first three chapters of Vol II, ISIS UNVEILED is dedicated to the proposition that the appellation of Jesus of Nazareth was so called not because he came from his father's residence at Nazareth but because Jesus was an initiated member of the esoteric mystery sect called the NAZARIA, the healers.
To support this theory, she states that the Nazireate sect existed long before the Laws of Moses and originated among peoples most inimical to the "chosen" ones of Israel, the people of Galilee, where was built a city called Nazara, the present Masra. Here, and in the caves of Bethlehem, the Nazra held their sacred mystery rites of initiation. In fact, history shows the first Christian sects to be either the Ebionites or the Essenes, the later being Therapeutae healers, of which the Nazarenes were a dissenting branch which included John the Baptist and his followers.
The Madame says that the Nazara of Galilee were first Pythagoreans and after conversion to the Buddhist monastic life, became the sect known as Essenes. The word "Nazar" means to vow or consecrate oneself to the service of God. As a noun it was an emblem of such dedication, and for this reason Joseph, Ezra, Sampson and Samuel were called Nazars. She concludes that the Zar-adas of the Pythagorean biographer Porphyry was the head or Nazar of the Babylonian mystery school in which Pythagoras was initiated. She, like Steiner, recognizes that the word Zoroaster becomes a generic term since the followers of the original Zoroaster called themselves as disciples by the same name.
Thus, some historians refer to Pythagoras Babylonian teacher as Nazarathus (by Clement of Alexandria) or Zaratus or Zaradas or Narazad. These are but changes of idioms for different cultures. The key is that they are all derivatives of the word Nazar which establishes a direct link with Pythagoras, his teacher Zarathustra at Babylon and the Essene sect which instructed Jesus prior to his leaving this sect with John the Baptist.
In addition, other clues emerge with the Nazarene connection with Christ. For example, the Nazarene priests and initiates were circumcised. All sect members were baptized in the Jordan River and before and after baptism, they had to fast. The gospels tell us that Jesus fasted for forty days after his baptism in the Jordan by John. The Nazarenes wore their hair long, like Sampson and Elijah, the prophet. Both John the Baptist and Jesus are described in the gospels as wearing very long hair. Lastly, Jesus is described as wearing a log white garment without any seams. This is the same description given by Josephus of Nazarene priests and the Buddhist Essenes.
In conclusion, Pythagoras, the great initiate, carried forth his occult wisdom, hand in hand with Zarathustra, in the ancient mysteries preparation of the Messianic cycle.
2. THE TETRACTYS and the SQUARE of FOUR
By way of introduction, the symbol of "The tetraktys and the square of Four" is best described by Rene Guenon in his 1937 published article of the same name which is set forth entirely because so instructive and not a wasted word.
" We have often had occasion to allude to the Pythagorean tetractys with its numerical formula 1+2+3+4+10, showing the relationship that unites the number 10 directly with the number 4. the quite exceptional importance which the Pythagoreans attached to the Tetraktys is well known and it can be measured especially by the fact that they swore by the "holy tetraktys." It is no doubt less well known that they also had another formula for their oaths, namely, "by the square of four"; between the two formulas there is an obvious relationship; for the number 4 is their common base. This implies, among other things, that the Pythagorean doctrine had to be put forward in a mode that was more "cosmological than purely metaphysical", nor is that an exceptional case when Western traditions are concerned, for we have already had cause to make an analogous remark about Hermetism. The reason for this deduction, which may seem strange at first to those who are unaccustomed to the use of numerical symbolism, is that the quaternary is always and everywhere considered as the number of universal manifestation. In this respect, it therefore marks the very starting point of cosmology, while the numbers that precede it, 1.2 and 3, are strictly related to ontology. The particular emphasis on the quaternary ipso facto corresponds to the cosmological perspective itself.
At the beginning of the Rasa il Ikhwan as-Safa, the four terms of the fundamental quaternary are enumerated as follows: 1-the principle, which is designated as al-Bari, the creator(which indicates that it is not the supreme principle, but only being, inasmuch as it is the first principle of manifestation which is, in fact, metaphysical Unity); 2-the universal Spirit; 3-the universal soul; and 4-the primordial Hyle. We will not develop just now the different points of view from which these terms can be understood; they could be said, for example, to correspond to the four worlds of the Hebrew Kabbala, which also have their exact equivalents in Islamic esoterism. What concerns us for the moment is that the quaternary thus constituted is held to be presupposed by manifestation, in the sense that the presence of all its terms is necessary for complete development of the possibilities which manifestation comprises; and this moreover is said to be why, in the order of manifested things, the mark of the quaternary, we might say its "signature", is always especially noticeably-whence, for example, the 4 elements (ether is not being counted here, for it is a question only of the differentiated elements), the four cardinal points (or the 4 regions of space which correspond to them, with the 4 pillars of the world), the 4 phases into which each cycle is naturally divided (the ages of human life, the seasons in the yearly cycle, the lunar phases in the monthly cycle, etc.) and so on. Any number of applications of the quaternary are there, all interconnected moreover by rigorous analogical correspondances, for basically they are just so many more or less specialized aspects of one same general schema of manifestation.
This schema, in its geometric form, is one of the most widespread symbols, one of those which are truly common to all traditions: it is the circle divided into 4 equal parts by a cross formed from 2 diameters at right angles; and it can be noted at once that this figure expresses precisely the relationship between the quaternary and the denary, as does the numerical formula we recalled at the beginning. In fact the quaternary is represented geometrically in its static aspect by the square, but in its dynamic aspect, as here, by the cross; and the cross, when it turns around its own center, engenders the circumference which, with the center, represents the denary which itself is the complete numerical cycle. This is what is called the "circling of the square", the geometric representation of which is represented arithmetically by the formula 1+2+3+4=10. Inversly, the Hermetic problem of squaring the circle (an expression so often misunderstood) is nothing other what is represented by the fourfold division of the circle implicit from the two diameters at right angles. This will be expressed numerically by the same formula, but written inversely: 10=1+2+3+4, to show that all the development of manifestation is thus brought back to the fundamental quaternary.
Let us now return to the relationship between the Tetraktys and the square of 4: the numbers 10 and 16 have the same rank, namely the fourth, in the two series of triangular numbers and square numbers respectively. The triangular numbers, of course, are those numbers obtained by adding the consecutive whole numbers from unity to each of the successive terms of the series. Unity itself is the first triangular number, as it is also the first square number; for being the principle and the origin of the series of whole numbers it must also be the principle and orgin of all the other series that are derived from it. The second triangular number is 1+2=3, which shows, moreover, that once unity has produced the binary by its own polarisation, the immediate result is the ternary; and the geometric representation of this is obvious: 1 corresponds to the summit of the triangle; 2 to the extremities of the base, and the triangle itself taken as a whole is naturally the figure of the number 3. If we then consider the three terms of the ternary as having an independent existence, this sum gives the third triangular number: 1+2+3=6. This senary number, being the double of the ternary, can be said to imply a new ternary which is a reflection of the first, as in the well known symbol of the "seal of Solomon". Continuing the series, the fourth triangular number is: 1+2+3+4=10, namely the Tetrakys; and one sees by this, that the quaternary in a sense contains all the numbers because it contains the denary-whence the formula of the TOA-TE-KING, one has produced two, two has produced three and three has produced all the numbers, which amount to saying once again that all manifestation is as it were enveloped within the quaternary, or inversly, that the quaternary constitutes the whole basis of manifestation's integral development.
The Tetraktys, as a triangular number, was naturally represented by a symbol which, taken as a whole, was of ternary form, each of its outer sides comprising 4 elements; and this symbol was comprised of 10 elements in all, represented by as many points, of which 9 were the perimeter of the triangle and one at its center. It will be noted that in this disposition, despite the difference of geometric forms, we have the equivalent of the already explained representation of the denary by the circle, as there also 1 corresponds to the center and 9 to the circumference. In this connection, that it is because 9 and not 10 is the number of the circumference, that its division is normally calculated in multiples of 9 (90 degrees for the quadrant and subsequently 360 degrees for the entire circumference) which is moreover directly related to the whole question of cyclic numbers.
The square of four is, geometrically, a square of which the sides contain 4 elements, like those of the already mentioned triangle. If we consider the sides themselves, as measured by the number of these elements, the result is that the sides of the triangle and those of the square will be equal. These 2 figures can be united by making the base of the triangle and the upper side of the square coincide as in the figure below and the whole thus obtained gives rise to the several other considerations that are likewise not without importance. first, if we consider only the triangle and square as such, this combination is a geometrical figure of the septenary as this is the sum of the ternary and the quaternary: 3+4=7. More precisly, and according to the actual arrangement of the figure, this septenary is formed from the union of an upper ternary and lower quaternary, which lends itself to various applications. In the correspondence of triangular and square numbers, the first must be related to a higher domain than the second, from which it can be inferred that in Pythagorean symbolism the Tetraktys must have had a function higher than that of the square of four; and in fact, all that is known of that symbolism would seem to indicate that this was indeed the case.
There is a point which is somewhat stranger and which, though it refers to a different traditional form certainly cannot be considered as a mere coincidence. The two numbers 10 and 16, contained respectively in the triangle and square, have 26 as their sum; and this number is the total numerical value of the letters forming the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, yodh, he, vau, he. (we will see this later) This division of the Tetraktys is perfectly normal and the correspondance of the two parts is again very significant; the Tetraktys is thus identified with the YODH in the triangle while the rest of the tetragrammaton is inscribed in the square placed beneath it.
On the other hand, the triangle and the square both contain four lines made up of points; and if only to call attention to the concordances of the different traditional sciences, that 4 lines made up of points are to be found in the diagrams of geomancy diagrams which by the quaternary combination of 1 and 2 are of the number of 16=4squared.; and geomancy, as the name indicates, stands in a special relationship to the earth which, according to the far Eastern tradition, is symbolized by the square.
Finally, if we consider the solid forms in three dimensional geometry that correspond to the plane figures in question here, the cube corresponds to the square, and the figure that corresponds to the triangle is the quadrangular pyramid with the upper face of the cube as its base. The whole forms what Masonic symbolism designates as the "pointed cubic stone" and which in the Hermetic tradition is considered to be a figure of the Philosopher's stone."
That being said by the snerdly master of traditional symbolism, I would only add that the 3-dimensional form of the triangle is the tetrahedron, not the pyramid and as Dr. Steiner recommends, when I say the 7 petitions of the Lord's Prayer, I visualize the seven sides of the above symbol as said supra about the 7 principles of man represented geometrically as our figure of the septenary.
3. MORE SYMBOLISM
Before studying more of the most ancient symbol of the Decad
,one must take the Pythagorean oath,
"By that pure, holy, four lettered name on high,
nature's eternal fountain and supply,
the parent of all souls that living be,
by him, with faith find oath, I swear to thee."
The first four numbers arranged in a triangle of ten points is the sacred tetractys .
The word is derived from "tetras" or four and also represents the quaternary.
The first quaternary is one of dimension and number related to form. The dot is the form of the number one. The line is the form of the number two. The plane is the form of the number three and the solid tetrahedron the form of the number four.
The second quaternary is that of music, the symphonic ratios which form the mathematical harmony of the musical scale: 1:2, the octave; 2:3, the perfect fifth; and 3:4, the perfect fourth.
The third quaternary is that of the ancient Platonic elements: one is fire; two is air; three is water and four is earth.
The fourth quaternary is that of the Platonic solids as they relate to the elements: fire is the tetrahedron; air is the octahedron; water is the icosahedron and earth is the cube. Together, we have,Robert Fludd's Pythagorean tetrad and as follows:
| 1. Point | tone | fire | tetra |
| 2. Line | octave | air | octahedron |
| 3. Plane | fifth | water | icosahedron |
| 4. Solid | fourth | earth | cube |
Another examination of the number of Tetractys correspondences was by Theon of Symrna .
I am surprised that the great Madame H.P.B. did not remark on the following correspondence between the tetractys and the following Hindu Yogas, although she did claim on numerous occasions that Pythagoras learned his mysteries in India. The figures for these world ages in years were taken from THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
1 = Kali Yuga = 432,000
2 = Dvapara Yuga = 864,000
3 = Treta Yuga = 1,296,000
4 = Krita Yuga = 1,728,000
10 = Maha Yuga = 4,320,000
So sacred is the quaternary, that every Anthropomorphic name of God is written and pronounced by old nations with four letters. For the Egyptians, Teut; the Arabs, Alla; the Persians, Sire; the Magi, Orsi; the Mahometans, Abdi; the Greeks, Teos; the ancient Turks, Esar; the Romans, Deus; the Germans, Gott; and the Tartars, Itga.
The good Madame H.P.B. says, "the Logos is the apex of the Pythagorean triangle. when the triangle is complete it becomes the tetrakyts, or the triangle in the square, and is the dual symbol of the four-lettered Tetragrammaton in the manifested Kosmos, and of its radical triple Ray in the unmanifested, or its numenon." For Pythagoras, the Logos was the point or monad, from whence, in reflecting upon itself, all things are created. As stated by George Oliver in THE PYTHAGOREAN TRIANGLE,
"a point corresponds with the monad, both being indivisible; and as the monad is the principle of numbers, so is the point of lines. A line corresponds with the dual, both being considered by transition. A line is length without breadth, extending between two points. A superfice corresponds with the triad, because in addition to the duad, length, it possesses a third property, viz., breadth; which is effected by setting down three points, two opposite, the third at the juncture of the lines made by the other two. A solid or cube represents the tetrad; for if we make three points in a triangular form, and set a forth over them, we have a solid body in the form of a pyramid, which has three dimensions, length, breadth and thickness. In geometry, the tetrad combines within itself all the materials of which the world and all things therein are composed viz., the point extended to a line; a line to superficies; and the superficies or triad converted to a solid or tetrad by the point being placed over it."
Thus, the Logos of H.P.B. and the point of Pythagoras or even the Monad of Liebnitz evolves through geometry, into the three dimensions of the manifest world as reflected in the tetractys symbol. But H.P.B. says that this symbol is dual and also reflects the tetragrammaton. As G. Oliver notes, the quaternary was called tetractys by the Gentiles and the tetragrammaton by the Jews.
The Jewish name of God the tetragammaton as Jehovah is composed of four letters. Yod ( J), He (H), Vau (V) and He (H) or JHVH. Its origin is from Exodus when Moses asked the Lord by what name should He be called if asked by his brethren of Israel. He responded, "I am that I am". Because the Hebrew language does not employ vowels in its written form, the correct pronunciation of the ineffable name of God was lost (the Hiram Abiff Masonic legend of the lost word) until rediscovered by the Quabbalists. They gave it the name of Tetragrammaton or the quaternary and discontinued the prior use of the name of God as Shem Ha-Meforash, a seventy-two syllable name consisting of 216 letters.
The Hebraic script (gematria) value of the letters is J (10), H (5), V (6) and H (5) for a total of 26. Its relationship as the dual symbol appeared to be well hidden for centuries until the publication of Kircher's OEDIPI AEGYPTIACI which has the following tetractys in Hebrew letters set above a mandala entitled, THE CHRIST OF GLORY and as follows:
| 1. | J | 10 | 10 |
| 2. | J-H | 10 + 5 | 15 |
| 3. | J-H-V | 10 + 5 +6 | 21 |
| 4. | J-H-V-H | 10 + 5 + 6 +5 | 26 |
| (Total) | 72 |
The number seventy-two has significant value to the Jews and the Quabbalists. First, the new tetragrammaton short version of the name of God is reconciled with the long version consisting of 72 syllables used prior to the "lost word". Seventy-two represents the Angels of Jacob's Ladder and the traditional number of the names of God. Also, seventy-two is the value of HESED, the forth sephiroth which represents the manifest world as a cube or the Platonic element of earth.
Within the tetractys we see a triangle, a hexagon and a square. In plane geometry of two dimensions, theses three are the three primary plane shapes which will independently fill a surface without leaving any gaps - all space filling.
In solid geometry of three dimensions, the hexagon in the center represents a family of 2-3-4-fold symmetry the prime representatives of which are the octahedron, cube and cuboctahedron.
Taken in another correspondence, the tetractys represents the basic theme of our study dealing with the Law of Three as representative of Deity and the unmanifested planes and the Law of Seven as representative of manifested plane of creation. By connecting with lives the middle level points, a sixsided hexagon is revealed the hidden cube .
The three points at the corners form a triangle and represent the symbol of the unmanifested planes. The six points of the hexagon and seventh center point represent the seven manifested planes.
In the Quabbalah, the three points represent the upper Holy Triad of Kether, Binah and Hochmah, the head and shoulders of Adam Kadmon and the Atziluth world, all as represented by the Hebrew letter SHIN.
The lower seven points represent the seven lower sephiroth of the manifest world, the creative Elohim of Genesis, all as represented by a cube, the six sides of which are the six days of creation and the seventh (central point) the Sabbath.
This is the key of the tetractys. As a whole, both the universe and man is formed and built upon ten, the decad. Every atom, cell, plant, mind and spiritual being is a complete hierarchy in ten degrees or planes. As a completed whole, everything in cosmos is tenfold, composed of the three as a root and seven in active manifestation.
The Quabbalist symbolism of the central cube hidden in the tetractys was carried forward to the seventeenth century symbolism of the Rosicrucians.
The first exoteric publication appeared at Altona in 1785 entitled, "Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. A.E. Waite has traced the contents of this extraordinary volume back to Frankfurt in 1678 and an original edition in 1625 published in German and translated into Latin. P. Manley Hall in the Secret Teachings reviews the Georgius Van Welding volume of Fifteen Rosicrucian Diagrams published in 1735 and Hall states the correspondence of the cube as symbol of salt and matter:
"The cube has six sides, corresponding to the six days of creation, with the point of rest (the seventh day) in the center of the cube, on each surface of the cube appears the signs of the four elements (as triangles). The cube is composed of twelve bodies, each of which has six sides. These bodies are the twelve fundamental pillars of the true invisible church, and when multiplied by the six sides of the cube, the magical number 72 results. The cube also consists of six pyramids with the six surfaces of the cube as their bases. The point of these six pyramids meet at the center of the cube. These six pyramids, each consisting of four triangles, signify the elements, and produce the magical number 24, which is the Elders before the Throne. The six surfaces and the central point constitute the magical number 7. If 7 is multiplied by 7 over 7 times, the method used by the ancients for measuring the periods of eternity; (not in earth years)
49 = 7 X 7
343 = 7 X 49
2,401 = 7 X 343
16,807 = 7 X 2,401
117,649 = 7 X 16,807
823,543 = 7 X 117,649
5,764,801 = 7 X 823,543
The 5,000,000 equals the great Hall year; the 700,000 equals the great Sabbath year, wherein all human beings gradually gain true understanding and became heirs to the original and eternal inheritance, which was lost when they were enmeshed in the lower elements. The 64,800 is the number of fallen angels and the last year is the liberation of Lucifer and return to his original estate".
Another Rosicrucian diagram from this selection shows the cube as the New Jerusalem with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on the twelve lines of the cube, and in the center is the eye of God.
A correspondence that bears more scrutiny is the time period calculation shown previously between the Hindu cosmic cycle of the four Yugas and the ancients (later Rosicrucian) periods of eternity as a permutation of cycles of them.
4.ROSICRUCIAN WORLD AGES
The identity of the hidden central cube which when taken with the central seventh point shows how the law of seven operates within the symbol of the whole decad or tetractys. Following the correspondence of the "periods of eternity" of the ancients and the seventeenth century Rosicrucians, it is interesting to see how the nineteenth century Rosicrucians have extended this occult permutation of 7 x 7.
R. Steiner in his series of lectures entitled, "THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN" speaks of the world
ages as an "outer scaffolding" that has to be taken down when the building is complete. These lectures
were given in 1908 while he was the head of the Theosophical Society in Germany but, for lack of a better term,
I will call them the Rosicrucian System because of their correspondence with the Seventeenth Century world ages
of the fifteen Rosicrucian diagrams of Van Welling.
He begins with a permutation of 7 as the so-called Post-Atlantean Cultural Epochs
1. Ancient Indian
2. Ancient Persian
3. Assyrian-Babylonian-Egyptian
4. Graeco-Roman
5. Present Cultural
6. Sixth Cultural (Un-named)
7. Seventh Cultural (Un-named)
Each of these epochs represent a cultural phase in the evolution of humanity. For example, the ancient Indian epoch arose about the eighth millennium B.C. and its spiritual, intellectual and moral development was guided by the holy Rishis, through initiation in the mystery schools. The Buddhist and Brahman paths still have a significant spiritual effect on the Hindu culture today.
The second cultural epoch arose in the fifth millennium B.C. with the ancient Persians guided by the teachings of the great initiate of the Sun oracle, Zarathustra.
The third cultural epoch arose about the beginning of the third millennium B.C. This was a time of great scientific advances by the Chaldeans in astronomy and the Egyptians in architecture and socialization of the masses. The fourth cultural epoch coincides with the Graaeco-Roman civilization arising in the eighth century B.C. During this time, Christ came into this world in fulfillment of the prophetic vision of the ancient mystery schools and the Jewish prophets.
The present Fifth cultural epoch begins in the year 1413 with the European civilization intellectually rising with the Renaissance and leading to our materialistic age of modern science.
Each cultural age represents a stage of the soul evolution of the human ego. At the end of the seventh cultural epoch, Steiner says, will come the great "war of all against all" wherein civilization will be destroyed except for a select few whose destiny is to begin the evolution of the next sixth root race.
Steiner next proceeds with a second permutation of 7 as the so-called root-races or evolutionary epochs.
1. Polarian Race
2. Hyperborean Race
3. Lemurian Race
4. Atlantean Race
5. Aryan Race
6. Sixth Race (Un-named)
7. Seventh Race (Un-named)
In the first two root races, we do not see man in the sense of the physical body we have today. Basically, these
epochs were the evolutionary stages of an astral proto-type which descended and materialized into the first human
form during the middle of the third Lemurian Race at which time, the first "fall" of mankind occurred,
the division of the sexes into sexual generation. The location of the Lemurian continent was south of Asia in the
Indian and Pacific oceans and extended from Ceylon to Madagascar. The tectonic plates of this long since submerged
continent have caused the uplifting of the Himalayan mountains. The Remnant survivor sub-races from this civilization
destroyed by "fire" are to be seen in the Aborigines of Australia.
Each root race has physical and mental characteristics peculiar to it. The task of the fourth root race was to
develop human memory and its keystone was communication by speech and language. Each root race also has a permutation
of 7 known as sub-races. The sub-races for the Atlantean race are:
1. Rmoahals - feelings, personal and ancestral memory.
2. Tlavatli - personal ambition.
3. Toltecs - social communal life, kings.
4. Primal Turanians - abuse of power.
5. Primal Semites - logical thinking.
6. Akkadians - social order and laws.
7. Mongols - duty to ancestral memory.
The epoch of the Atlantean Race ended about one million years ago by destruction with "water" and the subversion of the Atlantis continent in the Atlantic Ocean. We are now in the middle of the fifth or Aryan Root Race.
The next Septenary world age Steiner describes as Conditions of Forms.:
"Before something becomes physical it is astral; before it is astral it is at a spiritual stage which is called Lower Devachan; and before anything descends to this stage it is in a higher stage of devachan. When the astral condenses it becomes physical. Then the physical dissolves again and returns to a more perfect astral. This passes to a more perfect lower devachanic form; and this to a higher devachanic form. The physical condition of form is in the middle."
This means that our planet Earth is in an intermediate physical stage, after condensing from the former astral stage and in the future will dissolve and ascend to the more perfect astral stage.
Thus, the conditions of form through which every kingdom passes,
1. higher Devachan
2. lower Devachan
3. Astral
4. Physical (present earth in middle stage)
5. more perfect astral
6. lower Devachan
7. higher Devachan
The next Septenary world age is called by Steiner the Conditions of Life and is represented by the seven so-called kingdoms of nature.
1. First Elementary Kingdom
2. Second Elementary Kingdom
3. Third Elementary Kingdom
4. Mineral Kingdom (present mankind in middle stage)
5. Plant Kingdom
6. Animal Kingdom
7. Human Kingdom
The elementary kingdoms are those of the gnomes, sylphs and undines as described by Paracelsus in the 16th Century.
Mankind, now, has its consciousness only in the Fourth mineral kingdom. By this is meant that he can control the
forces of nature in this kingdom only. For example, from the mineral kingdom, he can build houses and machines
and even synthetic crystals. However, his knowledge has not yet penetrated those same forces to create out of the
plant kingdom. Our current progress in DNA genetics research in producing DNA altered and implanted microbes is
a reflection of this future direction of evolution.
The last Septenary world age is called by Steiner the seven conditions of Consciousness and this relates in the microcosm to the septenary bodies of man described in The Law of Seven. There it was shown that the evolution of man was a progressive control by the ego or fourth body over the unfolding of the three higher principles in man. For example, to the extent that the ego has worked upon the astral body so as to gain control of the animal instincts and passions, one is said to have developed his fifth principle or Manas. Likewise, as the ego controls and transforms the etheric body, one is said to have developed his sixth principle or Buddhi. Likewise, ego control over the physical body develops the seventh principle or Atma. We said before that man now is represented only as a pentagon because at this evolutionary state, he has only begun to work on his fifth principal of manas. In the future, at the end of the Vulcan Round he will some day have the completed triangle of three higher principles wholly within the quaternary of the four lower principles.
Steiner relates this unfolding of the sevenfold nature of man on the macrocosmic planetary scale in the seven Conditions of Consciousness as,
MACROCOSM---------------------------------MACROCOSM
1. Old Saturn ------------------------ Physical body
2. Old Sun -------------------------Etheric
3. Old Moon ----------------------Astral
4. Earth --(present earth)------------- -------- Ego (present mankind)
5. Jupiter ----------------------------Manas
6. Venus - ---------------------------Buddhi
7. Vulcan -------------------------- Atma
Thus, the physical body of man was developed in a planetary stage called - old Saturn, etc. Mankind is presently in the Fourth or Earth State wherein the ego is being developed during the seven cultural epochs as aforesaid.
In conclusion, the periods of eternity described numerically only by the seventeenth century Rosicrucians, has been further described by the nineteenth century Rosicrucian Steiner as,
| 7 | Conditions of Consciousness | 4 th |
| 7 X 7 | Conditions of Life | 4 th |
| 7 X 7 X 7 | Conditions of Form | 4 th |
| 7 X 7 X 7 X 7 | Root Races | 5 th |
| 7 X 7 X 7 X 7 X 7 | Atlantean sub-races | |
| 7 X 7 X 7 X 7 X 7 X 7 | Cultural epochs | 5 th |
Having briefly discussed the seven planetary conditions, this throws some light on the symbolism on the "twenty-four elders before the Throne" mentioned in connection with the central cube of the 17th Century Rosicrucians. Steiner says that during each planetary condition, certain beings reach their evolutionary potential and then pass onto higher celestial hierarchies. For example, during Saturn Round, the Asuras or Archaia, during the Sun Round, archangels and during the Moon Round, the angels, reached the human or Seventh Condition of Life. Afterwards, they passed on and have progressed further than man, but they can still look back and remember their evolution. They can look down upon evolving mankind from their spiritual cosmic realm and help guide and regulate man's evolution. Of those beings who have passed on to higher realms, seven from the Saturn Round, seven from the Sun Round, seven from the Moon round and three from the Earth Round (twenty-four in all) have remained behind to help guide the evolution of man. These directors of time are called in Western occultism the twenty-four elders before the Throne, the original historical reference coming from the Apocalypse of St. John. It is important to observe that the number of the Elders (24) is not derived from the Law of Twelve (12+12), but from the Law of Seven (7+7+7+3) and the central cube of the tetractys. In Eastern occultism there is a similar doctrine where in the directors of time are called Lords of Compassion and the elders are called Dhyani-Buddhas.
Lastly, some explanations should be offered as to where mankind stands in this scheme of world ages at the present time. Each planetary round or Condition of Consciousness can run its cause only after seven Conditions of Life and each Condition of Life can only run its course after seven Conditions of Form. Thus, the entire Earth evolution requires 7x7x7 = 343 Conditions of Form.
Since we are now in the fourth Planetary Round or Condition of Consciousness, then Old Saturn has passed through 7 Conditions of Life and 7 Conditions of Form for a total of 7x7 = 49. Likewise, the old-Sun has passed through 7x7 or 49 Conditions of Form and the moon as passed through 7x7 or 49 conditions for a total of 147 Conditions of Form (49+49+49).
These 147 conditions bring us to the present Fourth Planetary Round of Earth. On Earth, mankind has already passed through three Conditions of Life or three rounds and we are presently living in the Fourth Round of the Mineral kingdom. Thus, we add 3x7 or 21 Conditions of Form to the 147. In addition, man has lived through the first 3 Conditions of Form (the higher and lower Devachan and Astral) leaving four Conditions of Form for future evolution. The total is
7 x 7 = 49 old Saturn
7 x 7 = 49 old Sun
7 x 7 = 49 old Moon
147+
3 x 7 = 21
3 = 3
Total = 171 Conditions of Form
Man is presently living in the Fifth Cultural Age (beginning in 1413) of the Fifth or Aryan Root Race of the 172nd Condition of Form. In relation to a total of 343 Conditions we are living in number 172 just past the middle of evolution! What a wonderful thought and place to be.
The following table of correspondances is a summary:
7 PLANETARY CONDITIONS=MANVANTARAS
| Old Saturn | Old Sun | Old Moon | Present Earth | future Jupiter | future Venus | future Vulcan |
7 LIFE KINGDOMS-ROUNDS
| 1ST elementary kingdom | 2nd elementary kingdom | 3rd elementary kingdom | Present mineral kingdom | future plant kingdom | future animal kingdom | future human kingdom |
7 CONDITIONS OF FORM-GLOBES
| Arupa | Rupa | Astral | Present physical | More perfect Astral | Rupa lower devachan |
Arupa higher devachan |
7 ROOT RACES
| Polarian | Hyper-borean | Lemurian | Atlantean | Present Aryan |
future 6th | future 7th |
7 SUB-RACES/CULTURAL EPOCHS
| Hindu/ Indian |
Persian | Egyptian/ Chaldean |
Greek/ Roman |
present European | future Slavic | future American |
