Numerology
Our basis for reflection is numerology, or the science of numbers. Nine essential characters allow us to keep count and express all possible concepts and ideas. This simple surface appearance conceals other more profound, symbolic and esoteric significations. Pythagoras, the father of modern mathematics, was also an initiate of this discipline and he taught his students about the hidden face of numbers and their occult meanings. The Pythagorean tradition, issued from the school that he founded in Greece in the late 6th century BC, has passed down this knowledge. As ancient as astrology, numerology explains that everything is composed of cycles, periodicity and vibration. We discover this approach in all of the archaic traditions, oral and written. The sacred texts of all of the major religions are filled with references to this effect. The Hebraic tradition associates the twenty-two letters of the alphabet with the twenty-two corresponding sounds and the twenty-two paths of the Tree of Life. The Bible, another coded language, allows us, in the Apocalypse of St. John, to pose certain questions about the relationship that exists between the symbolism of numbers and the contents of the twenty-two chapters of this text. Closer to home, Jung, the father of modern psychology, associated this symbolism of numbers with the notion of the collective unconscious: we retain within ourselves the memory of all of the symbols, archetypes and myths from which humanity was engendered. But our objective is not to explore the theoretical aspect of the science of numbers, so the references and historical analysis will stop there; however it is necessary to understand these basic principles. The Christian tradition constituted a list of all of the known saints. From the Scriptures, we know about their respective lives, their deeds and even their personalities. Their names are already attached to the myths and symbols that are inscribed into the collective unconscious, which contributed to the formation of their personalities through their vibrations. Many centuries separate us from their time, and the way of life was very different then, however, we each carry the memory of the whole of history within us and conform to certain behavioural schemas without even realising it. The first nine numbers, beyond their primary quantitative representation, are in essence profoundly symbolic, esoteric and qualitative, of incredible scope and amplitude.