Our numbers and Pythagoras

CAMPBELL OUR NUMBERS AND PYTHAGORAS IN this great Congress of Pythagorean Organizations, this offering of a small twig from the Master Tree of Pythagorean Numbers may be likened to the lone but friendly wolf who was outcast and rejected because his clothing was in ill repute. That it was his own fault was no comfort to him. He had once been white like his ancestors who had lain down with the lambs—which he longed to do himself-- but in his early youth he had been overconfident and experimental and he thought it would be fun to tamper with the strict teaching of his elders and gain fame for himself by making his comrades more distinttive and important and creating changes not only in their appearance but in their docile and orthodox natures. Despite his efforts he soon found that no one of consequence paid any attention to him and the rest of the flock only said "Baa" at his foolish attempts to found a new "school" whose teachings had but little resemblance to the basics of his early training. This sad fable finds a counterpart in much of the "Numerology for the Numerologist" that has been offered in our books and teaching. It has never quite succeeded in establishing itself on its own kaleidescopic foundations or commanded the attention and respect that are the birthright of Numbers as taught by the Master of Numeration and its principles. have all been guilty of too great flights from the Pattern but now that

you have created for us a closer communion with the Source, the numerology of tomorrow should be able to find for itself a respected place among the other philosophies of living. Such elaborations and extensions as we may make in the interim should be considered solely in the light of suggested: tangents for clarification and test, not losing contact with the central core but attempting only to translate the original language into terms that may better be understood by todays' more complicated——- and greatly more disturbed-- humanity. No one of us can give any honest reporting at first hand of what Pythagoras said or of what he thought (according to our own deductions) as we regress in consciousness to sit at his feet in the garden at Crotona. If we are to make any attempt to apply his teachings to our personal lives and hope to derive therefrom a definite procedure, it is only logical to accept the fact that the numbers values as taught by the master were not based on the 1-2-3 of our understanding, but rather as abstract qualities of "ness-ness" ,—which have far more affinity with our inner selves than for our dealings in the market place. If we accept this viewpoint, we may proceed on the theory of an archetypal. pattern formed as a part of the act of creation itself and interpreted by the genius of Pythagoras into quasi-definiteness for our application. We shall never succeed in arousing the interest of the scientific-minded-—-or of any other serious thinker-- by making extravagant claims for our numbers and presenting them as infallible guides for a complete understanding of man himself, his definite place in life or his affinities or irreconcilabilities in his relations with others.

In adhering to the l-ness, 2-ness, 3-ness,etc. of man's own numbers we are in accord with the archetype; in ascribing to them magical properties that MAKE the individual what he irrevocably IS is only to invite the scorn of the intelligensia and to cater to the gullability of the seeker for sane counsel in the efficient conduct of his life. We may present the teaching in our own language and still preserve its integrity; we may apply it to our personal lives and derive therefrom guidance in procedure, but our radical departures should he held in reasonable check and never allowed to wander too far from the source. Our real task is only to present our numbers as guides and way-showers in the conduct of life as we mst live it in our time. We have "invented" labels, classifications and methods which we may hope might meet with the approval of Pythagoras now that he is again in our midst and is doubtless well aware of the extent to which we have adhered to or departed from the "eternal" element in his teaching. In our present counseling aevtry to soft-pedal the inherent mysticism that is an inseparable part of it lest we fail to reach today's "mind'-man who is sorely in need of it yet fears it. The higher-mathematicians know it well, as do the God-minded explorers of outer (and upper) space and would have no quarrel with us on that score, but they are the fore-runners of things to come and we must, in preparation for them, deal with ourselves and our neighbors in the Now. not weaken or die in consequence. Mysticism will Galileo's attempts to divorce it com pletely from science in the 16th century, Leibnitz' in the 18th to reduce all knowledge to pure reason , with Newton., sandwiched between the two

with his mighty and arresting contributiong,almost succeeded in producing its death throes, up to our own 1930's. who first led the retreat to the past It was Arthur Eddington and it is such men as Colonel Huson and this group of post-Pythagoreans who will effect a complete restoration and establishment of the master's teachings through the amalgamation of the Pythagorean organizations and, we hope, in the continuance of the Congresses that they have sponsored. "Man is the measure of all things; a compendium of the Universe" is one of the "Pearls" of Pythagoras (Pyn 90). "If a man know himself, he will know the universe and God" is another (Pyn 79,50). "Know Thyself" he taught was the duty of man. Nunbers—and their close ally, the stars— are the best guides we have yet discovered to approach this self~knowing. Our application of the Pythagorean system of numeration is necessarily on a lower plane than is the original congept, since we are dealing with numbers themselves and striving to interpret them through their "shadowing forth" from the archetype. The Pythagorean MONAD-- infinite, limitless Be-ing, the l-ness of Unity~- mst descend to our applicable Number One in the three major factors of our mundane man. He is the am bitious one who WANTS to be a leader, the creative one who CAN produce a novelty or specialty or work of art that is essentially original, the one whose GOAL is a contribution to progress by which his work (or him self) becomes outstanding. qualities of l-ness. All these and, of course, many more of the The Challenge of 1 is Egotism. The DUAD, a departure from Unity and therefore imperfect, becomes our 2=ness of dependance, vacillation, retreat from prominence-- but also rhythm and harmony, cooperation and companionship-- a "background" sup~ port. The Challenge iff Indecision, often Fear.

The TRIAD, Principle of Activity and Manifestation of Perfect Unity is primarily, in our application, the activity of Self-Expression—- the joy of living, talent, art, beauty, friendship-- the "Light" of the world and of the "Word", Its Challenge is Scattering or Triviality. In our application of the TETRAD its element of sacredness is displaced by our emphasis on the limitation-quality of the Square. This may be an error which should be corrected but our analyses thus far have pointed to a rigidity in ideas, an adherence to tradition and a tendency to fall into a rut from which they seldom extricate. themselves—— not invariably and assuredly not among those whose consciousness has liberated them to 's higher aspect-- the 22. Many of us, however, make certain to explain the master's teaching of the Tetraktys and the return to Unity of the numbers included in 1 through ) (the 10). Many of our brilliant musicians in their mastery of technique are found with a prominent or repetitive }, our organizers, craftsmen, builders and horticulturists. Loyalty and self-discipline, hard work and important accomplishment are their great contribution. Builder. All are capable of achieving the rank of 22--the Master- The Challenge is Laziness, Lack of Ambition. The PENTAD, symbol of healing, of light, vitality and interpenetration-- of man himself with his five (and two latent) sensory perceptions is our number of Freedom from the Square of Limitation. He is the restless traveler and investigator, eager to know a little (if not much) of everything, averse to definite work or confinement and capable of adapting himself to every situation and environment. He injects new life and interest into everything he contacts—— then passes quickly on. Good lawyer, writer, editor and dramatic critic. The Challenge is Instability. Excellent entertainer.

The HEXAD— the first perfect number. An attempt to deal justly with this beautiful number is impossible in a limited space. You are all familiar with the Pythagorean designation of "perfection of all parts", "maker of soul-harmony", "symbol of marriage" and its triangular reflection of the Divine Trinity. With the exception of the ) and the 10, it would appear that o¥ Pythagorean teaching of this number evinced more enthusiasm than for any of the others. extension on the part of a numerologist. It needs no enlargement or In its positive aspect, its 6-ness manifests as love, harmony and beauty; it is the parent and wise counselor, the protector and guardian-- cosmic or personal—-; its sense of service and responsibility is unlimited. 6 is a teacher or writer; an actor, director or dramatist; a nurse or physician (not surgeon); an artist, decorator or designer. It is valuable in any position of trust or responsibility, in government or law. children and to the world in general. is the 6th or "Redeemer" sphere. 6 is a parent to all Its place on the Tree of Life It is called the "Permanent Equilibrium between the archetype and its reflection."* The Challenge is Selfrighteousness. The HEPTAD. The number "Worthy of Veneration". Symbol of Religion. The 7 Celestial Spirits before the throne of the Father of all things, the Monad. It is difficult to bring this "high" number to our applicable terms. While it seems to stand apart from the rest as a bridge between Spirit and Matter, the pull of matter is often very strong in the 7-man, despite the many examples of the outstanding man of spiritual strength and purpose. As the Sabbath pause after the 6 "days" of creation, 7 is the analysis to "see that all was Good". Dr. Allendy's "Le Symbolisme des Nombres".

It is the withdrawal from activity for self-examination and the detect— ion of flaws in our labors of the past period of our 7 days or months or years; to see how far we have fallen short of the 7 of the archetypal pattern in our 7-ness of its shadow. The withdrawal for analysis is our opportunity for test and improvement and if we refuse to take advantage of it we must suffer the results in lowered vibrations in our physical selves-- or positive illness. The numerological 7 is 2-fold in quality—- as keenness or depth of mind or as spiritual aspiration-- the "rainbow" of the alliance of heaven and earth. It is the most "inner" number of them all. man goes to the roots or depths to find the truth. The 7- He is the law-maker, judge or scientist; hag is banker or broker, inventor or philosopher, bishop, priest or pope, clever schemer. a naturalist and an occultist. He may be a very The Challenge is Fear instead of Faith. The OGDOAD. Called the "little holy number"-—- God's square and man's reflection of it. A doubled , having two foundations. of the Material World. There is a different type of duality in 8 from that in 7. The Law Although the €-man is often aware of his reflection of the Divine Square, his dealings are with material affairs and his feet are firmly planted on the ground. 8 is the man of importance and presence; the head of Big Business; the broker and manipulatot; the manufacturer, buyer and seller; the corporation head or promoter—— an executive in his field. Mindful of the upper square he is often a sincere philanthropist but when he makes a gift he wants it named after him. With all his material power, he is as subject to loss as to gain and he is completely bewildred and inadequate in the periods of loss. and organizer of charities. sequence. He is often an art patron He wants the world to kmow that he is of con- The Challenge is Recognetion of True Values.

The ENNEAD-- a "Transcendental" number; what might be rightly called a "magic" number. When added to itself, multiplied or divided by itself it remains. itself, It is forever lost in combination with any other number, yet never lost in its own identity. surrounds all numbers separately or in their sum. It contains and Of itself it is Love-- universal and complete, losing itself in scarifice, giving itself in totality. Among the ancients it was once called evil because it is an inverted 6, but its circle above receives the Absolute and its stem is a channel to brings Its blessings down to earth. It closes the cycles of the past and forsees the end of those to come. It never attains to the 10 but he is Its faithful messenger. preacher and reformer. tarian. 9 is the great lover, healer, He is writer, composer, counselor-—-and Humani- He has no Challenge. The DECAD. This is the Grand Summit that cannot be passed——for whatever is beyond is the MONAD Itself. For the Number 1 man it is himself with the vision of God ahead—— a vision that helps him to be greater than himself. The best we can do with it is to consider it as on a higher plane or level to which we may ever aspire but which we will never attain until we have finished the round of our earthexperience. For our attempted analysis of man as we know him we use the total of his given name as the "Expression" of what he is as a mem ber of the social whole. This we separate into vowels and consonants. Vowels, as the living, active force of any word assume the title of Urge or Drive or Inherent Desire. The consonants have taken considerable beating at the hands of the numerologists, but the final consensus leans toward the theory that since they are not enlivened by the active vowels, they are "quiescent"-- a sort of framed picture in

which the individual sees himself as he would be or might become, but which he does not project as his evident self. The total, with due consideration for the separate name-totals behind it denotes the expressed Ability (potential or actual) of what he is capable of accomplishing. This is what he brings as "Equipment" for his current earth-experience. This he can develop or modify or experiment with but at best it is a statement of what 1) his higher or "inner" self is aiming for, 2) as how his consciousness sees himself in potential and 3) his equipment as a declaration of his capability. He may change his name and thus evince a different type of ego-drive or expressed ability, but he cannot alter his pre-incarnational label or achieve his destined purpose in any line that is a radical departure from what he actually is (or can become) except in the transient judgment of the outside world-— which may fail him at any moment of his career. His own "Within" remains inviolate. This "Equipment" is brought to his month, day and year of birth, whose number-sum is the designated Goal of his life-span. The numbers behind this Goal are the "Path" he is to follow. This, of necessqgity is not subject to alteration and must be followed regardless of desire or ability-- which at least accounts for the difficulty that many of us have in adjusting what we CAN do to what we MUST do-- and the great need there is for knowing ourselves from every possible angle of discovery. That, we believe, is what Pythagoras meant by his command to his followers. KNOW THYSELF. Numerology will reveal to us our "karmic lessons", the proportion of our "elements"~-Fire, Earth, Air and Water--, the "Plane

of Expression"—-- Mental, Physical, Emotional or Intuitional—- on which we may most effectively operate; our "Cornerstone" » the mental foundation of our Equipment; our "Keystone" or point of greatest strength; our "Capstone" or seal of final accomplishment; our type of "desire" that is more mundane than spiritual; the "Key" that unlocks the "Door! of our vocational indicator-- and most important of all, the "Challenge" that is ours to meet and conquer for our own ongoing. With all this we must bear in mind the 3 qualities inherent in all numbers--positive, negative and destructive. Ours is the free choice among them. All this and much more can be found in the best of the published books on numerology and "all this and much more" will approach the admonition of Pythagoras to KNOW ourselves. The very great of the past and present who have known nothing of numerology have attained this knowledge through intuition or rare spiritual guidance, but the ordinary mortals like the majority among us must pursue the hard way of study, examination and test and since "no man lives to himself alone" we must apply the results of our knowledge to our family, our friends and neighbors and the "all others" with whom we come in contact. Pythagoras said, "Give me a man's numbers and I will tell you all there is to know about him", We may never attain to that "all" but we can make the attemot as far as is permitted. When we do, hatred will give way to tolerance-- perhaps even to love-- and we can help to establish a social order that knows no strife or violence and gives every man a chance to live his numbers in their highest potential. Florence Evylinn Campbell