"God Is Number Endowed With Motion" The work of the Seven Creative Days described in Genesis may be read in a numerical delineation of the cosmic hieroglyphs embracing numerals from 1 to 7 inclusive.

   On the First Day the initial impulse of God in creation symbolized in 1, is expressed in the creative Fiat, "Let there be Light." And there was Light-the spiritual radiance of the starry universe, whose "sweet influences" are revealed to mortal senses in the constellations of the Zodiac. These starry patterns are the outward signatures of the Spirits of Light which ensoul them and, therefore, constitute the primordial archetype of the numerical series. They represent the primary principle of Pure Fire, uncontaminated Light, or 1.

   Two (2) represents the descent of spirit into matter, when the invisible realms are separated from the visible. In this division the work of the Second Day is accomplished.

   In the Third Day was produced the tree whose seed is within itself and which yields fruit after its own kind. "The One became many, each threefold." The astral prototype of man existent in spiritual realms at this time was androgynous, and bore the impress of his innate, threefold Godhood. Astral patterns of all embyronic creations bear the triune impress of spirit, soul and body.

   To the rhythms of 4, God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day (the masculine, fiery forces of the Monad) and the lesser light to rule the night (the occult, mysterious emanations of the Duad). The sexes were divided, and man and woman came forth in separate creation. But human consciousness was as yet subjective, the physical senses being only slightly developed.

   "Be fruitful and multiply" is the mandate of 5, the number of life. Through experiences gained in long cycles of evolution, the innate perfection of the Virgin Spirit comes forth into manifestation. The Sixth Day brought forth man and woman upon the outer or objective plane. Evolution of the previous Days had been entirely subjective, but human consciousness was now definitely focused in the physical world. The rhythms of 6 set their signature upon the work of the Sixth Day. Thenceforward the force of sex became the primal urge of all manifested life.

   God rested on the Seventh Day from the works which He had made, and man began the working out of his own God-given destiny, as revealed in the numbers 8, 9, 10. "Septos" means rest — not inactivity but a subtle, spiritual activity imperceptible to physical senses. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7=28=10 — a return to unity. Thus, in the hidden meanings of numbers is concealed the story of man's past evolution, the forces with which he is now working, the purpose of his unfolding powers, and the future state of illumination that it is his destiny to ultimately attain.

The builders of the Tower of Babel died — a people without a number.
   — The Book of Jasher.

   The Book of Numbers deals principally with the Israelites' experiences during their wanderings through the wilderness of Sinai, and details many of the tests, temptations, and failures attending their pilgrimage, together with a record of their final victorious overcoming. These features of the Book are similar to those of the Iliad and Odyssey, with which it is sometimes compared. That comparison extends to their deep purpose, and the scope and influence they have exercised on the peoples to whom they were given. The allegorical interpretation of Sacred Writings was universal in the ancient world. As Hebrew mystics found in their Scriptures a divine cipher, revealing yet concealing holy mysteries, so too did the Greeks in theirs, and upon that secret Wisdom founded Schools of the Mysteries. It was during the David-Solomon period of Hebrew history that a group of writers living in or about Jerusalem began to collect the ancient traditions of the Hebrews; and it was about the same time that Homer assembled traditions of the Greek into epics known as the Iliad and the Odyssey which, like the Hebrew Book of Numbers, relate the fall of a besieged city and the extensive wanderings of a migratory people. In both instances the evolutionary path of human life is outlined.

   This ancient tradition of the wanderings found in both Greek and Hebrew writings relates also to events concerning ancestors of the Original Semites from Atlantis, who, Max Heindel writes, "Under the guidance of a great Entity.... were led eastward from the continent of Atlantis, over Europe, to the great waste in Central Asia which is known as the Gobi desert. There it prepared them to be the seed of the seven races of the Aryan Epoch . . . Out of all who were chosen as seed for the New Race, but few remained faithful. Most of them were rebellious, and so far as they were concerned, entirely frustrated the purpose of the leader by intermarrying with other Atlantean Races, thus bringing inferior blood into their descendants . . . For that act of disobedience were they abandoned and lost. Even the faithful died, according to the body, in the Desert of Gobi . . . They were reborn, of course, as their own descendants, and thus inherited the Promised Land, the Earth as it is now."

   In the Book of Numbers we have a recapitulation of the great event already discussed in the legend of Noah. The story of Numbers however, takes place in historic times and relates to the Semitic peoples of the post-Atlantean, Fifth Epoch, among whom our Bible developed.

   Six great lights illumine the pages of the Book of Numbers: Moses, Aaron, Eleazar, Joshua, Caleb and Miriam. To aid him in the numbering, the Lord commanded that he take Aaron, and they together call the twelve princes, each the head of his tribe, to take the census. We have discovered previously that the name, together with its meaning and numerical value, gives an index to its bearer's character. Now we learn that "Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names," as follows:

   It will be noted that each name contains in some form the signature of God (divinity), thus reminding us that every man is a potential God, and that the purpose of his evolution is the unfoldment of that latent divine power so that it becomes dynamically manifest. We note that the tribe of Ephraim is correlated with Virgo. While the priestly tribe of Levites is omitted altogether; it was being represented by Aaron, but was not numbered among the men of war. This is in harmony with Jacob's prophecy concerning Simeon and Levi: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Simeon, now divided from Levi, alone represents the esoteric aspect of Gemini. Levi is to be scattered throughout Israel as the priestly tribe in its holy cities, so is representative of the exoteric aspect of Gemini-that universal wisdom principle of which Cleanthes, the Stoic philosopher, wrote in his Hymn to Zeus: "Thou (Zeus) guidest aright the Universal Reason, that roams through all things, mingling itself with the greater and the lesser lights . . . Thou dost harmonize into One all good and evil things, that there should be one everlasting Reason of them all ... There can be no greater glory for men or Gods than this, duly to praise forever the Universal Law."

   The planet Mercury is the astrological ruler of Gemini as well as of Virgo; this accounts for the close connection observed between Simeon and Levi and Dinah which, as we shall see, is commemorated in the flag of the tribe of Simeon with its representation of the city of Shechem.

   Dinah, representative of Virgo in Genesis, has now disappeared from the biblical story. Our last reference to her is found in the aprocryphal statement formerly given that Asenath, the wife of Joseph, was her daughter, whose sons are Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh, the older, inherited Joseph's place among the tribes and, therefore, represents Sagittarius (Numbers 13: 11); but Ephraim takes his mother's inheritance in the sign Virgo. Virgo was known to the Egyptians as the sign of Isis. It is meant that, as the tribes leave Egypt, a new phase of the Virgin Spirit consciousness should be manifest among them. This is true in Ephraim.

   In Egyptian theology the god Thoth, or Mercury the celestial scribe, transmitted the divine laws from the Creator-Sun to the priests. In Chaldean theology Mercury (Nebo, or Nabu the Seer) was revered as the divine teacher who revealed astronomy and mathematics to men, and ruled the world through his attribute of universal reason (Wisdom). In the story of Moses we may trace the activity of this Mercurial principle for, as Mine. Blavatsky points out in the Secret Doctrine, there is every reason to believe that Mercury was the tutelary deity of the post-Exilic Hebrews as well as of the Chaldeans, whose wisdom they inherited.

   Moses and Aaron were princes of the tribe of Levi, though the leavites as a tribe occupy a subordinate position to the Aaronite family, who were the priests proper. Like Thoth and Nabu, Moses transmitted the Laws of God to the priesthood (Aaron and the Levites as a tribe occupy a subordinate position to the Aaronite of Holies even as Mercury seems to dwell in the very fire of the Sun.

   It is Mercury (pure reason) who revealed the science of astronomy and mathematics to men; and it is Moses who commands the numbering of the Israelites as they leave Egypt, thus following in the steps of Abraham who was said to have discovered arithmetic.

   When the tribes had been numbered it was found that the tribe of Reuben numbered 40, 6 and 500. By esoteric addition these give the number 6-the working number. The tribe of Dan numbered 3 score and 2,000 and 700, which also yields 6. In six days God created heaven and earth. There are 6 summer and 6 winter months. The fifth Root Race is working to develop 6 senses or faculties. Six is the number of the manifestation of the unknowable in man.

   The tribe of Simeon numbered 50, 9,000 and 300; these figures yield 8. Masons are instructed that 8 is most to be desired because he who possesses it is numbered among the sages. In the deeper teachings of the Masonic Order, the question is asked: "What is meant by the figure 8?" to which comes the significant reply: "The small number of Wise Men." The serpent on the Caduceus, or Staff of Mercury, takes the form of 8. Eight has been termed the cosmic wedding ring. All things are said to come into existence through the twisting, spinning currents of this figure which represents the lemniscate currents of occult philosophy.

   The tribe of Gad were 40 and 5,000, 600 and 50. These give the number 2. Pythagoras says: "Two is the imperfect condition into which a being falls when he detaches himself from the Monad or God. Two is the number of opposites and of contrasts. Man first contacted its lower manifestation when he discovered the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil in the etheric garden." All creation manifests first in unity, second in duality; third in a restored unity which includes a full understanding of the process through which duality is evolved and unity regained. This process forms the teaching of every spiritual textbook and the ceremonial of every Mystery School ever given to humanity. It is clearly outlined in the workings of apprentice, fellowcraft and master degrees of Masonry.

   The tribe of Judah numbered 3 score and 14,000 and 600, yielding the number 8, the wisdom digit. Only as mind is united with heart, and intellect wedded with intuition, is true wisdom born. The tribe of Issachar numbered 50, 4,000 and 400. These reduce to 4, the number of the cross. Issachar is the burden bearer, the great feminine in all nature that sacrifices through love. Man must break the chains of 4 before he is freed from the Earth Cycle. Then he will find entrance into the 4-square city, the city of the New Jerusalem, where the cross of matter will be no more.

   The tribe of Zebulun numbered 50, 7,000 and 400, which give 7. Seven is the mystic and sacred number of both the Old and New Testaments. It is the blending of 3 and 4, the transmutation of matter into spirit, the supreme work of the spiritualized mind. The tribe of Ephraim numbered 4,000 and 500, or 9, and Manasseh, 32,000 and 200, or 7. Nine is the number of humanity. Nine months are required to build the physical body before birth. Nine strata in the Earth lead to its center and liberation. The ninth house is astrologically the house of the higher mind, the percipient of cosmic truth.

   The tribe of Benjamin numbered 30 and 40,000 and 500=3. This is the number of the Trinity, a sacred symbol in all great world religions. It is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost of the Christians; the AUM of the Hindus; the Wisdom, Strength and Beauty attributes of the Masons; and the Will, Wisdom and Activity principles of the esotericist. God ever creates, preserves, destroys. In man, 3 symbolizes spirit, soul and body, of which salt, sulphur and mercury are the ancient alchemical symbols. In the 3 science and religion are blended, and together favor the production of the highest form of art. The greatest conceivable manifestations of 3 belong to the coming New Age and New Race. The tribe of Naphtali also numbered 3:50, 3,000 and 400.

   The tribe of Asher numbered 40 and 1,000 and 500, which add esoterically to 10. "The One number issued from no number and containing within itself all other numbers. It is especially the union of 7 and 3 and is called the number of attaining perfection." Yod, the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is both masculine and feminine and is found in every letter of the series of 22; it is considered the most deeply occult of all letters. The Kabbala calls Yod the "Workman of Deity."

   The total number of all these tribes was 600,000 and 3,000 and 550, which gives us the numerological value of 10, the return to unity. Ten is the number of the tribes that were later "lost" by absorption into the Gentile nations. It is the chief number of the Old Testament as 12 is of the New.

   This total does not include the tribe of Levi, which was exempt from the first census because this tribe was not to be numbered among the men of war, as it was consecrated only to the service of the Lord. Later the Levites were numbered separately (Numbers 3:14-39), and their total was 20 and 2,000 which like the tribe of Issachar, vibrates to 4, the mystic number of the Holy Quaternion. Not all of the tribe of Levi, however, served in the Tabernacle. A special census was taken of Levite males from thirty to fifty years of age, and their total is 8,000 and 500 and 80, drawn from the three great houses which comprise the tribe of Levi. These three houses were the houses of Gershon, of Kohath, and Merari.

   Gershon means driving away: "The Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward. They were put in charge of the tabernacle and the tent, and covering thereof and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle." Merari means bitter. "These shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward." They have charge of "the boards of the tabernacle and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof." Kohath means congregation. "The sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward." Their service pertains to the most holy things: "the ark, and the table, and the candlesticks, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary and the hangings, and all services thereof." The number of Gershon was 2,000, 600 and 30, or 11 (polarity).

   The number of Kohath was 2,000, 700 and 50, or 5. The number of Merari was 3,000 and 200, or 5. The number 5 has been defined as the spirit released from the tomb of matter, the number 4 being the cross upon which the 1 is crucified. Only when the five senses become spiritualized does man recognize the 1 of spirit and liberate it from the 4 of form.

   In the Solar Mysteries, as in masonic symbolism, north symbolizes darkness, the darkness of materiality; for when the Sun reaches its northernmost point on the ecliptic it marks the Summer Solstice. It is then that material activity is at its height. Only the most illumined seers are able to pierce the veil of the senses to contact the glory of the spiritual Sun. In the time of Moses the Summer Solstice occurred in the sign of Cancer, called by the ancients a "dark sign, black and with no eyes" as it is the least conspicuous group of stars in the Zodiac. It was, and is, a sign of profound mystery, the subject of a vast amount of speculation among the ancients as the gate or door through which Egos descend for rebirth. Likewise it is the gate or door through which an Initiate ascends to his New Birth, after which he is known as the Twice-Born. It is shadowed forth, therefore, as the Outer Court of the Tabernacle, the place of Merari (bitter). Cancer is a sign which often bestows the bitterness of sorrow, but sorrow that is the Outer Court in which a neophyte is prepared for the great joy awaiting him beyond the door.

   Kohath is placed in the south (Winter Solstice) and works with the vessels of the Tabernacle, the furnishings of the Inner or Service Court. It was Korah, a son of Kohath (a congregation) who led the masses in their rebellion against Moses, thus choosing the way of destruction as described in the sixteenth chapter of Numbers. Man, ever proud in his own conceit, refuses to accept spiritual guidance. This always brings disease, destruction and death. The words of Moses are as applicable today as when written: "Go quickly ... and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun." In the Solar Mysteries of the Mosaic Dispensation, the constellation Capricorn occupied the Winter Solstice. The time of the Winter Solstice is one of great spiritual power (the birth of Light) for those who remain faithful to their trust in the service of the Inner Court.

   Gershon (driving away) is placed on the west behind the Tabernacle. His work, like that of Merari, was with the things of the Outer Court (preparation) but was typified by the Autumnal Equinox. Libra then held the scales of the day and night equally balanced before the fall of the Sun into Scorpio and the seeming triumph of darkness. But the autumn of the senses is the springtime of the spirit; at the Autumn Equinox an aspirant feels within himself the upward surging forces of the spiritual Sun.

   Only Moses and Aaron were worthy to serve in the east (the place of light) and to enter the innermost court, the Holy of Holies. Moses and Aaron were the chief princes of the tribe of Levi, and in them we discern the miracle of water changed into wine in the body of a neophyte. Each year this alchemical transformation takes place in nature at the Spring Equinox — celebrated by Moses as the Feast of the Passover — when the Sun passes from the Water of Pisces into the Fire of Aries.

 — Corinne Heline