Gather ‘round, mystics and assorted whackjobs, and discuss.

I think the number seven is a numerical value that is greater six and lower than eight.

ARRRGGG!!!.

This, my friends, is what diehard, narrow- minded rationalism has done to our youth!

FiNiX, it’s pretty late, and I have a meeting tomorrow, but I’ll come back on here and post some Pythagorean theory on numbers, specifically seven, tomorrow.

And, my apologies for my baby- boomer generation, of which I’m guessing your parents are members, who have largely managed to remove the mystery from life. Numbers aren’t just boring things we’re forced to manipulate in school- they’re archetypal, and they’re keys for unlocking some pretty spiffy secrets within nature.

This, my friends, is what diehard, narrow- minded rationalism has done to our youth!

Lol. No worries, I was being sarcastic. I’ve programmed video games before, so I do know a bit about numbers.

my apologies for my baby- boomer generation, of which I’m guessing your parents are members, who have largely managed to remove the mystery from life.

They were part of the baby-boomer generation, but they weren’t into the whole baby-booming thing. I’m an only child.

FiNiX wrote:
> I’m an only child.

OK. Then I’ll type really slowly, and I’ll try to acknowledge your specialness.

OH, C’MON….I’m messing with ya.

If you’ve done programming, you’ll get a lot of this. There is a natural mystery and pattern in numbers and their interplay, yes?

OH, C’MON….I’m messing with ya.

Huh? Was that a joke?

If you’ve done programming, you’ll get a lot of this. There is a natural mystery and pattern in numbers and their interplay, yes?

Correct.

FiNiX wrote:
>>OH, C’MON….I’m messing with ya.

Huh? Was that a joke?

Of course it was. Have we managed to squeeze every vestige of humor from our young’uns, as well?
FiNiX- I’m hardly ever serious. And even when I am, I’m really not.

Laugh. Often.

So, numbers. Any particular quality you’ve found in them? Stretch the mind, my friend. Anything weird or wacky that you’ve found in playing about with them? Be honest- we’re all loons here.

Have we managed to squeeze every vestige of humor from our young’uns, as well?

I laugh quite often… I just didn’t get that particular joke… ^^;

I’ll get back to you on the numbers thing in a sec. It’s, like, late… Really, really late…

There are 7 yogurts in the fridge…is that a sign…?

I’m with you on this Satolkin… I have always been intrigued by what you are talking about… An amazing example is the Fibonacci sequence wich is found everywhere in nature…And fractals…same thing

Seven is a very important number in the the Bible and recurs frequently in scripture…

I reallly like it when I get three sevens on the slot machine, especially red white and blue sevens!

Oh, and you go, Mr. Spiffy!

OK- took the 7 post out of the other thread and sticking it here, where it belongs. SPIFFY!! I love that word; it’s so archaic and dumb.

- Merkabah (Jewish) mysticism, where one “descends” to a “chariot,” and rises through 7 “palaces” where he confronts a malevolent guardian, is tested, and finally comes face- to- face with G-d,
- Standard Gnosticism, where the Christos descends (hopefully unnoticed) past the 7 Archons, also unfriendly, to manifest in the man Jesus (or within every person, in the mystical view),
- 7 chakras (which are actually nerve plexi in the body), through which “kundalini” (spiritual power) must ascend to reach the final chakra in the head, when one is enlightened and comes to know the Divine,
- 7 Seals on the Book in John’s Apocolypse, each broken, bad shit happens, blah, blah, blah, Christ returns and slugs it out with the anti- Christ.

All describe exactly the same spiritual process, and at each “point” there is a painful/ uncomfortable confrontation.
The big question, I guess, is what was the origin of this line of thinking, and my best guess is probably the same origin as most of our religious mythos- observation of the night sky and how heavenly bodies move and interact.

Stay with me. Wake up, Koo.

If we can take a big jump here, and consider the hermetic axiom “as above, so below,” (in other words, all things operate in the same patterns, just as microcosm or macrocosm), then maybe we can also consider that as things move in the sky, so things operate within us, and so matter operates on an atomic level. You certainly don’t have to buy into that, but an intriguing thought, yes?

absoluteliquid wrote:
>I’m with you on this Satolkin… I have always been intrigued by what you are talking about… An amazing example is the Fibonacci sequence wich is found everywhere in nature…And fractals…same thing

Absolutely. Most good religious/ mystic symbolism uses the Fib sequence/ phi as a basis, and fractals are beyond cool, because quantum theory, mysticism, (particularly Kabbalah) and “occult” psychology use them.

Seven is a very important number in the the Bible and recurs frequently in scripture…

Damned near everyone’s Scripture, which demonstrates it’s universality.

3…5…7…all lucky for me…

ratboy wrote:
>3…5…7…all lucky for me…

That’s a pretty natural Pythagorean progression, also used in some forms of mysticism.

My luckiest number seems to be eight.

Who are the seven archons? And are all of them unfriendly? I seem to recall Sophia as one of the archons, and She seems quite friendly to man in many of the scriptures.

SwissCelt wrote:
>Who are the seven archons? And are all of them unfriendly? I seem to recall Sophia as one of the archons, and She seems quite friendly to man in many of the scriptures.

Oh, yeah- Sophia’s a good guy. Uh, girl. She’s the one who sends the Christos. The Archons are allied with the Demiurge, and each one has rulership over a “sphere.”

One of the cool things about working at home is an occasional nap, but how you knew I was napping three hours ago is a mystery! You got powers, Satol, use them wisely for the good of mankind. (and to glorify G-d, if you like!)

For the good of mankind, to the Glory of the Great Architect, and…well…I keep watching “The Bishop’s Wife” to figure out exactly how Cary Grant makes the Professor’s bottle of sherry perpetually refill itself. I want to do that with a bottle of Laphroig.

Was there anything in the 7 Archons or other, non-Christian writings that refer to a “Christos” prior to 33AD? They seem to just be an incorporation of new trends in religious belief at the time; pagan religions were particularly good about that. Their beliefs always seemed less prophetic and more “trendy” to me.

Ah, I found it again:

Zoroastrianism, early gnosticism, Judaism, and G-d knows what else are heavily related. The Hypostasis of the Archons, technically, is a gnostic text. But, if you take the 7 Archons within the Zoroastrian cosmogeny, the same 7 within the more mainstream gnostic (and also the Marcionite) cosmogeny, the “lower” 7 Sephiroth of Jewish Kabbalah, or the 7 “planets” of…name your esoteric doctrine…you’re looking at about the same thing. The texts pretty much just reflect very ancient doctrine, regardless of who you want to assign them to.

Oh…the 7 Churches are also a reflection of this old doctrine, BTW. Just sayin’.

Satolkin, I’ve been pretty familiar with bits of numerology for a while. What I was trying to figure out was if/how much you thought Biblical instances of seven were referring the the same things as each other, or as in other scriptures—aside from just all being instances of that “magic” number, seven.

FiNiX wrote:
>My luckiest number seems to be eight.

I also have always felt a close affinity with the number 8… I like how if you kick it over on its side it’s infinity…

8 abuse…a sad comment on our society…

Arandur wrote:
>Was there anything in the 7 Archons or other, non-Christian writings that refer to a “Christos” prior to 33AD? They seem to just be an incorporation of new trends in religious belief at the time; pagan religions were particularly good about that. Their beliefs always seemed less prophetic and more “trendy” to me.

In the same terminology? No. But the Poemander (Shepherd) of Hermeticism was dead- on the same; Mithras similar; Indras also similar. And then look at the eastern stuff. New trends in religion? Dude. The first century was insane with that. What we have now in mainstream Christianity is an attitude of being some kind of revolutionary new philosophy that came out of the first century. We (yeah, we) were one of many. That time was a huge upheaval in and blending of philosophic belief. Hell, there wasn’t even a standard Christian dogma until Nicea.