The numbers of the Sephiroth or Shining Ones on the Tree of Life solves one of the greatest enigmas for biblical scholars.  As with many of the esoteric facts behind faith, one may imagine that those who knew wouldn’t say, reluctant to sully wisdom with public misunderstanding. And those bolder, more worldly, don’t know. There has always been this natural, often necessary instinct to keep real knowledge and understanding within a select circle. Inevitably knowledge and wisdom has often got lost, often been scorned.

These are changing times. The new age of Aquarius, the Sign of the bright heavens, brings the spirit of light and revelation after the sacred mysteries of the age of Pisces, the Sign of deep sea secrets :

‘For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.’
St Luke Ch.12. 2,3.

The Coming Christ takes his place in the Sun as the Beast 666. ‘There is need for shrewdness here. Anyone clever may interpret the number of the beast; it is the number of a man, the number 666.’

Revelation Ch. 13. 18 . NJB; KJV

Sexy sixes ?

There are two crucial clues to this number in the Bible. The one couldn’t be closer but has always been ignored. The second lies only a little further afield.

A proper knowledge of the Kabbalah will suggest this is an emphatic, enigmatic repetition of the number of Beauty, the Sun, on the Tree of Life. The number six. (Or is this repetition supposed to be mere 100 –1 coincidence ?) This is the number of a man. Men are especially ruled by the Sun. The number 9 is the number of the Moon, the Foundation of the Tree.  Womankind is especially ruled by the Moon.

The six and the nine : 6 for men, 9 for women. These are the sexes, the sixes.  It is an ancient lore, the lore of the Tradition. The Cancer symbol shows the six and the nine in a close embrace.  Cancer is the Moon’s sign, reflecting the Sun.

However we interpret this number, if we condemn the Beast, we condemn all men. Beyond this simple difference of the sexes, the Sun is the heart of goodness for us all. The number, the spirit, of the Sun cannot add up to anything but good according to all the lore of astrology, the ancient wisdom of the Kabbalah and the tradition of millennia of planetary pantheons, the fabulous galaxy of Sun Gods.

Various interpretations have been proposed, all ignoring this simple syllogism, this simple logic. In any case none of the identities proposed quite fits its own logic, let alone the respect due this sacred text.

It is not ‘shrewd’ to take this text as simple prose when the future is never written in plain prose but always in abstruse runes, inscrutable, as a rule, even to the musings of the magi. For it must ever be so.

We shall find these oracles have deep, hidden meanings : not to reveal the future too soon but to reveal that the future is known, is set, is fated ― afterwards, when all becomes clear. This was ever the way of it. Did Isaiah’s foresight save Christ the Cross ? Or Onias a palace coup and assassination ? Is prophecy made to change the future ?

Conventional Confusion versus the Solid Gold Wisdom of Solomon

The most popular interpretation of the number puzzle is Nero, a solution still widely quoted in biblical commentaries, even though it requires the return of the dreaded emperor from the dead.  Reincarnation.  In The White Goddess, Robert Graves gives a more objective evaluation of these suggestions :

“‘The earliest solution, that of the 2nd century bishop Irenaeus, is LATEINOS, meaning ‘The Latin One’ and so denoting the race of the Beast; the most widely accepted modern solution ― I forget whose ― is NERON KESAR, namely the Emperor Nero regarded as the Antichrist. Neither solution is quite satisfactory. ‘The Latin One’ is too vague a characterisation of Beast 666, and KAISER, not KESAR, was the ordinary Greek way of writing ‘Caesar.’ “

One might note that Irenaeus, who started us off on the wrong tack, is remembered as a great campaigner against heresy. The good bishop denounced most of the thousand flowers of different Christian inspirations and knowledge, not least the brilliant Gnostics. He was not, apparently, a man of wide knowledge or understanding himself. It is impossible to imagine he had ever immersed himself in the mysteries of the Kabbalah.

The second vital clue confirms the first. The only other reference to this number in the Bible is in a verse immediately after the departure of the fabulous Queen of Sheba :

‘The weight of gold received annually by Solomon amounted to six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold.’ ( Kings I. 10. 14 . NJB)

Sol, (see Note on Helios, horses and chariot) is Latin for the Sun and Solomon’s name claims fame as the apotheosis of the Sun King at Beauty,(see the Tree of Life) blazoning biblical Tradition. All kings are, Kabbalistically, representations of the Sun; Solomon just the prime example. The golden throne at the centre. Gold has always been the noble metal of the Sun, the bounty of kings. This number associated with the gold of Solomon represents resonant Kabbalistic symbolism. Resounding Beauty. Telling us this Beast comes with the spirit of the Sun. The spirit of Beauty and goodness. The spirit ‘of a man.’

Biblical numbers are generally symbolic rather than literal, insisting on spiritual wisdom above historical facts.

This is not the number of the Antichrist which is better found around the overbearing spirit of Saturn. If we look for an antichrist, we might look for a more natural identity, perhaps closer to home : the natural ignorance, prejudice and establishment interests which wilfully or woefully fail to recognise true Beauty. Something like last time, except last time was different.

666 is the number of ultimate good, as it is the number of mankind. Like the enigma of the Beast, mankind will prove ultimately good.

A Flash of Insight

The Lightening Flash of the Tree of Life conducts the celestial energy from the sublime heights of the Crown down to the ground of the Kingdom, Earth.

The numbers mark the Traditional order of this path. Adding the appropriate Signs of the zodiac to the usual arrangement of the planets on the Tree, the lightening flash passes simply through the Signs from last to first, Pisces to Aries. (Only Taurus and Gemini are omitted and they can be found in the characters of Venus and Mercury.) There is also a small anomaly with the Sun’s Sign, Leo, being slightly out of sequence. The planets are named on page 11; the full astrology of the Tree of Life precedes the Prologue, with a Key on the Astrology Page.