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666

New -- 6 June 2005

The number 666 has gotten something of a really bad rap -- which is, of course, the reason the number was chosen for the Homeland Insecurity webpage (seems only fair inasmuch as if we're talking about an horrific beast, Homeland Security has all the necessary ingredients).

Meanwhile, the bad reputation of 666 aparently derives from the 13th chapter of Revelations (in the Bible's New Testament). It seems as if there was this vision to someone named John (his true identity being a matter of considerable controversy). The alleged vision was of: "a beast rising out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." [Revelations 13:1] At the end of the same chapter, there is the reference to 666:

"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." [Revelations 13:18]

Mathematically, we can be reasonably certain that Six hundred (600), threescore (3 times a score, where a score is 20, i.e. 60), plus 6 [i.e. 600+60+6] equals 666.

Which is about as far as one can go with reasonable certainty. Obviously, it would be exceedingly unwise to depend upon the mis-understandings of priest, preachers, and other fanatical religious zealots as to their interpretation of Revelations 13 (or any other part of the Bible for that matter). The fact is clear that Revelations is not an easy code to crack -- even if Laurence Gardner has done a pretty fair job of understanding portions of it in his book, The Magdalene Legacy.

Meanwhile, the need to understand Revelations and in particular the number "Six hundred threescore and six" is an important undertaking for several reasons.

One is the Bible's 1 Kings 10:14:

"Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold."

The obvious fact of the exact same language being used to describe the number of the beast and the number of talents garnered by King Solomon in a single year is clearly important. If the number 666 is so fraught with evil, then why was it applied to Solomon? Maybe, just maybe, there is nothing inherently bad in 666.

There is also the aspect of the number itself, particularly in Sacred Mathematics.

For example, as pointed out elsewhere in Halexandria, Plato had come to believe strongly -- according to: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PlatosNumber.html -- in the importance of the numbers 216 and 12,960,000. While there is no indication in the Mathworld version as to why these two numbers were important to Plato, we might not be so circumspect here. We can, of course, note that both reduce to Nine.  (See Numerology for an explanation of reducing numbers.)

But more importantly, as one reader was quick to point out, 216 is 6 cubed, while 12,960,000 is 60 to the fourth power. This is all very Sumerian, in that 6 and 60 were part of their segesimal mathematics. What is probably not particularly Sumerian, however, is the curious fact that one could plausibly write: 216 = 6x6x6, or dropping the multiplier symbols (a common practice in mathematics and science), obtain 666.

[Meanwhile, as for 60606060... Perhaps it has something to do with an equilateral quad-angle in four dimensions with 60 degree angles are all corners. We're still working on this one.]

Then there is the fact that in Magic Squares, we noted that one particular 6 by 6 (6 rows and 6 columns) magic square added up to 111 on a side, row, or diagonal, or for a combined total of all the numbers from 1 to 36 of 666.

Furthermore, as noted by http://users.pandora.be/kenneshugo, if one multiplies pi times phi times 7 cubed, one obtains... Well, try it. Just multiply 3.14159265... times 0.618033987... times 7 times 7 times 7. You should obtain 665.9726... Inasmuch as the values we used for both pi and phi just now are not exact (truncated for lack of space or comprehension), we might, if we use the even more exact figures, very well reach the magical 666 (albeit, perhaps in another life).

[For the purist of course, one can use the values of pi and phi to twenty thousand decimal places (see, for examples, David Slatner's The Joy of Pi [Walker and Company, New York, 1997] and Gary Meisner's phi to 20,000 places http://goldennumber.net/phi20000.htm). To simplify the multiplication process, note that 7 times 7 times 7 ("777") equals 343 (to 20,000 decimal places).

The gist of all of this is that Sacred Geometry is replete with variations on a theme of obtaining the number 666 from all manner of diverse sources. In fact, there are really too many references to 666 for one not to consider that perhaps there is something really interesting or even good about the number 666. [There is also a slight sense of urgency in that this essay is being written on 6/6/2005, and next year it will be 6/6/6!]

The key in our quest is very likely to be taking another look at Revelations 13.

On the one hand, any "beast" which speaks blasphemy against the church is probably a very good thing -- the kind of animal that one might call "man's best friend". The Catholic Church's record, for example, of lies, deceit, misinformation, and all manner of other atrocities is so well documented that anything which spoke out against the church's centuries of dishonesty (i.e. blasphemy) would be something of a welcome relief.

There is, of course, the matter of the beast having seven heads, but as modern parlance goes, wearing seven hats is nothing more sinister than being an "A personality" or workaholic. Ten horns is also potentially a good thing in that horns have traditionally been a connecting link between the bearer and the universal source, and ten (or nine more than one) sounds even better.

In verse 2, there is the combination of the beast being a leopard, bear, and lion, with access to a dragon's power. Okay, so we're talking about something which might be construed as a 'heavy dude'. And note in verse 3 this entity's ability to heal itself. Wow! Wouldn't healing be construed as a good thing?

As far as verse 4, note that it ends with: "..who is able to make war with him?" Talk about the answer to Pax Romana! We now have Pax ala Beastie.

Perhaps my favorite is verse 5. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." [Revelations 13:5] "Forty and two months?" 42? You mean Douglas Adams was right? The answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42? Wow!

We could go on, but inasmuch as Halexandria's blasphemy insurance policy is already pretty well maxed out... we will instead leave it to the reader to read Revelations 13 themselves, complete with an open mind and an eye for alternative interpretations. Just keep in mind two things:

1) Verse 11 speaks of another beast with only two horns -- which might be more likely the candidate for man as the beast.

2) Verse 9 says: "If any man have an ear, let him hear." It might also be written, "If any man or woman have an eye, let them read". Or better yet: "have a brain, let them think."

Gee... I'm almost looking forward to June 6, 2006.

 

Wonders of Math

432

Sacred Mathematics         Magic Squares          Nines

Forward to:

Fibonacci Numbers         Modified Fibonacci Series         Sacred Geometry  _______________________

References: [1]  Zecharia Sitchin, The Lost Book of Enki, Bear & Company, Rochester, VT, 2002.

  

               

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