ROSICRUCIAN ORDER AMORC ave Supplementary Monograph The subject matter of this monograph must be understood by the reader or student of same, nat tobe the oficial Rosercien teachings. ‘These monographs constitutes seis of supplementary studies provided by the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, both to members and nonmembers, because they are not the secret, private teachings of the Order, ‘The object of these supplementary monographs is to broaden the mind of the student by presenting him with the writings, opinions, and dissertations of authorities in various fields ‘of human enterprise and endeavor. Therefore, it is quite probable that the reader will ote at times in these supplementary monographs statements made which are inconsistent with the Rosicrucian teachings or viewpoint. But with the realization that they are mere- Iy supplementary and that the Rosicrucian Organization is not endorsing of condoning them, one must fake them merely for their prima facie value. ‘Throughout the. supple mentary series the authors or translators of the subject will be given due credit whenever ‘we have knowledge of their identity. ROSICRUCIAN PARK, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA “Consecrated to truth and dedicated to every Rosicrucian" SPECIAL SUBJECT LECTURE NUMBER NUMBERS RAD 1ve ROSICRUCIAN ORDER, AMORC { -RAD-4 ANALYTICAL DISCUSSIONS -B- e Lecture 1 (Supplementary Lecture) Page One NUMBER SYSTEMS AND CORRESPONDENCES Since ancient times, numbers have been used in four basic ways. First, they are the means of judging extension and quantity. Man measures size, number of objects, series, cycles, relationships of time and space, and the like. Scientific laws and principles may be expressed in numerical and mathematical symbols. Second, some mythological and religious symbol- ism is based on numbers; for example, duality or polarity in pairs of gods, and the triad or trinity in many forms. Third, philosophical, metaphysical, and mystical concepts and symbols may be fundamentally numerical in nature. Pythagoras, Plato, and Philo Judaeus used numbers to express metaphysical and mystical principles. Fourth, numerical rela- tionships are basic to the rhythm and harmony of music, the meter or rhythm of verse, and other art forms. Numbers may represent both the order of the universe, or the outer world, and an inner, psychological or psychic order, In the first type above, numbers are used primarily to express the order of the universe. They are predominantly objective, although they have an inner, subconscious element, In the last three types, numbers symbolize primarily an inner, ‘sychic order based on the contents and functions of the subconscious aind, The symbolic relationship thought to exist between series of days, planets, and gods is predominantly an inner, psychic order rather than objective. This is true of number symbolism in relation to the gods which are symbolic of man's concept of the divine qualities or attributes as in the Egyptian ennead, or group of nine gods. In either case, both elements are present, the objective and subconscious. The difference is in which predominates. Furthermore, one type is just as important and necessary as the other. To look down on either the outer order and its symbols or the inner order and its symbols, is to invite disharmony and unbalance in man's thinking and living. In science and mathematics, numbers are also an expression of man's con- ception of the order of the universe, and they are basically symbols which represent that order. However, they are derived primarily from man's experience of actuality rather than from his own subconscious pro- cesses. In modern thought, numbers are abstractions from objective experience.. In most ancient thought and in mystical symbolism, number is also abstraction from objective experience, but it is an archetypal pat- tern expressed or manifest in the objective world and realized in the minds of human beings. In this case, each number symbol is associated with other corresponding number symbols, so that there is an affinity or association between the Unity representing the Divine or Absolute and the one representing the world or the individual man. There are three basic systems for representing numerals. One, two, or three may be represented by simple strokes, one stroke for the numeral 1, @ive tors, ster ae dn Egyptian hieroglyphs. These may evolve into cursive forms for written language. There may then be special strokes for the tens, hundreds, and thousands. Second, there are systems using the letters of the alphabet for numerals, as in Greek and Hebrew. The letterROSICRUCIAN ORDER, AMORC RAD~4 ANALYTICAL DISCUSSIONS -B- Lecture 1 (Supplementary Lecture) Page Two aleph means 1, beth 2, etc., up to 10. The following letters represent the tens, and then the hundreds. These systems make obvious the corre- spondence thought to exist between the letters and the numbers. The Roman system uses letters of the alphabet, but in a different way. I represents 1, II means 2, V means 5, X means 10, etc. At least some of these are derived from the Latin words for the numerals as for instance C from centum or hundred, and M from mille or thousand. Third, the Arabic numerals in use today were derived from the Hindus and the Bactri- ans, an ancient Iranian people, and from the Arabs. It is possible that some are cursive forms of an older system using strokes as the Egyptian system referred to above, while others may be derived from the names of numerals. Certain metaphysical or mystical theories of number deserve to be men- tioned particularly, and they will be discussed in more detail in future discourses. The Pythagorean system dates from the Pythagorean Brother- hood established at Crotona in southern Italy in the sixth century B.C. and from the followers of Pythagoras in later centuries. Pythagoras him- self wrote nothing that has come down to us. What we know of his teach- ings has come from followers such as Nicomachus who wrote an Introduction to Arithmetic, from men who were influenced by Pythagoras such as Plato, and from those like Aristotle who quoted from his followers but who disagreed with their ideas. The Hermetica, or writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, go back at least to the early centuries of the Christian era and contain symbols and concepts based on number, such as the duality of man and the Kosmos, and a triad of God, the Kosmos, and man, The kabala is Jewish mysticism and is the basis of the Sepher Yezirah, the Book of Creation, which is an explanation of the emanation of the ten spheres or sephiroth when the universe was created, and of the series of three, seven, and twelve, and their correspondences in the three realms, the cosmic, the astral, and the human. The Sepher Yezirah is of uncer- tain date. Scholem estimates that it was written between the third and sixth centuries A.D. There are some basic similarities in these three systems, the Pythagorean, the hermetic, and the kabalistic; hence, they are found associated in many later mystical and metaphysical works, and in transcendental alchemy and magic. Rosicrucians such as John Heydon and Robert Fludd in the seventeenth century used them to explain basic mystical principles. They aaa eee nay consis 921 garent| Gari Roseukesurex ) Sey Secret oes of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and I7th Centuries. These will scussed in later discourses in this series. Number symbols which are primarily objective are the basis of scientific and mathematical number symbols. Those which are predominantly subcon- scious are the basis of number symbolism in mythology, religion, art, ‘and dreams. A similar distinction may be seen in the Pythagorean idea that God geometrizes, that God created the universe by numbers, and the modern concept of a universe functioning according to mathematical laws. In