Archive for Thursday 3rd July 2003 - The Secret Meaning of Numbers

Geometry and the art of creation
Geometry is taught in schools, but usually with no meaning or use attached to it. That makes it rather a cold subject, and children are often bored by it. In the esoteric schools of Egypt and the ancient world, the teaching of geometry had a high purpose. It led to an understanding of the world, how it was made and what it was made of. That is now called 'sacred' or (as I prefer) 'creative' geometry.

Geometry was also a magical art. It was used to define the sacred space in which angels or demons were invoked. Every shape - triangle, square, pentagon and the rest - corresponds to a certain power in nature and tends to attract it. These shapes were woven into the plans of temples to attract the appropriate god or spirit.

Geometry is closely related to music. The ancient architects designed rooms and buildings by musical ratios. A floor area of I by 2 represents the octave; 3 by 4 is the musical fifth; 2 by 3 is the fourth and 8 by 9 is the interval called a tone.

The most perfect shape for a central sanctuary, dedicated to the goddess of earth, is a cube, the emblem of earth itself. The Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple was a cubical building, measuring 20 by 20 by 20 cubits. The length of the cubit was 1.728 feet. The number 1,728 is a cube (12 x 12 x 12).

Another cube is the Kaaba shrine in Mecca. Within it is the holy stone, a black meteorite, that marks the centrepoint of the Muslim world. Every country and religion has its centre, which represents its essence. In the practice of creative geometry, the centre is the first spot to be located. That is where you put down the point of your compass before swinging the other arm to complete a circle.

In drawing your first circle, you are illustrating an ancient story, the geometer's creation myth. It is a story that occurs in sacred traditions world-wide. It begins with a Creator, perfect and benevolent, who wanted to make a universe similar to the state he inhabits. Being a copy, it could not be as good as the original, but he made it as well as he could. He needed only two instruments, a compass and T-square (the emblems of Freemasonry). With these he was able to construct all the classical shapes of geometry - except for one, the 7 -sided figure that symbolises the mystery of soul and can never be defined.

These geometric shapes, in various combinations, are behind the forms of everything that exists in this world, from the motions of the heavenly bodies to the structure of atoms. They can be heard as harmonies in music. They can be experienced in good social relationships and in the order of one's own mind. Next week I shall go further into the geometer's creation myth, and how to combine different shapes to make an imitation of the perfect universe.

John Michell

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