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Number 8

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8/8/2008(Sum of digits: 8 = 8+8+2+8= 26 ~ 2+6 = 8). I have chosen the number ‘8’ because its numerological interpretation exhibits many parallels to the subject and the number itself has been associated with important turning points in my life.)In numerology, 8 is, after 7, the last number with an influence on material success. It has an aesthetic element (art, muses).In the world of ethical symbolic numbers, 8, as a new start between the ‘evil 7’ but before the number of perfection 9, is a symbol of consecration and of performance of duty in the striving for perfection, and is thus also the number of redemption and luck. An 8 turned through 90° signifies peace.Properties: like ‘0’, 8 is a self-contained loop – in mathematics it is used to represent infinity. Considered in arithmetical terms, 8 is the first cube number of the numerical series. There is also the peculiarity that the remainder 1 is always left when the product of the square of any odd number is divided by 8: in other words, every odd number, multiplied with itself, is a multiple of 8 plus 1 (u²=8x+1, e.g. 5²= (8x3) +1 or 25 = 24+1). On the basis of its position in the numerical series, it is firstly 7 + 1, i.e. the beginning of something new after a series of seven (and not just, as A. Jeremias claims [ATAO³, p. 664], the beginning of a new series of seven), secondly 9 - 1, or an incomplete series of nine, and thirdly 2 x 4, or twice 4 (cf. the ancient Elamite octogram):

In its astral meaning, 8 represents the “eighth heaven”, i.e. the sacred dwelling place of the highest Godhead over the seven planetary spheres (cf. A. Jeremias, Handbuch, p.43), the eight divisions of the wheel of heaven and the eight pointed compass rose (Chinese: pat fung – the eight winds). The Venus year of the Elamites had eight months, so that the year was divided into eight, for which reason Ishtar (Venus) bears an eight-pointed star, as does the Madonna in the oldest known representation in the catacombs of Santa Priscilla in Rome (cf. A. Jeremias, op. cit., pp. 97, 101ff., 160, 150 and ATAO³, p. 664).

Number of redemption and luck:Just as the eighth note of the full octave (which was perhaps used to tune the eight-stringed harp mentioned in Psalms 6:1, 12:1 and 1 Chron. 15:21) is the beginning of a new sequence of notes, so the Israelites were instructed to resow their land in the eighth year following the seventh Sabbath year of rest (Leviticus 25:22). Those who were cleansed of a “discharge” etc. were to make sacrifice on the eighth day (Leviticus 11:10, 15: 14, Numbers 6:10). On day 8 after birth, the first-born animal was to be sacrificed on the altar (Leviticus 22:30) and Israelite boys were to be circumsized at eight days old, as a symbol of the covenant with God (Exodus 17:18). Eight days after his appointment as high priest, Aaron performs his first sacrifice (Leviticus 9:1). From the eighth day of the first month onwards for 8 days, Hezekiah purifies the desanctified temple (2 Chron. 29:17). In the eighth year after a period of 7 years construction, the Temple of Solomon is consecrated (1 Kings 6:38). While the Babylonians considered the seventh day to be unlucky, the eighth day was a lucky day dedicated to pleasure (A. Jeremias, Handbuch, p. 64 above). With particular reference to the number 8, it is stressed in 1 Peter 3:20 that eight men were saved from the flood and these were blessed as the founders of a new and better time (cf. Exodus 7:7 and 9:1 ff, namely Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives). The “noble eightfold path” of Buddhist enlightenment (see § 126 of my translation of Olcott’s “A Buddhist Catechism”) must be followed to reach the state of perfection that is Nirvana. An even more elevated “eightfold path” is presented in the Beatitudes 8+1 of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3 ff): in these sacred words, a blissful path to moral and religious perfection, and thus to salvation and bliss, is outlined.*) Extracts from: Erich Bischoff; Mystik und Magie der Zahlen

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