09 09 09: Letting go to Integrate and Expand
09 09 09: Letting go to Integrate and Expand
I am writing this on 9 September 2009 – 09 09 09.
What wonderful numbers! 09 repeated 3 times over. Commonly we make 3 wishes. So what wishes is the universe making on 09 09 09?
What is the significance in "0" and what is the meaning of "9" ?
In general these days we have a very mundane relation to numbers, recognising them as symbols that appear on bank statement, price tags, ID numbers, phone numbers and so on. Numbers today are seldom handwritten and we forget that they are each abstract symbols.
In the Pythagorean school, each number was seen to have its own personality. Numbers and mathematics were seen as symbols for the universe and our relation to it. As mathematics is an unseen essence, and the essence of being is also unseen, it was believed that through mathematics one could explore, and even encounter, the essence of being.
O came into the universe meaning “limitless Light”; the ‘Breath’ itself; the rootless root. It is the place of no-thing that underlies all creation, the non-manifest that is the holding space for all manifest phenomena. 0 is a state of No Limitations, Boundless infinity. Before the One there is only Void, divine essence, the originator and container of all.
As an ellipse the two sides represent descent and ascent, exhalation and inhalation. In its shape, a complete circle, we see the both the nothingness of death and the totality of life contained within the circular egg. The continuous shape of 0 is beginningless and endless; thus this numeral is given to signify the continuous cycle of life through birth and death.
In the Tarot, another ancient system of representing the essence of being, 0 is given as the number of the FOOL. This is not "fool" in the modern sense, rather it is the holy fool, the sacred child who is continually newly born and about to begin the search for spiritual enlightenment. The seeker who begins every day fresh. It is the optimistic child within us who has not been restricted by conventional beliefs. In this childlike optimism the individual exists free of convention also free from fear and self-consciousness; so is unafraid of insecurity and embraces adventure.
9 came into the universe meaning the end of one cycle is the beginning of another; every end is seed of a fresh beginning, the basis of foundation.
9 is an interesting number in that it recreates itself. If you multiply nine by any whole number, and repeatedly add the digits of the answer until it is just one digit, you will end up with nine:
- 2 × 9 = 18 (1 + 8 = 9)
- 3 × 9 = 27 (2 + 7 = 9)
- 9 × 9 = 81 (8 + 1 = 9)
- 121 × 9 = 1089 (1 + 0 + 8 + 9 = 18; 1 + 8 = 9)
- 234 × 9 = 2106 (2 + 1 + 0 + 6 = 9)
- 578329 × 9 = 5204961 (5 + 2 + 0 + 4 + 9 + 6 + 1 = 27 (2 + 7 = 9))
If you add the number values of the word “rebirth” it equals 9
REBIRTH = 18 + 5 + 2 + 9 + 18 + 20 + 8 = 72. 7+ 2 = 9
The letter “I” which signifies my identity, is the 9th letter of our alphabet. Thus “I”, is constantly being reborn. Our identity and relation to the world can not remain fixed.
The Pythagorean school held that nine is the limit of all numbers. ie: 0 to 9 is all one needs to make up an infinite amount of numbers. Thus it signifies completion and fulfilment. 9 signifies the end of a cycle in that to go any further with numbers we introduce 2 digit numbers. So 9 signifies that while much been achieved, there is still more to learn, or to be faced, and in order to move on, change is necessary.
9 signifies the highest level of change.
Marcel Proust wrote, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” Often adventuring through different territoritories is easier than staying in one place and seeing it all differently.
In the Tarot, 9 is the number of The Hermit, the spiritual recluse who has given up all extraneous comforts, withdrawing from the world to concentrate on union of self with spiritual wholeness. The profound transformation in his relation to the world around him is gained through changing his inner landscape. The lamp which The Hermit carries signifies knowledge and spiritual light, which illuminate the secrets of the the unconscious, and of the profound mysteries; neither of which are easily revealed. Our Fool (0) in his journey has learnt many things and must now release the superficial in order to integrate at a deep level.
You may have missed 09 September 09, but we have still the rest of this month of 09 09. May we integrate what we have learned to transcend our previous limitations and connect further with the boundless potential that we are.
Some words from Herman Hesse follow:
Stages
As every flower fades and as all youth departs,
So life at every stage, so every virtue,
So our grasp of Truth blooms in its day and may not last forever.
Since life may summon us at every age by ready heart, for parting, new endeavour
Be ready, bravely and without remorse to find new light that old ties cannot give.
In all beginnings dwells a magic force for guarding us and helping us to live.
Serenely let us move to distant places.
And let no sentiments of home detain us.
The cosmic spirit seeks not to restrain us
But lifts us stage by stage to wider spaces.
If we accept a home of our own making
Familiar habit makes for indolence.
We must prepare for parting and leave-taking
Or else remain the slaves of permanence.
Even the hour of death may send us speeding on to fresh and newer spaces
And life may summon us to newer races.
So be it, heart: bid farewell without end.
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