THE BUILDER AUGUST 1917
THE SYMBOLISM OF NUMBERS
BY BRO. H.A. KINGSBURY, CONNECTICUT

THAT metaphorical road along which the Mason travels in his
progress through the degrees of the Blue Lodge is flanked upon each
side by many, many road signs directing his attention to various
by-paths leading to interesting fields of investigation and study.
A large number of these signs have been at least partially
obliterated by the destroying hands of the Prestons and the Webbs
but, however it may be with those directing the student's attention
to Sun Worship, Persian Mysteries, Egyptian Mysteries, Symbolism of
Geometrical Figures, Symbolism of the Bible, and so forth, there is
one series of signs the units of which have not had their legends
even partially obliterated, and which all still plainly bear the
same direction to the traveler--"To the Study of the Symbolism of
Numbers." Yet, in spite of the frequent repetitions of this
direction, many Masons hurry along, not even realizing that there
are any such signs and totally neglecting a field of study that, as
even the below-given short excursion along one of these paths ought
to show, is well worthy of cultivation.

Only the numbers one to ten inclusive will be here considered and,
of those, only the most important-- Three and Seven--will be at all
expanded upon, as to treat each of the ten at all fully would
convert what is intended as little more than a brief synopsis into
a lengthy treatise.

That all of the numbers from one to ten are respectively referred
to in Masonry, and presented for contemplation, can be shown by
many examples, and the discovery of them furnishes an interesting
and instructive occupation for the student. To take one set of
references only--one of the sets brought forward by the Lodge
itself--the briefest consideration calls to mind that:--

There is one Master; there are two Wardens; three supporting
Pillars; four sides to the Lodge, marking the Four Cardinal Points;
five elected primary officers; six Jewels; seven operative working
tools necessary to the symbolic building of a proper Lodge, i. e.,
the six usual Working Tools plus the Compasses; when the Lodge is
in the form of the Double Square (as it should be) the two Squares
present eight right-angles; there are nine primary officers,
excluding the Tyler, and ten primary officers in all.

First, to review most briefly certain phases of the significances
of these various numbers except Three and Seven, and, then, to take
up Three and Seven for somewhat detailed consideration:--

One, the Monad, is the symbol of the Male Principle in Nature.

Two, the Duad, is the symbol of the Female Principle in Nature. It
is also the symbol of Antagonism, of Good and Evil, Light and
Darkness, Osiris and Typhoon.

Four is the number of the Tetragrammaton or Four-Lettered Name
which, in the original Hebrew, consists of four letters. Scriptural
references to this number are very frequent. Out of the Garden of
Eden flowed four rivers. Zechariah saw four chariots coming from
between the mountains of brass. Ezekiel saw four living creatures
each with four faces and four wings. And St. John saw four beasts.

Five, made up, as it is, of the first odd number, rejecting unity,
and the first even number, is the symbol of that mixed condition of
order and disorder existing in the world.

Six is the number of the angles of the Six-Pointed Star formed by
the two interlaced Equilateral Triangles and, so, calls attention
to that ancient talisman, the Seal of Solomon or Shield of David.

Eight, the cube of the first even number, was held by the
Pythagoreans to signify Friendship, Prudence, Counsel, and Justice.
Christian symboligists consider it the symbol of Resurrection
because Christ rose on the eighth day, that is to say, the day
(Sunday) after the seventh day (Saturday).

Nine is the number of the angles in that Triple Triangle formed by
placing three equal Equilateral Triangles with their apices meeting
in a common point and the Triangles radiating from that point with
the angle separating each Triangle from the next equal to sixty
degrees--the jewel of the Prelate of the Templars. As the
Equilateral Triangle is the symbol of Deity so the Triple Triangle
composed of three Equilateral Triangles is the symbol of the Triple
Essence of Deity or, to the Christian, the Mystery of the Trinity.

Ten, being the number of the dots in the Tetractys, calls the
attention of the student to that great Pythagorean symbol. This
number is the symbol of Perfection, and for this reason--it is the
sum of the numbers Three and Seven.

THE NUMBER THREE

To cite more than a few of the very large number of references in
Masonry to the number Three could serve no useful purpose, as it is
far better that the student investigate the matter for himself.
But, for a few of the more obvious examples, it will be noted that
there are three occurrences of each of the following: degrees in
Craft Masonry; Great Lights; Lesser Lights; Fellowcraft's Working
Tools; Movable Jewels; Immovable Jewels; Supporting Pillars, and
lighted Cardinal Points. Also there are all the various incidents
of Three that follow directly from the fact that there are three
degrees, as three positions of the Square and Compasses, and so
forth.

Three, among practically all the ancient peoples, was considered
the most significant of all the numbers and was, in many of the
ancient religions, the number of certain of the attributes of many
of the gods. For example, Jove's thunder bolt was three-forked, and
Cerebus, the dog of Hades, had three heads. The Druids' ceremonies
contained many references to it. And in the rites of Mithras and in
those of Hindustan are many important references to it.

Three, as the sum of the Monad and the Duad, is, symbolically, the
result of the addition of the Male Principle, symbolized by the
Monad, and the Female Principle, symbolized by the Duad, and, thus,
plainly becomes the symbol of the Creative Power. It is also the
symbol of the three-fold nature of Deity--He who comprises the
Generative Power, the Productive Capacity, and the Result, and who
is the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer.

THE: NUMBER SEVEN

As stated by Mackey, "the symbolic Seven is to be found in a
hundred ways over the whole Masonic system." This statement is so
true and the discovery of those many references is so interesting
and profitable to the student that no attempt is made here to
gather them together. But no student who neglects to make an effort
to discover them can get out of Masonry all that it has to offer
him.

Seven is referred to in practically all of the ancient religions.
There were seven altars before the god Mithras. In the Persian
Mysteries there were seven caverns. The Goths had seven Deities and
in the Gothic Mysteries the candidate met with seven obstructions.
References in the Scriptures to Seven are almost innumerable. To
cite but a very few:--

Noah had seven days notice of the commencement of the Deluge. The
clean beasts were taken into the ark by sevens. The ark came to
rest on Mt. Ararat in the seventh month. The intervals between the
dispatching of the doves from the ark were seven days each. Solomon
was seven years building the Temple. And the Temple was dedicated
in the seventh month, the feast lasting seven days.

The few examples given above of the occurrences of references to
the number Seven indicate the peculiar veneration in which that
number has been held from the most ancient times. Its different
symbolical meanings are nearly as numerous as the different systems
of religious philosophy in which it occurs. But, to the Mason,
following the teachings of "our ancient friend and brother, the
great Pythagoras," it may well be the symbol of Perfection, this
significance being plainly derivable from the fact that Seven is
the sum of the numbers Three and Four, the numbers of the two
perfect figures--the Triangle and the Square.

In concluding it is emphasized that the above statements of the
significances of the various numbers are but a very small
proportion of the many that might be made. There are many symbolic
meanings assigned to each of the numbers and, by investigation,
each student can find, among that large number of interpretations,
at least one meaning for each number that will appeal to him and
which will imbue Masonry with new life and new interest and will
help to convert what has, perhaps, become (through no fault of
Masonry) a "dry as dust" series of actions and words into a living
system of instruction in morals, philosophy, ancient history, and
symbolism.

LIVE OUT THY LIFE

A creed is a rod 
And a crown is of the night; 
But this thing is of God:-- 
To be a man with all thy might; 
To grow straight in the strength of thy spirit, 
And live out thy life in the light.
--Swinburne.

