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Article ON MYSTIC AND CABALISTIC NUMBERS. ← Page 6 of 8 →
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On Mystic And Cabalistic Numbers.
and in the Apocalypse of St . John , the New Jerusalem has 12 gates , 12 foundations , is 12 thousand furlongs square , and the number of the sealed is 12 times 12 thousand .
EIGHT is a very remarkable number ; the cube of the Duad is equal to the Quaternion taken twice . It is the number of circumcision , and among the Cabalists the number of Jesod , or Mercury , the dry water , or water of immersion , in which lay the whole foundation of the art of transmutation . Eight persons were saved in the ark at the time of the universal deluge , and the
Cabalists observe eight orders of purification of the baser metal , because the number of the word 13 ? , Zachu , i . e . Purity = 33 , being multiplied by 8 , the number of Jesod , produces 264 , which is the number of the word TTO , Sadur , i . e . Order ; which is also the number of the word pT > , Jordan . In order to illustrate the meaning of the foregoing remarks I may observethat in the Cabala Denudataa celebrated collection of
Rab-, , binical writings on this subject , the story of Naaman , the Syrian noble who repaired to the prophet Elisha for the cure of the leprosy by which he wasafflicted , is made ( among others ) the key and solution of the much desired mystery of the philosopher ' s stone ; and by the aid of the numbers of the names of the personages as recorded in the scriptural story , and the correspondence of those numbers with the numbers of the minerals
employed in the transmuting process , a system is built up , and minute but enigmatical directions given for the processes necessary to convert the baser metals into gold ; the whole so wrapped up in technical language , and so veiled in allegory as to be useful only to those who had already been initiated into the mysteries of the art . As the work itself is very scarce , and as this story of Naaman sufficiently displays the method and system adopted by the ancient
Cabalistic philosophers in their alchemical theories and researches , an extract may not , perhaps , be unacceptable to many of your readers . It will be recollected that in the second book of Kings , the fifth chapter contains the history of Naaman , captain of the host of the king of Syria , who being afflicted with a leprosy , applied for advice to Elisha the prophet , and by his directions was cured , after washing seven times in the river Jordan . After his cure he returned to the man of Godhe
, and all his company , and besought him to take a reward from him for his services ; but Elisha refused to receive anything . Gehazi , however , the servant of Elisha , being of a covetous disposition , fraudulently obtained from the Syrian a reward in money and in changes of raiment , and was punished by the prophet , his master , with the leprosy which had been removed from Naaman .
The Rabbinical author in the Cabala Denudata , thus commences his commentary on the foregoing story : — " Elisha , a most noble prophet , an example of natural wisdom , a despiser of riches , ( as the history of Naaman restored to health sheweth ) , ( 2 Kings , ch . v . ver . 16 ); and therefore truly rich , according to what is said in Pirke Abhoth , ch . iv ., viz : — " Who is rich ? He that rejoiceth in his portion . " For so the XgJ ^ ( Physician ) of impure metals hath not an outside show of riches , but rather is like the Tohu of the first
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Mystic And Cabalistic Numbers.
and in the Apocalypse of St . John , the New Jerusalem has 12 gates , 12 foundations , is 12 thousand furlongs square , and the number of the sealed is 12 times 12 thousand .
EIGHT is a very remarkable number ; the cube of the Duad is equal to the Quaternion taken twice . It is the number of circumcision , and among the Cabalists the number of Jesod , or Mercury , the dry water , or water of immersion , in which lay the whole foundation of the art of transmutation . Eight persons were saved in the ark at the time of the universal deluge , and the
Cabalists observe eight orders of purification of the baser metal , because the number of the word 13 ? , Zachu , i . e . Purity = 33 , being multiplied by 8 , the number of Jesod , produces 264 , which is the number of the word TTO , Sadur , i . e . Order ; which is also the number of the word pT > , Jordan . In order to illustrate the meaning of the foregoing remarks I may observethat in the Cabala Denudataa celebrated collection of
Rab-, , binical writings on this subject , the story of Naaman , the Syrian noble who repaired to the prophet Elisha for the cure of the leprosy by which he wasafflicted , is made ( among others ) the key and solution of the much desired mystery of the philosopher ' s stone ; and by the aid of the numbers of the names of the personages as recorded in the scriptural story , and the correspondence of those numbers with the numbers of the minerals
employed in the transmuting process , a system is built up , and minute but enigmatical directions given for the processes necessary to convert the baser metals into gold ; the whole so wrapped up in technical language , and so veiled in allegory as to be useful only to those who had already been initiated into the mysteries of the art . As the work itself is very scarce , and as this story of Naaman sufficiently displays the method and system adopted by the ancient
Cabalistic philosophers in their alchemical theories and researches , an extract may not , perhaps , be unacceptable to many of your readers . It will be recollected that in the second book of Kings , the fifth chapter contains the history of Naaman , captain of the host of the king of Syria , who being afflicted with a leprosy , applied for advice to Elisha the prophet , and by his directions was cured , after washing seven times in the river Jordan . After his cure he returned to the man of Godhe
, and all his company , and besought him to take a reward from him for his services ; but Elisha refused to receive anything . Gehazi , however , the servant of Elisha , being of a covetous disposition , fraudulently obtained from the Syrian a reward in money and in changes of raiment , and was punished by the prophet , his master , with the leprosy which had been removed from Naaman .
The Rabbinical author in the Cabala Denudata , thus commences his commentary on the foregoing story : — " Elisha , a most noble prophet , an example of natural wisdom , a despiser of riches , ( as the history of Naaman restored to health sheweth ) , ( 2 Kings , ch . v . ver . 16 ); and therefore truly rich , according to what is said in Pirke Abhoth , ch . iv ., viz : — " Who is rich ? He that rejoiceth in his portion . " For so the XgJ ^ ( Physician ) of impure metals hath not an outside show of riches , but rather is like the Tohu of the first