In the best of the Grail stories --- "Parzifal" by Wolfram von Eschenbach (c.
1210 A.D.)---there is a numerical structure to the work, a structure that is
also used in the Bible. What follows is an attempt to apply that same structure,
a sequence of numbers, to the origin and development of the universe.

"Recounting" can mean counting again or telling a story. And "tell" can also
mean counting or telling a story. Can the story of the Universe be told from
counting a sequence of numbers? And at the same time is the ancient Zodiac
involved in this? Suppose we start the count at Zero and see what happens.

ZERO "Nothing". But then there is an event --- shall we call it the Big
Bang? And that "Nothing"---"explodes" to become Something. Can we equate that
sudden rush of activity with the first sign of the zodiac? With ARIES the Ram,
always driving forward?

ONE "Something". The first substantial number. But what that something is we
cannot say, because in Unity (1) their is no identity, no articulate speech. We
might however associate this stage with the first figure of Geometry, the single
Point. Does that Something exist? It cannot be said, because to say yes or no
would be to engage in duality (2) opposition, which stage has not yet arrived.
So whatever we say about this stage or the previous one is a dualistic
approximation of unity (1).

This stage where everything is in a single point should not be imagined as all
the matter of the universe being compressed into a tiny space, because as yet
there is no matter, no time or space. There is just pure energy in a
dimensionless situation.

One being the first substantial number, this stage has the character of
solidity, like a rock and foundation. Hence the classification of this step as
"fixed earth", and its analogy to a Bull: TAURUS. And just as the previous stage
was the first Start, this, being the first Place (point) is also the first Stop.
And to indicate how the numbers spontaneously give rise to stories, the Bible
calls this first place the garden of Eden, where Adam-and-Eve live in unity (1)
until their Fall into Division (2).

In astrophysics this is called the stage of "perfect symmetry" where everything
is the same as everything else.

TWO Division, opposition, conflict. The single point divides into opposite
poles. Now there is contrast, hence identity "A" is "A" by virtue of being "Not
B". Now articulation is possible. And the identities that appear are sub-atomic
particles, the best known being perhaps the Quarks. They are the basic building
blocks of matter, and occur only in pairs, polar opposites..So this stage of
division is represented as GEMINI the Twins The name "quark" was taken from the
book "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce, a book which is based on the same
numerical-geometrical sequence as is followed here..

In the Bible Genesis story Two is counted in the persons of the brothers Abel
and Cain, a pair of opposites in conflict. Cain kills his brother, indicating
the nature of the fallen (divided) world as a place of conflict and
contradiction.

The geometrical figure for stage Two is the straight line between the opposite
poles.


THREE As the young universe continues to expand, lowering both temperature
and pressure, the quarks bond together to form hadrons, such as the proton and
the neutron. These are the future atomic nuclei. And their bondage will last for
all time. This stage might be regarded as the beginning of Time also in another
way. The state of matter there is a Plasma, which has been described as a
nuclear soup, which apparently is a flowing condition. This situation is also
found in the geometrical figure for step Three. A third point appears,
oscillating between the two polar opposites. Its path is a curve. But this
bending arc has no fixed path, as there is no dimensional context in which to
fix its route. So its course is unpredictable and infinitely variable,
suggesting a Flow, which we might liken to the flow of Time. And to the
back-and-forth swinging of the tides.

As it moves both forward and backward, the path of stage Three resembles an
animal that walks both forward and backward, the crab. And it lives in the tidal
zone, the most fertile part of the sea.. So this part of the zodiac is called
CANCER, the Crab.

Following Unity (1) and Duality (2) Three is the stage of Multiplicity.
Unlimited multiplicity can also be read as Fertility, which combined with the
flowing nature of this step, make it the stage of the Female archetype. She is
often thought of as the Great Goddess, for example Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte,
Isis, Demeter, Cybelle. And unlimited multiplicity can seem like a flood after
the restriction of duality. Indeed that is how Genesis portrays it, as the
world-wide Flood, where breeding pairs of all animals were saved.

This stage (3) is "Ruled" by the Moon, the ruler of the tides. The Moon has
three phases --- waxing, full and waning, just as there are three phases to
Time, past, present and future.

FOUR Now the swinging arc of Stage Three fixes its path in one direction and
swings all the way around to form an orbit. As the two opposing points of step
Two are still present to serve as focal points, the new orbit is an Ellipse.
With its two axes at right angles to each other, and its fixed perimeter, this
is the first Structure of the sequence. And it corresponds to atomic structure.
As the universe continues to expand and temperature and pressure are lowered,
electrons are able to stay in orbit around protons, forming Hydrogen. This is
also the stage of the appearance of the structure of Space, which allows photons
to move freely about, thus permitting the advent of Light. But if the structure
of the ellipse is any guide, it would appear that this first structure of space
is somehow only two dimensional.

In the Bible story Noah builds the world's first structure, the Ark, and thus
overcomes the flood. He restores coherence to the world after the flood. But
then he gets drunk, losing his coherence. He falls from his strong side onto his
weak side, limping, as it were.
As the two axes of the ellipse might also be called "legs", one long and one
short, it suggests a limp. Or considering it as one leg, alternately long and
short, it is clear why this is the stage of the Male principle. And if there is
any humor in this, it was in the plan from the beginning.

The male archetype was often represented in the ancient pagan religion as the
divine and sacrificial King, consort of the Goddess. Such kings or gods were
Gilgamesh, Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, Oedipus. And inherently the king or god is
lame. Such lameness takes many forms. For example King Gilgamesh and Enkidu are
related as the strong and weak sides of LEO (4). That polarity is sometimes
reversed. Osiris is lame in that he is missing a "leg", his penis. And King
Oedipus is lame since childhood.

This stage of light is ruled by the Sun, whose color and radiance are resembled
by the male lion. So this is the stage of LEO (4).

And that forms our initial unit, Unity (1) Division, opposition (2)
Multiplicity, Female, Time (3) Male, Space. (4).The next step begins to produce
numbers as combinations of the basic unit.

(to be continued)

Paul Albertsen




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