(continued)

SEVEN Growth resumes, but in place of cellular growth (stage 6) there is
now Social growth. And in a human context, the height of social growth is
Civilization, with its institutions: governmental, economic, religious,
scientific, artistic, educational, etc. In the geometrical sequence, we might
think of this as a multitude of expanding spheres, which expansion makes
civilizations imperialistic, encroaching on one an- other's territory.

Seven is derived as 3+4, making it the second and last Sum in the sequence. It
is also the largest sum and the sum of female-male, time-space, so SAGITTARIUS
is associated with large size, ripeness, maturity and winning at contests,
complete development, classics. The emblem of this sign is an archer, shooting
an arrow upward and forward, indicating the Aspiration to higher things that is
associated with this sign. And as it is also concerned with bringing youth to
maturity, this the sign of the Teacher.

EIGHT Expanding spheres (stage 8) tend to expand against each other, thus
creating lines of Limitation between them. These boundary lines move back and
forth as one sphere expands (7) and the other contracts (8). An example is the
Millenia-long conflict between Western Civilization and Middle Eastern
Civilization. It began around 700 B.C. between the Greeks and the Phoenicians.
And it continued between the Greeks and the Persian Empire, until the latter was
conquered by Alexander. That conquest initiated a thousand year occupation of
Middle Eastern territory by the Greeks and then the Romans. So the line of
limitation between the two civilizations was shifted far to the east.

The occupation was ended by the rise of Islam, under which banners the middle
easterners counter-attacked, regaining lost territory and more. The line of
limitation between the two was shifted into the West, into Spain, and under the
Ottoman Turks, it was shifted into and over Anatolia. The western Crusaders made
a short-lived attempt to counter-attack, but their success was only brief. The
Ottoman Empire then expanded over the Balkans , westward all the way to Budapest
at one time.

Eight is a double Four. As four was the stage of Structure, Eight is a double,
or intensified structure. We might call it Inner Structure. Thus the interest of
CAPRICORN (8) in finding out the inner-structure of things, by Study. Examples
are delving into the inner structure of the atom in physics, and into the inner
structure of the cell in biology. And it might be congruent with this to think
of the geometrical figure of stage Eight as contracting spheres.

The emblem for this stage is a mountain goat with a fish's rear body, suggesting
the upper and lower Limitations of earth-bound life. And another major
limitation is here reached. A movement began with stage Three, the opposite
sign, CANCER. That sign of birth, after the duality of the preceding GEMINI,
gave birth to the whole world of duality-opposition. But in duality, everything
that begins must have an end. And CAPRICORN (8) is the limit or end of what
began in stage Three. From birth (3) to end (8) and back to birth again. This is
thus a Cyclic end, recycling over and over and over again. And everything in it
is based on the ambiguity of two points (GEMINI (2), which keep changing by
reversing polarity. There is thus an implicit illusory quality to the
CANCER-CAPRICORN Round. Everything is changing and there is no permanent
identity. It is the stuff that dreams are made of. And the recirculating cycles
keep repeating over and over again. As the American playwright
Eugene O'Neil said despairingly (and not quite correctly), "There is no present,
no future. There is only the past, repeating over and over and over again". It
is from this Dream Round that some people aspire to escape, to awake.

The Archer's arrow (7) aspiring to go beyond the repeating Round, falls short.
In a dualistic world, what goes up must come down. That is another Limit which
is reached here.

The rhythm of expansion-contraction, expansion (7)-contraction (8) sets up a
back-and-forth swinging between the two polarities, a tide-like alternation that
reminds us of the swinging arc of CANCER (3). So from stage Eight (8) CAPRICORN,
we suddenly find ourselves back at stage Three again. And we are about to be
born into another Round of the repeating dream cycle. In the End (8) there is
only new beginning.

And the universe itself is said to be in a rhythm of expansion and contraction.

TEN Ten is not counted, because it is Zero again.

ELEVEN As we have seen cellular life (6) and social life, Civilization (7)
we now consider Individual life (11). But it is a particular form of individual
life that is meant. It is the individual who goes beyond the contradictions of
Duality, beyond the tempting allure of the Dream Round (3-8). He or she is
detached from the apparent reality of existence. As Eleven is the new One, the
individual finds reunion, the new Unity. For example, in the Bible, Joseph
presides over a great reunion of his family. And he is "set apart from his
brothers", i.e. a unique individual. He is number Eleven among the brothers in
Genesis 49.

As Joseph was morally incorruptible, another figure is raised again from the
corruption of death, apparently to physical incorruption. That is Lazarus, who's
story is presented in chapter Eleven of the gospel of John. We might cite two
more examples: John the Baptist takes the place of Malachi, "My messenger" the
last book in the Old Testament. Malachi is number Eleven among the minor
prophets. And Elijah and Elisha are two men in one spirit, representing the
function of this stage to reconcile opposites. When they first meet, the younger
man (Elisha) is plowing with twelve pair of oxen. He sacrifices one pair,
leaving Eleven. They occupy position number Eleven in the zodiac from Abraham
(1) to King Josiah (13). And they reappear in the Bible's last book, the book of
"Revelation", as the Two Witnesses --- in chapter Eleven.

But few people attain this degree of reconciliation. Most fall far short, so far
as falling into the condition of fallen (divided) man and woman, LEO (4) and
CANCER (3). An example of this short-coming is the tale of Samson and Delilah,
locked in their fatal embrace. He is identified as LEO by fighting with a lion,
and she as CANCER by coming from a river valley (flow, running water). They
occupy place number Eleven in the book of Judges. Another example is found in
the Grail-story, "Parzifal", where Gawan fights with a lion, in chapter Eleven.
The true AQUARIAN in "Parzifal" is apparently his brother Feirefiz who learns to
see the Grail. He, "stayed (at the Grail castle) for Eleven days, and departed
on the twelfth". In this sequence, Eleven is the twelfth number.

0 1 2 3 4 12 5 6 9 7 8 11 13

We might call that the Torah sequence.

Eleven is the new One, but unlike the first unity (1) Eleven is not followed by
Division (2). Hence it remains together, incorruptible in a way.

The zodiac sign of this stage is AQUARIUS, the water carrier. The air is the
carrier of water that evaporates from the sea, evaporation thus representing
detachment, refinement. The emblem or glyph for AQUARIUS is the Human Being.

THIRTEEN Thirteen is Beyond the universe of Twelve, as Zero is Before it.
They share the same sign, ARIES, the Ram. We might show this stage in a
quotation from the beginning of the gospel of John, with a suggested
translation:

In the beginning was the Original Intelligence (Greek: Logos). And the
Original Intelligence was
with God. It was of the same nature as God. By it were all things made ...
And it came and lives
among us.

There are two ARIES (13), a false on and a true one. For example, in Genesis 49
the list of brothers concludes with Benjamin. As Aries the Ram he should be the
leader of his sheep ,his flock. But instead he is described as, "a ravening
wolf". He is a false shepherd, a false ARIES (13). The true Thirteen appears in
the next book (Exodus) as Moses, the good shepherd who leads his flock to the
promised land. He is the true ARIES (13).

Again we might cite the two tales of false Levites that concludes the Book of
Judges.They are false Thirteens. the true Thirteen appears in the next book as
Samuel, the Final Judge.

Ahaz and Manasseh are false Thirteens in the zodiac from Abraham to Josiah. Then
the true Thirteens appears as Hezekiah and Josiah, the Reforming Kings. And all
three of these --- True Shepherd, Final Judge and Reforming King --- are summed
up in the New Testament in the figure of Jesus Christ. He appears in the
sequence after the False Thirteen, Judas Iscariot, the Betrayer.

Jesus Christ, as the Original Intelligence, enters the fallen , divided, world
of the CANCER---CAPRICORN Round. And he takes upon himself the most conspicuous
role, the sacrificial king LEO (4) in order to encourage people to leave the
fallen, divided, world, to awaken from the dream.

Paul Albertsen.



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