1

PART ONE: THEORY

A Science of the Soul
The magician's first and most important initiationand I must emphasize
that this stage cannot be bypassedis learning how to recognize a joke when they
see one. The adept who lacks this subtle but crucial faculty has already failed utterly
at almost every level and so it is therefore unfortunate that, generally speaking, it
cannot be taught for the same reasons that no one can force you to appreciate the
sheer magnificence of a sunset or the ethereal beauty of a rose. At the risk of overanalyzing the whole thing, I will say that it involves spontaneous, un-contrived
laughter and has something to do with the sudden realization of an unexpected
connectionand that is the foundational skill of magical praxis: the craft of
making connections. Magic then, has much to do with religion if we understand it
in the original sense of the word, re ligare, to re-connect with the mysterious.1
1. Miracles as Intentional Synchronicity
But what does connecting have to do with magic? Another kind of
connection was, quite recently in the grand scheme of things, discovered (or rather,
1. MacCoun, Catherine. On Becoming an Alchemist: A Guide for the Modern Magician. Boston,
MA: Trumpeter, 2008.

2
named) by Carl Jung and he named them synchronicities.2 Some would deem them
small miracles while others may brush them aside as mere coincidence but,
regardless of our metaphysical allegiances, according to Jung, synchronicity occurs
when an outer event corresponds with an inner event that is meaningful, or if I may
paraphrase the Grandfather of archetypal psychology: synchronicity occurs when
there is a connection between our inner state of subjectivity and the outer state of
the presumably objective world. Taking this idea as our starting point, if you were
to imagine a person making a concerted, systematic effort to uncover the processes
by which meaning is created, and by understanding them to gain conscious control
of it in order to affect powerful transformations of meaning within our experiences,
then you would be on your way toward understanding the discipline that a
magician is attempting to cultivate. To understand how this might be accomplished,
let us begin by examining the basic metaphysical premises of the magician as
recorded within the esoteric traditions.
2. Spirit, Matter, & Soul: The Triune Esoteric Cosmology
One of the most basic teachings of the western magical tradition, and one
that can be found in countless variations throughout the mystery schools3 as far
2. Hopcke, Robert H. A Guided Tour of the Collected Works of C.G. Jung. Boston: Shambhala,
1989.
3. Regardie, Israel, and Chic Cicero. The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic. 3rd Ed., ed.

3
back in time as recorded history can tell, is the notion of the three-fold nature of
existence, the understanding of which will be necessary later when we examine the
fundamental nature of symbols. A pervasive expression of this esoteric idea can
actually be found hiding in plain sight all over the world: the cross. Though
typically associated with the Christian tradition, the cross, as a religious and
magical symbol predates the advent of Christianity by thousands of years4 and,
fascinating as this subject may be, it is beyond the scope of our studies here. It's
simplicity, however, will lend itself well to a brief exposition of Hermetic
cosmology.
a. The First and Second Principles: Duality in Manifestation
Breaking the cross into it's two components, the vertical and horizontal
lines, we derive two basic principles. The vertical principle represents spirit, or

consciousness. This interpretation will be easily understood when you consider that
human beings intuitively associate, despite cultural difference and an incredible
linguistic diversity, the ideas of up and down with states of consciousness.
Consider the following: He was in high spirits, She seemed low today, He
was in a downward spiral, A heightened sense of awareness, etc. The vertical
St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2001.
4. MacCoun, Catherine. On Becoming an Alchemist: A Guide for the Modern Magician. Boston, MA:
Trumpeter, 2008.

4
points toward the invisible, subjective facet of experience. The horizontal
component represents a different principle: that of substance, passivity, and the
objective realm of time and space. The horizontal orientation lends itself easily to
images of something laying prone, a principle that is passive, relaxing into gravity
as opposed to the willful, energetic quality of the vertical line.
Now we get two seemingly opposite principles: one is vertical, subjective,
active, and insubstantial while the other is horizontal, objective, passive, and
substantial. These principles have been described ad nauseum by metaphysical
traditions throughout historyit has been called yin and yang by the Daoists,

Shiva and Shakti by the yogis, and being and non-being by philosophers such
as Hegelthough the magicians have also called these dual principles by many
names, in the west matter and spirit is a perennial favorite. With gratitude to Hegel
for the terminology, if we take the horizontal and vertical, or spirit and matter, as
our thesis and antithesis, then the symbolism of the cross depicts their synthesis in a
third factorthe soul.
b. The Third Principle: Synthesis & Creativity
The idea of soul is at the heart of the magical tradition because it represents
the fundamental principle of connection. Spirit in itself, being empty of all content
. Appendix I contains more detailed information on these correlations.

5
in its unadulterated form as pure subjectivity, is distinct from and antithetical to
matter which, being entirely substantial, must entirely displace subjectivity, or spirit
much like oil and waterand both principles, in themselves, are essentially
meaningless in the same way that a musical composition without a listener or a
listener without a musical composition is meaningless. Soul is the synthesis, or
mediating factor that resolves the ontological opposition, reconnecting the
fundamental schism of subject-and-object, being-and-nothingness, or God and the
Creation, if you prefer. In every instance that spirit and matter intersect, as in the
symbol of the cross, there is the principle of soul, and it is this synthetic principle
that renders meaningful the disparate principles of spirit (the listener) and matter
(the music). Meaning is then a function of the soul as well as the basis for all
manifestation and the individual soul itself is therefore the template of reconnection, or re-ligare,5 which is the wellspring of religion and the key to
miracle-working.
c. Anima Mundi
To a hermetic magician, the human soul is an individual instance of
connectivity between matter and spirit which temporarily manifests their hidden
5. MacCoun, Catherine. On Becoming an Alchemist: A Guide for the Modern Magician. Boston,
MA: Trumpeter, 2008.

6
qualities which can only be expressed through each otherthe soul makes it
possible to experience matter in spirit and spirit in matter which is what we call
consciousness. It is within the spirit that matter is experiencedor to put it another
way, objects are experienced within a subject. It is within matter that the spirit is

experiencedagain, to put it another way, only through the experience of objects

can it be inferred that there is an invisible (spirit-ual) subject which is experiencing.
It is not only in human beings, however, that this connection takes place but,
according to the esoteric teachings, in every individual entityincluding the
animals, plants, and apparently inanimate features of existenceindeed existence
itself, as the sum total of all spirit and matter, is an instance of connectivity known
as anima mundi, or the Soul of the World. According to this system, a thing
manifests as real only when it is in-formed by spirit and substantiated by matter;
the synthesis that occurs in the intersection of form and substance is called the soul
of that thing. The Soul of the World then, resolves the fundamentally irreconcilable
duality through an all-encompassing, creative relationship which is the connection
between the form of all forms together and the substance out of which all matter is
constituted; and it is because of this total relationship that even the slightest change
in one of its parts will affect a dynamic response from the whole. The crux of this

7
teaching is easy to understand but difficult to knowthe Soul of the World is the
totality of individual souls and the individual soul is not different from the Soul of
the World.6
3. The Basis of Magic
Understanding the principles of spirit, matter, and soul, the magician
essentially seeks to discover the connection between her own soul and the Soul of
the World. The processes by which this is accomplished are what is known as
magic, and its basic methods will be covered in the second part of this paper. As the
hidden connections are uncovered, every experience of the magician is imbued with
greater meaning and synchronicities occur with increasing frequency. Every
phenomena reveals itself as another instance of meaning that points, again and
again, to the meaning of meaningsthe magician may find that he perceives
meaning in the movement of the stars, that he can see the order of time in a deck of
playing cards, that his actions begin to spark surprising synchronicities for others,
or perhaps that she can glimpse fate in the motion of a bird flying across the sun.

6. Regardie, Israel, and Chic Cicero. The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic. 3rd Ed., ed.
St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2001.

PART TWO : PRACTICE

Methods & Madness
In the first section of this treatise, we laid the foundations of the western
magical tradition's basic cosmology by expounding upon intentional synchronicity,
the vertical and horizontal dimensions of manifestation, the principles of
connection, and the relationship between the individual's soul and the anima
mundi, or Soul of the World. Though western magic is an ancient and typically
secretive tradition that emerges from multiple eras and through widely varying
languages and cultural backgrounds (each with their own idiosyncratic
terminologies and emphasis) it remains our opinion that the cosmological material
covered is broadly applicable and faithfully outlines the essential view of western
magical practice. Similarly, both the wide diversity and infamous secrecy of magical
societies, compounded with the highly individualistic nature of magical practice,
will complicate any discussion of methodology. In spite of this, we will endeavor to
distill the most essential, recurring, and normative techniques here.
1. Magic 101: Correspondences & Esoteric Numbers
Previously we stated that the art of making connections was the

9
foundational skill of magical praxis and then suggested that an idea like intentional
synchronicity may approximate the methodology of the magicianhowever,
intentional synchronicity is not lightly achieved and, just as any athlete, artist, or
crafts-person must first practice their skills with determination over time, so the
magician must hone her skill through sustained, methodical practice. One basic
class of exercises toward this end, that of making magical correspondences, 7 has
been practiced widely and with countless variations.
a. Magical Correspondences
In order to explain this exercise, let's return to the symbol of the cross and
break it down into its components which we've already identified as spirit, matter,
and soul. If we simplify the concepts even further, we could arrive at a formula like
subject, object, and means of connection or something similar. From this
information, the adept should attempt to draw as many correspondences as he is
able to; some are drawn easily, such as: self, other, and relationship, or
background, foreground, and proportionthey can be more abstract such as
a / b = c, or more poetic, as in lover, beloved, and love, and why not
architectural?: blue-print, materials, and building. Anything goes. If one
7. Regardie, Israel, and Chic Cicero. The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic. 3rd Ed., ed.
St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2001.

10
develops the capacity, this list of correspondences can grow maddeningly extensive
and yet, in this example, there are merely three components!over time a skilled
magician must learn to move with ease through highly complex matrices of
correspondences.
b. Their Effect on Imagination
The result of these sorts of exercises is to free the imagination. Though it
may seem strange or childish at first, if this is practiced with regularity and
determination over time, the mind will increase its capacity to work creatively
outside of reasonit does not give up its faculty of reason, which would be

foolish, but instead becomes free to operate outside of it. This is why most of us
have difficulty solving riddlesthough the answers are typically simple, they often
require us to make leaps which ordinary reason is incapable of.
c. Number as the Basis of Symbols
In order for this process to be useful (and coherent) it must be systematic;
the magician, therefore, must find a way to contain this apparent chaos. To
accomplish this, the perennial method that emerges across time and traditions is

11

numbers,8 as they are universally recognized symbols for objectively verifiable

aspects of our experience. The esoteric study and application of number provides
the magician with a link between his invisible subjective plane and the objective
world (another correspondence). The reader is already beginning to become aware
of the esoteric meaning of 1, 2, and 3they have only to re-examine our treatment
of the cross in section one. It may be noticed too, that the vertical axis taken by
itself is an overwhelmingly common symbol for 1; that it is represented alongside
its opposite, the horizontal line (2); that, when the 1 and the 2 are represented
together, there inevitably arises the 3rd principle, in the form of a relationship or
connection between them (note that 1 + 2 = 3); and finally, that as the 1 and the 2
are brought together, the 3 is implied and there are now 4 four component lines. To
grasp the esoteric meaning of 4, consider that each number is taken as an abstract
point (there is no length, width, depth, etc. of the point), and therefore the
numbers 1 through 3 cannot be represented concretely in reality but only as an
abstract plane (even a sheet of paper has depth)it is through the 4th point that the
8. Hulse, David Allen. The Western Mysteries. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications,
1948.
That numbers are objectively verifiable realities, at least so far as as the observable natural world

is concerned, can be demonstrated in many wayssuch as the fact that an atom with 1 proton is a
hydrogen atom, while an atom with 2 is a helium atom, etc. This shows that number irrefutably
plays an important role in the manifestation of the physical universe. See more in Appendix I

12
dimension of depth or volume becomes present and the first three-dimensional
representation becomes possible (which is a pyramid).9
For a patient person, the esoteric study of number alone has the potential to
unlock the entirety of the traditionalas, a delineation of esoteric numerology
exceeds the aim of this paper! Let the preceding pages and the following summation
suffice as an introduction: that 1 represents a principle of being/subjectivity/unity,
2 represents that of tension/objectivity/differing, 3 represents that of
creativity/connection/relationship, and that 4 represents their concrete
manifestation. Upon reflection, and understanding that 3 and 4 are dynamic

elaborations of 1 and 2 respectively, a clever and intuitive individual may be able to

deduce the meaning of the entire sequence of natural numbers.
2. Symbols & their Power
By strengthening the creative powers of imagination and grasping the
esoteric nature of number, the magician is able to recognize the symbolic meaning
of phenomena. Because nature (of which we are a part) is both rational and
irrational, as one increases their capacity to operate outside of rationality through
9. Zoller, Robert, and Guido Bonatti. The Lost Key to Prediction: The Arabic Parts in Astrology.
New York: Inner Traditions International, 1980.
Again, Appendix I contains more information regarding the symbolism of number.

13
practices such as magical correspondences, previously occluded realms of
experience become increasingly available to them.10 Consider the analogy of a
person who is learning how to read and play classical music. As they spend
increasing amounts of time immersed in the world of music, learning scales, chord
construction, and time signatures, they will begin to recognize new information in
the music that they've listened to their entire lifenothing new has appeared in the
music but, because they have altered their own psyche by integrating the new
language of music, they now are able to recognize major and minor keys, different
modes and timing, and so on. When we alter the way we think we alter the way
reality appears to us, which opens new possibilities for action and interaction and
closes others.
a. Symbol as Maps of Processes
Like the musician, the magician alters the way her mind worksto her, the
cross is not a mere esoteric symbol but a map of a process. It does not simply depict
two separate lines intersectingit is the diagram of a spiritual event. The cross, as
an instruction manual, is attempting to show how the process of 1-2-3 unfolds;11
10. MacCoun, Catherine. On Becoming an Alchemist: A Guide for the Modern Magician. Boston,
MA: Trumpeter, 2008.
11. MacCoun, Catherine. On Becoming an Alchemist: A Guide for the Modern Magician. Boston,
MA: Trumpeter, 2008.

14
this may seem somewhat prosaic at first, but as the mind is connected through
magical correspondences to the esoteric numbers, the cross becomes a diagram of
that portion of the mind which has been connected with 1, 2, and 3; the more deeply
connected the mind is, the more useful becomes the symbol as both a map of the
mind and of reality. Other esoteric symbols, such as the pentagram or the tree of
life, will serve similar functions12 and, as the adept's knowledge of magic deepens,
symbols that are more difficult to understand will be revealed and the practitioner
may find themselves inventing their own symbols for specific purposes.
b. Following the Maps
By sustained concentration and construction of the patterns of
correspondence, a world of symbols opens up and phenomena which were
previously considered unimportant or unintelligible begin to convey new
information. And here's where it gets trickyin order to progress the magician
must act on this new information. The practice must always be systematic and
scientific; therefore, an attitude of strict empiricism is the best one to adoptbut

the application is always an art and ultimately, there's no way to know what will
happen. As the correspondences between the inner and outer worlds are clarified,
12. Hulse, David Allen. The Western Mysteries. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications,
1948.

15
the magician's actions take on an increasing importance because as changes are
affected in either world, the other is correspondingly affected13the magician finds
that he is able to alter his inner reality by symbolically altering the outer; similarly,
though it is more difficult, he finds that he can alter reality by correspondingly
altering its symbolic structures within his mind. Altering the inner by making an
outer change is one of the reasons for the many symbols, colors, robes, incenses,
magical wands, and other artifacts associated with magicthey assist the
magician's concentration upon a specific connection, or network of connections.14
c. Advanced Practice
The practices that I have described, though there are many others and
countless variations among them, are foundational to magic and cannot be
bypassedthey prepare the magician's mind for more advanced and specialized
practices. In order to progress to higher levels, the imagination must be unleashed
and the structures which bound it must be dissolved; the will must also be trained
by regular, systematic practice and sustained concentration on subtle realities.
These are the two horses that drive the chariot of magicwithout one or the other,
13. MacCoun, Catherine. On Becoming an Alchemist: A Guide for the Modern Magician. Boston,
MA: Trumpeter, 2008.
14. Regardie, Israel, and Chic Cicero. The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic. 3rd Ed., ed.
St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2001.

16
the magician is doomed to drive in ever deepening circles that will confound him;
without either, the chariot won't move at all no matter how many magical words
one shouts at it. Only when both are present will progress occur.15
i. Magic Words
When the magician has cultivated the appropriate discipline, the
phenomenological and number correspondences may be expanded to encompass
sound and sacred alphabets. As these connections are established, one may use or
create magical words, names, and sounds, which will affect transformations of both
the soul and the world.16 The medieval Qabbalists, as well as both ancient and
modern schools of magic which were influenced by them, recorded a great amount
of magical knowledge regarding sacred letters, words, and sounds.17
ii. Mathematics & Sacred Geometry
The principles of number and symbol, and their uses, may be expanded
greatly by the study and esoteric contemplation of geometry. In addition to the
relatively basic symbolism of the natural numbers, infinite complex relationships
exist between them; mystically understanding these relationships through geometry
15. Regardie, Israel, and Chic Cicero. The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic. 3rd Ed., ed.
St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2001.
16. Ibid.
17. Kaplan, Aryeh. Meditation and Kabbalah. York Beach, Me.: S. Weiser, 1985.

17
and mathematics can impart profound esoteric knowledge upon an adept. The
Neo-Platonic sages, such as Plotinus, along with many ancient Greek schools, such
as the Pythagoreans, compiled books of both mathematical and sacred geometrical
wisdom and mysticism.18
iii. Astrology & Tarot
The same hermetic principles that I have introduced in this paper are
applied in most of the occult sciences that deal with the mysteries of nature and fate
such as astrology and tarot.19 The principle of as above, so below, or how the
outer conditions symbolically reflect inner realities, is applied to understanding
ourselves by reading patterns in the motion of the planets or the way a deck of
cards happens to be shuffled at a particular point in time and space.20
3. Connecting All of it Together
Ultimately, regardless of whatever bells and whistles and apart from its
myriad applications, the goal of all magical practice is to reconnect ourselves to the
primordial and mysterious beauty of the universe; on this account, it shares many
18. Hulse, David Allen. The Western Mysteries. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications,
1948.
19. Zoller, Robert, and Guido Bonatti. The Lost Key to Prediction: The Arabic Parts in Astrology.
New York: Inner Traditions International, 1980.
20. Hulse, David Allen. The Western Mysteries. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications,
1948.

18
of its features with other spiritual systems and scientific traditionsthe path of the
magician, however, is a radically individualistic one and the author would argue:
unorthodox by definition. Though much may be gleaned from the traditions of the
ancients and there is a rich heritage of various esoteric techniques, in the end, the
magician must discover it anew and create his own soul. Above all, the adept must
contemplate the great wisdom of nature which is all around and within her,
considering how her own mind is constructed by meditating upon the secrets of
number and symbol; trusting that she will be guided by the Soul of the World, she
must connect herself to everything, discarding nothingand she must always,

always remember not to take herself too seriouslyas one of the great spiritual
alchemists of ancient Palestine said: "I tell all of you with certainty, unless you
change and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom of
heaven.21

21. The Gospel of Matthew 18:3

19
Bibliography
Hopcke, Robert H. A Guided Tour of the Collected Works of C.G. Jung. Boston:
Shambhala ;, 1989.
Hulse, David Allen. The Western Mysteries. 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn
Publications, 1948.
Kaplan, Aryeh. Meditation and Kabbalah. York Beach, Me.: S. Weiser, 1985.
MacCoun, Catherine. On Becoming an Alchemist: A Guide for the Modern

Magician. Boston, MA: Trumpeter, 2008.

Regardie, Israel, and Chic Cicero. The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic.
3rd Ed., ed. St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 2001.
Zoller, Robert, and Guido Bonatti. The Lost Key to Prediction: The Arabic Parts

in Astrology. New York: Inner Traditions International, 1980.

20

Appendix I: On the Basis of Esoteric Numerology

Let us play God for a moment. Were I to take a single proton and combine
it with a single neutron and a single electronwhat would happen? A hydrogen
atom would happen, right? Now, say I add to the mix a second proton, neutron,
and electronnow what happens? A bigger hydrogen atom, right? Strangely,
though I had used exactly the same materials, we now have before us, not a larger
hydrogen atom, but a helium atomwhich exhibits entirely different properties
altogether. Hydrogen for instance is extremely reactive while helium is noted for its
heroic stabilityin fact, physicists believe that helium was the first element to
coalesce in any significant amount following the big bang because it is the only
atom that is both simple and stable enough to have been created by and to have
survived in such extreme conditions. If a third proton, neutron, and electron were
added then the phenomenon of lithium would appear, which is a reactive alkali
metal and the least dense of all solid elements, including liquids.
The Meaning of Numbers: From Mysticism to Physics
But why, if the constituent parts are identical, should mere number result in
such drastically different qualities? Why should one proton result in a highly
reactive invisible substance while two protons result in a noble gas that is noted for

21
its heroic stability? And why should three protons all of a sudden be a solid,
superconductive metal with the approximate weight and density of pinewood?
Though modern physics has undoubtedly advanced our understanding of the
universe immensely, physicists were not the first to have observed the role that
numbers play in the creation of the universeembarrassingly enough, it was the
mystics who seem to have first proposed that numbers were the key to the secret of
cosmogenesis.
The mystical interpretation of number has long been ubiquitous within
mystical traditions, from Pythagoras' and Plato's schools in ancient Greece to
Paracelsus and the Christian Hermeticists of Renaissance Germany. The idea that
the study of numbers can yield insight into the process of creation and the structure
of the universe is a perennial one, expounded by the mystery schools of ancient
Egypt, theologians such as St. Augustine, the medieval Jewish Kabbalists, the
ancient Chinese schools of Confucius and Lao Tzu, and the relatively recent
alchemist, Sir Isaac Newton, who used the same ancient principles to formulate the
laws of motion, universal gravitation, and calculus.
1, 2, & 3: The Secret of Creation
The first three natural numbers, across traditions, are assigned great

22
importance in the process of creation and their names are sometimes even
synonymous with the Creator or God (the One, the Holy Trinity, etc.)and for
good reason! Let us examine them, starting with the idea of one. A unique problem
confronts us from the outset, however, and that is the fact that there is no way to
examine or even imagine the one; this is because, if we observe the one, we have
already made the twoobserving the one automatically creates a reference point
outside of it from which we are observing. In order for the experience of one to
occur, the observer necessarily cannot be other than the one; one therefore
possesses a quality of ineffability; if one is understood as the sole originator of all
numbers or as the beginning of creation, then all subsequent qualities inhere in it
since there is no other source from which they might be derived; since all future
qualities are derived only by subdivision of this one, there is nothing that exists
without taking part in one's existence. By use of reason alone, one can be described
as ineffable, all-inclusive unity of being.
From the starting point of the un-imaginable one, the idea of two introduces
primordial division within the one and, in order for this to occur, differing takes
place; the indefinite qualities which inhered but were undistinguished within the
one coalesce, so to speak, within the two or the other. It is important to note that,

23
though the qualities that inhere in one are distinguished in the two, they are not

separate because separation implies that there is a medium in which one and two
exist and through which they might escape each other; the differentiation that is
occurring by the one into two is the differing of qualities, complementing and
opposing one anotherdistinguishable but not separable. Two then, unlike the
one, is partially knowablethough no third person perspective could be adopted
under these circumstances, an object can be recognized as not-subject. The quality
of two is that of one recognizing itself which happens through qualitative
opposition since differing factors such as distance and time are as yet unmanifest
pure duality, thesis and antithesis defining each other.
Subject & object, positive & negative, male & female, night & dayas the
dual forces represented by two precipitate with increasing intensity from the oversaturated one, the tension that inheres in their oppositional nature develops into
movement toward overcoming each other; while the natures of one and two ensure
that the balance is ultimately unchanging and self-contained, the apparent changes

of proportion and tension within the whole reveal a third which is the synthesis
between the now irreconcilable thesis and antithesis of one and two. The three,
being the second odd number, is, in actuality, a dynamic form of the one; it is the

24
culmination of a mysterious process originally initiated by the one which causes
division by the two and its subsequent oppositional tension which is resolved by
returning to balance in the three.
4, 7, & 10: Macrocosm, Microcosm, & the Fractal Universe
By resolving the opposition that arose from two, three both re-establishes
the unity of one and reveals its hidden dimensions by reintegrating the qualities
that precipitated as two into a more complicated whole. But just as one
mysteriously projected itself into itself as itself (1 + 1 = 2), so three, as the new
one, projects itselfbut its self is not made of one, it is made of three, and
therefore projects another three, which when added to itself (as one) is four, an
elaboration of two and the first temporal number. One, two, and three are

primordial numbers, meaning they are the prior, underlying principles upon which
manifestation is supportedas the one, no experience was possible; as the two, the
fundamental split occurred between subject and object but true multiplicity
remained folded inside of the primordial object (the two); only in three are subject
and object finally integrated in a dynamic relationship.
Three is what appears as the creator (one and two are hidden [3 = 2 + 1] in
three) who projects their self outward as creation, which appears as four (four is

25
also the minimum number of points required to move from an abstract triangular
plane to a 3D shape with volume). When three, the Creator, enters into creation,
the four, seven manifests (3 + 4), the number of incarnation. Seven represents the
three-in-one god entering into the four dimensions of space and time.
When one, two, three, and four are added together, the result is ten,
represented as a 1 and a 0. Because ten integrates all of creation with its source,
substance, and cause, it represents completion, the one's presence in creation, and
the fractal repetition of its own being and creative power reflected in its creation.
Closing Remarks
Though this essay hasn't covered all of the natural numbers, I hope that the
reader has understood some of the underlying principles of numerology and it is
the author's opinion that the meanings of all numbers can be deduced by a clever
person who understands the process of one, two, and three. I do not intend,
however, and would not wish for anyone to take my word for all of thisI suggest
that the reader look at nature, science, and the scriptures of their own spiritual
tradition, or better, various traditions.

26

Appendix II: Illustrations

Fig. 1 The Tree of Life

27
Fig. 2, Geometrical/Numerical Correspondences of Astrological Angles

28
Fig. 3, An Example of a Magical Correspondence Chart 22

22. Retrieved from http://www.american-

buddha.com/cult.esotericsectiontheosocblavatsky.2.htm on May 5 th, 2015