The Masonic Properties Of Numbers.

the Great Architect of the Universe . I am of course precluded from dwelling here on this point , since it opens up questions which , though fully explained at the time of the delivery of this Lecture iu the lodge , cannot be treated of except amongst persons actually enrolled as duly obligated Freemasons . I pass on , therefore , to the consideration of the number 6 .

1 st . —In the ancient mysteries , as practised two thousand years ago in tho remote East , I find the number 6 was considered a striking emblem of Nature ; because it presents to us the six dimensions of all the bodies ; the six lines which make up their form , viz ., the four lines of direction towards north , south , east , and west , with two lines of height and depth , responding to what astronomers call the Zenith and Nadir .

2 nd . —The sages of Greece applied the senary ( or number 6 ) as a symbol of the physical man ; while the septenary ( or number 7 ) was , for them , the symbol of man ' s immortal spirit . The hieroglyphical senary ( the double equilateral triangle ) is the symbol of Deity—The equilateral

YY double ^ O ^ S triangle . 3 rd . —The number 6 is an emblem of health , and the symbol of justice . And that , because it is , in some sense , the first perfect number ; that is to say , it is the first number whose aliquot parts ( J , -J-, i of itself , or 3 , 2 , and 1 added

) together , reproduce itself , 6 . 4 th . — In connexion with the number 6 , we find that , in ancient Eastern traditions , the good or benevolent Supreme Being called Ormuzd , created for the management of his _ spiritual dominions six good spirits ; whilst his antagonist , the malevolent spirit , called Ahriman , created six evil spirits as an opposing force . I am

inclined to believe that these 12 spirits are mainly to be referred to the twelve months of the year ; six genial summer months being the good spirits of Ormuzd , and six severe winter months being the evil spirits of Ahriman .

With these few observations on the number 6 , 1 pass on to tho consideration of the most remarkable of the emblamatic numbers , the number 7 . The septenary , or number 7 , is one of the most celebrated of all symbolic ciphers . No number has ever been so universally iu repute as the septenary . I am disposed to think that its celebrity is originally due to the science

of astronomy , in which the number 7 typified the greater planets , seven in number . But this cipher belongs also to the list of sacred symbols , and is abundantly used in an allegorical sense , in that volume of the Sacred Law which lies on yonder pedestal , as the most ancient trust deed of our society . 1 st . —The Pythagoreans regarded the septenary ( or

number 7 ) as formed by the addition of the numbers 3 and 4 . Under' this view , the number 3 , or first term of the summation , represented the three material elements , earth , fire , and water ; and the second term , or the number 4 , pointed to the principle , or root , of everything which is neither corporeal nor sensible . ( See Lecture 1 , No . 4 , first head . ) It is easily understood how that ,

from such a point of view , the number 7 should present itself as the emblem of perfection . 2 nd . —The septenary , considered as composed of the number 6 , and unity ( 6 + 1 ) serves to designate the invisible centre or germ of every created thing . Because no created body exists of which six dimensions do not constitute the form ( see Lecture 2 No . 6 first head ) nor

, , , without a seventh interior point , as the focus or germ of the body , whereof the external configuration gives only the appearance . 3 rd . —The number 7 reminds us , as Masons , of the lawful constitution of a Masonic lodge . For , to form a lodge , there must , in order to constitute it a regular assembly under Masonic law , be present at least seven

Master Masons , thoroughly versed m the " penetralia " of our most ancient art . It may often have been asked amongst the brethi-en here , why this law should have been established . I would venture to suggest , though without certain authority on the subject , that it was iu consequence of the necessity of having five men present , to exercise , each , the use of one of the five senses , all

of which are so necessary to Masons , and two to attend , most especially , to the guarding of the inner and outer doorway . Why I mention five Master Masons to exercise exclusively and singly the use each of one of the five senses , is the evident necessity of one man in each department devoting his undivided attention to the exercise of the particular office assigned him , in order to

give the greatest possible amount of security to the secrecy of our mysterious rites . And indeed to this wholesome regulation is attributable , chiefly , lapprehend ,. the fact that the secrets of our society ( few though they be ) have never transpired during a period of more than 5000 years . 4 th . —It may be , in passing , remarked that the

number 7 amongst the Egyptians symbolised life ; and tbat this is not improbably the reason why the letter Z of the Greeks was the . initial of the verb Zao — I live , and of Zeus = Jupiter , Father of Life . The letter Z being formed of two sevens ; one written naturally thus 7 , and other reversed , thus l . 5 th . —It is to be observed that the very numerous

application of the septenary , confirmed the ancient sages in the use of this symbol . Moreover they exalted the properties of the number 7 , as having , in a subordinate sense , the perfection of the monad j for if the monad is uncreated , that is , if no number produces it , the seven also is not engendered by any number contained in the interval between one and ten . The number 4 occupies an arithmetical middle-ground between the unit and 7 , inasmuch as it is far over 1 , as it is under 7—the difference each way being 3 .

6 th . —In order to account fully for the extraordinary degree of veneration in which tbe number 7 was held by our ancient Fraternity , I would lay before you , brethren * the following cases of reference to its use amongst them in connexion with historical events . The Pythagoreans esteemed it a " venerable" number as referring to the cosmogony , or creation of the world , in

seven periods including the Sabbath , or period of rest . And also , because it is made up of the representative numbers of the two first perfections in geometrical figures , viz ., the triangle ( 3 ) , and the square ( 4 ) . Amongst the Hebrews , the etymology of the word shows its sacred import ; for from the Hebrew word " shebang" which means " seven" is derived the word

, , " shabang , " which means " to swear , " because oatbs were confirmed either by seven witnesses , or by seven sacrificial victims ; as we read in the covenant of Abraham ancl Abimelech , " And Abraham took sheep and oxen , and gave them unto Abimelech ; and both of them , made a covenant . And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves . And Abimelech said unto

Abraham , What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves ? And he said , For these seven ewe Iambs shalt thou take of my band , that they may be a witness unto me , " & c . ( vide Gen . chap . 21 , v . 25 et seq . ) There is a remarkable and frequent recurrence of this mystic number seven in the Sacred Writings . For

instance , the Sabbath ( as before mentioned ) was the seventh day . Noah received seven days' notice of the outbreak of the deluge . And was commanded to select clean beasts and fowls by sevens . Seven persons accompanied him into the ark . The ark rested on Ararat in the seventh , month . The intervals between despatching the dove were , each time , seven days . The walls of Jericho were encompassed seven days , by seven priests , bearing seven rams' horns .