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BELIEF IN SEVENS.A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER THAT RULE8 THE WORLD.A Th(MO|)kl« Aeaount or Ik* Meaataff •f tka Fatal Mi***bar — Mythology, Nature. Buddhlam aad Christianity Itaad In the 'amber.‘vjjfH, EOPLE WHO BE-believe in the »i(f-/^MKRX^^^^i|nificance of sevens will be delighted to learn that theremakes a specialty of the septenarian. The creed, which, however, is not exactly a creed, is theosophy. A lecture was recently given before the H. P. lilavatsky Theosophicl society in New York, at which a lot of light was shed on the subject.Is it really possible that seven, which ie a mere numeral, can have a meaning of divine import? Science would answer “rot,” but theosophy would claim that it could be proved by science itself, and, further, that history could not deny it.Titeosophy claims for all its theories they are free from superstition, and itdisclaims the supernatural. Yet it be* lieves in sevens. The first claim is that everything in nature runs in sevens. Six cirelos of equal diameter will exactly surround a seventh of the same dimension, and a perfect circle can be draw a around the seven thus clustered together. Six more could be drawn around this and form a still larger circle. This could be kept on indefinitely, but the relationship of one circle to the other would always remain the same and seven would always remain the important factor.The mysteries of the simple triangle and square are also regarded as exceedingly great. The three sides of tho upper triangle‘in the figure herewith produced, plus the four sides of the lower square, complete a septenary. Again, the first equilateral figure in lineal geometry is the triangle, and the first equilateral figure in solid geometry is the pyramid or four-sided triangle. Together they make seven.This illustration is of the greatest significance to theosophy, and for this reason. Theosophy, being spiritual philosophy, teaches that matter is nothing but the expression of spirit, and that spirit therefore is the real matter. When you look at a man you don’t see the real man, you see only the flesh which is held together by the inner, divine,spiritual man— that which is eternal. The pyramidic triangle is accepted by theosophy as representing the real foundation or spirit, and the lineal triangle as matter, merely the outward form. The triangle represents the seven principles of man.Buddhism, which is many thousand yoars older than Christianity, has always accepted the cross as signifying life. Man with his arms outstretched is the shape of a cross. Take a cubic square, open it up and it makes a perfect cross, consisting of seven blocks, as shown in the accompanying figure. So that in a measure it embodies the theory of the seven principles of man.The foregoing are geometrical and psychological assertions. But in everyday life, theosophy points out, everything seems to be based on sevens. There are seven days in the week, seven primary colors as manifested in the rainbow, seven notes in the musical scale, and six directions of space and a center, making seveu in all. These are east, west, north, south, zenith, nadir, and the center, they surround. There are seven-day periods in all phases of gestation, stages of fever and diseases. There are seven wonders of the world, 9even churches of Asia, seven stars of the*IIIE CUBE CONVERTED INTO A. CROSS, great bear, seven ages of man, and Some, the Sacred City, was built on seven hills; Greece had seven sages, and the golden candlestick in the tabernacle of the Hebrews had seven branches.In the Revelation of St John seven churches are mentioned. There are seven creations of the Hindus and seven sacred mountains. In Plato'sdialogues there are seven spheres of harmony in the universe, as there are also in the Hermetic philosophy of the ancient Egyptians. In the Roman Catholic religion there are seven cardinal vices, seven star angles and a lot of other septenaries. There are seveu aacramonts, and the blble speaks of the seven devils cast out by Jesus. The old testament tells of seven years of famine and seven fat years. The Jew has seven heavens; there arc seven letters in the name Jehovah. All dragons and serpents of antiquity had seven bauds, typiflng, as theosophy believes, the seven principles of mnn. is the festival day of all therth.It was the seventh of the Scottish .idcrs to build a wob that inspired obcrt Bruce to the decisive act of lus e. Brmw six times failed, nndla-tlie face of a seventh oportunlty ho was in despair. While pouderiug the Scottish chief happened to observe the industry of a spider iu his tent Six times it strove to lodge the foundation thread, and six times did it fail. The observer was struck by the wonderful coincidence, lie resolved to abide by the fate of the seventh attempt 'the spider won, as history relates and so did Bruce.Disciples of the late Mme. Blavatskv believe the seven stars of the Great Bear furnish the visible origin for the sevens of time—the Goddess of the Seven Stars. The seven stars as they turned rouud anuually kept pointing, as it were, with the forefinger of the right hand and describing a circle in the upper and lower heaven. In this way, then, the number suggested a measure by seven, which led to tlie marking out of the circle in seven corresponding divisions assigned to the seven great constellations Thus was formed the seven centers of Egyptian astronomy. When the division of the heavens into four quarters was made it was multiplied by four, and ,tlie twenty-eight signs took the place of the primary seven constellations, the lunar zodiac of twenty-eight days being tlie registered result. - Thus the septenary is claimed as older than and predecessor of the fourfold division. In the Chinese arrangement the four sevens are given to four genii, who preside over the four cardinal points. The seven northern constellations make up the Black Warrior. Number seven, or the heptagon. Pythagoreans considered to be a religious and perfect number.The septenary was sacred-to some of the most prominent gods and godesses, and how, asks theosophy, are you going to account for that If sevens are mere coincidences? Mars had his seven attendants to Osiris, whose body was divided into seven and twice seven parts. Himalayan occultism with its sevens is regarded as the most ancient, in fact the original of all. Just as theosophy gives credit to the Hindu for the cross, so does it also deny that the Jewish Bible made seven famous.To prove that no nation has a particular claim on seven, just look at tlie seven vases in the Temple of the Sun, near the ruins of Babian in Upper Egypt, the seven fires that burned for ages continually before the altars ofMithra, tlie seven peninsulas, seven islands, seven seas, seven mountains and seven rivers of India; the seven Gothic deities, the seven worlds of the Chaldeans and their seven spirits.The Magi believed in seven worlds or globes of our planetary system. They were perfectly satisfied of that. They believed in the successive appearance and destruction of seven earths or continents on this globe, each continent being divided in commemoration of the seven globes (one visible, six invisible), into seven islands or continents, seven climes and so on.From the seven creations, seven Rishis, zones, continents, principles, and so on in tlie Aryan scriptures, tlie number seven has passed through Indian, Chaldean, Greek, Jewish, Roman and finally into the Christian mystic thought. The seven old books stolen out of Noah's famons ark by Ham and given to Cush, his son, and tlie seven brazen columns of Ham and Chelron are a reflection of the seven primordial mysteries instituted according to the “seven secret emanations.” the seven sounds and seven rays.The history of the Theosophical society is full of dates containing tlie figure seven or divisible by seven. It was organized Nov. 17, 1875. The reason this date is accepted as significant is because Theosopliists believe the organization of tlie society marks a grebt epoch in the future of the world.•lapanase Good Heulth.Surgical operations are very succes ful in Japan, and the healing process is very rapid, owing probably to tlie abstinence of tne people from alcohol, and their not being flesh caters. The Japanese are unsusceptible to scarlet fever, and smallpox, which was at one time rife among them, has been checked and almost exterminated by voluntary vaccination. The mortality of Toltio, a vast city which covers 100 square miles of ground, is only twenty per 1,000. The infant mortality is high, owing to the too early exposure of new-born children. It is hot unusual to see a week-old baby strapped on the back of a child of about eight, and sent out to be jumbled about as its infant nurse piavs and romps with other children in the streetWhen Snake Poison I* Harmless.Nature seems to have provided that no poison which acts,externally shall have any effect internally, and vice versa. Thus the most deadly snake venom can be swallowed with impugn-ity, the juice of the stomach presumably decomposing it and rendering it harmless. Many experiments have been made, to prove this. On one occasion recorded by Humboldt one person swallowed the whole of the poison that could be obtained from four Kalian vipers without suffering any bad consequences. In the same 'way the poison from the envenomed arrows of South American Indians can be swallowed with safety, provided only that there is no wound on the lips or inside of the mouth.An Italian Kindergarten.Naples lias a Froebcl institute, managed by Mme. Schwebe and Mile. Baermann. It is twenty years in existence and began with two children. It has now twenty-nine classes and 1,000 pupils. All do not come under ( the head of free studente, aa many are 1 from well-to-do familie* ____ J
Newspaper Details
Davenport Tribune
Davenport, Iowa, US
Sun, Jul 24, 1892
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Kasey D.
USA 31 May 2025
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