© 2012 Bruce Johnson – Reprinted with permission from Shining Lotus Metaphysical Bookstore Newsletter November 2012
by Bruce Johnson
Chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation describes a beast of the earth that deceives earth’s inhabitants and forces them to receive his mark. The mark is caused to be placed on the right hand or forehead of unfortunate humanity by the beast whose number is 666. Studying the numerology of 666 reveals a surprising allegorical truth, not a prophecy of Earth’s future.
The heavens and earth of Genesis took six days to create. Six is the number of matter, form, and physical manifestation. Six is dual, passive, and corresponds to the pole of dense matter. It symbolizes the body as opposed to the soul that created and animates it. Esoterically, six corresponds to darkness and is the reverse in shape, and opposite in quality, to the number nine.
Nine represents the threefold nature of spirit in its perfected triple expression. To the Pythagorean’s, nine was the source of, and the upper limit to, all the other numbers. Nine symbolizes perfection and light, is active in quality, and corresponds to the soul and the pole of spirit. Nine is the number of life separate from its body of expression.
Three is the ancient number of totality or completeness. Three sixes symbolize matter in its most concrete form, dominating and imprisoning the soul. 666 is the symbol of the body controlling the soul and darkness reigning over light. 666 is the inverse of 999, which represents truth and the perfected soul of light that is the antithesis of evil. 666 represents chaos over order, hate over love, slavery over freedom, and extreme materialism over spirituality. The biblical beast of selfishness and cruelty is depicted in the Devil card of the tarot, complete with a mark on his right hand, and slaves.
Like the number 666, the personality of man is triple in nature. 666 represents the physical, emotional and mental natures of man in their lowest and most base expression. The beast of earth is the lower animal nature within man that battles the divine Self for control. Fortunately, as we grow spiritually, we can throw the beast of the earth, also called the false prophet, into the lake of fire.
Bruce Johnson has over 30 years of study in the fields of Ancient Wisdom and occultism. He has taught classes on a wide range of topics, from Atlantis to mediums to Zoroaster. He is also a spiritualist minister, with a background in spiritual astrology. He lives in Colorado with his wife and their cat.
