The number of the beast is, according to St.John, 666, and it is "the number of a man". Most black and death metallers, ignorant of the meaning of this number, as well as other traditionally "satanic" symbols such as the inverted cross, the inverted pentagram etc., use it in logos and song titles, just because they recognize it as a symbol of "evil". In this article will be discussed the true meaning of the number 666.
A couple of weeks before this article was written, the younger brother of the writer was visited by two Jehovah's Witnesses. Out of mere interest in what their opinion on such a well known biblical symbol might be, he asked them about it. The answer he received was perplexing but not very surprising, he was told that 666 was "an incomplete number". What they meant by that was probably not even known to themselves, and that it was completely wrong must have been totally beyond their comprehension.
If you add up all the figures from 1 to 36, it equals 666. What is so special about this is that 36 is 6 multiplied by 6. The question is, what did St.John know about this? In what way did he attain the knowledge that 666 was the number of the beast, and what did he know about its meaning? The number 666 is also the sum of the numerical values of the Greek letters in To Mega Therion, The Great Beast. Some would call it a coincidence that such an extraordinary number represents this very special word, but such "coincidences" are commonplace in matters concerning magic and mysticism, the reason for which is always unknown to simple material creatures like us.
As for some more basic calculations; Aleister Crowley, in Magick in Theory and Practice, explains that 11 is the number of all Magick, the explanation of which I will not reproduce here, I advise anybody interested to read the above mentioned work. The figures from 1 to 11 added up equals 66. Of course this is purely mathematical, but it shows the number 666 is not just any number, it is very special. The wisdom of St. John can not be overrated, which the above shows.
So, what does this teach us about the number 666? First of all, as I've already mentioned, it teaches us that 666 is not an ordinary number, just like 583 or 127. Although I have not checked it out, I am quite sure no other number can show such an amazing amount of symmetry.
What symbols does this imply? The three sixes in the number 666 gives us a hint of balance, the two 6's multiplied to 36 being equilibrated, resulting in the middle 6, thus 666. This shows us what a complete number 666 is, opposite of what the Jehovas Witnesses said. It is of course also a number of magic, as it contains all the numbers of the ten holy Sephiroth, as well as the number of magic itself, 11, added together to form the basis of the number, 36. The figure 6, which totally dominates the number 666, is also the number of the macrocosm, represented by the hexagram, which means that the message concerns the whole world, all of it.
Let's take a closer look at the interpretation of this sacred number. There are three sixes, the number three being, as mentioned above, the number of equilibrium, of opposites balancing each other. If we take the example of the two opposites Good and Evil, we have a possible interpretation of what St.John was trying to tell us with his metaphor, The Great Beast. The biggest enemy of christianity is without a doubt learning and intelligence. The christians call their religion a monotheistic one, although there is a struggle between The Good God and The Evil Devil. The Great Beast, 666, represents the equilibrium between good and evil, he also represents the increasing education among the masses, that will lead to enlightenment and abolishing of the religion of paradoxes. What is being written here is without a doubt blasphemous, just like the beast blasphemes the name of god, and that is why St.John wanted to warn mankind that this Beast must be defeated, otherwise christianity would never prevail.
Hail the beast!
(c)ANGRAMAIN' YO 1993.
Appeared in Eternal Damnation 'zine, issue 1.
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