The following (text only) is taken from Chapter Three of
The Secret Garden of the Soul - An Introduction to the Kabbalah by Allan Armstrong. First published by Imagier Publishing in 2008
Concerning the
Alphabet and Number
To the Kabbalist the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are more than simple
components of words; the correspondences of each letter are very extensive. Not
only does every letter have a sound but it also has a name, a numerical value,
and a form, all of which play a significant part in Kabbalah. Furthermore each
letter has an associated image and an astrological symbol. For example, the
letter Aleph t has the value of 1, or, when written
larger, the value of 1,000. It may also be viewed as an ox or interpreted as
the element of air. The shape of the letter itself is said to describe a bull, and in some circles it
is said to represent a man standing with his arms outstretched. At a high
level, Aleph symbolises the One, the eternal and
omnipotent God. It is the principal channel between heaven and earth, and when considered as
such it describes a flow of life between one and the other, thus some
Kabbalists have likened it to Jacob’s ladder.
The Kabbalist accepts as a matter of fact that the
scriptures were given to us by divine inspiration, that they are the Word of God, the divine will made manifest in
our world. Thus, the analysis of the sacred texts is taken very seriously;
indeed, every sentence, every word, and every letter is counted, compared, and
reflected upon. Because numbers also represents the letters, it is possible to
establish the numerical value of any word or phrase. On this basis several systems
of working with the letters have been established. These systems are
ancient, and have proved to be invaluable tools for exploring the hidden depths of scripture.
This may seem strange, even obsessive, to the majority of
people who think of numbers as simply being tools for establishing quantity and
value. Today, significant meaning in number rarely goes beyond dates of
birthdays, anniversaries, and lucky numbers, but in the ancient world number
had a profound, if not sacred, import that would have been lost to
humanity if it had not been preserved in various societies of devoted scholars and quiet sanctuaries
of esoteric schools. In our rational, secularised world, the
mystical and symbolic interpretation of number is either associated with
historical figures such as Pythagoras and his successors
or with periods of social decadence such as that of the Greco-Roman world of late antiquity.
In our time, such interests are considered to be delusory and generally
associated with the eccentrics who populate the fringes of our society.
However, it is a fact that throughout the ancient world the
mystical significance of number was at least as important as its scientific
application. But times have changed, and the mind of humanity is now focussed
upon an exploration of the material world and the
development of a material philosophy and science that
excludes all that lies outside its perceived area of interest; including
religion and all things connected with the life of the soul. This was probably
inevitable; nevertheless the appreciation of the role that number plays in the
spiritual dimension of human life has continued unabated
from classical times, albeit in reduced circumstances, and nowhere has it been
more appreciated than in the esoteric schools of Diaspora Judaism
that were eventually to give rise to the Kabbalists of the medieval era and
beyond.
The spirit of scriptural interpretation, aided by a
metaphysical understanding of the meaning of number, has ever been an important
feature of the Kabbalah, and without an appreciation of this fact those who seek
to engage in the work of Kabbalah will find themselves struggling to understand
the different systems employed therein. The following notes about some of the
key features of the classical world’s perception of the meaning and philosophy of the basic
numbers one to ten may thus be of value.
One emerges out of the monad, which is the term used to express the principle of Unity. The monad was understood by Pythagorean and Platonic philosophers to signify the first cause of creation, out of which emerge all things, including the number one, which in a paradoxical way is synonymous with the monad but distinct from it. In nature it is the potential for diversity demonstrated in geometry by a point and in mathematics by the number one. As such it is the cause, source, beginning, and basis of all number and numeration. They also understood that all even numbers were feminine and that all odd numbers were masculine, except for the monad, which is absolutely androgynous, because it is the father and mother of all number.
Number Two
Two indicates division and polarization. It is the first step from unity into diversity. The emergence of duality and diversification out of unity points to a polarization of the number one and in doing so gives rise to contraries that can be expressed numerically. The number two signifies matter. In the Pythagorean tradition there are three stages of creation, the first is unity symbolised by the monad, the second is polarization into two opposite creative powers, symbolised by the duad, the third is the uniting of these opposites in the generation of life, symbolised by the triad.
Number Three
If we accept the number one as a point, and the number two
as a line, then the number three corresponds to the plane. The smallest plane imaginable is the
triangle, which is the basis of the first three-dimensional figure—the
three-sided pyramid. The number three causes the potential of
the monad to advance into actuality and extension and
is therefore considered the basis of Creation. It reconciles the
polarities engendered through the actions of the number two; thus it has been
called the number of friendship, harmony, peace, and unanimity.
It indicates a beginning, a middle, and an end, and also implies a past, a
present, and a future. Thus it speaks of form and time, of experience and
knowledge. Out of these is born the world of duality, or in modern terms,
‘space-time’.
Number Four
The number four is considered to be the begetter of the decad because the sum of all
the numbers contained within it totals ten (1 + 2 + 3 + 4). It is known as the
‘foundation’, because in geometrical procession it is the first number to display
the nature of three-dimensional existence: point,
line, plane, solid. Its forms are considered to be the tetrahedron pyramid (the first solid),
because it consists of four angles and four planes, and the cube, because it is a
three-dimensional square—the symbol of earth. The tetrad gives rise
to the four elements and universal existence, and as such signifies the quality
and nature of change. It is understood that the monad applies to arithmetic,
the dyad to music, the triad to geometry, and the tetrad to astronomy. 
Number Five
Five is thought to be androgynous, consisting as it does of
the first masculine and feminine numbers (two and three) and because it was
formed of male and female it was called ‘marriage’. It was also understood to
consist of the four elements plus æther (spirit) and was therefore
called ‘lack of strife’, because through the fifth element of spirit it reconciles any
potential discordance. The pentad also signifies justice,
because it governs equality in the soul and regulates providence, again through
the element of æther. Number Six
Six is thought to be the first perfect number because it
arises out of the multiplication of the first even and odd numbers; it was also
thought to be androgynous and to signify marriage because of the relationship
between these two numbers (two and three). Because it was understood to be the
form of forms, possessing wholeness, it was accepted as a symbol of the soul,
and that the universe was ensouled and harmonised by it, and
through it attained wholeness, permanence, health, and beauty. It signifies the
six directions of extensions of solid bodies: up, down, forward, backward,
left, and right. Number Seven
Seven is believed to be a virgin born neither of mother
(even number) or father (odd number) but from the father of all (the monad). It was revered by the
ancient philosophers, and called ‘that which brings to completion’. It was
understood that all things, both in the heavens and upon the earth, were brought to
completion by it, thus because it controlled mortal affairs it was called
‘chance’. The soul is understood to descend into existence through the seven planetary spheres, acquiring
its qualities or virtues from them. It also applied to the seven liberal arts and sciences,
which were devised for the edification of the soul. 
Number Eight
Number Nine
Number Ten
However, the written Torah is but a garment
concealing a deeper meaning; this deeper meaning is known as the ‘Soul of the Law’, and it is to
the Soul of the Law that the Kabbalist goes in search
of understanding. It is an interior journey wherein the soul reflects upon the
significance of the scriptures. To do this effectively the soul must direct and
control the unruly will. Left to its own devices the will, except in extremely
rare cases, generally gravitates to the comfort zone of old behaviour patterns.
In simple terms, the attention wanders, and it must be brought back to the main
objective which is the study of the scriptures, wherein it may learn the way of
the divine and may grow in understanding. Such work is known as meditation, and some of the
most useful tools used by the Kabbalists in meditation involve the
symbolism of numbers and their correspondences. #brothermarcusodp
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