Numbers Are They Holy Or Magical? Options

As anyone will tell you numerology is an important part of magic here is what confuses me.

Do Catholics not accept the significance of magical numbers or do they think them evil like they do magic in general?

This is because some of the main magical numbers in use are 3 7 13 and these crop up in the bible and the significance of some of them is emphasised.

for instance

3 = the holy trinity, wise men
7 = the days of creation + the arch angels
13 = the number of apostles and jesus

are these numbers of a holy nature or a magical nature? or both?

can someone please tell me why numbers became so embedded in magic and why the number 15 is assosciated with ishtar.

i had thought the number 2 more linked to her because in love there are two people, and in war there are two sides. if you could give any reason why certain gods are given certain numbers i would be very much grateful.

thank you

I guess that would depend on how religious one was. And it's not limited to catholics you know. But one remark did confuse me.

You mentioned 7 Arch Angels? I thought there was only 5.
Michael
Raphael
Gabriel
Uriel
Lucifer (he may have fallen but he's still an Arch Angel)

Who are the other 2?

Sincerely,
Gmcbroom

can someone please tell me why numbers became so embedded in magic

Back in ancient times, people were nowhere near as educated as we are nowadays. Numbers held a certain fascination for them.


Mathematics was seen as a "mysterious" science. As such, they ascribed mystical properties to certain numbers. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blablabla.gif)

Do Catholics not accept the significance of magical numbers or do they think them evil like they do magic in general?

are these numbers of a holy nature or a magical nature? or both?

can someone please tell me why numbers became so embedded in magic and why the number 15 is assosciated with ishtar.

You should ask a priest, or request one to answer you from the Bishop, and write or visit at his convenience.

From my own knowledge of Catholic docrtine, I can say that they do not view "esoteric meanings of numbers" as an altogether evil concept. Whether they would approve of you using them to cast spells and invoke Ishtar is another matter.

Most numerology systems are derived from astronomical or linguistic observations. In the former case the number-meanings usually had a tie to some particular god or its legends and worship, in much the same way that the Bible employs numbers to underscore a thematic element. In the latter case, where words or letters have numeric values, each system ascribes different values and irrelevant meanings to words.

For both these reasons (that it relies upon idolatry and that it produces confusion even when dealing with sacred subjects), systematic numerology has been vigorously discouraged by the Church. This encouraged several hundred years of mathematical illiteracy in Europe, though numerology flourished (along with mathematics) in the eastern cultures.

I guess that would depend on how religious one was. And it's not limited to catholics you know. But one remark did confuse me.

You mentioned 7 Arch Angels? I thought there was only 5.
Michael
Raphael
Gabriel
Uriel
Lucifer (he may have fallen but he's still an Arch Angel)

Who are the other 2?

Sincerely,
Gmcbroom

The apocryphal 1Enoch 20 lists the archangels as Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel

the names seem to differ a lot from varying sources but it does usually stay at seven.

besides i didn't think lucifer was an arch angel, he was on the mercy seat, and had risen to that station. The archangels were made in thier positions

This post has been edited by Samas: Sep 21 2007, 02:05 AM