Nine and Eleven

Nine and eleven are important numbers. Many fascinating occult attributes are applied to them, especially nine:

"The Psuedo-Dionysius the Areopagite classifies angels in nine choirs, or three triads -perfection of perfection, order in order and unity in unity. 

"Each world -Heaven, Earth and Hell -is symbolized by the ternary figure of a triangle. Nine is the totality of the three worlds.. 

"Nine universal principles are also to be found in the teachings of the oldest school of Indian philosophy, the Vaisheshika. Orphic initiation would similarly seem to have accepted three triads of principles, 'the first comprising Night, Sky, and Time; the second, Air, Light and the Stars; and the third, Sun, Moon, and Nature, these nine principles making up nine symbolic aspects of the Universe. Paramendines stated that the number nine related to absolutes.' The nine Muses stood for the sum of human knowledge as represented by the sciences and the arts. Liturgically a novena stands for 'something fulfilled, a complete time-span.' Zoroastrianism, too, had its novenas: they recur in the Zend Avesta where many rituals of purification comprise the triple repetition of a triad of ceremony. Thus the shrouds of the dead should be washed nine times, three times with urine, three times with earth and three times with water. Such three times threefold repetition recurs in many rituals of magic and sorcery.

"Since three is the number of innovation, its square stands for universality. It is significant that, in so many folktales drawn from all over the world, the supernumerary, infinity, is expressed by such repetitions of the number nine as the 999,999 Fravashis who, the Ancient Iranians believed, watched over the semen of Zoroaster, from which all prophets were to spring. The Ouroboros, the serpent which bites its own tail and the image  of the return of the manifold to the one and hence of primeval and of final Oneness, is related graphically to the way the number nine is denoted in many alphabets such as the Tibetan, Persian, Egyptian hieratic, Armenian and so on. The mystical meaning of nine relates it, too, to what the Sufis term haqq, the final stage of the Way, bliss leading to fana, the annihilation of the individual in the rediscovery of the whole, or... 'the loss of personality in universal love.' Indian tradition defines more clearly the redemptive meaning of the symbol nine through nine successive incarnations of Vishnu who, each time, offered his life for the salvation of mankind. Similarly, according to the Gospels, Jesus was crucified at the third hour; his death agonies began at the sixth hour (dusk), and he died at the ninth hour. Claude de Sant-Martin considered that in nine 'the physical body and all its properties were annihilated.' Allendy concludes that Freemasons have made it 'the eternal number of immortality, nine masters discovering the grave and body of Hiram.'"
(Dictionary of Symbols, Jean Chevalier & Alain Gheerbrant, pgs. 702-704)

The nine master Masons who discovered the body of Hiram Abiff

Of nine, the 33rd degree Freemason Manly P. Hall writes:

"The ennead -9- was the first square of an odd number (3x3). It was associated with failure and shortcoming, because it fell short of the perfect number 10 by one. It was called the number of man, because of the nine months of his embryonic life. Among its keywords are ocean and horizon, because to the ancients these were boundless. The ennead is the limitless number because there is nothing beyond it but the infinite 10. It was called boundary and limitation, because it gathered all numbers within itself. It was called the sphere of the air, because it surrounded the number as air surrounds earth...

"The 9 was looked upon as evil, because it was an inverted 6. According to the Eleusinian Mysteries, it was the number of the spheres through which the consciousness passed on its way to birth. Because of its close resemblance to the spermatozoon, the 9 has been associated with germinal life."
(The Secret Teachings of All Ages, pg. 220)

Aleister Crowley also believed nine to be an evil number, stating:

"9. Most Evil, because of its stability. AVB, witchcraft, the false moon of the sorceress."
(Gematria, pg. 43)

Crowley on the Sgt. Pepper album cover; the Beatles (Lennon specifically) would go on to write a song called "Revolution 9" for the White Album

Crowley was much more impressed by the number eleven.

"11. The great magical number, as uniting the antitheses of 5 and 6 etc. AVD the magic force itself."
(ibid)

Eleven has even more going for it that being the number of magic.

"Ten symbolizes a complete cycle and by adding to its fullness, eleven is the sign of excess, extravagance and exaggeration, in whatever category you like, promiscuity, violence, biased judgement. The number heralds potential conflict. Its ambivalence resides in the fact that the excess which it signifies may either mark the beginning of a renewal or the collapse and breakdown of the number ten, a fault in the universe. It is this later sense that made St. Augustine say that 'the number eleven is the blazon of sin.' Its disturbing activities may be compared with the unbalancing and overenlargement of one of the pillars of this universe (the number ten), a definition of disorder, disease and sin.

"Generally speaking, the number is that of 'individual initiative, but of an initiative exercised without relation to cosmic harmony, and therefore more often than not of a malign character.' Eleven is, therefore, the symbol of internal conflict, 'of discord, rebellion, aberration, law-breaking... human sin... and of the revolt of the angels..."

"The number eleven, which would seem to have been one of the keys of the Divine Comedy, also derives its symbolism from being the sum of the numbers five and six, these being the microcosm and the macrocosm, or Heaven and Earth. In China, eleven was the number which 'in its totality (ch'eng) comprised the way of Heaven and Earth. It was the number of the Tao."
(Dictionary of Symbolism, Jean Chevalier & Alain Gheerbrant, pg. 349)

Both numbers are associated with Heaven and Earth (in addition to Hell, in the case of nine) as well as magic. There are nine choirs of angels, while the number 11 symbolizes the rebellion of the angels. Eleven is the number of the Tao, while there are 81 chapters (9x9) in the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism. In African tradition, there is an especially interesting connection between the numbers nine and eleven.

"In African esoteric tradition, this number is especially holy, to the extent that some would regard it as one of the principal keys to Black occultism. It is linked to the mysteries of fertility. Women have eleven body-openings: men only nine."
(ibid, pgs. 348-349)

The numbers nine and eleven are especially important to me, as I imagine they are to many in my generation. I am in my late 20s and came of age when 9/11 occurred, so it will always stand as a defining moment in my life in much the same way I imagine the Kennedy assassination resonates with Baby Boomers. Ten years down the road, the America I find myself living in feels dramatically different from the one I grew up in, even if superficially the changes seem subtle.

Recluse spent the 9/11 ten year anniversary in the midst of a 13 hour drive heading up to West Virginia to visit my family. During the long hours behind the wheel and the down time at home there was ample opportunity to reflect on the state of modern America. The trip itself and news upon returning home added to what was an especially surreal experience for me.

Its no secret of course that things are getting a little crazy from coast to coast. The headlines leading up to that faithful day were positively surreal, even. Most disturbing were the rash of spree shootings leading up to 9/11 -in New York state, Carson City, NV in the infamous 'IHOP shootings', and along the West Virginia/Kentucky/Pennsylvania border. Florida even witnessed a so-called 'vampire' attack:

"A self-proclaimed vampire attacked an elderly wheelchair-bound man outside a Florida Hooters Restaurant just before midnight on Thursday, leaving him bloodied and in need of stitches, police said. 

"Milton Ellis, 69, had fallen asleep on the porch of the deserted Hooters in St. Petersburg when he woke up to find Josephine Rebecca Smith, 22, on top of him, he told police.
Smith told Ellis she was a vampire and then proceeded to bite him, tearing off chunks of his face and a part of his lip, St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz said, according to The St. Petersburg Times.  

"'After he fell asleep on the ground, he claims that she attacked him, started yelling that she was a vampire, that she was going to eat him and started biting him by his face and body,' Puetz said.

"Blood dripping from bite marks on his neck and face, Ellis managed to scramble back into his motorized wheelchair and reach a nearby Shell gas station, where he called police."

a Florida vampire

The old man had a criminal record as well. I'd go out on a limb and speculate that Ellis and the vampire broad had some kind of drug connection working before the assault. This is rather fitting, considering another milestone that was announced shortly before 9/11 concerning drugs:

"The number of Americans using illegal drugs has continued to rise, reaching 22.6 million, or 8.9 percent of the population, in 2010, a new government survey shows...

"In addition, young adults appear to be the group showing the greatest increase in drug use. 'The group that seems to be standing out among everybody is the 18- to 25-year-olds,' Delany said. "These are the people who are going to college, starting in the workforce and starting families."

"Illicit drug use among this group has gone from 19.6 percent in 2008 to 21.5 percent in 2010, a significant increase, Delany said."

The article attempts to put much of the blame for rising drug use on marijuana, but it tosses out this little tidbit:

"The illicit use of prescription painkillers has also been increasing, with most (55 percent) getting these drugs from a friend or relative. Only 4.4 percent of those using these drugs got them from a drug dealer, and less than 1 percent purchased them over the Internet, the report found."

Florida, with its vampires and all, is under going a permanent transformation via prescription med abuse. I've written more on this topic before here.

My old home town is a fine testament to the new America. Its small town America to the core, with one main strip dominated by small businesses. Immediately outside the town are a few factories followed by miles upon miles of farms. In many ways its changed little since 1900. But in the past decade a Wal Mart store was opened on the outskirts of the town and progressively downtown has dried up. Empty office space is now the most common feature of downtown. In recent years the factories have been shut down while the farms are slipping into foreclosure like a series of dominoes.

Other curious things are happening on the outskirts of town. An armory is present with a rather large amount of military vehicles plainly visible. Further, a defense contractor has opened up a 'training center' for potential mercenaries... er, private contractors working out one of the Empire's spheres of influence. This massive compound is marked by numerous shooting ranges, sedans complete with tinted windows and D.C. plates, and junk vehicles littered with bullet holes. I had hoped to swag a few pictures of this site, but the weather was poor for most of the trip.

The return trip featured encounters with a pack of transgender kids in Jonesville, North Carolina, and a speeding ticket outside of Charlotte. At a rest area just outside of Charlotte I encountered another truth seeker in the dead of night: Rest Stop Steve, who seemingly holds court there on the weekend nights. Conspiracy theories, cops, and transgenderism -Welcome to North Carolina, indeed.

I love rest stops

Upon returning home I phoned up Manos, who had been collecting my mail for me while I was away. His interesting times continue: He informed me that two kids had been knifed badly by a biker gang in the parking lot of our local watering hole while I was away. One kid, who was stabbed directly in the chest, barely survived. What's more, a house in a gated community in our yuppie-infested burg had a Molotov cocktail tossed into the front yard one night, nearly causing a large scale fire.

In the decade since 9/11 a fortune has spent enforcing an empire internationally and a police state domestically. Americans are encouraged to wave the flag and watch football as they are informed that they live in the richest and safest country on Earth. Yet all around the signs of decay are ever present: genetically altered food, shuttered businesses, rampant crime and drug abuse even in the midst of legions of police officers, military personnel, surveillance cameras and unmanned drones. Truly the double mind is working on over drive.

Earlier in this piece I alluded to the fact that the numbers nine and eleven are strongly associated with magic. Previously I've written on the actual nature of magic and I concluded that at its most simplest, magical workings deal with the manipulation of reality and perception. And more often than not, this manipulation is induced via physical, real world techniques rather than the Other Side.

I submit then that 9/11 was, if nothing else, a magical working -It has literally torn at the fabric of our reality as no other event has in recent memory. It is as if once the American populace accepted the official view of that day's events it became impossible to turn back, and they have continued to believe every lie spewed by the Cryptocracy ever since. As our civil liberties and coin are swindled away in the name of imaginary enemies we are told to go shopping.

And even worse, that's actually what we do. If there is sorcery in this world, then truly this must be it.