The Quest for Inspiration

April 18, 2024

The oppressive Australian heat bore down as I trudged along the endless road to the small Queensland town where my friends had once lived. Car after car whizzed past without stopping for the wayward traveler. After hours of walking under the relentless sun, I finally reached my destination only to find their house abandoned – they had moved on.

Feeling lost and alone, I sank onto the front step, uncertain of my next move. That’s when the wizened old man appeared, his weathered face seeming to defy the laws of age itself. He fixed me with an inscrutable stare for a long moment before speaking.

“Your mates are gone. But you’re in luck I’m still around.”

His humble shack was a one-room timber structure that emanated an odd warmth, the air carrying the scent of freshly-hewn wood. We sat on tree stump stools as he poured our drinks. I explained that I had come to Queensland seeking inspiration to work on my thesis about the mystical poetry of William Blake. His response took me by surprise.

“Ah, Blake could perceive the hidden truths, my friend. The rest of us are blind to such mysteries.”

This peculiar old man had me rapt as he delved into the sacred geometries, the mystic language of numbers, and how words and logic obscure the greater realities. His words wove together theosophical concepts and Pythagorean numerology.

“Within these corporeal shells, we are mere observers,” he proclaimed. “Catching fleeting glimpses of the vastness through sensory keyholes.”

I could only listen in silence as he added with a sage nod, “Having nothing to say may be your salvation.”

As I bid farewell to the enigmatic stranger, stepping out into the crisp air, the world itself seemed transformed around me. The return journey, hitching rides and passing through landscapes both familiar and foreign, carried an ineffable sense that I had been granted a glimpse into something far greater than myself.

With each passing car and transient vista, I felt I was traversing the synapses of some vast cosmic mind, every experience and perception flickering like synaptic connections within the neural network of a greater consciousness. Finally arriving home, I marveled at the profound interconnectedness of it all. I could taste the words Blake had penned in “Auguries of Innocence“:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour

What once seemed an impossible task no longer felt so hopeless. The thesis that had tormented me for so long now carried the promise of insight and meaning.

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The above event demonstrates for me the ideas of synchronicity and hyparxis. Below is a schematic diagram of a “MOMENT”. It shows 3 dimensions of the ‘moment in time’ – Serial Time, Spatial Time and Timeless Time. This diagram is based on J G Bennett’s ‘Dramatic Universe‘ where he explores these issues of Time. Yes, it’s my hand drawn version!

2 Comments | consciousness, fiction, numerology, philosophy, poetry, Pythagoras, symbolism, William Blake, writing | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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Guardian Angel Counsellors

February 11, 2022

There are times when I need to be counselled, when I need someone to advise me. I need the counsellor to really care and understand my situation. My whole situation – my thoughts, my fears, my hopes, my secret wishes and the open ones. The only being that would be able to counsel me in such a holistic way would have to be an Angel. My Guardian Angel.

I believe that we all have a Guardian Angel whose duty is to ensure the safety of our souls in this “vale of tears” through signs. This sounds romantic, mythical, sounds so melancholic, semiotic and ….idiotic. Behind the verbal veil of “Guardian Angel” lives an organic reality whose form may have more to do with music than feathered wings.

Enough of this. I believe it is possible to commune with one’s Angel. It is the harmonic modality of a sea shell spiraling its smooth textured lines into a web of waves. The secret whisper behind a sigh, the underlying pattern of a coincidence or a splendid deja vu may all be the body language of our Angel. We have to get away from thinking that angel shapes are like apples, stones or trees. An Angelic form is closer to a mathematical proportion or an architectural geometry than to a physical shape of a bird. The Angels in architecture are as intangible  as a proportion. Angelic form is closer to the phi – the Golden Mean.

Nautilus pompilius

Sometimes my Angel speaks to me in a dream, sometimes through mouths of babes, sometimes through a book that falls open at a certain page, or even just a sound. All of these depend on me waiting for a clue. Most of the time I go about my business in a half sleep state. I know I’m not the only sleep walker around here! All of us spend most of our time in a sleep zone. I don’t mean to chop a tall poppy or a climbing rose down but we’re all vegetating in the sleep of matter. Sometimes a little ray of light breaks through our eyelids and in that crack between the eyelashes the Guardian Angel speaks.

 Now we all know that this doesn’t happen all too often  so we need a way to communicate with our Guardian Angel at will. This requires special devices. These devices are mantic in nature and require intuitive software hard wired in our nervous system. These devices have been known as the Tarot, the I Ching, the divinatory aspect of Astrology, Runes and many others.  

Conversing through the Book of Changes.

Someone lost a feather.

A revised version of Guardian Angel Counsellors (rewritten 1 Jan 2024). I’m not certain which I prefer – this or the original, thus 2 versions.

In moments of need, when the guidance of another becomes imperative, a yearning surfaces within me for counsel, for the wise touch of understanding. I seek a counsellor whose care delves into the depths of my existence – embracing my thoughts, fears, hopes, secret desires, and those laid bare. Such a holistic guide, I believe, can only be found in the ethereal realm of an Angel, a Guardian Angel.

Within the tapestry of my convictions, resides the steadfast belief that each of us is accompanied by a Guardian Angel, entrusted with the solemn duty of safeguarding our souls amid the tumultuous journey through this “vale of tears.” This notion may appear romantic, tinged with myth, and yet it carries a melancholic, semiotic, and perhaps even, idiotic resonance. Beyond the veiled rhetoric of the “Guardian Angel” lies an organic reality, one whose essence may align more with the harmonies of music than the flutter of feathered wings.

Enough of such musings. I hold firm to the notion that communion with one’s Angel is attainable – a harmonic interplay akin to a sea shell unfurling its silken contours into a symphony of waves. The elusive whispers behind a sigh, the intricate dance of coincidence, or the resplendent déjà vu may all serve as the celestial lexicon of our Guardian Angel. We must transcend the notion that angelic forms resemble earthly entities like apples, stones, or trees; rather, they embody a mathematical proportion, an architectural geometry, akin to the sacred phi – the Golden Mean.

At times, my Angel communicates through dreams, the innocent mouths of babes, the pages of a book falling open to a predetermined passage, or even a simple sound. Yet, all these celestial dialogues hinge on my receptivity to subtle hints. In the drowsy haze of semi-consciousness, I navigate the realms of existence, aware that I am not the sole wanderer in this somnambulant domain. We, the denizens of this earthly plane, often traverse the landscape of existence in a state of half-slumber, akin to a vegetative sleep, oblivious to the profound currents that ripple through reality. Occasionally, a slender beam of light penetrates our closed eyelids, and within that crevice, the Guardian Angel utters its voice.

Admittedly, such revelations are rare, prompting the necessity for a deliberate means of communication with our Guardian Angel. This requires specialized tools, devices imbued with a mystical essence and intricately connected to our intuitive faculties. These devices, known as the Tarot, the I Ching, the divinatory facets of Astrology, Runes, and myriad others, serve as conduits to bridge the celestial and terrestrial realms. They are the mantic instruments that unveil the profound wisdom encoded within, allowing us to commune with our Guardian Angel at will.

2 Comments | divination, I Ching, numerology, Qabalah, symbolism, synchronicity, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
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Astromusings

February 3, 2012

Someone asked me the other day, “So, how do you use this astrology stuff?” Good question.

Firstly, I’m not that interested in personal horoscopes, you know, character identikits made from cook book recipes. Don’t get me wrong, I believe there’s a lot to it, it’s just not interesting for me.  Mind you, I have analysed, synthesized and delineated my own horoscope and my immediate family. I have also done it for friends and with the software available now, if you wanted, you could just read the automated printouts and you would find some meaningful statements. Does this mean that a software produced cook book reading of astrological data shows that there may be an objective meaning to astrology? No, not necessarily because of the predisposition of human psychology to find patterns of meaning almost anywhere so that software output can be read as if it is uniquely true for the reader. This is the phenomena called apophenia, a term coined by Klaus Conrad in 1958 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia) which is the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random data.

After going through the narcissistic labyrinth that new students of Astrology go through (in ways akin to Freudian psychologists who have to be psychoanalysed before they call themselves psychoanalysts) you are left with the bare essentials. Why does “Mars” mean something different to “Venus”? What is this “something” that elicits the difference? Is this “something” made up in my mind with no connection to the “real” world? Obviously, the “something” that I deal with in astrology does not have to do with Mars rocks and Moon dust or Venusian heat, though in some contexts, it may very well do.

The meaning that arises from considering a horoscope is similar to that which arises from a mandala, or even a playful glance at Rorschach ink blots and clouds drifting by.  The meaning is not implicit in the horoscope or clouds that float by but rather in what is evoked in the reader / observer.

So, if this is the case, then why bother studying something that has no overt connection with the meaning extracted from it? Why don’t we just slaughter an animal and read its entrails, like some ancient people did? Well, it’d be messy and besides, it would not be a loving gesture to another sentient being. Well, why don’t we just read tea leaves, coffee grounds and cracked tortoise shells (the origin of I Ching hexagrams)? All of these carry something other than just the object observed. They carry a history, an accretion of observations and readings that assist the reader ascertain meaning. If someone drops a bucket of sheep entrails, with the liver in a dominant position, how would one know where to start reading it? There would be nothing to inform a beginning, a middle and an end. The history, or the tradition of readings that come with entrail reading would at least give the reader a start. The question then becomes, why would the history / tradition of readings carry any weight in meaning, at all? The tradition may well be full of misguided, random guesses systematised to give the illusion of structured meaning. This is what sceptics of Astrology, Tarot and the I Ching say in their own words. And, you know, I have no problem with this conclusion.

If I have no issues with the stance of a sceptic, then why do I still dowse for meaning in Astrology? If I was dependent on reading passing clouds in the sky for situational prognosis I would not have an on call “object” with which I could play for meaning because, each moment the cloud changes shape and may disappear within a short time. However, a structure, a blueprint that has its origins in Number and can be called on at any time has the possibility of a systematic reading. Astrology and the I Ching, even the Tarot have as their foundation Number. Notice how I use the capital letter “N” here for Number. Number to me is a living Being, it is not just a quantity, but a Quality. Number, for me has Pythagorean connections. Have a look at an earlier post called Time Body https://dodona777.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/time-body/, also check the post https://dodona777.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/is-consciousness-a-function-of-the-brain-or-vice-versa/

It is Number that speaks to me in its geometrical placement. All Astrology is geometry and the meanings that ensue from the horoscope are numerological.

I know this raises more questions and perhaps I will write some more on this later. I also know that I haven’t answered the original question of this post, “So, how do you use this astrology stuff?”. I will attempt a short answer. Astrology gives me the means to step outside my ordinary sense based mindset and to approach a world that is non – sense based. So, is it nonsense? Yes, but in a way different to the ordinary meaning of non sense 🙂

6 Comments | astrology, consciousness, divination, I Ching, numerology, philosophy, Pythagoras | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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Why dodona777?

December 30, 2010

Someone asked me the other day about my use of dodona777 in my blog’s address and email address dodona777@yahoo.com.au, “What does dodona mean and why 777?”

That’s a fair question.

Dodona is one of the oldest oracles in Greece, located near Yannina, Greece. I was born in a small village, Anatoli (which means East) about 5 kms from Dodona.

twitter-dodona-1

A picture I took when I visited Dodona – the oldest oracle in Greece.

It is here that Zeus speaks through the rustling of oak leaves and doves (pigeons) fly across the sky leaving message trails that punctuate Zeus’ rustling words. The word dodona in my web address is thus connected with my place of birth and its oracular history, since my interests are mantic in nature and this blog expresses some of them.

 

twitter-dodona-3

The triple 7 is interesting from a number of different angles. Whilst I’m aware of the popular meme “666” as the number of the Beast and its associations with the Dark Side I don’t believe this. In many ways 666 can be seen as Cosmic Life with 6 the Hebrew letter vav being life force on Earth in Humanity and the Heavens  6, 6, 6. However my name stavros has 7 letters and when I searched the net for the significance of 777 this is what appeared:

By the way – I did not consider all the many meanings and symbolism of 777 when I used the number in my email and blog address….but it does make interesting reading – one wonders whether 111, 222, 333, 444, 555, 888, 999 would also come up with as many meanings :).

Symbolic Properties of the number 777

“This number joins together the principles of the man, 700, the cosmic plans, 70, andtheir image in the Archetype, 7, according to R. Allendy. It is the universal organization, 7 + 7 + 7 = 21, the general evolution. Represent the celestial perfection, 7, on the 3 plans of the manifestation: matter, astral (mental or soul) and spirit. It is the number of the sacred work of the sons of God for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the Earth, mainly for the period of the seventh millennium after Adam where it is written that Satan will be chained for thousand years.

In esotericism, 777 means that virgin spirits (those to which God gave the life with the mission to rise towards the Creator, until to absorb themselves again in Him) will know 777 incarnations during seven revolutions that the wave of life accomplishes around the seven globes of the seven world periods. The symbolism of this number is therefore the ascension of the soul through the physical body. According to the tradition of Himalayan masters, 777 is the number of the celestial man and symbolizes the transmutation which takes place at the time where the man becomes conscious of the necessity to cover the path of initiation, and that he perceives, even of an elementary manner, that the goal is in God. The purity – does not father and is not fathered.

Bible Age of Lamech, father of Noah, when he died. In the posterity of Seth, Lamech is the last patriarch before the flood. (Gn 5,31) The book of the Genesis contains 777+777-21 or 1553 verses.

General question, in the Secret Doctrine of H.-P. Blavatsky, to solve “the problem of the 777 incarnations”.

If seven is the number of cycles and of the divine numbers, in it resides also the secret of the 777 incarnations of the man that should be taken care to not interpret as being the totality of incarnations of the man on earth, but that it should rather be reported to what the humanity must one day realize.

In a study on this number, H.S. Green sees there the triple evolution of Manas, Buddhi and Atma – “The number 777”, in “The Theosophist”, London, n. 9, 1909, p. 326. Raoul Auclair points out that when the Virgin Mary appears in Cova da Iria in Portugal, on August 13, 1385, this country was then 777 years old. And 532 years later, that is to say on May 13, 1917, took place the first appearance of Fatima. In an Ethiopian apocryphal book, named “The Wisdom of Sibyl”, it is written in conclusion of the book: “End the prophecy of the Sibyl. Praise to the Lord, Master of the world. Amen! That the Lord, eternally, makes you mercy. The Sibyl saw nine suns; each space of time is 778 years; the ninth is 777. The cycles of the Sibyl are 800 or 700; each is 800 years. There are 49 cycles of Ezra; each one counts 143 years. The cycles of Enoch are 10 and each cycle is 700 years. The Days of the Lord are 7; for us there are 2548000 days.” By making the calculation, this cycle of the nine suns lasts 7001 years: 8 cycles of 778 years = 6224 years 1 cycle of 777 years = 777 years Total = 7001 years And the 2548000 days of the Sibyl have a duration of 7000 years minus 7000 days.

The document “the celestial sanctum” in the order the Rosicrucian A.M.O.R.C., titles also the “liber 777”.

In Korea, in one of the speeches of the reverend Moon, this one declared to have already proceeded to the blessing of 777 couples.

Gematria The Christ said: “I am the resurrection”. In Greek, resurrection is written “h anastasiV”, numbering 777 = 8+1+50+1+200+300+1+200+10+6.

In the first verse of the Bible, it is written: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gn 1,1) This verse consists of 7 Hebrew words and 28 letters, and it also counts three names: God, heavens and earth. The sum of the numerical values of each one gives 777: God = 86, paradise = 395 and earth = 296, where 86+395+296 = 777. Written in Hebrew, “Orthodox Messiah”, gives 777: he, mem, shin, yod, heth, daleth, taw and yod, giving 5+40+300+10+8+4+400+10 = 777. Written in Hebrew, “YHWH in the YESHUA Messiah”, gives 777: yod, he, waw, he, beth, yod, shin, waw, ayin, he, mem, shin, yod and heth, giving 10+5+6+5+2+10+300+6+70+5+40+300+10+8 = 777. Written in Hebrew, “YESHUA saves”, gives 777: yod, shin, waw, ayin, he, waw, shin, yod and ayin, giving 10+300+6+70+5+6+300+10+70 = 777. By using the ASCII table, we find that the French word “EXORCISTES” (exorcists) gives 777. The numerical value of the Hebrew word NMLA IVMM, meaning “filled with light”, gives 777.

Occurrence The number 777 is used 1 time in the Bible. The word priest is used 777 times in the Bible.”

2 Comments | consciousness, divination, Dodona, hermes trismegistus, numerology, philosophy, Zeus | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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Time Body

August 23, 2009

 “Being in the timeless moment without the coercion of time is to dream, while lacking any sense of the timeless is to be only a machine.” Anthony Blake, “A Seminar on Time”

spiral clock-animated-gif-18

I have been long thinking about the Time Body since I turned 40. My interest in this was not only aroused by my entering the 40’s Chamber but also because I have read in the esoteric / occult tradition that the Path of Initiation cannot truly begin until the aspirant is at least 40 years old. So, all the Sufi practices, all the Gurdjieff exercises, all the attempts at the Jesus Prayer in Rhythm to the Breath, all the quiet desperation in a cube, all the immobility of mind, “Stopping the World” and the sacred wish arousing in the Heart….all of these things and more are only a preparation. Note, however, that when we speak of 40’s we are speaking of 4 to a number of degrees. Four is not 40 but shares attributes of four-ness with 40 as does 400 and 0.04 and 0.4.

Preparation for what? For the next phase of one’s life – the 40’s and the next few decades left in the mortal coil of three score and ten and beyond. Let’s remember that women, generally go through menapause in their 40’s, and men go through a “midlife crisis”. Why then? There’s something happening to us, just as powerful as puberty but this time it is the “puberty of old age”. What I mean by this is if I live to be 84 (a good number to work with because of the 12 X 7 connection), then 42 is the mid point (6 X 7). During the period of the 40’s we are laying the foundation (if we wish to) for a healthy, vibrant old age – my 60’s and the rest.
So, who is it that sees someone in the mirror that isn’t them? It’s me and all of us who are in mid life. In me there is a cry for the youth that I was and a fear of what I may be in old age. I have decided that this decade will and is the decade of consolidation. Actually, this is pompous. I didn’t decide anything, it’s more that there is a period of consolidation in one’s Time Body. The Time Body is the body of your mortal coil, it is the moment of your birth, like an Ourbouros, eating the moment of your death..this whole picture of one’s life/body is spatially perceived as 0 – 84 years long.

Pythagoras

Pythagoras

Taking the Time Body as 84 and working with a hint from Schwaller de Lubicz’s insight into Ancient Egyptian understanding we will enter a realm of geometrical/numerological correspondences. Though one is inclined in this Age of Techno-Scientism to use words like “mathematics” to denote a respectable regard for dead abstractions, I like to think that the magico-mythico-Pythagoro Number is where I’m working from. Status quo respectability, when it comes to such life and death considerations such as,  “Where am I going? Why am I here on this Earth? Who am I? Is there Life after Death?” can go in the dustbin of history. The danger of leaving the table of consensus reality – the current technoscience rationalism, is that you may end up sitting alone at  the table of insanity. An unbending intent, a purity of heart and a constant need to grow will at least provide some assurance that one’s understanding may not be crazy, but just the way things are if we live in an onion layered world.

Let’s get back to de Lubicz’s hint.  His insight is to consider that at every 7 years of one’s life a “life” has been and a new 7 year lot is coming up. Like layers of skin, each layer 7 years thick is a time-onion-skin where each skin is a period of 7 years. Consider that at 7 years old – the Church and Institutionalised understanding has it that a child has reason. Let’s go to 14 – puberty ….21 adulthood…..
A few clues: get Dane Rudyar’s  “Astrology of Personality” and read about The Dial of Life. It is interesting because he considers the language of Astrology as the Algebra of Life. Read P D Ouspensky’s account of the Enneagram in In Search of the Miraculous. Also Ouspensky’s “Tertium Organum”, a classic book which gives some semblence of “rationality” to the mystic vision and his other classic “A New Model of the Universe” where he introduces the idea of Eternal Recurrence (not the same as Nietzsche’s concept). My account of the onion skin layers of time is dependent on all of the above and a generous helping of experience.
Try this as an experiment:  Write out in 7 year lots X 7 a table like this:

time body table

To make it “user friendly” you can include the year of the age eg 1(1962)   2(1963)   3(1964)   4(65)……etc
As you write the number and year beginning from your birth year try to notice any images/memories arising and what year they pertain to. These memories as they arise become “key symbols”, they become in a very personal sense the x,y,z and the a,b,c ‘s of one’s own algebra of life. If focussed enough you create your own memory body. Now, look at your “algebra of life” through the prism of your meaning/memory. Like, what happened to you when you were 7,14, 21, 28, 35, 42 ? Looking across and down the table: what happened at 4,11,18, 25, 32, 39, 46 ? You will find that there is a corresponding change in “motion” for each layer of 7. With each lot of 7 years there is a noticeable change and experience that suggest layers of octave experience. Each year is a note in the scale Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si Do. What is interesting is that there is a discernible signature for each octave period. Later on you can then put the table of years onto the Enneagram.

Enneagram

Enneagram

The Circle depicts daily life, the life of the diary - sequential time.

The Circle depicts daily life, the life of the diary – sequential time.

The inner movement 1-4-2-8-5-7 depicts the "notebook", the method and know how, the Sadhana. In the events of one's life, this is where synchronicity resides.

The inner movement 1-4-2-8-5-7 depicts the “notebook”, the method and know how, the Sadhana. In the events of one’s life, this is where synchronicity resides.

The Triangle depicts the idea of a creed, one's faith. It is Timelessness.

The Triangle depicts the idea of a creed, one’s faith. It is Timelessness.

The Enneagram with all three aspects of one's experience together as a whole. See A G E Blake's "The Intelligent Enneagram" for a detailed discussion of this symbol.

The Enneagram with all three aspects of one’s experience together as a whole. See A G E Blake’s “The Intelligent Enneagram” for a detailed discussion of this symbol.

I have done all this and more with my own life numbers. If you are astrologically inclined, do the Solar Returns of each year and see what you find. The whole purpose of this is to focus the mind onto one’s own life stream. This focussing is not analytical, indeed, the process abhors analysis. It is the realm of imagining and then self remembering – or at least a preparation for this. The exercise itself is another version of “Recapitulation” which Carlos Castaneda refers to. Indeed, you will, if you delve a little deeper in what I’ve just given above,  find not only clues to the notion of Fate but also clues to one’s Destiny. These clues are not uttered in any way by me, but rather by the very simplicity of the gods – Numbers. The Ancient Egyptian concept of Neter is close in meaning to the Pythagorean concept of Number.

The cover of R A Schwaller de Lubicz's magnum opus "Temple of Man"

The cover of R A Schwaller de Lubicz’s magnum opus “Temple of Man”

What are you looking for in the numbers of the years of your life? Just a few hints that can help name the years. Maybe then, your heart will play around with mystic circles and triangles with the Numbers of Life turning off and on like a  light show.
All this may sound weird, but I can assure you, if you try this experiment, you will be pleasantly surprised by the octave “correspondence” you will see in your life experience. It will be as if there is a pattern, unknown to you, unfolding in a manner totally unexpected. A kind of music of your life, a hidden melody that you were not able to hear notes of until this moment. At times you may experience a déjà vu  , the feeling that you have been here before,and this is interpreted exactly as that through the Great Idea of Eternal Recurrence as expressed through P D Ouspensky in his “A New Model of the Universe”. A good summary of this idea & its connection with Nietzche’s and Steiner’s take on it is here.

I’ve been influenced much by the 4th Way – through Gurdjieff and other teachings. Is it any wonder that I have become a middle aged Gnostic seeker carrying the lantern of wonder?

Try it  and see if it isn’t true. You will find a pattern that will truly spook you. If you follow the clues and hints you will see the synchronicity of events

and

maybe the big question will arise:

WHOSE SHOW IS THIS ANYWAY?

Now clock animated

9 Comments | alchemy, astrology, attention, consciousness, divination, enneagram, fourth way, Gurdjieff, numerology, personal, philosophy, Pythagoras, Schwaller de Lubicsz, sufi, symbolism, synchronicity | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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