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.

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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.

 

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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
Posted by stavr0s

Flotillas True Beginnings ……from the Holy Mountain

February 28, 2009

Mount Athos, Greece

Mount Athos is in north eastern Greece, east of Salonika and only accessible by boat from Ouranopolis (ouranos means sky so Ouranopolis means Sky Town).

Mount Athos is in north eastern Greece, east of Salonika and only accessible by boat from Ouranopolis (ouranos means sky so Ouranopolis means Sky Town). The Holy Mountain is located on the red peninsular of Halchidi.

  When are true beginnings of events, births and resurrections? I ask this question because I’ve been asked when did the “Flotillas of Hope” begin? Common sense answers that it was the day and time the boats set off for Nauru. “Eureka” left Sydney on 15 May and “One Off” and “Eureka” left Brisbane for Nauru on 23 May, 2004. However, before the boats even existed, “Flotillas of Hope” was an email sent at a particular date and time from somewhere. Was this email “Call to Action” the real beginning of the project? A feeling anchored in my heart for a few months before the “Call to Action” email was sent over the internet.  Was this feeling the real beginning that only needed my fear of ridicule to disappear to express itself? Where did this feeling arise from?

I believe the real beginning happened four years before we set sail for Nauru. My father died in December, 1999 and being the eldest son of a Greek family it was my duty to go to Greece and check out some property stuff. I hadn’t been back to Greece since I left when I was four years old. I couldn’t afford to return to my birthplace, my roots, until I was 48. Over the years I dreamt about returning and all the special places I would visit. One was Dodona which is about 5 kilometres from Anatoli, the village where I was born. It is the oldest oracle in Greece, older than the Delphic Oracle. Legend has it that Jason, before he sailed off with the Argonauts searching for the Golden Fleece, visited the oracle of Dodona. The miraculous priam that spoke in prophecies from the front of the Argonauts’ boat, was carved from wood of Dodona’s  sacred grove.

Dodona, oldest oracle in Greece. I sat on one of the rocks and listened to Zeus speak through the rustling leaves before I left for the Holy Mountain.

Dodona, oldest oracle in Greece. I sat on one of the rocks and listened to Zeus speak through the rustling leaves before I left for the Holy Mountain.

This is near the spot where Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos) shipwrecked on Holy Mountain's beach.

This is near the spot where Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos) shipwrecked on Holy Mountain’s beach.

One other place I dreamt of visiting was Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain as Greeks call it. The monks who live there consider themselves gardeners for the Mother of God’s Garden on Earth.  When Mary and Saint John set sail from Cyprus their tiny boat was blown by strong winds off course to the north east coast of Greece where it shipwrecked. When Mary saw the beauty of this place she asked her son Jesus if she could have it as her garden. Soon after, seekers of truth arrived, some remained to become gardeners and others left after some respite. This is why it is called the Holy Mountain.
 
 I was baptised as Greek Orthodox when I was a baby. In my late teens and early twenties I searched far and wide, behind book covers and the open roads of Australia and New Zealand looking for something. As part of that search I found that the Holy Mountain may have something of what I was looking for. I had sought answers in religions and philosophies alien to my heritage. Now was the chance to look into my own indigenous faith.
 
Ouranopolis - this is where you leave by boat to go to the Holy Mountain.

Ouranopolis – this is where you leave by boat to go to the Holy Mountain.

It was Easter, 2000, there I was sitting opposite Geronta Pavlo at the table with the wood oven heating some water behind me. I was inside a time bubble hugged by mud, stone and timber walls. Byzantium breathed in this small kitchen that has cooked meals and boiled water for over a millenium.

The tiny church next door to the room I stayed in at the old Byzantine house.

The tiny church next door to the room I stayed in at the old Byzantine house.

Of all the cats scampering for fish heads in the saucer near the door, two – the twins, Alpha and Omega ran towards Geronta, finding their way onto the table top. Geronta was quietly reading a newspaper. His hair, like small waterfalls of grey, fell over his shoulders and behind his back. Strands of his long white beard fell on the table. Gerontas, 90 years old, looked like a middle aged biker, with the full round belly of body armour and broad shoulders. Alpha and Omega tugged at his beard, he said, “Off with you,” and then smiled. I went to lift the boiling water off the stove and when I returned I saw Geronta folding a page of the newspaper. Over and over he folded. I wondered if this was some kind of Holy Mountain origami. When he finished folding he held it up.

He said, “Here Stavros, this is for you.”

I said, “What is it Gerontas?”

“It’s a boat. I don’t know why but my heart told my hands to make this for you.”

As I received the gift he said, shrugging his shoulders, “Who knows, it may mean that you return to the Holy Mountain sooner than you think. Or maybe something else. It is for you.”

The paper boat folded by Gerontas and given to Stavros.

The paper boat folded by Gerontas and given to Stavros.

What was interesting in retrospect is that he gave me the boat a day after we had a discussion about what is needed to alleviate suffering and injustice on Earth. I was thinking about the dispossessed, the homeless, the weak, the persecuted, the refugees of the world. I told Gerontas that the needs of the world are such that people who can do something should not hide on Holy Mountains but be in the world and try to change it for the better, Smiling, he said, “Our Christianity is esoteric, it is hidden. Here on the Holy Mountain you are no longer in the exoteric world. Our concerns are spiritual.”

“Gerontas, you appear not to care for the very ones Jesus tells us we should care for.”

“Stavros, from where you are it appears that way. You know, the Holy Mountain needs at least five monks to survive in caves and feed on light. Without these monks connecting Heaven and Earth through their sacrifice, the Mother of God’s Garden will wither and die. How do you know that this house, this monastery, this Holy Mountain does not play a similar role for the whole Earth? How much more pain and injustice would be on Earth now if the Holy Mountain did not exist? We, each of us has our calling, our vocation. My work is here while yours is in the exoteric.”

“Gerontas, do I need to become a monk to fulfil what is needed or is there another way?” I asked him.

Alpha or was it Omega, crawled softly towards his hand. He reached for the cat’s head and stroked it gently. He said, “This is what is needed from all…..the practice to bring the spiritual into the material, Heaven on Earth. You don’t need to be a monk or a nun to do this. All you need is pure intention. If your intent is pure, the way is open. Do what you have to do, follow your conscience and allow this particle of God,” he pointed to my heart,” your conscience, guide you.” He looked at me with soft eyes and added, “You must die before you die and then be reborn, this is what Easter is all about.”

A few days after I was on my way to Istanbul or Constantinople as Greeks call it with the paper boat and lots of material for thought. My journey over the next two months was along the ancient trade route from Istanbul to Cairo.  

I took the paper boat with me on Eureka. I now believe that the beginning of the journey to Nauru was the moment when Gerontas gave me the paper boat. He, as a gardener, planted a seed. 

St Paul at the base with Mount Athos in the background.

St Paul at the base with Mount Athos in the background.

Entrance path to the house I stayed in with the two monks.

Entrance path to the house I stayed in with the two monks.

View from a balcony near my room.

View from a balcony near my room.

 

 

 

 

4 Comments | consciousness, Dodona, flotillas of hope, fourth way, Holy Mountain, hope caravan, human rights, Mount Athos, personal, philosophy, photography, refugees, sufi, travel, Zeus | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by stavr0s