The Antichrist, the Devil or Satan? Not necessarily. This number has had a hard time! But I think it's misplaced. While 666 is a toughie, we can do something about it.
It might just be me, but lately the number 666 has been popping up on the internet — more than usual. It’s been around since Biblical times, in the Book of Revelations (13:18) to be precise, when it is mentioned as being the Number of the Beast. At least that's what the most recent translations say. Biblical translations centuries after the Bible was written have been and continue to be open to dispute — for a fascinating excursion into the world of gematria, check out the video below — so it might be best to press pause on assuming that's what the Bible says. As with many things in life, things are often not what they seem.
Anyway back to the online world, where punters are talking about 666 at least in relation to Hollywood, Satanic cults and rituals — mainly celebrity hand signals and other signage. It’s rich field out there. Now, I’m not buying into all that: I was freaked out enough as a youngster when the parents of a child named Damien had discovered he had the Number of the Beast — literally ‘666’ as a birthmark on his head — in the movie ‘The Omen’. I don’t recommend watching it or the sequels. And while I don’t give it power, if enough people focus on these kinds of associations, it is given power: energy flows where attention goes.
However, like all numbers, 666 does have quite a story to tell, but it’s not “the work of Satan”. It’s not evil in itself. Let’s get right away from all that speculation.
The Chaldeans who came up with Chaldean numerology predated Christianity by a few thousand years, so we can rule out an association between 666 and the Antichrist anyway. Following numerology, the three 6s when added together gives us the double-digit or Compound Number 18 and the Single Number 9 (1+8). Now, this is a top-shelf challenge, arguably the greatest challenge of all the numbers. The number 18 is known as the Spiritual-Material Conflict. It’s symbolism is difficult to translate. The Chaldeans describe the 18 using this rather bleak image:
“A rayed moon, from which drops of blood are falling. A wolf and a hungry dog are seen below, catching the falling drops of blood in their opened mouths, while still lower, a crab is seen hastening to join them.”
That's pretty grim, to say the least. And in one sense we can see how some may interpret an association with evil or the dark. The number 18 does symbolise materialism striving to destroy spirituality. It is associated with bitter quarrels within families; with wars, social upheaval, and revolution. It can indicate making money or achieving position through divisive tactics, through war or other conflict. It does warn of treachery and deception from both “friends” and enemies. And also danger from the elements, such as fire, flood, earthquakes, tempests and explosions, electrical shock or lightning. Phew.
So, yes, a very difficult and challenging number. But, no number is completely hopeless!
What to do about the 18
Great care is required to meet this challenge. No doubt. The only way to dilute or diminish its effect is by unfailingly and repeatedly meeting deception and intense opposition from others with generosity, love and forgiveness; by turning the other cheek; returning good for evil; kindness for cruelty; honesty for dishonesty; and honour for dishonour. In this way, the 18 is a profoundly useful tool to illuminate and enlighten. In my view, it should be elevated to a master number much like 11, 22 and 33 are, for to master the 18 is to have mastered one of life’s greatest challenges.
Another way to dilute the influence of the 18 is to bring as much 6 energy into play; the opposite of the 9 is 6, which, when distilled down to its purest essence, is love shared with others. (The number 6 always balances the 9 of conflict; just as the yin-yang symbols complement each other.) It also helps to plan everything of importance on the 3rd, 21st or 6th, 15th or 24th of the month. And add the 6 vibration in every way possible, i.e., one's name, address, phone number, and so forth.
So, it’s not the Antichrist, the Devil or Satan; it’s not a portend of horrible things to come. It’s not the end of the world, even though 18 reduces to 9, which is completion and often conflict. It will involve putting in the hard yards: forgiveness, being generous with others and letting go.
To the extent that it has taken on a rather larger-than-life persona, its lesson for us all is to stare down the battlefield, and with courage and creativity, end the conflict by doing something the material world’s eye-for-an-eye, dog-eat-dog perspective doesn’t know what to do with: turn the other cheek, forgive and walk away! Don’t buy into the narrative, don’t feed the beast, as it were. In fact, do exactly what it doesn’t know what to with: love it free.
Just as the 13 isn’t unlucky if you know what approach to take, neither is 18 — even if it is the most challenging number in the pack.
As a side note, one of the properties of 666 is that it is the sum of the first 36 in-sequence numbers (1+2+3+4 . . . +36). That makes 666 a triangular number. The number 666 is also the sum of the first 144 (12x12) decimals (digits after the decimal point) of pi (22/7).
TL,DR* Don’t buy into the narrative that 666 is the number of the Beast or The Antichrist, and something to be afraid of. It's never been proven to be so. There is a lesson to be learned, and in learning it we master one of the greatest challenges of all the numbers. We can turn the other cheek, love it for the lesson taught and then walk away.
* Too Long, Didn’t Read, aka the short version
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