Klarinet Archive - Posting 000520.txt from 2000/06

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Tony's tagline
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 08:58:23 -0400

Mark Charette wrote,
> Octal 31 = Decimal 25

I wrote,
>> Neo-Pagans on the list won't like this math, but by some reckonings,
> Oct. 31 is only half of Dec. 25.

The reason comes from the pseudo-science of numerology. October is the tenth
month of the year, so October 31 is 10/31. December is the twelfth month, so
December 25 is 12/25. To come up with magical meanings for numbers,
numerologists first add up the whole date, like this:

October 31
1+0+3+1 = 5

December 25
1+2+2+5 = 10

Halloween is Samhain, the Pagan and Wiccan New Year's Eve, the most important
sabbat on the Pagan calendar. 5 is half of 10, so Christmas is twice as big
as Halloween/Samhain.

That's the answer to the question I posed, but it's not the whole story,
because to a numerologist, numbers aren't just bigger or smaller. They mean
things. The most commonly-ascribed meanings of 10 have to do with the Tenth
House (Capricorn, the Goat), rise and fall, good vs. evil, and the Wheel of
Fortune (in the center of the Tarot Major Arcana of 0-21, for instance).
Cheiro, among other major numerologists, regarded 5 as a number of good omen
(despite what H. P. Lovecraft did with it...), and associated it with
Mercury, communication, the Fifth House (Gemini, the Twins), and the
5-pointed star that represents, among other things, the human body. The 5
card in the Tarot Major Arcana has to do with moral authority, for good or
for ill (some people call card 5 The Pope, while others call it Jupiter or
The Hierophant).

OTOH, maybe Samhain is five times bigger than Christmas! That's because
numerologists also believe in reducing numbers of more than one digit down to
a root number, or soul number, by further addition. Many numerologists only
start doing that with the number 22, since the numbers 0-21 correspond to the
Fool followed by 21 Major Trumps of the Tarot that represent the Fool's
passage through life, and thus achieve the same importance as soul numbers,
without reduction to single digits. However, other numerologists insist on
reducing all numbers of more than one digit to a soul number, a practice that
comes in rather handy if one wants to make Samhain come out "five times
bigger" than Christmas. Since Halloween is already a soul number, 5, a
numerologist leaves it alone, but

December 25
1+2+2+5 = 10
1+0 = 1

Now, of course, a Christian would argue right back that the number 1 is
actually a "higher" number than 5. 1 stands for One God. Pagans would
counter that 1 stood for the Sun long before the Christians came along and
that most of the traditional Christmas holiday symbolism is Pagan anyway,
co-opted from ancient Winter Solstice festivals.

Well, that kind of fussbudgetry can go on forever. You can use numerology to
"prove" or predict anything, one reason this pseudo-science has enjoyed such
longevity. Maybe that's enough numerology for a clarinet list.... Although,
I can't resist noting, a clarinet comes in five sections (bell, lower joint,
upper joint, bell, mouthpiece). Add the reed: 6. A dedicated numerologist
would get busy counting the corks, the keys, the rings and the pads, too,
instead of practicing....

Lelia
...writing this on 6/15/2000
6 + 1 + 5 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 14
1 + 4 = 5

OTOH, the day of the week, 15, is shorthand for The Devil.
;-)

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