EARTH AND HER SPECIAL PLACES: 37 Some SACRED GEOMETRY (10)

As the saying goes: “a cat has nine lives.” Nine is the number of the extreme. It is the highest number consisting of one digit. Nine (3 triads) announces the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one. The human embryo needs nine months of growth before birth. The Egyptian, Celtic and Greek myths have an ennead of nine gods and goddesses, representing the entire archetypal range of principles, nine being the number of perfection.

The original hopscotch game consists of nine steps, the ninth one representing heaven. There are nine symbolic aspects of the universe divided into 3 triads: the night, the sky and time; the ether, the light and the stars; the sun, the moon and nature.

The Norse God Odin, ruler of the 9 Norse worlds, hung 9 days on the world axis or Yggdrasil tree before finding wisdom. The city of Troy was besieged for 9 years, while Odysseus wandered for 9 more years in trying to return home. The list is almost endless…

The enneagon was seldom used in sacred architecture, although the number nine has a rich symbolism. The enneagon is obtained by rotating the equilateral triangle and is mostly used to decorate domes, and in some (recent) rose windows.

The nine principles in ancient Egypt:

Atum (Creation)

Schu (Air) - Tefenut (Water)

Geb (Earth) - Nut (Sky)

Isis - Osiris - Seth – Nebthut.

Some calculations by Elisabeth Haich:

0 x 9 + 1 = 1

1 x 9 + 2 = 11

12 x 9 + 3 = 111

123 x 9 + 4 = 1111

1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111

12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111