In Search of the Miraculous

same way, for instance, as the idea of self-knowledge must be experienced.

"This same process of the harmonious development of man can be

examined from the point of view of the law of octaves. The law of octaves gives

another system of symbols. In the sense of the law of octaves every completed process

is a transition of the note do through a series of successive tones to the do of the next octave. The seven fundamental tones of the octave express the law of seven. The

addition to it of the do of the next octave, that is to say, the crowning of the process, gives the eighth step. The seven fundamental tones together with the two 'intervals'

and 'additional shocks' give nine steps. By incorporating in it the do of the next octave we have ten steps. The last, the tenth, step is the end of the preceding and the

beginning of the next cycle. In this way the law of octaves and the process of

development it expresses, include the numbers 1 to 10. At this point we come to what

may be termed the symbolism of numbers. The symbolism of numbers cannot be

understood without the law of octaves or without a clear conception of how octaves

are expressed in the decimal system and vice versa.

"In Western systems of occultism there is a method known by the name of

'theosophical addition,' that is, the definition of numbers consisting of two or more

digits by the sum of those digits. To people who do not understand the symbolism of

numbers this method of synthesizing numbers seems to be absolutely arbitrary and to

lead nowhere. But for a man who understands the unity of everything existing and

who has the key to this unity the method of theosophical addition has a profound

meaning, for it resolves all diversity into the fundamental laws which govern it and

which are expressed in the numbers 1 to 10.

"As was mentioned earlier, in symbology, as represented, numbers are connected with definite geometrical figures, and are mutually complementary one to another. In the Cabala a symbology of letters is also used and in combination with the symbology of letters a symbology of words. A combination of the four methods of symbolism by numbers, geometrical figures, letters, and words, gives a complicated but more perfect

method.

"Then there exists also a symbology of magic, a symbology of alchemy, and a symbology of astrology as well as the system of the symbols of the Tarot which unites them into one whole.

"Each one of these systems can serve as a means for transmitting the idea of unity.

But in the hands of the incompetent and the ignorant, however full of good intentions,

the same symbol becomes an 'instrument of delusion.' The reason for this consists in

the fact that a symbol can never be taken in a final and definite meaning. In expressing the laws of the unity of endless diversity a symbol itself possesses an endless number

of aspects from which it can be examined and it demands from a man approaching it

the ability to see it simultaneously from different points of view. Symbols which are

transposed into the words of ordinary language become rigid in them, they grow dim

and very easily become 'their own

opposites,' confining the meaning within narrow dogmatic frames, without giving it

even the very relative freedom of a logical examination of a subject. The cause of this is in the literal understanding of symbols, in attributing to a symbol a single meaning.

The truth is again veiled by an outer covering of lies and to discover it requires

immense efforts of negation in which the idea of the symbol itself is lost. It is well

known what delusions have arisen from the symbols of religion, of alchemy, and particularly of magic, in those who have taken them literally and only in one meaning.

"At the same time the right understanding of symbols cannot lead to dispute. It

deepens knowledge, and it cannot remain theoretical because it intensifies the striving

towards real results, towards the union of knowledge and being, that is, to Great

Doing. Pure knowledge cannot be transmitted, but by being expressed in symbols it is covered by them as by a veil, although at the same time for those who desire and who

know how to look this veil becomes transparent.

"And in this sense it is possible to speak of the symbolism of speech although this

symbolism is not understood by everyone. To understand the inner meaning of what is

said is possible only on a certain level of development and when accompanied by the

corresponding efforts and state of the listener. But on hearing things which are new for

him, instead of making efforts to understand them, a man begins to dispute them, or

refute them, maintaining against them an opinion which he considers to be right and

which as a rule has no relation whatever to them. In this way he loses all chance of