What a strange year this is for numerology!
This year began with 1-1-11 and we just passed 1-11-11. Later in the year we will see 11-11-11. If you are a Qabalist you will likely dread all of these elevens. If you are a Thelemite you will likely rejoice in them.
Some good news is that every month this year will have a a lucky 7-11 (and July will have two). But the down side is that every month will ALSO have a 9-11 (and September will have two).
Here is a fun one: Last year we had an 8-9-10. This year we will get a 9-10-11. Next year we’ll see 10-11-12 and after that we’ll see both an 11-12-13 and a 12-13-14. But that is where that pattern ends.
Now try this little trick I found on Facebook: Take the year you were born (just the last two digits) and add it to the age you will be this year. The result will be 111. (For example, I was born in 74 and will be 37 this year. 74 + 37 = 111.)
I’m not attempting to assign any specific meanings to these numbers here in this post. I’ll leave that to you. 🙂
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Aaron
Ananael (The Secrets of Wisdom) 
Quick question: why would a Qabbalist dread the number 11? Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan discusses the number 11 in his book Inner Space which does not cast this number in a bad light.
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It is probably more of a Western Hermetic Qabalah thing. As the Golden Dawn’s Portal ceremony states: “Eleven were the curses upon Mt. Ebal, eleven the rulers of the Qliphoth.” This is said in direct reference to the Dragon with Eight Heads and Eleven Horns.
The Sepher Yetzirah states: “10 and not 9, 10 and not 11.” Of course, 9 is not an evil number as it represents Yesod and the Lunar Sphere. But 11 represents “one step too far” – when one steps away from the Tree of Life and enters the realm of the Qliphoth and the Adverse Tree of Death. 11 is the number of the Adverse Kether – which is governed by the Dual Contending Forces: two kings eternally warring for a single Throne. This is also indicated by the shape of the number “11” itself – two digits standing next to one another, both claiming to be number one.
I suspect all of this is why Crowley’s Book of the Law exalts the number 11. The Great Beast and all of that… lol
LVX
Aaron
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Ah, thanks for the clarification. I see that this comes down to a difference in Hermetic to Jewish Kabbalah.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s translation of the verse (1:4) in Sefer Yetzirah that states: “ten and not nine, ten and not eleven” has the following commentary: (see last three lines)
“…If we would say that God was pure Will, however, then we would be saying that He is identical with Keter. Keter, however, is merely a Sefirah, and as such, it is something created by God and inferior to Him. We therefore cannot even say that God is pure Will. Even Will is among His creations, and is inferior to Him. Therefore, there is no word that can be used to describe God’s essence.
The author consequently states that the Sefirot are “ten and not nine.” For is we were to say that God is Will, then Keter would be identical to God, and only nine Sefirot would remain. But since there are ten Sefirot, then even Will is nothing more than a Sefirah, and it is something that is inferior to the Creator.
The Sefer Yetzirah also warns, “ten and not eleven.” This is to teach that God Himself, the Infinite Being, is not to be included among the Sefirot. If He were, then there would be eleven rather than ten…”
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Hey I just found this interesting bit of info – which may explain further why the Golden Dawn took the number 11 to represent evil. It is in Agrippa’s “Book Two”, chapter 14, “Of the number eleven…”
“The number eleven as it exceeds the number ten, which is the number of the commandements [commandments], so it fals short of the number twelve, which is of grace and perfection, therefore it is called the number of sins, and the penitent. Hence in the tabernacle there were commanded to be made eleven Coats of hair which is the habit of those that are penitent, and lament for their sins, whence this number hath no Communion with Divine or Celestiall things, nor any attraction, or scale tending to things above: neither hath it any reward; but yet sometimes it receives a gratuitous favor from God, as he which was called the eleventh hour to the vineyard of the Lord, received the sanne reward as those who had born the burden, and heat of the day. “
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> Now try this little trick I found on Facebook: Take the year you > were born (just the last two digits) and add it to the age you will > be this year. The result will be 111. (For example, I was born
> in 74 and will be 37 this year. 74 + 37 = 111.)
This is kinda weird
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It’s great that you tracked this down to Agrippa. I’ve had a brief look at Exodus 26:7-13 but can’t find a link from the panels of goat hair for the Tabernacle to the penitent.
Here is the text that I am looking at from Exodus 26:7-13:
“You shall make panels of goats’ hair for a Tent-spread over the Tabernacle; eleven panels shall you make them. The length of one panel thirty amos, and width four cubits for one panel; one measure for the eleven panels. You shall attach five of the panels separately and six of the panels separately, and you shall fold the sixth panel over the face of the Tent. You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the first panel at the end of one grouping, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain of the second grouping. You shall make fifty copper hooks; you shall bring the hooks into the loops and attach the Tent-spread, so that it shall become one. And the overhang that the panels of the Tent-spread have in excess – half of the extra panel shall drape over the back of the Mishkan. And the amah on this side and the amah on that side, of the excess in the length of the panels of the Tent-spread, shall be draped over the sides of the Tabernacle-spread on this [side] and that [side], to cover it.” (translation from Sapirstein Artscroll edition)
Rashi’s (Shlomo Yitzhaki (February 22, 1040 – July 13, 1105)) commentary on goats hair mentioned in 25:4 is: ‘“and goats’ hair:” This means the pile of goats’. Rashi later comments on 26:9 “over the face of the tent” that this is like a modest bride who is covered with a veil over her face. He does comment on the number 11 or penitence.
There may be other commentators who have elaborated on the number of 11 panels or the goats’ hair, I shall take another look later on but a cursory glance did not show any in the books that I was looking.
Now I am curious to find out more about what source Agrippa was inspired by and used…
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Ah the plot – or the goat’s hair – thickens!
Here is what I found:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-hair-shirt.htm
“Originally, hair shirts were known as cilices, in a reference to the Latin word cilicium, meaning “covering made from goat’s hair.” Early hair shirts were made from sackcloth or coarse animal hair so that they irritated the skin, and later versions integrated additional uncomfortable features such as thin wires or twigs. Several characters in the Bible wore hair shirts as demonstrations of religious faith, and the practice was picked up by devout members of society and the Church. The term “cilice” is now used more generally for any object worn to increase discomfort.”
This makes me think of the sackcloth worn by those who are grieving – as we see in the Book of Job, or the Book of Abramelin for that matter. 🙂 It would appear that sackcloth (animal hair) was also worn by those atoning for sin.
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Indeed. It’s at this point that I need to use one of my life-lines. So I’m going to “Ask a Rabbi”. Hopefully I’ll have an answer early next week about the what sackcloth, the materials used and their significance.
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Aaron – you’re right! It does appear that goats’ hair clothing is used for sackcloth which was worn as a symbol of mourning or affliction.
The Rabbi could not tell me what the material the sackcloth was made from, but he gave me the references where people wore sackcloth:
Isaiah 3:24
Isaiah 15:3
Isaiah 22:12
Jeremiah 6:26
Jeremiah 48:37
Joel 1:8
Amos 8:10
Jonah 3:6
Psalms 35:13
Psalms 69:12
Esther 4:1-3.
According to http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=32&letter=S:
“Sackcloth: Term originally denoting a coarsely woven fabric, usually made of goat’s hair. It afterward came to mean also a garment made from such cloth, which was chiefly worn as a token of mourning by the Israelites. It was furthermore a sign of submission (I Kings xx. 30 et seq.), and was occasionally worn by the Prophets…”
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