by Magi When I was studying a Planetary Magic course, I decided to begin working with the sun and became obsessed with the number twelve. Those of you who "they" have decided must learn something will know what I mean by obsessed. This article is a record of my journey in search of what the number twelve means and what I learnt on along the way. It all began when I was looking at Sun's relationship with the various signs of the zodiac. I got to thinking, why twelve signs? And why is so much of our culture based on the number twelve? In no particular order, there were twelve apostles, twelve labours of Heracles, are twelve houses of the zodiac, twelve months in a year (but, mathematically, thirteen lunar months fits 365 days a lot better - twelve months of 28 days and a thirteenth of 29), and those pre-metric oldies among us will remember twelve inches to a foot, twelve pence to a shilling, and twelve shillings to a pound. I had just started learning the hexagram ritual, and the hexagram is the six pointed star, and 6+6=12. If you think about it logically, ten of everything makes a lot more sense as we have ten fingers: the reason why counting and primitive mathematics developed on base of ten. I then started seeing coincidences of twelve wherever I looked (and so the obsession began!). I want bore you with the details but a couple of examples were seeing an advert for a gardner charging £6 and hour (6+6=12), the numbers on my car registration plate are 124 - apart from the obvious 12, 1+2=3x4=12. Pretty sad, get a life I here you say. But the more I began to think about and research the number twelve, the more was revealed. On a magical level, consider the following equation which starts at one and ends at twelve: 1+2=3+3=6+6=12. There are three parts to the equation (1+2 and 3+3 and 6+6). This can be taken as representing the three pillars on the tree of life. The three pillars multiplied by the four elements again gives us twelve. I then considered that a cube has six faces and twelve edges. This led me to a description of the Qabalistic Cube of Space. On this cube fits the seven primary planets - one on each face and one in the centre. So now I had a link back to where I began and knew this was a line of research worth pursuing (as if I had a choice). What's more the planetary allocations to Sepher Yetzirah place the seven primary planets on the cube in a way reminiscent of the normal circle that is cast during ritual work: Venus on the east face, the Sun on the south, Jupiter on the west, Mars on the north, Mercury above, Mars below and Saturn in the centre. This then, gave me an understanding of the relationship of the planets to the elements and the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and something that I can when preparing my own Harmony of the Spheres ritual. Thinking about the planets further, there are seven primary planets, plus three others (which are higher aspects of the seven). But, I hear you say, this falls two short of the magical twelve. Well, there is an astronomical theory which states the orbits of the known planets are affected in a way which can only be done by an, as yet, undiscovered planet. Even if this planet is taken as Chiron, astronomers have not yet decided what Chiron actually is. It is too far out to be an asteroid. Its orbit and apparent size seem to rule out it being a comet and it is too small to be called a planet. So, I would argue, it is still hidden. This hidden planet, plus the Earth makes twelve! This relates to the spiritual journey, in that the Earth can be taken as the lower self, that which incarnates on this planet. The hidden planet then, represents the higher self: that which is hidden and which we seek to find. This is particularly pertinent when you consider that I was working with the Sun at the time I started on this line of research. The Sun being that which gives forth light and reveals all that is hidden. Turning to various sacred texts, the Book of Revelations (the title of the Book is also relevant here) describes how the New Jerusalem descends from on high at the end of the world and "Now at last God had his dwelling among men". Arguably, this is an allegory for joining of the higher and lower self that is the underlying principle for our magical work. Oh, and if you're wondering what this has got to do with twelve, Jerusalem is described as being four-square with the number twelve playing an important part of the design. There are three gates at each side of the four sides of the city, and the city is 12,000 furlongs high, wide and long, with a wall 144 (12x12) cubits high. I then looked at Crowley's Book of the Law. Verse 12 of Chapter 1 states: Come forth, o children, under the stars, and take your fill of love. Again suggesting revealing something which is hidden. Or in Crowley's own commentary "every star is to come forth from its veils, that it may reveal with the whole World of Stars. Returning to astrology, the Sun in the twelve house suggest there is much soul searching and the ability to look into the depths of the self. There is a desire to merge with the Universal (or with our higher self?) Another source I considered was the Tarot where twelve is the Hanged Man. This card represents the universal principle of recognising and awakening to repetitive patterns that bind, limit and restrict growth and evolution. The Hanged Man is the pattern breaker. In order to break limiting patterns, it is often necessary to look at things from a different angle or stance (such as upside down). The Hanged Man represents that state of consciousness which requires that we move beyond ego and trust the deeper aspects of who we are. Numerology, 12 represents the union of the Sun (1) and the Moon (2). Again a representation of the joining of the higher and lower self. I suppose I should concluded this article with a ground-breaking revelation. Sorry to disappoint but this has been a very personal journey and all I can say is that for me, twelve is the key to union with the higher self and a sign-post on the journey to achieving this. So, if you do find yourself thinking obsessively about something, mediate on it, do a bit of research and see where your path leads you. But I will leave you with a final coincidence. One of the last steps I took in researching the number 12 was to consult a book on numerology. And guess what, my destiny number, calculated by adding together the numbers in my date of birth, is twelve! | 
