The 16th card of the Tarot, for example, is The Tower, which means the breaking down of old forms. Although the imagery looks like a disaster scene, The Tower is actually a great card to pull in a tarot reading as it signifies a change in your life.
When reversed, on the other hand, it means you are not ready to change your habits. You are at a crossroads and are either unwilling to change or struggling to quit an addiction even though you should.
When sixteen appears repeatedly in your life, therefore, it is a sign that you must cultivate willpower and initiate positive action and kill negative aspects of your life. Unless you can overcome vices or obstacles you will not move forward.
In gematria, the esoteric meaning of the number 16 shares correspondence with the symbolic meaning of the number seven. There is the divine number of Mother Goddess which bears a resemblance to Binah in the Kabbalah Tree of Life. This gives us a clue that the seven, and thus the sixteen, relates to the acquisition of knowledge.
When you act upon knowledge you have acquired, the energy transforms to wisdom whereby it becomes an automatic program of your subconscious.
Therefore when you see 16, you should listen to what your inner genius is telling you.
In one sense, the symbolic meaning of the number twelve is essentially a continuation of the eleven whereby the initiate sets off along a new path in life. This is also consistent with the number three which, in gematria, is the equivalent of the 12 albeit the latter is vibrating at a higher frequency.
Whereas jitters are common with the eleven, the 12 signals that you have overcome those early fears and have acquired a higher state of consciousness.
However, although you are settling into your new role, some old habits that do not serve you may linger and hold you back.
The twelve then is a combination of the one and the two whereby the initiate is learning new skills. We find this some principle in the tarot deck which features the mythical figure of Hermes/Mercury as the Magician, the provider of wisdom to men. The Magician is the second card in the tarot deck but is given the number one.
The 12th card in the tarot is the Hanged Man, indicating you may need to make sacrifices in order to acquire new knowledge. The sacrifice may even be painful, such as a relationship break-up or giving up an addiction, but one you know is for the better good.
Remember, you are evolving. The people around you may not be!
The 12 appears significantly throughout ancient myths and organised religions. There are numerous repetitions of the number 12 in the bible together with other organised religions and world mythologies; the 12 Adityas in Hindu mythology, the 12 Olympian Gods in the Greek pantheon, 12 Great Gods of Egypt and the 12 Knights of the Round Table in the King Arthur legends to name a few. You will also find 12 stars in the halos of Christian saints like the statue of the Mary Madonna which is associated with the Woman of the Apocalypse.
In all the belief systems that have been passed down through the centuries, the 12 has a connection with the houses of the zodiac which in turn is inspired by the constellations of the cosmos.
However, the true meaning of 12 in celestial terms is the 12 around the one, the houses of the zodiac around the sun; Jesus and 12 disciples, King Arthur and the 12 Knights of the Round Table.
There are even 12 Gods that serve the godhead Zeus in the Greek pantheon, but Dionysus and Hestia are (conveniently) interchanged so the assumption is there are only 12 gods in total….such is the manipulation and corruption of symbolic meanings over the centuries. We should be asking ourselves why…!
We get a glimmer of the truth in ancient oriental and Judaic traditions that reveal the twelve corresponds to the completion of integration and is attributed to the cosmos.
It isn’t attributed to the cosmos as you may think. What this attribution actually refers to are the 12 unconscious archetypes that you need to integrate into your unconscious mind.
The eminent psychologist Carl Jung proposed these 12 archetypes of aspects of human nature that are universal to mankind.
Archetypes typically project themselves when the individual is not able to handle a situation because of an emotional block. Emotional blocks depreciate the awareness of consciousness because the individual only has a limited view based on their past experience.
These alter-egos may also appear to make you act out of character and teach you a lesson. The entire purpose of their existence is to help bring unconscious contents to the conscious mind – the Self.
The Self in the centre, is the most powerful archetype, the one which arranges or regulates the relationships of all the others. Let us say it is an active ordering centre which regulates the relationships of all other archetypes…The Self is in an eternal process of constant rejuvenation…it is not static but is in a constant process of self-renewal in a certain rhythm.” ~ Marie Louise von Franz, On Divination and Synchronicity
The importance of the number twelve not only appears in multiple myths and religious scriptures but is also built into the architecture. The example I will show you here is the 12-sided stone in the Hatun Rumiyoc in Cusco, Peru. This enigmatic building is thought to have been the palace of Inca Roca, the sixth Sapa Inca who ruled sometime around 1350.
Whilst I was examining the building, my guide Alex told me, “The stone represents the first 12 Kings of Cusco during Inca times.”
This theory didn’t fit either as in folklore there were effectively 13 Inca Kings, 12 actual Kings and the mythical Manco Capac.
However, when you apply astrological symbolism which ancient cultures all around the world had a great depth of knowledge about, it does make sense. Manco Capac – the creator God – represents the Sun and the 12 other kings are equivalent to the houses of the zodiac. We see the same pattern in almost every mythology and religion.
When we apply this to psychology, and thus mankind, the Sun God Manco Capac, represents the Self whilst the 12 other kings are the unconscious archetypes, all of which at one point or another have sat in the throne of the Kingdom – symbolic for the mind.
As for the connection with the cosmos. Well, that has something to do with quantum particles.
However, there are both positive and negative meanings to all numbers. The key to understanding the meaning of 11, 111, 1111 etc is to know which cycle the number belongs to.
Because the 11 has two double digits of the same number, it is considered a master number in gematria and cannot be reduced to a single digit.
However, the ones always represent new beginnings but, as there are two ones, the 11 is double the vibration of the number one. Similarly, 111 and 1111 are also higher vibrations.
Prime numbers vibrate at a higher level of frequency and give you more power, knowledge and understanding. The 11 can indicate you have reached a new level of awareness that has twice the strength of the one. The same is true of 111, 1111 etc.
“The number ELEVEN operates through the higher emotional side of the nature, showing the expression of the universal compassion and love as distinct from the personal and selfish form of love which is often cased upon passion. It is a feminine and a magnetic number and has a great deal to do with psychic force as well as spiritual power and fortitude. It comes under the domination of the planet Neptune and gives the capacity to use the power of suggestion so as to influence other people and help them in the overcoming of physical , moral and spiritual weakness.” ~ Sepharial, The Numbers Book
If your new cycle is pure, channelling ideas through your subconscious will bless you with illumination and the capacity to think and feel with a heightened sense of rationale.
You are sensitive to your goal and whilst this may be an exciting time, it is not unheard of for feelings to manifest as nervous energy and worry. This is quite natural in the modern age when society programs us to lean towards negative ideals over positive. Neuroscientists confirm the brain is hardwired to be negative.
And the eleven is the tender path between success and ruin.
Interestingly, in the Bible, the symbolism behind the 11 reflects disorder and chaos – focusing only on the negative aspects. Just saying.
As a matter of fact, the symbolic meaning of the number eleven has a negative connotation among all systems of symbolism.
The Kabbalists say eleven should be regarded in contrast with the perfection of the Decad – the Pythagorean 10. Given the 10th Sephiroth in the Tree of Life (Malkuth) represents the material plane, the 11th Sephiroth is regarded as being the essence of sin.
The reason for this is because Keter – the first Sephiroth is pure spirit.
However, in my experience, negative attributions to the number 11, 111 or 1111 are entirely misleading. This is just how exoteric symbolism is designed to work – to lead seekers down the wrong path.
To give you a brief insight, the number 10 is when energy becomes manifest and can be identified as a physical experience. At this point, it is possible to identify how you have created your experience of reality.
The occult philosopher, John Heydon, also associated the number 11 with “bodies of Devils and their nature” which again is misleading unless you know the true occulted meaning of Devils.
I’ll give you a clue: devils symbolise the subconscious mind; i.e cravings that “lead you into temptation.’
There are, however, positive connections with the 11 such as the Strength card in the tarot. In the Rider-Waite deck, the 11th card is given to Justice to better fit astrological correspondences created by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
In the original tarot deck, Justice had originally been assigned to the number 8. This makes more sense to me than the 11, but I can also see how Justice fits the number 11 as well even though I do not necessarily agree with it. 10 would probably be more appropriate.