Mystic Figures Redux

Number Six Resurgent

Owning to the tenacious erudition of an anonymous correspondent, I cannot resist the temptation to proffer yet a few more fascinating metaphysical tidbits concerning the number six, a topic briefly treated in one of my prior posts. Readers who recoil at anything redolent of math, numerology, or the more academically respectable discipline of arithmology may want to sign out now, although loyal devotees of the late Martin Gardner’s alter ego Dr. Matrix will probably find a hard time closing their browsers. With respect to how my colleagues and I regard the following information, let me simply assert that we who proudly bear the moniker of Lucky Six Farms never mistake intellectual curiosity for credulousness. As duly noted in my previous blog entry, the ostensibly anomalous juxtaposition of the adjective “lucky” with the number “six” has justifiably prompted many inquiries and inspired much historical research.

Number Six Is The Redoubtable Hexad

Sometime in the middle of the 4th Century CE the renowned Neoplatonist Iamblichus penned his Theology of Arithmetic, purporting to express, albeit in sharply succinct terms, key Pythagorean concepts pertaining to the sacred Tetraktys, i.e. the first ten numbers. In this document, the number six - termed the Hexad - comes in for extraordinary attention. In particular, he observes that six is the very first perfect number: its factors (1, 2 & 3) can be added to yield six again. In addition, every one of those factors is also a prime number, divisible only by unity and itself. Serious mathematicians have since found the investigation of co-relative prime and perfect numbers to be an enormously fertile field for advanced study that remains quite far from exhaustion even today.

Further, Iamblichus points out that the number six occupies the central position of a completed Platonic Lambda, the legendary geometric/arithmetic construction first described by Plato in his Timaeus. With these august sages, too, we can fully appreciate that the familiar cube symmetrically apportions two sides to each of our three spatial dimensions - height, width, and depth - thereby displaying exactly six sides in a wonderfully solidified token of aesthetic perfection.

Six Is The Number Of Health

The foregoing observations, however, pale into insignificance when contrasted with Iamblichus’ ultimate conclusions about the number six. Thus, he notes six may alternately be called “health” or even “panacea,” since it creates the most fundamental triangles. Stated another way: if perpendiculars are appropriately dropped from the sides of any triangle, six subsidiary triangles may be formed. And we may confidently name six “Thaleia” because it harmonizes so many different things, plus it is allotted the first portion among all numbers in the generation of soul! In light of such matters, then, our title of Lucky Six Farms is no mystery but actually a humble understatement. Certainly, my colleagues and I strive daily to produce White Sage products which live up to that ideal.

By Alan Beck

 

Health’s Many Dimensions

Health Takes Physics’ Cue

We have finally realized that health is multi-dimensional. While such a vision may appear self-evident for us today, most medical authorities resisted its full implications until they were too weighty to ignore. Ironically enough, the first steps toward a wider perspective were taken by physicists. Although science didn’t seriously begin mulling over the proposition of an inorganic universe embraced by multiple dimensions until the opening decades of the Twentieth Century, the idea has recently gained incredible currency with CERN’s discovery of the Higgs Boson. If gross matter embraces many dimensions, how about us? As usual, biology and its handmaiden medicine have arrived quite late to the party. Long assumed to mean merely “disease free,” health is now understood to denote a complex of many dynamically interrelated factors.

Our Picture Of Health Comes Full Circle

Psychological and spiritual elements figure prominently in our new understanding of health. As any professional hypnotist or psychotherapist can testify, deeply held beliefs, tenacious attitudes, and subconscious assumptions can - and often do - make the difference between relaxed adaptation or unbearable discomfort. Even simple opinions, when grasped vigorously enough, have the potential to create Heaven or Hell for their proponents right here on Earth. In particular, our perception of purity as freedom from conflict and confusion is seen to gain increasing importance for health-conscious individuals. Indigenous societies have traditionally emphasized purification as a primary requisite for both group and individual empowerment. Now we are beginning to fully comprehend the wisdom of their view.

White Sage And Health

The California White Sage consistently played - and continues to play - the signal role of natural purifying agent for Tribal peoples throughout North America. Employed to quickly banish negative energies prior to ceremonies both great and small, White Sage was embraced as an indispensable adjunct to societal as well as personal health. A growing body of Internet testimonials ratify this knowledge, expanding it as well to other dimensions of wellness like energy and creativity. At Lucky Six Farms we are proud to actively facilitate this process so as to foster the health of our entire planet.

By Alan Beck

Lucky Six Farms' Multitude of Brilliant Suns

What Creates A Symbol?

Can a meaningful symbol be penned by the hand of Nature? The old Doctrine of Signatures isn't referenced much today, indeed few of us are even familiar with the name. Widely known and believed from the earliest days of Imperial Rome until the waning years of the Renaissance, the Doctrine held that a plant's form often symbolized its worldly function. Post-modern science dismisses the whole idea as superstition, yet Paracelsus - one of Nature's closest observers and a founder of experimental medicine - put as much stock in it as the mystic Jakob Bohme. Apparently, this concept ultimately springs from theological roots, specifically from the notion that Divine Intelligence placed plants here with just as much purpose as people. Thus, a plant's shape and color might well embody a key symbol indicative of its unique practical value.

I am certified neither as a scientist nor a saint. Nevertheless, as I take my daily stroll through Lucky Six Farms, I'm forcefully reminded of this ancient notion at virtually every turn. Why? The White Sage itself, whether burgeoning in countless numbers through immense wild-crafted fields or rising solitary from the high-desert soil, first makes its presence known as a perfect, symmetrical whirl of leaflets: a miniature, vegetative sun bursting with blue-green luminance.

Clarity Of Symbol And Meaning

Even a child would be instantly struck by the similarity. The resemblance is clearly delineated. It stands out prominently wherever it appears, even in dense chaparral; many visitors have remarked how it almost appears to be glowing: quite unusual for such a small, low-lying young plant!

White Sage As Symbol

Interestingly enough, Lucky Six Farms' White Sage serves much like a friendly, easily-portable sun. Tirelessly purifying, energizing, invigorating, and ever supporting our own variegated pursuits, the White Sage has earned its reputation for facilitating all positive and wholesome works. For me, our life-giving star has long been accompanied by spirit allies that assist its work: one of the most efficient is the White Sage: it symbolizes a better world for all.