<h4>Some Numerological Significances</h4>
<em>by Chandra Alexandre, PhD, founder and executive director of SHARANYA, (c) 1999</em>

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The cuneiform tablets of Sumer display eight-pointed impressions made thousands of years ago by a stylus pushed into wet clay, and we know today that these eight-pointed impressions signify Inanna, Goddess of Morning and Evening. It seems fitting that the impressions of this ancient written language bring to mind images of both flower-like rosettes and pointed stars, for images that capture both the intensity of a star and the subtle delicacies of a flower reflect well the Goddess' paradoxical nature.

In this alone, Inanna is like Kali, the Hindu goddess often called "Mother of the Universe" or "The Divine Mother", as Kali's magical diagram, or yantra, contains the eight-petalled lotus. Further, Inanna's powers as a goddess with her command of both the life-giving and life-taking aspects of the universe, in addition to the physical proximity of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the Indus Valley, tells us that Inanna and Kali are related not by coincidence, but by a direct tie of the Sumerian to the early Indian cultures.

First, in looking at this ancient symbol of Inanna and in thinking of the Kali yantra, I began to wonder as to the significance of the number eight. I began researching a variety of sources and found consistent references to strength and beauty, dominion, confidence, good judgment and power all associated with the number. These, I thought, would all be appropriate attributes for a goddess, and I began to wonder if Sumer and Inanna were the original source for the formation of these correspondences.

Barbara G. Walker notes in The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects that, "an eight-pointed star, usually black, indicated the fixed stars in ancient astrology." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">1</a>] It may be that rays of light coming off the stars and planets of the night sky were first counted to be eight by these ancient astrologers, or perhaps for some other reason of which we are not yet aware. But it would seem fitting that the special place of Inanna in Sumer dictated that she be represented by a symbol of the magnitude and wonder of the night stars, (she is particularly associated with the planet-"star" Venus) thereby giving special significance later on in recorded history not only to the number eight, but to the attributes or characteristics of Inanna in relation to that number as well.

However, given the virtually goddess-less patriarchal culture we have known for millennia, although we have come to associate the number eight with Inanna's qualities, we have forgotten Her almost entirely, thereby missing with this omission the link to primordial creativity and passion that is found in Her sparkling light. With the return of the Goddess to the consciousness of many today, perhaps links such as this one will become increasingly apparent and we will begin to draw again on the ancient wisdom of the Divine Feminine, in all of her forms.

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In India, it may have been a beautiful eight-petalled flower, the lotus, that was precious to the people of long ago (derived perhaps from the star) that found its way into the imagery associated with Kali, the great nurturer and the great destroyer. How much one culture informed and/or borrowed from the other is not readily known, but in speaking of the Indus Valley civilizations, F.R. Allchin, Indian scholar writes, "the regional divergences [of the area] might in some instances be associated with the meeting of indigenous Indus populations and intrusive Indo-Iranian or Aryan elements, and with some sort of resulting cultural synthesis." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">2</a>]

For a possible example of such cultural synthesis, we might look again back to Sumer, where it is known that the flower most sacred to Lilith, "a handmaiden to the great goddess Inanna,...[was the] lilu, or lily, or 'lotus'." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">3</a>] So, although there may indeed be a radiant connection between the star and the flower, it could be that Indian culture was affected more by the flower of Lilith than by the star of Inanna. In the Kali yantra, the goddess is, "symbolized by the eight-petalled lotus, since she is the cause of material nature. The eight petals stand for the eight elements of Prakriti—earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and ego-sense—of which this phenomenal world is composed." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">4</a>] The Mother, then, is the very "stuff" of life, a compilation of both the UpperWorld (ether, mind, intellect, ego-sense) and the LowerWorld (earth, water, air, fire); a synthesis worked by Inanna in her Descent long ago.

Much later, we find adaptations of this rosette-star symbol and the sacredness of "eight" in the mystical sciences of the Middle Ages as well as in most, if not all, world religions. For example, in the Major Arcana of the Tarot, the eighth card represents "Strength", "the fang of the serpent...[which] represents the kundalini, or life force." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">5</a>] Here again, we see the connection from the "eight" to Kali, this time through the serpent Kundalini that is sacred to Her. But lest we forget, Inanna too has a connection to a serpent, for she is the goddess who was called “Great Mother Serpent of Heaven” on Sumerian tablets. [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">6</a>] Additionally, in her stories we learn of the serpent, "who could not be charmed, made its nest in the roots of the [Huluppu] tree". [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">7</a>] I was struck in reading this passage by the parallel that may be drawn between the serpent resting at the base of the tree, the world tree which symbolizes the Divine Mother in the Sumerian as well as other world cultures, and the Kundalini serpent, sacred to the Indian Divine Mother, who resides at the "roots" of the human body, our tail bone.

The number eight has found its way too into positions of prominence in other religions. In Buddhism, for example, we find the Eight-fold Path, "consisting of right conduct, right contemplation, right effort, right faith, right occupation, right resolve, right self-awareness and right speech." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">8</a>] It is said that upon Buddha's birth, an eight-petalled lotus sprang from the earth and, "he stepped into it to gaze into the 10 directions of space...[gazing] upward and downward, [too] making 10 directions." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">9</a>] A parallel here may be drawn to the Qabalah, or the Hebrew Tree of Life, which contains eight ways to spiritual realization within the 10 Sephira (spheres): Origin, Will, Love, Ritual, Science, Beauty, Devotion and Action. [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">10</a>]

In Hinduism, where the eight-petalled lotus (as previously mentioned) is significant to the Divine Mother in her role as loving, nurturing Goddess, many images in art, "express a reciprocal overlapping of the four functions of consciousness...thought, feeling, intuition, and sensation... so that four further intermediate functions come about—for instance, thought colored by feeling or intuition, or feeling tending toward sensation." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">11</a>] The number eight therefore plays an important role in enriching human wholeness in relation to the universe within these systems.

In looking further, I noticed that information from still other traditions made connections between the number eight and various essential elements of their cosmology. For example, in the tradition of the Navaho, dwelling places called hogans have always been a symbol of the cosmos. [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">12</a>] Constructed with eight sides, these homes reflect Native reverence of the four directions and the four alternate points, with smoke from the fire pit allowing communication with heaven and the east-facing doorway allowing the rising sun to enter.

In Christianity, we also find evidence of the significance of the number eight, for on the eighth day (Genesis 17:10) of a man-child's life "one of the most important covenants between God and humanity" [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">13</a>] is performed—circumcision (a rite that Judy Grahn [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">14</a>], Chris Knight, et al. have noted emulates female menstruation). And in Gnosticism, I found that the eight-rayed sun is a popular symbol of the universe, with a curved "S" at the center representing the divine serpent. [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">15</a>] Reading about this serpent called to mind once again the serpent so associated with the power of Kali, that of the Kundalini, the serpent who lies coiled three and a half times around the base of the spine at the muladhara or "root" chakra, asleep awaiting stimulation towards enlightenment.

Interesting to note is that the root chakra symbol is composed of eight points: a four-petalled lotus and a four-pointed square (symbolizing earth), and I can not help but feel the relatedness of the idea of the four directions and the four alternate points of the Navaho to this Indian integration of four points of the flower and four points of the square in their own symbology around the root chakra, seat of the Goddess. This flower/square representation may be an effort to have practitioners of yoga and other meditation techniques remember at all times their rootedness through the square "earth" symbol in their quest for alignment with the spirit as represented by the lotus. Additionally, it calls to mind the Indian creation story of Brahman, who, standing on a lotus, "turned his eyes to the four points of the compass...[for] a kind of preliminary orientation, an indispensable taking of bearings, before he began his work of creation." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">16</a>]

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In exploring the numerological aspects a bit further, I have also come to understand other correspondences, for example, the relationship of the number eight to Inanna and to her sacred planet-star. This number, the eight, "is linked to the Goddess, astronomically, by the seventy-two day season during which her planet Venus moves successively from maximum eastern elongation to inferior conjunction (closest approach to earth) and thence to maximum west elongation." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">17</a>] Perhaps ancient astronomers counted the voyage of Venus across the night sky and, rather than counting the rays of the planet-star to come up with the significant number eight, derived it from Venus' path of nine times eight days, therefore basing their sacred respect for the number on concrete physical evidence from the heavens.

Robert Graves notes in relation to the importance of these two numbers that, "nine [is] the number of lunar wisdom, and eight the number of solar increase." [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">18</a>] However, I believe a better connection of nine with the sun and eight with the moon more accurately reflects Inanna's association with the moon (she is the daughter of the moon god and goddess) and her eight-petalled rosette star emblem. Support for this ordering of correspondences comes from the connection of the number nine in the Tarot with the Sun. [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">19</a>]

Interestingly though, Graves states in a footnote that both numbers, eight and nine, were, "favourite objects of Pythagorean adoration," [<a href="/mandala/the-eight-pointed-rosette-star-of-inanna/3/#ref">20</a>] an obvious carry over from the more ancient times in which the Goddess reigned. This correspondence of eight and nine to the moon and the sun, no matter which is assigned to which, may also be a reflection of the interest of alchemical studies, as well as of Hinduism and other traditions, in balancing the masculine and feminine principles, for the sun in many religions is representative of the masculine energetic, and the moon of the feminine.

Looking at all of the ways in which the traditions I have explored in this essay interconnect, it seems to me evident that even if there was no one source for these ideas, there was at the very least a common collective understanding at one time of the physical realities and properties of the natural world and a sacred relationship to them. Whether in Sumer, in India, in North America or the Far East, images of the goddess, as well as symbols of her divine nature and accompanying qualities, have survived, giving her breath to inform these various cultures of her mysteries. Although buried behind layers upon layers of patriarchal context for most of us, our task today is to reconnect to the source of her wisdom through the multitudinous spiritual disciplines at our disposal, whether they be religious, mystical, mathematical, or in the simple witnessing and recognition of the beauty of the world.

It also seems appropriate that as we today search to give a meaning to our lives in these times of planetary crisis, we are beginning to reconnect to the ancient roots of many of the symbols that we have taken for granted or have not known connected to something deeper; symbols whose sacred significance has for most of our recorded history long been ignored or forgotten. Thankfully though, the Goddess as Universal Mother can help us to dive into the primordial well of remembrance in order to resurface memories and intuitions important for the creation of human as well as Gaian wholeness. May we seek always to know the truth of our past, so that we may all move peacefully towards tomorrow.

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[1] Walker, Barbara G. The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects. (Harper &amp; Row, San Francisco) 1988, p. 68
[2] Allchin, F.R. Essay, "The Legacy of the Indus Civilization", appearing in Transformations of Myth Through Time: An Anthology of Readings. HBJ; 1990, p. 163
[3] George, Demetra. Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess. (HarperSan Francisco) 1992, pp. 176-177
[4] Harding, Elizabeth U. Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar. (Nicolas-Hays: Maine) 1992, pp. 80-81
[5] Javane, Faith and Bunker, Dusty. Numerology and The Divine Triangle. (Whitford Publishers: West Chester) 1979, p. 145
[6] Chernin, Kim, Reinventing Eve: Modern Woman in Search of Herself. New York, 1987, p. 155
[7] Wolkstein, Diane and Kramer, Samuel Noah. Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth, Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer. (Harper &amp; Row: New York) 1983, p. 7
[8] Walker, Barbara G. ibid.
[9] Jaffé, Aniela. "Symbolism in the Visual Arts", in Man and His Symbols, edited by Carl G. Jung, (Dell: New York) 1964, p. 267
[10] Parfitt, Will. The Living Qabalah: A Practical and Experiential Guide to Understanding the Tree of Life (Element Books: England) 1988, p. 156
[11] Jaffé, Aniela. ibid.
[12] Walker, Barbara G. ibid, p. 139
[13] Javane, Faith and Bunker, Dusty., ibid., p. 114
[14] Grahn, Judy. Blood, Bread and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World. Boston, 1993. For example, see p. 46
[15] Walker, Barbara G. ibid, p.78
[16] Jaffé, Aniela. Ibid., p. 266
[17] Graves, Robert. The White Goddess, Farrar, (Strauss &amp; Giroux: New York) 1948, p. 251, referring to Mr. Clyde Stacey (without reference).
[18] Graves, Robert. ibid.
[19] Javane, Faith and Bunker, Dusty, ibid., p. 149
[20] Graves, Robert. ibid.
