It’s been a while since the last time I wrote. My brainspace has been occupied with trying to pay bills on time, career planning, household responsibilities… the sundries of modern existence as an almost-30-year-old. What’s been exciting me lately is discovering the rabbit hole that is numerology. That’s what has brought me back to this blog and what I hope to accomplish here.
I’m obsessed with archetypes and archetyping systems. Astrology, tarot, and numerology are of particular interest to me, but I see archetypes everywhere. Myth and fairytale reappear in the collective under different guises, but those with eyes to see can recognize old, old stories in new costuming and glamour.
Given that this blog is called The Power of One, let’s dive into the One/1 as an archetype. But first we have to talk about the Zero/0 and the Two/2. My understanding comes from Western numerology, specifically in the Pythagorean tradition. There are other numerology traditions, but that is my starting point.
In the beginning was the Primordial Womb, the Void, the thick black cosmic ocean full of potential and possibility not manifested. This beginningless beginning is represented by the Zero/0. Note that the 0 is reminiscent of the mandorla, the almond shape that surrounds holy figures in religious art from around the world. The mandorla symbolizes the vulva, the gateway of all life, that leads to the dark velvet cave of the womb. Zero/0 is the formlessness out of which arises all form in its diversity and multiplicity.
Now, the Two/2 is the archetype of relationship, connection, duality. It is the beginning of the love that is the sacred third, the Three/3, the child that is the fruit of union. But before there can be relationship or connection, there must be distinction, individuation, a sense of “I Am.”
And that “I Am,” that sense of Self conscious of Itself, that is the One/1. Before there was “I Am,” there was silence. The first vibration emanating from the dark matter of the Void was the One/1, “I Am,” Om.
Now, the Zero/0 is the undifferentiated feminine and masculine that transcends both orientations even as it gives rise to them. The Zero/0 is Mother-Father, undivided, inseparable, original union without the relationship of the Two/2, which first requires the individuation of the One/1.
The “I Am” is the first step of the soul’s evolution. This is true in numerology, and it is also true in the Western astrological tradition: the first of the twelve houses in the zodiac is the house of self, of identity differentiating itself from primordial formless oneness. Aries, ruler of the first house, is the sign that claims its space as an individual with its “I Am” presence. Asserting oneself requires Mars energy, the planetary ruler of Aries.
In order to have relationship, ruled by Venus in Western astrology, one must first be an individual. More than that, to have the Sacred Marriage, the Hieros Gamos, of the Two/2 that creates the Sacred Third, the Holy Child of Love, the Three/3, the soul must know its own “I Am” resonance, its sense of unique expression.
Why is this important?
Nonduality, which is becoming popular and which I myself have had an interest in, advocates for a total identification with the Zero, the Void, the Unknown Mystery. This requires a dissolution of what many nondualists call the ego (though this is not the original use of the term). The ego is considered unhelpful at best, evil at worst. It is to be overcome at all costs. Nondualists believe that our ego and sense of separation is the source of all problems. The solution is to return to Primordial Oneness, which is actually the Void.
But here’s the thing. I don’t believe the solution to our modern predicament is for all of us to return to total identification with our Source. That would defeat the purpose of the lila, the play of God, the grand experiment of diversity and multiplicity birthed from formless emptiness. I believe we incarnate in order to manifest a unique expression of the Divine. We are meant to become perfectly ourselves even as we realize our fundamental connection to the Divine Self that is playing all the parts of the cosmic drama.
Shamanic tradition (and Christian tradition, if you pay close attention) posits a threefold self: body, soul, and spirit. The body corresponds to the animal self, the soul to the human self, and the spirit to the God self. The body is child of Mother Earth, Gaia, the product of millions upon millions of years of evolution, hundreds of thousands of variations of DNA weaving and reweaving themselves into these incredibly intelligent organic interfaces we find ourselves in. The spirit is the God-consciousness that is at the root of our existence, the Divine Self playing a particular role among other actors, also being played by this one Self. The soul is the bridge between the two, the unique package of experiences and knowledge that develops through incarnation after incarnation.
The archetype of the One/1 represents the soul’s sense of its own uniqueness. An undeveloped One/1 loses itself in the crowd, becomes subject to the whims of the hive mind, conforms to mass energy flows that may be headed toward destruction. On the other side, the distortion of the One/1 is a tyrant, arrogant, competitive, unempathetic, so desperate to stand out that they step on others. But the healthy, evolved One/1 is a person who is aligned with their soul’s blueprint for evolution, sense of purpose, and heart’s desires, whose sense of “I Am” vibrates at the frequency of love.
Such a One has the power to change the world.
I have struggled to know what this blog should focus on, how it might serve the needs of the times. And now I think I get it. For us to move into the energy of collaboration and cooperation out of the divisiveness, separation, and tyranny we’ve experienced over the past several thousand years, we need to actually individuate, to become more fully ourselves.
In The Undiscovered Self, Carl Jung talks about the need for the self to individuate from the mass, to come to a full awareness of the psyche/soul apart from the demands of a society that rewards conformity. I think this is more necessary in these times than ever before.
Our DNA wires us to want a sense of tribe. Our evolutionary ancestry comes from species that prioritized survival as a group, which requires a certain amount of conformity. There have always been the few who are “built different,” the highly sensitives who have served as the alarm system of the group. But for the most part, prioritizing the group is part of our DNA. Though it appear we’ve swung in the other direction, allowing individual preferences and seeming to encourage individuality, I actually think this is an illusion.
Take marketing. The whole point of marketing is to convince you that your preference is *this* particular product or service, that *this* influencer is worth buying a paid program from, that *this* political party serves your best interests. There is a lot of marketing out there that manipulates unsuspecting people into serving the agenda of bad actors. Such marketing typically targets those who seek externally for the answers to their problems. This external seeking is a hallmark of the underdeveloped soul, the soul that doesn’t trust itself.
And isn’t it the way of the world right now that the powers and principalities do everything possible to break our self-trust? Our ability to distinguish reality from fantasy, truth from falsehood, is being constantly attacked. The archetype of the One/1 is about standing in your truth, trusting your inner knowing, claiming the sovereignty of your soul against the tyranny of authority.
The One/1 is about becoming the main character of your story, instead of a side character or, worse, an NPC. It’s about choosing yourself so that you can relate to others from a grounded place, from a place of self-awareness and confidence (with humility), and discovering the meaning and purpose of your life.
Stories, archetypes, and symbols are the carriers of the codes that can unlock the memory of our spirit-soul-body complexes and help us to evolve along a constructive trajectory. They are part of the collective unconscious, the ancestral memory of our species, and can be instrumental in helping us make sense of this increasingly nonsensical world. And they can call us home to web of life within the Primordial Womb that we have so long been separated from, helping us re-member our way back to wholeness after a long and harrowing journey in the Outer Darkness (weeping and gnashing of teeth included).
So here I hope to bring you the treasures I mine from archetypal systems like astrology, tarot, and numerology, as well as from the myths and fairytales I have loved since childhood. I will share what I learn as I learn, deepening into the material over time. I may include my insights into culture, current events, and suchlike, as long as they’re relevant to my ultimate goal, which is to help you in your soul journey.
The Power of One is truly the power of the fully awakened soul, the anthropos who stands in full trust of their own spiritual sovereignty. That is the meaning of incarnation, “the word made flesh.” May you find yourself, fully trust your inner knowing, and completely love your own soul.
