Michael Hayes,
New Dawn
Waking Times
Ever since my formative years, when I first began to think in
concepts, I have always been confounded by the mystery of human
existence. By and large we all tend to take this consciousness of ours
for granted, but for me it has always been a source of wonder. Equally
perplexing is that ultimate question in life: death – that future
happening looming over the horizon of all of our lives like some
conceptual black hole. What, one wonders, is the purpose in the unending
cycle of the genesis and inevitable destruction of all of us? Why are
millions of sentient beings all over our planet created, only to starve
or be slaughtered wholesale, many without ever having been given the
opportunity to fulfill themselves?
On the wider scale of evolution, we see evidence in palaeontological
and fossil records, of the emergence and subsequent violent extinction
of whole races of people and species of animal. These entities come and
go with alarming regularity. But to what avail?
In the greater universe also, existence is no less capricious, with
the continuous formation and devastating destruction of planets, stars –
even entire galaxies. And who knows what countless other life-forms out
there are being indiscriminately annihilated in this way? Just normal,
everyday occurrences – but these inviolable and often disturbingly
violent events have persistently gnawed at my reason. Why, I ask myself,
would the theologians all-wise and all-knowing Benefactor – if he
exists – create such a myriad of wonderful forms and then turn round and
simply destroy them? These endless cycles of life and death, creation
and destruction – what kind of devilment is this?
The ongoing debate over the possible existence and modus operendi of a
conscious, all-knowing creator proceeds unabated, with contributors
from all disciplines lining up to have their say. However, owing to a
specific sequence of events which led me on a solitary quest which was
to last nearly fifteen years, I believe I have found a way of
understanding what might really be going on in and around us. And
ultimately, if I am right, the future looks not all bad. What is more,
in this particular scheme of things, God is tangible, very much alive,
and undeniably omnipresent.
Strange as this may seem, this whole scenario can all be explained with numbers.
Introducing the Hermetic Code
The theory in question centres on a familiar numerical symbol: 22/7.
This is pi of course, a unique mathematical convention whose discovery
is generally attributed to the Greeks, but which in fact expresses a
symmetry that was recognised as far back as the time of the Egyptians of
the Old Kingdom.
It is now generally accepted by all but the most hardened sceptic
that the classical pi ratio – 22/7, or 3.142857 etc. – is incorporated
in the dimensions and proportions of the Great Pyramid. That the
Egyptians knew of this value is further substantiated by a key piece of
non-pyramidal evidence. This appears in the form of a royal decree, one
of the most important administrative documents of the Old Kingdom, which
appoints the high priest and Grand Vizier Shemaj Director of Upper
Egypt. This document officially places all twenty-two nomes (districts)
under his authority, enumerating them from first to last. Some time
later the pharaoh appoints to the post of deputy the overseer vizier j,
who seems to be the son of the same Shemaj. But then comes the most
interesting part of this ancient decree, which states that the son’s
jurisdiction, as deputy, extends to only seven nomes. The symbolism is
obvious: father over son, twenty-two over seven: pi.
Most people are aware that pi is the ratio of the circumference of a
circle to its diameter. However this ratio exists separate from circles
as well. It resonates in and around us and is the answer to innumerable
maths puzzles. It is intrinsic to the solutions of probability and
statistical questions; and it is part of how we interpret phenomena as
varied as the structure of atoms to the motion of stars. Is it not
remarkable, therefore, given its uniqueness and sophistication, that the
ancient Egyptians incorporated this symmetry, not only in the
proportions and dimensions of what is undoubtedly one of the most
impressive pieces of architecture of the ancient world, but also as a
basic model for the conduct and interactions of their high priests?
Now, apart from geometry and the solving of probability and
statistical questions, there is another, much more important aspect of
the pi convention. This is its
musical conformity.
22/7 is in fact an expression of three consecutive octaves of
resonance. An octave, as everyone knows, comprises seven fundamental
notes:
Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti. The eighth note, Do, a repeat of
the first but with double the pitch frequency, is the first note of the
second octave. Accordingly the eighth note of the second octave – again,
Do – is the first note of the third. Taken together these three octaves
contain twenty-two notes.
What we have here, in fact, is a symbolic embodiment of the two most
fundamental laws of nature, namely, the ubiquitous law of three forces
(active-passive-neutral), and the lesser-known but equally all-embracing
law of octaves. The law of three forces, as we shall see, is the
absolute mainstay of all creative processes, whose influence manifests
practically everywhere. The second law, the law of octaves, tells us
that all phenomena generated by these three primordial forces are
essentially
musically structured. To sensibly visualise this concept, we need to look at the formula pi when expressed musically, like so:
Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-Do.
This configuration expresses in exact scientific terms everything you
need to know to understand the General Theory of just about Everything.
All one need do to appreciate this is to remember the key musical
numbers incorporated within it. These are: 3, 4, 7, 8, 22, and 64.
Three, the number of the Trinity, is the number of octaves encoded in
pi.
Four is the number of base-notes (Dos) in three consecutive
octaves. Seven is the number of intervals between the notes of the
major scale.
Eight is the number of individual notes in the
major scale. Twenty-two is the number of notes in three consecutive
scales or octaves. And, according to the law of three forces, the three
octaves incorporated in pi are each sub-divisible into three octaves
apiece, giving an inner formula of nine octaves, or
sixty-four notes. So
eight is the constant, and
sixty-four, is the
square of it.
So much for the maths. You don’t need to be an
Einstein to venture further, although it is worth noting the most famous scientific equation of all time –
e=mc2 – was formulated to verify this great scientist’s Special Theory of Relativity, which states that
e, the latent nuclear energy contained in any given element, is equal to
m, the mass of the thing, multiplied by
c2, the
square of the constant speed of light. As we shall see, the square of the constant occurs time and again throughout the whole of nature.
I have called this musical pattern of symmetry the
Hermetic Code,
after the Greek god of wisdom and patron of alchemy Hermes
Trismegistus, known as the god Thoth, in Old Kingdom Egypt. As noted
previously, it was in ancient Egypt where the pi symmetry first came to
light, both in its most famous piece of architecture the Great Pyramid –
and also in extant administrative documents of the Old Kingdom.
The law of three expressed in the Hermetic Code can be recognised by
anyone. Nothing in this universe can be created without the combined
action of the three forces described by it: active, passive and neutral.
The three main constituents of atoms – protons, electrons and neutrons –
the
triplet-codon templates of the genetic code, the three pin
plug, two opposing teams and a neutral referee, the three primary
colours of the spectrum of light, the tripart social and political
arenas, two chemical compounds and an intermediary catalyst – all of
these trinities exist and interact as a direct result of the three
fundamental forces described by the first law of nature. Whenever and
wherever something is created, these three forces will inevitably be
there.
The
second law – the law of octaves – also operates throughout the entire
universe. For example, the atomic scale of matter described by the
periodic table of elements in chemistry conforms to this law precisely.
Based on the atomic weight of a given substance, the table begins at its
apex with hydrogen, the lightest of all elements, which has just one
electron tracing a specific orbit, or period, around the nucleus. The
heavier the element, the more electrons it hosts, and the more periods
are needed to accommodate them. The table culminates with substances
like curium, one of the densest of radioactive elements. The curium atom
consists of ninety-six electrons, which between them trace a total of
seven periods around the nucleus precisely the number of periods, or
intervals, between the fundamental notes of the major musical scale. The eighth,
transcendental note of this atomic scale is the whole phenomenon, all atoms combined.
There is also a current method of classification in nuclear physics
called the theory of quantum chromodynamics, which indicates that,
beneath the atomic scale, in the world of subatomic quanta, there are
also distinct musical symmetries. The American physicist Murray Gell-Man
noted that the categories of particle-molecules known as baryons,
mesons and pions always combine together in families of eight, which he
called octets – hence his name for the system: the eightfold way.
Further, each of the eight particles in an octet is a triplet made up of
three smaller particles, which Gell-Man called quarks. Three quarks to
each particle, eight particles to each octet – an altogether familiar
pattern. And then we have the hermetic structure of light, with its
three primary colours, the seven fundamental colours of the spectrum and
the final eighth note, the product of all seven colours when spun
together – the white ray.
Whilst still on the subject of theoretical physics, significantly the
number sixty-four, the square of the musical constant, has surfaced in
superstring theory, which describes all particles in the universe as
infinitesimally small strings made of a kind of vibrational energy. You
really cannot get more conceptually obscure than superstring theory,
with its eleven different dimensions (three spacial, one temporal, and
seven others of increasingly acute curvature), and a system of higher
mathematics guaranteed to give the layman a form of intellectual
vertigo. But no matter, all we need to know here is that this incredibly
complicated system holds that there are
eight degrees of
manifestation or modes of movement inherent within the string itself.
Moreover, in order to account for the four-dimensional structure of
classical space-time geometry, the superstring theory is further
developed through calculating the formulation of the string in four
dimensions, the mathematics of which apparently produces precisely
sixty-four specific
degrees of movement associated with it. The detailed mechanics of this
theory involves a language all of its own, inaccessible to the general
reader, myself included. The point is – and any lay observer can see
this – even the most complex and advanced mathematical formulae of
present-day scientific thought, taken as symbols, reflect virtually
every aspect, every nuance, of the original Hermetic Code.
As well as the microcosmic music of the underworld, there is also a
cosmic aspect of the Hermetic Code. This is dramatically reflected, not
only in the musical symmetry of light itself, but also in the movements
of major planets in relation to the Sun, many of which, as I explain in
my book
High Priests, Quantum Genes,
beat out endlessly repeating intervals developing in time, which
exactly conform to the relative values of the fundamental notes of the
major scale. Ergo, the music of the spheres is not simply legend, but
fact.
Perhaps most crucial of all aspects of the Hermetic Code is that it
actually resonates throughout the entire organic world. Probably most of
you will have heard of the genetic code, a chemical arrangement used by
the DNA in the cells of your body to manufacture amino acids, the
building blocks of all organic life. In the genetic code there are four
kinds of fundamental chemical bases: adenine, thymine, guanine and
cytosine. In this respect it is significant there are exactly four
base-notes, four Dos, in the triple-octave of resonance described by pi.
It takes three of these bases to make what is known as a triplet-codon,
an amino acid template, of which there are precisely sixty-four
variations. Each of these codons correspond to one or another of
twenty-two more complex components, namely, the twenty amino acids and
two further coded instructions for starting and stopping the process of
protein synthesis.
All this, therefore, is crystallised music, composed by nature from
units and sub-units of the constant number eight and its natural
multiple, the
square of the constant, sixty four. This same
universal harmony is also reflected in the ever present number seven of
course, which again, as we see from the periodic table, is prevalent
throughout the whole of nature. This is simply because it, too, is an
expression of the law of octaves, which describes eight fundamental
notes, but with seven intervals between.
So the General Theory of just about Everything is described in its
entirety by the Hermetic Code, an exact blueprint, not only of the
underlying structure of the physical universe, but also of the genetic
code, of the DNA molecule, of
life itself. This unique
evolutionary concept has been in existence at least since the time of
Old Kingdom Egypt. And, remarkably, the symmetry it describes is
currently resonating through the entire spectrum of modern scientific
enquiry. How strange is that? Well, not quite so strange, for the seeds
of science were sown long ago, as we shall see when we go back in time.
Consider this:
In the symbolism of every major religion and belief system in
history, the key numbers of the Hermetic Code are paramount. Without
exception, these immensely powerful religious doctrines are all exact
copies of the original blueprint. To briefly illustrate this, we need
only to focus on the two key numbers of the octave: eight (the notes)
and seven (the intervals between).
In
ancient Egypt, where the Hermetic Code first came to light, the people
revered a pantheon of eight principal gods. There were three main
theologies in the Old Kingdom: Hermopolitan, Memphite and Heliopolitan,
and in all of them the octave format formed the basic blueprint.
In China, in the third millennium BCE, the legendary sage Fu Hsi
introduced a belief-system which was subsequently condensed into a book
we today know as the
I-Ching,
whose chapters were numbered using a combination of eight three line
symbols called trigrams. Confucius, who later added commentaries to this
enigmatic book, subsequently introduced a system of instruction known
as the Eight Steps of Learning.
The body of writings known as
the Vedas
of Indian tradition described the nature of reality as being supported
by a system of proofs, of which there were considered to be eight
fundamental types. Reminiscent of this also are the systems of the
Buddha, with his
Eightfold Path, and the Persian
Zoroaster, with his pantheon of eight Bounteous Immortals.
Pythagoras,
as we know, reinvented his own take on this oldest of sciences by
working out the precise mathematics of the octave. In the Book of
Genesis of Mosaic tradition, we read that God worked for six days,
rested on the seventh, presumably starting over again on the eighth.
Later still, Jesus Christ acted out possibly the greatest musical
performance of all time through the Passion, which began on Palm Sunday
and ended, seven days later, on the Sunday of the Resurrection. Finally
we have Mohammad, last of the great revelationists, whose famous night
journey began at the sacred site of the furthest mosque (The Dome of the
Rock Temple in Jerusalem – the first note), and continued up through
the seven heavens.
The number seven, or the septenary principle, is equally ubiquitous in the annals of human tradition.
It first appears in the customs of the Neanderthal race as far back
as 75,000 BCE. In a cave at Drachenloch in the Swiss Alps, a known
bear-hunter site, there was discovered an altar in which were enshrined
seven bear skulls, each with their muzzles pointing toward the entrance.
The Hindus regarded the constellation of the Great Bear (our Plough),
as the heavenly home of the Septarishi, an embodiment of the seven
Rishis (properties)
applicable to the whole of nature. Their land had seven peninsulas,
seven islands, seven rivers, seven seas and seven mountains.
Another key number of the Hermetic Code, as noted earlier, is the
number sixty-four, the square of the constant. This, too, is a vital
component of many major religious and esoteric traditions. We have
already noted this number is intrinsic to the pi convention, whose
encoded triple-octave is further subdivisible into nine inner octaves –
sixty-four notes. The Greeks recognised an Egyptian number system known
as the Magic Square of Mercury, defined by the number 2080, which is the
sum of all the numbers from one to sixty-four. Mercury, of course, is a
Romanised version of Hermes/Thoth, the Egyptian messenger of the gods.
In the time of the Buddha it was customary for the nobility to
consult a council of sixty-four Brahmins on matters of supreme
importance. The ancient game of chess, whose true origins are the
subject of endless debate and whose strategic possibilities are
seemingly endless, is played on a board comprising sixty-four squares.
The Tarot pack, with its fifty-six minor arcana cards also includes a
major arcana of twenty-two cards. This major arcana, a triple-octave on
one scale, must also, according to the law of three forces, be a single
octave on another scale. If we add this greater single octave onto the
minor arcana figure, we end up with a total of sixty-four notes. And
again, in the Koran, there is a crucial chapter on the sacred light of
Allah – chapter sixty-four.
So, what does all this mean? It means many things, whose separate
conceptual strands all lead us back to the same hermetic blueprint. It
means that the Hermetic Code, the design plan for everything existing –
particles, cosmic concentrations, living cells – is applicable literally
everywhere, not only in the wider universe, but also, as we see from
esoteric traditions going back over centuries and millennia, in the
ephemeral realms of the collective human psyche. It tells us that, if
everything is
music, then everything is hermetic, genetic,
alive.
There is an ancient dictum attributed to the Egyptian god Thoth which
sums up this idea perfectly: As above, so below. The message is clear:
man below and the universe above, as stated so emphatically in Genesis,
are made in the same image. Everyone, quite literally, is a miniature
universe. And expansion is the natural course of things.
And so, if hermetic is
genetic, this means the whole universe itself is
alive, it is a
living organism of
infinite size. So if you are looking for a god, we have here a
candidate that outshines all of the ill-defined, abstract deities
alluded to by clueless clerics – an all-powerful, omnipresent deity
that
actually does exist.
If we assume, therefore, that the universe is itself an
organism, a
living entity, and that we are all copies of it, then this would imply that the more advanced products of an
organic brain – ideas, theories, concepts – are also in their own way
alive,
they are metaphysical genes, as organic as the brain from which they
originate. The ancients of the remote past, in my view, seem somehow to
have understood this, which is why they devised a
musical mode
of existence in the form of prescribed disciplines and rituals which
enabled them to psychologically conform to the laws and forces
controlling evolution. This is precisely why religion was first invented
– to instil into the collective consciousness of humanity the necessity
of
harmonising one’s inner faculties according to the principles of the Hermetic Code.
The aim was quite straightforward, it was an attempt to complete the
natural course of one’s evolutionary and psychological development by
living-out a
harmonious existence and ultimately
transcending on to a higher plane, a greater musical scale above. This greater scale, a wholly
scientific concept describing a higher dimension of existence accessible to the trained mind, is the heaven expressed in all religions.
About the Author
MICHAEL HAYES is the author of the new book
High Priests, Quantum Genes,
which includes an introduction by Colin Wilson. The book is published
by Black Spring Press. To order the book visit their web site
www.blackspringpress.co.uk.
The above article appeared in New Dawn No. 87 (November-December 2004).
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