Numbers

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Numbers (from Latin: numerus) form a basic category of human thinking. In the sensory-physical world, they serve as abstract mathematical objects that represent quantities (e.g. the number or size of objects), for counting, measuring and numbering. For the spiritual world, counting has no meaning, but the individual essential character of the individual numbers, which stand in a harmonious "musical" relationship to each other, does. In this regard, Rudolf Steiner occasionally spoke of the "secret of number" that governed the second planetary stage of development, the Old Sun, and still resonates today, revealing itself as an organising principle in the rhythms of nature.

„There are several principal concepts within esoteric science that run like leitmotifs through the whole esoteric movement. One such is the concept of rhythmic number, another that of the microcosm and macrocosm. The mystery of number is expressed in the fact that certain phenomena follow one another in such a way that the seventh repetition can be described as the conclusion of an event, the eighth as the beginning of a new event. This fact is represented within the physical world in the relationship of the octave to the fundamental. For those who try to penetrate into occult worlds, this principle becomes the basis for a comprehensive world view. Not only are the tones arranged according to the law of number, but also the events in time. The events of the spiritual world are so arranged that one finds a relation as in the rhythm of the tone.“ (Lit.:GA 150, p. 58)

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
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