Similarly, it is no use instituting a system of Kabalism that depends on the position of the sun at the birth of a person, and forthwith giving illustration of the system by means of births that are recorded in Old Style, which involves a difference of ten degrees in the sun’s longitude. Yet I have seen this done by sober-minded Kabalists, and illustrations of it exist in current works on the subject of Numerology. A system, of whatever nature, must be consistent in itself and must depend for its integrity upon a cosmical factor, otherwise it can only be described as a conglomerate of detached observations, which, being brought together cannot by any chance lay claim to the title of a system. In another section of this work I shall be able to show what was the origin of the various sounds attributed to the planets, and how the Mantravidya of the Brahmins of India has passed into the hands of Mohammedans and others, who have exploited it for their own purposes without reference to its origin. I shall also be able to show the astronomical basis of the various periods and sub-periods of the planets, including the famous trims’amsha, or “four minute period” which has played such an egregious part in the furtherance of a popular delusion.
Let me here say that a Kabalism is not a mere play upon figures, nor is it a system which arises by necessity from our system of enumeration as some have sought to prove. It is fundamentally an expression of some cosmical law, whether it be that of planetary periods, or other divisions of time instituted by us from observation of certain cosmic factors, or yet the laws of crystallization, which involve the fact of form in relation to sound vibrations. Thus we may have a lunar kabalism depending on the numbers 4, 7 and 28, another of the same nature depending on the numbers 3, 9, and 27: another solar kabala which arises from the numbers 18, 54, and 72. If those who seek to show that the decimal system was originated by the use of the ten fingers, called “digits,” would only have the patience to examine their theory, they would find that the facts are entirely against them. For if counting on the fingers reduced men to the decimal system, this system should be prevalent among the aboriginal peoples. It is, however, an ugly fact for the theorists that the very first system of enumeration that we come across is the duodecimal system of the Chinese and the Hebrews.
In the first place we find that the Chinese had twelve signs or months, each of thirty days, which was the antediluvian value of the year, afterwards rectified (2355 B.C.) by the intercalation of seven months in the course of nineteen years. The cycle of years was twice 60, or 120, arising out of the employment of ten roots and twelve branches. They appointed four chiefs to command the four gates or cardinal points and elected Twelve Patriarchs to govern local affairs. The duodecimal standard was instituted very early in the civilization of the Yellow Empire, as is evident from the Canon of Shun, wherein weights and measures were regulated by the Yellow Tube standard. This yellow tube was nine-tenths of a Chinese inch in bore circumference, and nine inches in length. It contained twelve hundred grains of millet which weighed twelve pennyweights, two pennyweights going to the ounce, sixteen ounces to the pound, thirty pounds to the quarter, and four quarters to the hundredweight. Thus the basis of the whole system of weights was regulated by sound, for there were twelve tubes, each of the same circumference but of different lengths, and these being struck gave the twelve notes of the Chinese musical gamut. The measures of length and capacity were also regulated by these tubes, and thus sound was at the root of all the Chinese mensuration. The fact that there were twelve sounds in the scale shows that the whole system was duodecimal.
The Hebrew system was also duodecimal, for we find that they had twelve months in the year answering to the twelve Gates of the Sun, such as those of Gaza (Capricorn) and Hebron (Cancer), which are mentioned in connection with the feats of Samson, the original of the Greek Hercules and obviously a Sun-god. The twelve tribes were formed upon the basis of the zodiacal circle, and are so referred to in Jacob’s last prophetic blessing, where the sons of the Patriarch are distinctly associated with the astrological portents of the twelve Signs.
Reuben—Taurus, the first sign of the Hebrew zodiac, connected with the constellation Orion and the letter Aleph (Bull). This tribe has often been associated with Aquarius, despite the fact that astrologically speaking it is not a watery sign, but belongs to the airy trigon. “Unstable as water,” is a figure of speech that has no reference to the astrological functions of the sign Aquarius.
Simeon and Levi—Gemini and Cancer. The Levitical sign Cancer.
Judah—Leo, “the old lion,” couchant. The regal sign Leo.
Zebulon—Virgo associated with Argos, the ship.
Issachar—Libra, “servant of tribute.”
Dan—Scorpio, associated with Serpentarius, “an adder in the path.”