--| By the Numbers |--- 

I wish to make clear to you by means of a simple example how those
craving satisfaction of certain mystical longings are easily deluded.

I will give a most stupid example. It may be said, for instance that even
the ancient Pythagoreans looked upon numbers as containing the laws
governing the world. Much is concealed within numerical relationships.
Let us take, for example, two numerical relationships:

    Nicholas II of Russia:
    - Born in the year:         1868
    - Ascended the throne in:   1894
    - Reigned for:                22 years
    - His age was:                48 years
                                ----
    Total:                      3832


Dividing this total by 2, e get 1916, the most important year of the war.
This is stated on the basis of a 'most secret' numerical relationship.
Let us take:

    George V of England:
    - Born in the year:         1865
    - Has reign since:          1910
    - Has reigned:                 6 years
    - His age is:                 52 years
                                ----
    Total:                      3832

Half of this is 1916.

The destinies of these two individuals are intimately connected.
Here you see how Pythagorean laws of number play a role in the world!
But, to provide a surfiet, let us take also:

    Poincaré:
    - Born in the year:         1860
    - Has ruled since:          1913
    - That amounts to:             3 years
    - His age is:                 56 years
                                ----
    Total:                      3832

Half of this is 1916.

You see how the numbers agree among these three Allies!

It is of course, one of the dumbest examples imaginable. If I now went
down into the audience and asked one of the ladies -- as I shall naturally
not do -- wwhen she was born, how long she has been a member of the
Anthroposophical Society, how old she is -- which, as I have said, I shall
not ask -- when she became a member of the Society, and then added these
numbers and took half of the total, I wwould arrive at precisely the same
figure. It is an ideal example and so that it may include present reality,
let us select, then, any lady or gentleman; it may just as well be a
gentleman:

    XY as born in the year:     1870
    He entered the Society:     1912
    So he wwas in the Society:     4 years
    And he is:                    46 years old
                                ----
    Total:                      3832

It is a really absurd example. I can assure you, however, that all sorts
of things that have to do ith searching out the secrets of numbers rest on
nothing more; the problems are simply a little more concealed than those I
have given. Moreover, concepts taken from other fields can just as well be
shaped in the right manner and used for throwwing dust into the eyes of
people; by using proper methods people are hindered from seeing what is
concealed behind these thins and many have been taken in even by the
example I have given. It is profoundly significant that destiny chooses
1916. Had we calculated for 1914, it would have been connected with the
beginning of the war! Just as these numbers have been put together for
these three Allies, any kind of numbers can, after all, be put together.
Many things have been similarly fabricated from different concepts but
they are not at all more significant or intelligent. They are less easily
observed when somewhat more concealed. Then, when all sorts of numerical
relationships are produced along with such expressions as 'unfathomable,'
and 'deep as the world,' anyone can find innumberable adherents and also
give the impression that he is speaking from profound depths of human
knowwledge. But there is really something to the methods used by certain
individuals who wish to throw dust it the eyes of the people.

-- 

References:

- Rudolf Steiner, Lecture VII, Dornach, November 19, 1916.
  From: *The Karma of Vocation*, pp. 131-133, Anthroposophic Press, 1984.