1. NUMBERS Archetypes Jennifer A. Bennett Sanderson High School
Raleigh, North Carolina

2. Numbers as Archetypes: 3
Spiritual awareness and unity
Light
Male principle
Examples:
Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
Spiritual rebirth (water, blood, spirit)
Father Time (past, present, future)
Beginning, middle, end
Three Pillars of Eternity
the Creation,
the Fall,
the Atonement
The Three Pillars of Eternity by Bruce R. McConkie

3. Numbers as Archetypes: 4
Associated with circle, earth, nature
Four corners/four directions (North/East/South/West)
Four elements (earth, air, fire, water)
Life cycle
Four seasons—spring, summer, fall, winter
Humankind
Four limbs
Female principle
Mother Earth (Gaia)
Mother Nature

4. Numbers as Archetypes: 7
Most potent of all symbolic numbers
Union of 3 (divinity/heaven) & 4 (mankind/earth)
Relationship between God and man
Revelation, chapters 1, 4, 5
Completion of a cycle; perfect order
Seven days in a week
Seven days to create the world
Seven stages of civilization
Seven stages of man
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage“
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5. The Seven Stages of Man
JAQUES All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth.

6. The Seven Stages of Man
And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. As You Like It, William Shakespeare

7. Numbers as Archetypes: 7
More examples:
Seven Deadly Sins
Seven colors in the rainbow
Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
Seven seas
Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church
Seven Horcruxes
Seven Chakras

8. More Analysis
What do the archetypes in these images communicate?