The Importance of the number 9
Plato taught that this material world was a reflection of a spiritual world; he also quoted Pythagoras as saying, “All the world can be explained by the numbers one through nine.”
Plotinus in his central work, The Enneads.
How the original nine forms, in the course of their travels from Greece to Egypt over the course of a century, became reduced to seven deadly sins remains a mystery.
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In the base 10 system, where all numbers are represented by ten distinct forms (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9), nine is the final number. As such, it becomes a limit, a bound, or the ultimate attainment. The Greeks called “nine” the horizon, where the Ennead, or the nothing/void lay beyond. Expressions such as “a cat has nine lives”, a “cat-o’-nine-tails”, “the whole nine yards”, “cloud nine”, “dressed to the nines”, “a stitch in time saves nine”, and “possession is nine point (or nine-tenths) of the law” are all variations of the concept of the ninth level being the nth degree, the highest level, or the maximum possibility.
Ancient and modern traditions are replete with ninefold symbolism. The Norse God Odin, ruler of the 9 Norse worlds, hung 9 days on the world axis or Yggdrasil tree to win the secrets of wisdom for mankind. In Scandinavia, 9 day fertility feasts were held every 9 years. There were 9 Norse giantesses, who strode 9 paces at a time and lived at the edge of the sea and land. The city of Troy in Homer’s Iliad and Oddessey was besieged for 9 years, while Odysseus wandered for 9 more years in trying to return home. The Greek goddess, Demeter, was depicted with 9 ears of wheat and searched 9 days for her daughter Persephone. The birth of Apollo and Artemis by Leto took 9 days and nights (Artemis becoming the midwife in the process and later choosing two 9-year old girls as her companions). The Greeks also honored 9 muses, while the Egyptians honored a company of 9 “gods” or neteru. Egyptian pharaohs, meanwhile, were often symbolized by 9 bows. Celtic traditions talk of 9 Celtic maidens and 9 virgins attending Bridget, while the sacred Beltane fire rites were attended by a cycle of 9 groups of 9 men. Aztec, Mayan, and Native American myths describe 9 cosmic levels (four above, earth, and four below). As the most auspicious number of celestial power in ancient Chinese, 9 became the rule in 9 great social laws, 9 classes of officials, 9 sacred rites, and 9-story pagodas. The festival of the “double yang” was held on the 9th hour of the 9th day of the 9th month. In Christian symbolism, there are 9 orders of angelic choirs in 9 circles of heaven and 9 orders of devils within 9 rings of hell -- possibly accounting for the fact that it took 9 days for Lucifer and his angels to fall from heaven. And speaking of fallen angels and/or hell, there are 9 justices of the United States Supreme Court!
There were 9 Gods of the Sabines (an ancient tribe of Italy): Aeneas, Bacchus, Esculapius, Fides, Fortuna, Hercules, Romulus, Santa, and Vesta. Medieval theology listed 9 orders of Angels, i.e., Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels; 9 Stones: Sapphire, Emerald, Carbuncle, Beryl, Onyx, Chrysolite, Jasper, Topaz, and Sardis; and 9 Beatitudes. In heraldry, there are 9 accepted places on the shield that signify the heralidic arms. There are even 9 Worthies, famous individuals comparable to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Alexander (the Great), Hector, Julius Caesar, Joshua, David, Judas Maccabaeus, King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon. [See Clovis I to Godfroi and Crusades and Secret Societies.] There are even 9 magnitudes of the Richter Earthquake Scale (the latter theoretically possible but has never occured during human history -- it would amount to probably four times the intensity of the 1964 Alaskan earthquake).
According to one source, <http://www.esotericarchives.com/agrippa/agripp2b.htm> Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535) has described the Number 9 by noting that it is dedicated to the Muses. Considering the nine movable spheres (the planets of antiquity), and the nine Muses -- Calliope, Urania, Polymnia, Terpsichore, Clio, Melpomene, Erato, Euterpe, Thalia -- Agrippa considered which nine Muses were appropriated to the nine Spheres. He did this by noting that the first resembles the supreme Sphere (the Primum mobile), and descending in order to the Sphere of the Moon, he determined that Calliope is appropriated to the Primum mobile; Urania to the Starry Heaven, Polymnia to Saturn, Terpsichore, to Jupiter, Cleo to Mars, Melpomene to the Sun, Erato to Venus, Euterpe to Mercury, and Thalia to the Moon. [Thalia is the Muse of Comedy, my personal favorite.]
Beethoven wrote 9 symphonies, after which he died. To this day, a superstition among many musical composers forbids the numbering of a symphony past the number 9. Mahler wrote more symphonies, but never named any one of them, number 9. Equally superstitious, Baseball has 9 innings and 9 players (often playing at 9-figure salaries -- if we include the decimals), and figures the “bottom of the 9th” to be the last chance to win.
On a higher level, Abraham was 99 when the Lord spoke to him, Islam acknowledges the 99 Beautiful Names of God, and “amen” (from the Hebrew “so be it”) transforms in the Greek alphabet into the number 99. And if you want to get thoroughly mathematical...
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