666 in Vedic Terms

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Are you ready for the Beast?

          Jani Meyer

    June 04 2006 at 10:28AM

In Vedic astrology and numerology the number 6 is associated with the

planet Venus. Vedic astrologer Mahesh Bang said Venus was associated

with love and beauty and had nothing to do with disaster.

 

If the Doomsdayers have their way the next few days could be your

last, for Tuesday is the sixth day of the sixth month, 2006. And, you

guessed it, the anti-Christ will descend upon us, and mark us with the

number of the Beast.

 

It will be the first time in 100 years that the date coincides with

the dreaded 666.

 

The mystical number has an ominous ring for millions of Christians

around the world. It refers to a passage in the Book of Revelation

interpreted by some as describing the number of "the Beast" - more

commonly known as Satan or the Devil.

 

"Six hundred threescore and six" or 666 have long been associated with

the anti-Christ and some believe that June 6, 2006, will be the day

that the anti-Christ will be revealed, or the day on which he is born.

Some believe it could be the beginning of the end, the battle of

Armageddon, when true Christians are taken into heaven before the end

of the world.

 

Most Christians, even "lapsed" ones, grow up with knowledge of this

"evil" number and many still feel uncomfortable with it. In fact there

is even a name for the fear of 666: hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

 

Now there's a really hexing condition. Then there are those who use

666 for shock value - the rock and metal bands. It has even been

declared as the National Day by Slayer, a so-called "Satanic speed

metal" band from California.

 

And because of its fear factor, its significance has not been lost on

marketing executives. Tuesday was chosen for the release of the remake

of The Omen - a horror film about the anti-Christ. The original

version was released June 6, 1976.

 

The Doomsday prophets have linked 666 with everything from bar codes

and the New World Order to Hitler and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Even a tree-hugging Prince Charles, after his insistence at being

called defender of faith rather than defender of The Faith, is

rumoured to be the anti-Christ personified, if Internet gossip is

anything to go by.

 

Bar codes, especially, have been the focus of 666 spotters because the

Book of Revelation states that "no man might buy or sell, save he that

had the mark, or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name".

 

Satan himself is hardly mentioned in the Old Testament and is a

relative new name for all that encompasses evil - at least in the

Christian sense. However, Shaitan is often referred to in the Islamic

Holy Book, the Quran.

 

Despite its notoriety, the number 666 is not mentioned elsewhere in

relation to Satan and might even have been wrongly translated - or not

refer to Satan at all.

 

Professor Paul Decock of St Joseph's Theological Institute and

University of KwaZulu-Natal said there were many interpretations of

the number 666.

 

"In the Greek and Hebrew alphabets, the same signs were used for

letters and figures. There was a tradition of reading words as numbers

or names," said Decock.

 

"There are various speculations but the most commonly accepted theory

is that it refers to the Emperor Nero. The other theory is that it is

one short of the 'perfect' number 7," said Decock.

 

Decock said some people read it as Saddam Hussein, but this was a

"game" to make it more relevant and not what was intended by John, the

author of the Book of Revelation. The number 6 is also closely

associated with Judaism and the six-pointed star (hexagram), made of

two interlocking triangles, also referred to as the Star of David.

 

According to Rabbi Shraga Simmons, co-editor of Aish.com, the six

points symbolise God's rule over the universe in all six directions.

In Kabbalah, the two triangles represent traits inherent in man -

namely good versus evil and spiritual versus physical.

 

In Vedic astrology and numerology the number 6 is associated with the

planet Venus. Vedic astrologer Mahesh Bang said Venus was associated

with love and beauty and had nothing to do with disaster.

 

The alignment of the planets on Tuesday also did not spell imminent

danger or destruction with the sun in Taurus, the moon in Virgo and

Mars in Cancer.

 

"The planets show a normal daily routine," said Bang.

 

On a lighter note - the world's most expensive phone number is 666

6666 and was sold for 10 million Qatari riyals or R11,5 million. Urban

legend also has it that Viagra has a molecular weight of 666.7g/mol.

 

Whether 666 has religious significance or not - chances are that the

day will pass as uneventfully as June 6, 1906.

 

jani (AT) sundaytribune (DOT) co.za

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=vn20060604093244724C795392