Sacred Number Four – Perfect Number And Deep Meaning Behind It

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Sacred number “four” is considered to be a perfect number with a deep and worldwide symbolic meaning that goes back to the dawn of humanity.

It is associated with soil, equality, common sense and trust; it symbolizes stability, calm, order, hard work and solid foundations.

It is also sacred to many Native Americans who have four sacred mountains, four directions, four colors, four worlds, four sacred plants, and four times of day. All events and actions are related to this number, because everything was created in fours. They define space and time by the four cardinal light phenomena: Dawn (white, east); Midday (blue, south); Evening Twilight (yellow, west), and Night (black, north).

At Aristotle's time, a group of thinkers “so-called Pythagoreans” taught that the Tetrad symbolized God and believed it was a perfect number.

Of the 4 Cardinal points, God left the North Pole unfinished, saying, "if there be any my equal let him finish it like the others." It was reserved for ghosts, demons, devils and storms.

However, generally, “four” symbolizes four cardinal points (North, South, East, and West), four lunar phases, four seasons, four winds and four elements: earth – air – fire – water, in the Western tradition and in Buddhism.

As Jewish symbol, the number four is related to the Four Cups of Wine to drink, the Four Questions to be asked, the Four Sons to be dealt with and the Four Expressions of Redemption to be said and all these events tales place on the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Also in the Holy Bible, this symbol has its power.

Genesis 2:10 says about a river that "... went out of Eden to water the garden and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads... (Pishon – Gihon – Tigris – Euphrates) and the four beasts are mentioned in Daniel 7:2:  “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up of the sea, different from one another.”

Matthew 24:31 says that “… he will send out his angels with a load trumpet call, and they will elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to the other...”

“The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (1887) by Russian painter Victor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov.

There are the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appear in the “Book of Revelation” and according to John 19:23, “when the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier…”

See also:

Dragons And Dragon Kings In Ancient Mythology

Number Nine: Sacred Symbol In Ancient Cultures

Significance Of Secret And Powerful Number 108 That Has Accompanied Humankind For Thousands Of Years

Number ‘Seven’: Mystical Number Of The Universe And One Of The Most Sacred Numbers

In Ezekiel’s first vision, the heavens opens and he sees a windstorm coming out of the north; four living creatures appear with a prophetic message from God (Ezekiel 1:1 – 1:28).

The creatures are transporting a throne with four sides and four wheels. Each of the living creatures has four faces (the face of a man, lion, ox and eagle) and four wings (1:6).

The ancient Greeks had it as a symbol of justice and the Pythagoreans said that justice consisted of the equally equal or the square number, because it returns like for like, and they designated "four", being the first square number.

In Hinduism – number four is linked with divine perfection. the four yoga cycles,

The essence of Buddha’s teachings is based on the Four Noble Truths – suffering, its cause, its end and a cause to bring about its end.

Chinese Dragon Kings 

The Chinese had a different approach to the single-digit numbers than people in the Western cultures, largely influenced by Pythagorean Numerology. In China each number has its own sound when said aloud. If a number sounds similar to a word that is considered negative or unlucky, that number, too, get the same meaning. The four is believed to be a highly unlucky (misfortune) because it sounds like the word for "death" and is avoided in many parts of China but also in Vietnam, Korea and Japan.

Despite tending to be disliked, the four, is still popular in China and express some religious ideology. In Buddhism, Four Greatness refer to Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, while in Taosism, they refer to Heaven, Earth, Tao and Human.

Additionally, Four Moral Criterions respected in China are benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom.

China’s legends say about the four Dragon Kings who rule the four seas and each sea, which corresponds to one of the four cardinal directions. They have the power to control the clouds, the rain, and the seas. If they are upset, they will cause floods. They live in crystal palaces guarded by crab generals and shrimp soldiers.

 Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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