Twelve, 12

This number has a perfect and notable character and was highly esteemed by most nations of antiquity. Almost all the twelves will be found to be allied, either obviously or in a concealed manner, with the Signs of the Zodiac, twelve signs or partitions of the great circle of the heavens twelve times thirty degrees forming the perfect cycle of 360 arithmetical degrees of the circle. Each sign was further subdivided into three decans. There are many of the learned who believe the twelve sons of Jacob and twelve founders of tribes, are allegorical only. We may mention the Twelve Grand Points of Masonry," which used to form a part of the lectures in the Craft degrees. Twelve events in the ceremony of initiation, referred to the sons of Jacob, are given by Mackey:

1. To Reuben was referred the opening of the Lodge he was the first-born son.
2. To Simeon, the preparation of the land he prepared the destruction of the Shechemites.
3. To Levi, the report or signal he gave the signal in the attack on the men of Shechem.
4. To Judah, the entrance of the land that tribe first entered the Promised Land.
5. To Zebulum, the prayer the prayer and blessing of his father fell on him in preference to Issachar.
6. To Issachar, the circumambulation an indolent tribe, who required a leader.
7. To Dan, the advance to the Altar for a contrast to their rapid advance to idolatry.
8. To Gad, the obligation on account of Jephtahs vow.
9. To Asher, the entrusting; with rich Masonic blessings resembled the Fathers of their land.
10. To Naphtali, the investment and declared Free." The tribe of Naphtali had a peculiar freedom given by Moses.
11. To Joseph, the N.E. corner because Ephraim and Manasseh (grandsons) represented him, newest comers.
12. To Benjamin, the closing of the Lodge as being the last son of the Patriarch.

The following associations of Birds, Animals and Flowers with heavenly bodies has the authority the Greco-Roman mythology: -

Table of Birds, Animals and Flowers

Table of Birds, Animals and Flowers

Greek	Latin	Bird	Animal	Vegetable
Pallas	Minerva	Owl	She-Goat	Olive
Aphrodite	Venus	Dove	He-Goat	Myrtle
Helios	Sol	Cock	Bull	Laurel
Hermes	Mercury	Ibis	Dog	Hazel
Zeus	Jupiter	Eagle	Hart	Horse-chestnut
Demeter	Ceres	Sparrow	Sow	Apple
Hephaestos	Vulcan	Goose	Ass	Box
Aries	Mars	Magpie	Wolf	Dogwood
Artemis	Diana	Daw	Hind	Palm
Hestia	Vesta	Heron	Lion	Pine
Hera	Juno	Peacock	Sheep	Thorn
Poseidon	Neptune	Swan	Horse	Elm

The astrologers associated colors with the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, thus: -

Table of Colors and Zodiac Signs

Zodiac	Color
Pisces	White
Aquarius	Blue
Capricorn	Black or brown
Sagittarius	Yellow or green
Scorpio	Brown
Libra	Black or crimson
Virgo	Black and blue
Leo	Red and green
Cancer	Green and brown
Gemini	Red
Taurus	White
Aries	White and yellow

The Zodiacal Signs are also associated with Sex, and the contrast of Day and Night.

Table of Zodiac with Sex, day and night

Zodiac Sign	Sex	Day and Night
Pisces	Female	Nocturnal
Aquarius	Male	Diurnal
Capricorn	Female	Nocturnal
Sagittarius	Male	Diurnal
Scorpio	Female	Nocturnal
Libra	Male	Diurnal
Virgo	Female	Nocturnal
Leo	Male	Diurnal
Cancer	Female	Nocturnal
Gemini	Male	Diurnal
Taurus	Female	Nocturnal
Aries	Male	Diurnal

And, again, there are other characters which astrologers deem of importance, thus: -

Table of Zodiac with Directions

Zodiac Sign	Element	Direction	Triplicity	Sex
Pisces	Water	Northern	Common
Aquarius	Air	Western	Fixed
Capricorn	Earth	Southern	Cardinal
Sagittarius	Fire	Eastern	Common
Scorpio	Water	Northern	Fixed	Fruitful
Libra	Air	Western	Cardinal
Virgo	Earth	Southern	Common	Barren
Leo	Fire	Eastern	Fixed	Barren
Cancer	Water	Northern	Cardinal	Fruitful
Gemini	Air	Western	Common	Barren
Taurus	Earth	Southern	Fixed
Aries	Fire	Eastern	Cardinal

Lastly, the twelve signs are allotted to the planets as their houses: -

Table of Zodiac and Planets

Zodiac Sign	Planet
Pisces	Night House of Jupiter
Aquarius	Day House of Saturn (Uranus)
Capricorn	Night House of Saturn
Sagittarius	Night House of Jupiter
Scorpio	Night House of Mars
Libra	Day House of Venus
Virgo	Night House of Mercury
Leo	Sole House of Sun
Cancer	Sole House of Moon
Gemini	Day House of Mercury
Taurus	Night House of Venus
Aries	Day House of Mars

This is very fully explained by Coley in his Astrology," and also by John Middleton in his Astrology," 1679.

Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians founded the system of a Twelve-God theology, Euterpe iv. The He-brews certainly at times worshipped the Sun, Moon, seven planets, and the Star Rulers of the Twelve Zodiacal Signs see 2 Kings, xxiii. 5, and Job, xxxviii. 32. Dunlop, in his Vestiges," remarks that of the names of the twelve months in use among the Jews, several are identical with names of Deities, as Tammuz, Ab, Elul, Bul. Groups of twelve Gods are to be noticed in the religions of many of the ancient nations, as the Chaldeans, Etruscans, Mamertines, Romans etc.

In Scandinavia, the Great Odin had 12 names - personified attributes.

Table of 12 Permutations of YHVH

Permutations	Full Spelling
YHVH	YOD HEH VAV HEH
VHYH	VAV HEH YOD HEH
HYHV	HEH YOD HEH VAV
HVHY	HEH VAV HEH YOD
YHHV	YOD HEH HEH VAV
YVHH	YOD VAV HEH HEH
HVYH	HEH VAV YOD HEH
VYHH	VAV YOD HEH HEH
HHVY	HEH HEH VAV YOD
HHYV	HEH HEH YOD VAV
HYVH	HEY YOD VAV HEH
VHHY	VAV HEH HEH YOD

The Kabalists esteem the 12 permutations of the Tetragrammaton and are as follows:

The Talmuds say: -

No deceased person is at heart lost to his relatives until after 12 months; see the Treatise Berachoth.

How was the Witch of Endor able to bring up Samuel by necromancy? To this question Rabbi Abhu answered, because he had not been dead 12 months; after that time it would not have been possible, for then the body is destroyed and the Soul has gone up into the next world.

The Rabbis said that at the first revelation, the True Name of God was a word of 12 letters. Kiddushin, 71. I.

The Mishna narrates the events of the first 12 hours; Adam fell into sin in the 10^th Hour, was judged in the 11^th Hour and was cast out of the Garden in the 12^th Hour. So he abode not even one day in his dignity. Sanhedrin, 38. 2. Compare the Nuctemeron" of Apollonius of Tyana, given by Eliphas Levi in his Ritual de la Magie," Paris, 1861.

The 12 Stones of the High Priests Breastplate were named as follows:

1. Sardius.
2. Topaz.
3. Carbuncle.
4. Emerald.
5. Sapphire.
6. Diamond.
7. Ligure or Jacinth.
8. Agate.
9. Amethyst.
10. Beryl.
11. Onyx.
12. Jasper.

See Hebrew Ancient Version, Exodus xxviii.

The 12 Foundations of the Heavenly City, given in Revelations xxi, are Jasper, Sapphire, Chalcedony, Sardius, Sardonyx, Emerald, Topaz, Beryl, Chrysolite, Amethyst, Jacinth and Chrysophrasus.

The 12 Hebrew Months were Abib or Nizan (March-April) and are, Iyar or Zif, Sivan, Thammuz, Ab, Elul, Tisri, Bul, Chisleu, Tebeth, Shebat and Adar; and the inter-calary month Ve-Adar.

The 12 Sons of Jacob were related to the 12 Signs of the Zodiac by the Rosicrucians in a correct order; other schemes of attribution are given by Athanasius Kircher and others.

That by Sir William Drummond is: - Aries to Gad, Taurus to Ephraim, Gemini to Benjamin, Cancer to Issachar, Leo to Judah, Virgo to Naphtali, Libra to Asher, Scorpio to Dan, Sagittarius to Manasseh, Capricorn to Zebulun, Aquarius to Reuben and Pisces to Simeon and Levi.

The 12 Apostles of Jesus were Simon, Peter, Andrew, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew also called Levi, James son of Alphaeus, Judas called Lebbaeus and Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot. The Venerable Bede proposed to rename the Signs with the names of the apostles, and a scheme of allotment is to be found in The Sphere of Marcus Manilius," by Edward Sherburne, London, 1675. See Notes and Queries," Vol. xiv., Manchester, USA, pg. 211. Westcott on the Zodiac in Society Rosicrucian Reports gives the Christian allusions to the Zodiac.

In an ordinary pack of Playing Cards there are 12 Court Cards, but in the Tarot Pack there are also 4 Cavaliers.

The Kabalists greatly esteemed the 12-lettered Name of God, Hih-Hvvh-Vihih, meaning "fuit, est, erit," or, — He was, is, will be.

Less esoteric was the Triple Tetragrammaton, IHVH thrice written.

All Fratres of the Rosicrucian Society of England will also be familiar with Ab Ben V Ruch H Qdsh, Ab-Benve-Ruach-ha-Kodesh; meaning Father, Son and Holy Spirit.The Rosicrucian Society had a scheme of distributing 12shades of Color among the Zodiacal Signs, but this is a secret matter. Many erroneous schemes have been published.

The 12 Signs of the Zodiac are named in Hebrew, be-ginning with Aries; Taleh, Shur, Thaumim, Sartan, Ariah, Bethuleh, Mazanaim, Akrab, Kesith, Gedi, Deli, and Dagim. In Arabic; Al Hamal, Al Thaur, Al Tauman, Al Sartan, Al Asad, Sunbul, Al Zubena, Al Akrab, Al Kaus, Al Gedi, Debi and Al Haut. In Chinese, Pe yaugh, the sheep; Kin nieu, golden bull; Shang huing, two brothers; Kin hiai, crab; Sin, lion; Sha niu, the house girl; Tien tchingh, the claws of a scorpion; Tien Kie, the scorpion; Gun Ma, the man horse; Mu Thien, the hill sheep; Pao pingh, precious vase; and Shang Yu, two fishes.

The Old Sanskrit Hindu names used by astrologers at the present time are; Mesha, Rishaba, Mithuna, Katakam, Simha, Kanya, Tulam, Vrishchika, Dhanus, Makaram, Kumbha and Minam.

The 12 Simple Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet have affinities with the Zodiacal Signs, but the order of relation is a Rosicrucian private doctrine.

There were 12 recorded Appearances of Jesus after his death; to Mary Magdalene, to the Galician women, to two disciples, to Peter, to ten apostles, to eleven apostles, to seven apostles and others when fishing, to 500 brethren at once, to James the Less, to eleven apostles, to Stephen at his martyrdom, to Paul at his Conversion and to the apostle John.

The 12 hours marked in a watch face can be used to find the cardinal points, if the time is correct, and the Sun is visible. Lay the watch flat and point the hour hand to the Sun, and then the south will be half way between that hour and the figure XII.

The author of the Hymns of Orpheus, the Scholiast on Hesiod, and Porphyry state that the 12 Labors of Hercules are said to be emblems of the Sun in its passage through the 12 Signs, and this is repeated by the Mystagogus Poeticus," 1653, and they have been allotted as follows: - to Aries, the quest of the Golden Apples of the Hesperides; to Taurus, the slaying of the Cretan Bull; Gemini, Hercules and his twin brother strangle the serpents; Cancer, the taking of the Herds of Geryon; Leo, the slaying of the Nemaean Lion; Virgo, the victory over the Amazon Queen; Libra, the death of the Erymanthean boar; Scorpio, the death of the Lernaean Hydra; Sagittarius, the shooting of the five Stymphalian Birds; Capricornus, taking of the hind alive to Mycenae; Aquarius, cleaning the stables of Augeas; Pisces, the capture of the horses of Diomedes.

Janus of the Romans is the God of the 12 months and is drawn with 12 altars beneath his feet. He is the same as Assyrian Ain, Ion, Jan; On of Eastern nations (Dunlops Vestiges," 31).

John Heydon gives the following statements: -

Prosperous numbers are 1 2 3 4 7 9 11 13 14.

Very Good 16 17 19 20 22 23 10 26 27.

Indifferent 5 6 8 12 15 18 21.

Very Bad 24 25 28 29 30.