Analysis of the Number 13

The following essay appears in the Adversarial Esotericism category of my website, meaning that it consists of a deep analysis of the esotericism of demon magick which is neither productive nor necessary for beginners. Use the menu to navigate the different sections of my website to get the most benefit from my writings. The more insightful sections of this essay (i.e. the ones I’m most confident in) will have their headers highlighted in blue. If you like, you can only read the parts with blue titles and the conclusion, or even skip to the conclusion.

Thirteen is the prime number attributed to the tarot card Death (Atu XIII). In Gematria, 13 is the numerical value of Hebrew words meaning Legend, Father, Binding, Love/Beloved, To Desire, One, One/Unity, To Be Hostile To/To Be An Enemy To, Enemy, Those Coming, Waste/Emptiness/Void, And Through Her, Which is Coming, Goy, To Cure/To Remove, Health/Healing, To Be High in the Forehead, Valley, To Invade/To Attack/To Overcome, Oh!/Woe! (an exclamation of either pain or desire), Sorrow, Anxiety/Anxious Caution, To Remove/To Drive Out, Medicine/To Cure, Moving Slowly, I Came, and Shall Come. Several other Hebrew words with this numerical value denote overthrown rulers, freed captives, exiles, and foreign persons and foreign nations. The Hebrew word for Fisherman/Fisher which has a value of 13 originates from the same word for Fish which is associated with Dagon.

13 was Gerald Gardner’s ideal coven size, consisting of 6 couples and 1 leader. We can draw comparisons to King Arthur and the 12 knights of the round table, Jesus and his 12 disciples, and Odysseus and his 12 fellow journeymen. In Egyptian magick, 13 was the number attributed to the spiritual attainment of immortality. The relation of 13 to Death, Da’ath, the Brides of Samael, Gehenna, Bohu, and various demons relates it to the Qliphoth itself.

I: True Will

The Bible refers to various forms of love, which are of varying nature and value. The particular Hebrew word for Love, as listed above, is used to describe the Abrahamic deity’s love to his people. The Hebrew word which translates to either One or Unity is often used in reference to the Abrahamic god, in the context of ‘the lord is one.’ However, that is not the only Hebrew which translates to One with a value of 13 in Gematria. The coincidence of words meaning Unity, One, and Divine Love implies the True Will/Personal Wyrd.

II: Aeonic Sorcery

13 and 31 are traditionally held to signify the beginning and the end– the Alpha and the Omega. 13 is the Alpha. The two Hebrew words meaning One relate to the concept of the Alpha as well, as does the Hebrew word for Father. Another relation to the Alpha or beginning is contained in the Hebrew word for the month of the beginning of the construction of the temple.

The 13th Tunnel of Set is the location of Da’ath, and the numerical value of the word Bohu [Waste/Emptiness/Void] in Gematria is 13. The formless void/primordial Khaos is described by the Hebrew phrase Tohu-Wa-Bohu [Formless and Shapeless] hints at the void imply Atazoth (i.e. Azathoth or Azagthoth), the arbiter of aeonic progression who Kenneth Grant describes as a ‘reflex of the Abyss.’ Atu XIII (Death) can be considered a hint at Da’ath via Grant logic, and the coincidence of the Hebrew words for Father and One along with hints to foreigners also hint at Atazoth.

Qayin could be considered a Magus insofar as a Magus is an authority of human thought whose influence begets aeonic progression. The coincidence of these things, Atu XIII (Death), and the four Hebrew words implying a continual approach imply aeonic progression very clearly. The coincidence of hints to various deities and the True Will with Hebrew words relating to things given/endowed imply revelations– the word apocalypse always translated to Revelation.

III: Hecatean Sorcery & Demon Magick

The number 13 is of great significance to both Satanic/Luciferian magick and Hecatean magick. 13 is the numerical value of the names/titles Bohu, Qayin, and Hadad in Gematria. Hadad is one of the Kings of Edom and the Qliphothic and Goetic deity Bael was known as Hadad in native polytheism.

III-A: Bael & Bohu

The coincidence of Bael’s Syrian name Hadad with the name Qayin, Atu XIII (Death), and the Hebrew word for Valley hints at Tzelmoth, the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Tzelmoth is one of the Seven Hells among which the 10 Qliphas are located– specifically, it’s the Hell to which A’arab Zaraq (Venus/Bael) is attributed. Qayin, Qalmana/Luluwa, and Tubal-Qayin are all attributed to A’arab Zaraq. Qayin, Hecate, and A’arab Zaraq all hearken to the black birds which are held to signify and convey the presence of the Infernal Divine.

Bohu is one of the Three Veils Before Samael– that is, one of the three emanations of the Infernal Divine which predate, precede, and produce the three pillars of the Qliphoth.

III-B: The Four Brides of Samael

1 + 3 = 4, hinting at the Four Brides of Samael.* The Fish signifies the Divine Feminine, manifested most prominently amongst the Tree of Death by the Four Brides of Samael, and the thirteenth Tunnel of Set is attributed to Atu II (the High Priestess). The word And Through Her strongly hints the four brides in the context of demon magick as the ones who bred demons and in the context of Qabbalah (i.e. Gamaliel & Lilith), especially since 13 has such strong lunar connotations. The connotations of gift/endowment relate to Lilith and Agrat bat Mahlat specifically. The connotations of To Imagine and references to Desire signify the four as the causal agents of wet dreams and references to mourning and Atu XIII (Death) refer to them as the causal agents of crib death.

Gamaliel is the Qlipha of the Black Moon which is ruled by Lilith. The word Gamaliel is translated to mean gift/reward in certain contexts, which is interesting, as one of the other four brides has the name Agerath [Reward]. The coincidence of the hints at the primordial Khaos and Fish hints at Taninsam, the name of the Draconic aspect of Lilith– one of the two primordial Leviathans. Some consider her the first woman (note: Alpha, Beginning), and in the context of her being of the first woman, she is either an exile or escaped captive from Eden.

Lilith is one of the names given for the Qlipha of the Black Earth known as Nahemoth, Nehemoth, Nahemo, and Reschaim. Its location in the Seven Hells is called Gehenna, and the word Gehenna is used 13 times in the Bible (KJV). This Qlipha is ruled by Naamah/Nahema, a descendant of Qayin (and thus member of an exiled tribe) as well as of the first woman called Na-Ama-Hema [Deathly Mother of Blood]. The Qlipha of the Black Earth is where the descendants of Qayin (including the Nephilim) dwell, and the outer cortex of Gamaliel is known as Ogiel [Those Who Flee From God], and thus both are hinted at by the Hebrew words relating to exiles, freed captives, foreigners, and enemies. Nahema is described as what would be called a Drakaina in Greek magick– a woman with the lower body of a serpent or fish. Dagon came to be represented as a merman– that’s the relationship here.

Aggereth is also depicted as a Drakaina, and her only Zodiac attribution is to Pisces. The word Goy and the words for gift/endownment hint at the translations of her names: “daughter of uncleanness” and “reward.” Love hints to her insofar as she is the bride of Solomon (who wrote the Song of Solomon), by which husband she gave birth to a king of Edom. Four is the number of manifestation, and the Four Brides of Samael are the spirits through which the Infernal Divine becomes manifest.

III-C: Qayin

The names given for the first Ascended Master of the Black Lodge and demon magick are Qayin [Spear], Diaphotos [Enlightened One], Mahan [Whose Master is Himself], Adiaphotos [Benighted One], Barekhooh, Qabil, etc. Most people call him Cain. While the Bible simply describes Qayin as the first murderer, the founder of consensual marriage, the first tiller of the fields, the first founder of a civilization, and the first human born in the causal world.**

However, other religions represent him as something more. Islam describes him founding a cult of fire worship, making him the first Pagan, the first heretic, and the first person to found a religion. Mormonism depicts him as the first of two Satanists, heretics, and founders of human sacrifice alongside his wife, whom we know by the names Laphura, Luluwa, Qalmana, etc. In Sabbatic Craft, Stregheria, and Traditional Witchcraft, Qayin is the first Ascended Master, the first witch, the first of the witchblood, and/or the Witchfather or Witchbegetter. The Black Lodge holds Qayin as its founder and patron, either as an archetype or a real deity or Ascended Master.

III-D: Goetia

In Gematria, 13 is the numerical value of one Hebrew word meaning To Moan/To Growl/To Utter/To Mutter and another translating to A Moaning/A Growling. Based on how such Hebrew words are generally interpreted by authorities in Thelema and the Draconian Tradition, these words would undeniably hint at the Goetia.

Goeteia is the Greek word for magick, which word has a specifically black magickal connotation. The word Goeteumata means Charms/Spells and Goes is the word for sorcerer (the latter word usually refers to necromancers/black magickians). The Ars Goetia, being a Greek/medieval grimoire popularized by Aleister Crowley, is a codified 72-demon hierarchy for use in magick– it’s one of the most significant cornerstones of modern demon magick. The three Greek words cited above have their origin in a word which described mournful howlings specifically reminiscent of funereal ceremonies.

The coincidence of the Hebrew words for Growling/Moaning with Atu XIII and the words Oh!/Woe!, Enemy, and To Be An Enemy To hearkens strongly to Goetic magick. If that doesn’t convince you that 13 hints at Goetic sorcery, Qayin appears as the demon Camio in the Ars Goetia, Bohu is ruled by the Goetic demon Belial, Hadad and Tzelmoth hint at the Goetic demon Bael, and Muttering relates to the meaning of the name Murmur. Murmur, who appears as a demon in the Ars Goetia, originated in native Greek Paganism as Mormo, the son of Hecate and Father of Ghouls (note that the Hebrew word Father has a value of 13).

III-D: Hecate

The thirteenth Tunnel of Set is attributed to the moon and ruled by Gargophias, the direct emissary of Hecate. The number 13 alludes to Murmur/Mormo, the son of Hecate. Thirteen is also the numerical value in Gematria of Hach, the 81st of the 231 gates, and 81 is the number of magick specifically related to Hecate and the moon. The words for foreigner, the words relating to driving out/removing, and the hints at the True Will relate to three differing translations for Hecate’s name: “she who works her will,” “she that removes/drives off,” and “she that operates from afar.” Certain non-Biblical genealogies hold Qayin to be the descendant of Lilith and Lilith to be the descendant of Ereshkygal, and Ereshkygal is known to be an aspect of Hecate. Hecate the three-headed or three-bodied is the 3-in-1, the queen of the sky & earth & water in Greek mythology and the queen of heaven & earth & hell in Primal Craft.

Conclusion

The Draconian Tradition is considered a resurgence of the primal goddess cult. 13 hints at the aeonic resurgence of the Paganistic and chthonic tradition, which tradition often venerated the goddess. 13 signifies the Black Lodge’s reclamation and revival of polytheism through black magick and the veneration of the Infernal Divine.

13 relates to death and deathful/necromantic gods. 13 is the number of Death and the Abyss, and thus of the Qliphoth, which is known as the Tree of Death and Tree of Da’ath, whose ruler is signified by the four letters HVHI and the titles El Acher & Deus Alienus meaning “foreign divinity.”

13 is the number of the banished Pagan, polytheistic, and chthonic religions which are revisited via demon magick. Ritualized funereal mourning of Osiris was a magickal practice of calling the fallen deity back to what was once his kingdom, and in truth, the practice of Goetic and Qliphothic magick has a similar effect in aeonic magick. The Infernal Divine is the foreign, deathful, approaching, abyssic, feminine, and inimical pantheon whose return is hastened via aeonic operations of demon magick. 13 signifies the Infernal Divine’s ongoing desolation of vapid monotheism, evolutionary stagnation, and ideological orthodoxy.

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*The Four Brides of Samael, being Aggereth/Agrat bat Mahlat, Na’amah/Nahema, Lilith, and Eisheth Zenunim/Qodesha, are the Four Queens of Succubi & Incubi and the Four Matron Demonesses of Sex Workers (this includes the priestesses of Pagan cults of sex magick).

**In Qabbalah, the Garden of Eden is Qamar [the Planetary Sphere of the Moon], which it refers to as Yesod, the lunar Sephira. Qamar, called Yesod in Sephirothic esotericism, is considered to be the immediate astral plane.

-V.K. Jehannum
Agios Octinomos-Drakosophia

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