The 7 Deadly Sins: Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath and Sloth.
The 7 Heavenly Virtues: Chastity, Abstinence, Liberality, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, Humility.
Kur'an-ı Kerîm'de Cehennem'in yedi kapısının olduğu belirtilmektedir.
"Cehennemin yedi kapısı olup, her kapıdan onların girecekleri ayrılmış bir kısım vardır."(Hicr, 15/44).
Bu ayet iki şekilde tefsîr edilmiştir:
a. Cehenneme girecekler çok olduğu için;
b. Cezalandırma, azgınlığın çeşit ve derecelerine göre olacağı için Cehennem'in yedi kapısı veya tabakası vardır. Bu kapı veya tabakalar şunlardır:
1. Cehennem; yukarıda söz konusu edildiği şekilde Kur'an-ı Kerîm'in yetmiş yedi ayetinde geçmektedir.
2. Lâzâ (alevli ateş): "Hayrı' (Allah onu azabdan kurtarmaz) Çünkü o Cehenneın alevli bir ateştir" (Meâric, 70/15).
3. Saîr (pılgın ateş): "O şeytanlara (ahirette) çılgın ateş azabı hazırladık. " (Mülk, 67/5). Ayrıca on beş ayette daha bu isimle geçmektedir.
4. Sakar (kırmızı ateş): "Hem ey Rasûlüm bilir misin, nedir o sakar (Cehennem). " (Müddessir, 14/27)
5. Hâviye (uçurum): "O, kızgın bir ateştir " (Kâria, 101/9-11).
6.Hutame (kalbleri saran ateşli kaygı): "Şüphesiz o, Hutame ye (ateşe) atılacaktır." (Hümeze, 104/4).
7. Cahim (yanan kızgın ateş):
"Küfredenler ve ayetlerimizi yalanlayanlara gelince, işte onlar Cahim'in yarânıdırlar."(Mâide, 5/10).
Ayrıca Cehennem azabı sadece ateş değildir. Birçok azap çeşitleri vardır; birkaçı şöyledir:
1. Soğukla azap,
2. Yılan akrep gibi hayvanların sokması,
3. Başına topuzlarla vurmak,
4. Aç bırakmak,
5. Zakkum yedirerek bağırsakları parçalamak,
6. Vücutları büyültülerek azabın şiddetlendirilmesi,
7. İrinli su içirmek,
8. Gayya kuyusuna atmak,
9. Uçurumlardan yuvarlamak,
10. Zifiri karanlıkta azap,
11. Büyük azap veren pis kokulara maruz bırakmak,
12. Azapların her gün katlanarak çoğaltılması,
13. Sonsuza kadar azap edilmesi.
Kadızade Ahmed Emin Efendi buyuruyor ki:
"Cehennemde bir yere Zemherir denir, yani, soğuk Cehennemdir. Soğukluğu pek şiddetlidir. Bir an dayanılmaz. Kâfirlere, bir soğuk bir sıcak, sonra soğuk sonra sıcak Cehenneme atılarak, azap yapılacaktır."
Cehennemde çok soğuk Zemherir azapları bulunduğu, Kimya-i Saadet ve Dürret-ül-Fahire kitabında yazılıdır. Buhari, Müslim, İbni Mace ve diğer hadis kitaplarında, yazın sıcaklığı sıcak Cehennemin nefesinden, kışın soğukluğu da zemherir Cehennemin nefesinden olduğu bildiriliyor. (Örneğin: Buharî, Mevâkît: 9, Müslim, Mesâcid: 185-187; Tirmizî, Cehennem: 9.)
Reşahat kitabında deniyor ki: "Zemherir denilen soğuk Cehennemin azabı çok şiddetlidir."
Cennetin tabakalarının isimleri ve özellikleri
İbn Abbâs (r.a.)'dan gelen bir rivayette, Cennetin yedi tabakası olduğu haber verilmektedir. Bunlar, Firdevs, Adn Cennet'i, Nâim Cennet'i, Daru'l-Huld, Me'va Cennet'i, Daru's-Selâm ve İlliyyûn'dur. Bu tabakalardan her birinde, müminlerin yaptıkları iyi işler karşılığında girecekleri veya yükselecekleri derece veya mertebeler vardır.
İslâm literatüründe cenneti ifade etmek üzere kullanılan isimleri ve cennet tabakalarını şu şekilde sıralamak mümkündür:
1- Cennet: Ebedî saadet yurdunu ifade etmek üzere Kur'an'da, çeşitli hadislerde ve diğer İslamî eserlerde yer alan isimler içinde en çok kullanılan, içindeki bütün mekân ve imkânları kapsayacak şekilde muhtevası geniş olan bir terimdir. Kur'an'da 147 yerde geçmektedir. İslam literatüründe ebedî saadetle ilgili vaadler, özendirici anlatım ve tasvirler genellikle cennet ismi etrafında yoğunlaşmıştır. Diğer isimler tekil olarak kullanıldığı halde, cennetin çok sayıdaki ayette çoğul şekliyle de (cennât) yer alması, saadet yurdunun belli bir bölgesinin değil; tamamının adı olduğunu gösterir.
2- Cennetü'n-Naîm: 13 ayette geçmektedir. Arapça'da "refah, huzur, mutlu hayat" anlamına gelen nimet kelimesinden daha kapsamlı bir muhtevaya sahip olan naîm, insana mutluluk veren maddî ve manevî bütün güzellikleri ifade etmektedir. Buna göre cennâtü'n-naîm; mutluluklarla dolu cennetler manasına gelir.
"Beni cennetü'n-naîmin vârislerinden kıl" (Şuarâ: 26/85)
3- Adn cenneti: En belirgin anlamı ile ikamet etme, ikamet edilen yer demek olan adn, 11 ayette kullanılmıştır. Adn'in, cennetin belli bir bölümünün adı olduğu veya çoğul şeklinde kullanılışına bakarak onun tamamını ifade eden bir isim olduğu anlaşılır.
"Şüphesiz ki, iman edenler ve güzel amel işleyenler yok mu, işte onlar mahlukatın en hayırlısıdır. Onların Rableri katındaki mükâfatı, zemininden ırmaklar akan, içinde devamlı olarak kalacakları Adn cennetleridir. Allah onlardan râzı olmuş, onlar da O'ndan râzı olmuşlardır. Bu, Rabbinden korkan O'na saygı gösterenler içindir." (Beyyine: 98/7-8)
4- Firdevs: Özellikle, içinde üzüm bulunan bağ bahçe anlamına gelir. İki ayette geçer. Firdevs, cennetin tamamını ifade eden bir isim olabileceği gibi, onun ortası, en yüksek ve en değerli bölgesinin özel adı da olabilir. "Şüphesiz, iman edip güzel amel işleyenler için barınak olarak Firdevs cennetleri vardır." (Kehf : 18/107)
5- Hüsnâ: İyilik yapanlara Allah tarafından daha büyük bir iyilikle karşılık verileceğini, ayrıca buna bir de ilave (ziyade) yapılacağını ifade eden Yunus 26. ayetindeki hüsnâ (daha güzel, daha iyi, en güzel, en iyi) kelimesinin cennet anlamına geldiği müfessirlerin büyük çoğunluğu tarafından kabul edilmiştir. Ayetteki "ziyade"den maksat da, cennette Allah'ı görme şerefine nail olmaktır.
"Güzel davrananlara hüsnâ (daha güzel karşılık), bir de ziyade/fazlası vardır. Onların yüzlerine ne bir toz (kara leke) bulaşır, ne de bir horluk (gelir). İşte onlar cennet ehlidirler. Ve onlar orada ebedî kalacaklardır." (Yûnus: 10/26)
6- Dârüs's-Selâm: Maddî ve manevî âfetlerden, hoşa gitmeyen şeylerden korunmuş olma manasındaki selâm ile dâr/yurt kelimesinden oluşan bu terkip, iki ayette cennetin adı veya tabakası olarak zikredilmiştir. Cennetin esenlik yurdu olduğu şüphesizdir. Gerçek esenliğin ancak cennette bulunabileceği, sonsuz hayatın, ihtiyaç bırakmayan zenginliğin, zillete yer vermeyen şeref ve üstünlüğün, eksiksiz bir sıhhatin sadece orada mevcut olduğu anlaşılır.
"Halbuki Allah, Dârü's-Selâm'a çağırıyor ve O, dilediği kimseleri dosdoğru bir yola hidayet buyurur." (Yûnus: 10/25)
7- Dârü'l-Mukame: Asıl durulacak yer, ebedî ikamet edilecek yurt manasındaki bu terkip de cennete girenlerin Allah'a hamd ve şükür sırasında bulundukları mekân için kullanacakları bir tabir olmalıdır.
"O (Rab) ki lütfuyla bizi Dârü'l-Mukameye / asıl oturulacak yurda (cennete) yerleştirdi. Artık orada bize ne bir yorgunluk dokunacak, ne de orada bize bir usanç gelecektir." (Fâtır: 35/35)
8- Cennetü'l-Me'vâ:
"İman edip güzel amel işleyenlere gelince, onlar için Me'vâ cennetleri vardır." (Secde: 32/19)
Bu isimlerin dışında, "ev, konak, şehir, ülke" anlamlarına gelen "dâr" kelimesi, Kur'an'da dâru'l-huld (ebediyet / sonsuzluk yurdu), dâru'l-âhire (âhiret yurdu), âkıbetü'd-dâr, ukbe'd-dâr (dünya yurdunun sonu) terkipleriyle cennet anlamında kullanılmıştır.
Her ne kadar İbn Abbâs Cennet'in tabakalarını yedi ile sınırlandırmışsa da, ayetlerden anlaşıldığına göre, Cennet'in bir çok tabakası vardır. Burada İbn Abbâs'ın haber verdiği ve ayetlerde adları geçen Cennet tabakaları, Cennet'in en yüksek tabakalarıdır. Çünkü bu tabakalarda da bir çok tabaka vardır. Nitekim Allah Teâlâ'nın Nâim Cennetleri veya "Firdevs Cennetleri" şeklindeki çoğul ifade eden ayetleri buna delildir. Ayrıca Ümmü Hârise Hadisinde bu gerçek Hz. Peygamberin dilinden ifade olunmuştur. Ümmü Harise Bedir'de şehit olan çocuğu hakkında Hz. Peygamber'den bilgi almak üzere gelmiş ve ona Rasûlullah bir çok Cennet olduğunu belirterek, çocuğunun da "Firdevs-i Â'lâ'da" olduğunu söylemek suretiyle teselli etmiştir (Mansur Ali Nâsıf, et-Tâcü' el-Câmi' li'l-Usul, fi Ahadisi'r-Rasûl, İstanbul (t.y.), V, 4033).
Nitekim Müslim'in Ebû Sâid el-Hudrî'den rivayet ettiği hadiste de, Allah yolunda cihat edenlerin, cihatları sebebiyle Cennet'te yüz derece yükselecekleri, her derecenin arasının ise, yer ile gök arasındaki mesâfe kadar olduğu, Hz. Peygamber tarafından haber verilmektedir (Müslim, İmâre, 116). Hadiste sözü edilen dereceler konusunda ise şu ihtimaller öne sürülmüştür. Bu dereceleri zahiriyle anlamak mümkündür. Gerçekten söz konusu derecelerin, zahirinden anlaşıldığı üzere, birbirinden daha yüksek menziller (tabakalar) olması muhtemeldir. Buna karşılık, yükseklikten kasdın, Cennet'teki nimetlerin çokluğu, insanın veya bir başka yaratığın hiç aklına bile gelmemiş, gönlünden dahi geçmemiş iyiliklerin büyüklüğü veya çokluğu anlamında olması muhtemeldir. Zira Allah Teâlâ'nın mücâhide lutfettiği iyilik veya cömertlik türleri birbirinden çok farklıdır, birbirinden üstündür. Buna göre, nimetlerin fazilet (üstünlük) konusundaki farklılıkları uzaklık açısından yer ile gök arasındaki mesafe gibidir. Fakat el-Kadî Iyad (544/1149) birinci görüşü tercih etmiştir (en-Nevevi, Şerhu Müslim, Kahire (t.y.), XIII. 28).
Yine Buhârî'nin bir rivayetinde Hz. Peygamber, Allah yolunda savaşan mücâhidler için Cennet'te yüz derece (tabaka) hazırlandığını ve iki derecenin arasının yerle gök arası gibi olduğunu haber vermekte ve sözlerine devamla "Allah'dan istediğiniz zaman Firdevs'i isteyin... Çünkü Firdevs, Cennet'in ortası ve Cennet'in en yükseğidir (...). Firdevs'ten Cennet nehirleri doğar" buyurmaktadır. (Buhârî, Cihad 4)
Aynî, "Firdevs, Cennetin ortasıdır (vasatıdır)." cümlesini, Cennet'in en iyi yeri veya üstünü (efdali) olarak yorumlar ve bu görüşüne "Böylece sizi en hayırlı bir ümmet kıldık" (el-Bakara, 2/143) ayetinde geçen "vesetan" kelimesini delil getirir (el-Aynî, Umdetü'l-Kârî fî Şerhi Sahihi'l-Buhârî, İstanbul 1309, VI, 539). Çeşitli rivayetlerde Firdevs Cenneti'nin güzellikleri dile getirilmiştir. Diğer taraftan hadiste söz konusu edilen Cennet dereceleri arasındaki mesafelerin çeşitli rivayetlere göre "yüz senelik mesafe", "Beş yüz senelik mesafe" şeklinde değiştiğine işaret edelim (el-Aynî, aynı yer).
Bütün bu ayet, hadis ve âlimlerin yorumlarından Cennet'in birçok tabakası olduğu anlaşılmaktadır. Bu tabakalardan bazılarının daha yüce ve nimetlerinin daha güzel veya daha efdal olması sebebiyle isimleri bize bildirilmiştir. Firdevs Cenneti mertebece en yüksek olan Cennet tabakasıdır. (Ayrıca bkz. et-Taberi, Tefsir, Mısır 1954, XVI. 37-8)
Kur’ân-ı Kerîm’in yetmiş yedi âyetinde yer alan cehennem,
kâfirlerin, münafıkların, zalimlerin, gerçeğe boyun eğmeyenlerin azap
görecekleri yer olarak tasvir edilir. Cehennem ifadesi genel olarak
Cehennem'İn bütün katmanları için kullanıldığı gibi özelde Cehennem'in
en üst katmanı için de kullanılmaktadır. Cehennem tabakalarına ait
yedili tasnif sisteminde azabı en hafif olan en üst tabakadır.
Sünnî
âlimlere göre burası günahkâr müminlerin azap yeri olacak, bunların
azabı sona erdikten sonra ise boş kalacaktır. Münafıkların cehennemin en
aşağı tabakasında olacağı (en-Nisâ 4/145) bildirilmiştir. Sünnî
âlimler, azabı en hafif olan birinci tabakada günahkâr müminlerin bir
süre kaldıktan sonra buradan çıkarılacağını, yedinci tabakada ise
münafıkların azap göreceğini kabul ederler. İkinci tabakadan itibaren de
yahudiler, hıristiyanlar, Sâbiîler, ateşe tapanlar ve müşrikler
cezalandırılacaktır.
Cehennemin tabakalarını
birbirinden tamamen ayrılmış katmanlar olarak değil farklı azab
türlerine işaret edilmesi şeklinde anlamak daha uygun görülmektedir.
Kişi işlediği günahların durumuna göre farklı azabları tadabilecektir.
Cehennemin tabakaları şöyle tasnif edilmiştir:
1. Cehennem. Cehennem tabakalarına ait yedili tasnif sisteminde azabı en hafif olan en üst tabakadır.
2.
Cahîm. “Kat kat yanan, alevi ve ısı derecesi yüksek ateş” anlamında
olup yirmi altı âyette ve bazı hadislerde geçer. Kur’an’da daha çok
cehennem yerine, birkaç âyette de “tutuşturulan yakıcı ateş” anlamında
kullanılmıştır.
3. Hâviye. “Yukarıdan aşağıya
düşmek” anlamındaki hüviy kökünden isim olan hâviye “uçurum, derin
çukur” mânasına gelir. Kur’an’da sadece bir yerde zikredilmiş ve aynı
yerde “harareti yüksek ateş” diye de tefsir edilmiştir (el-Karia
101/9-11). Hâviye cehennemin adı olarak bir hadiste de geçmektedir
(Nesâî, “Cenâiz”, 9).
4. Hutame. “Kırmak, ufalayıp
tahrip etmek” anlamındaki hatm kökünden mübalağa ifade eden bir sıfat
olup Kur’an’da yer aldığı bir tek sûrede, “Allah’ın yüreklere kadar
tırmanan tutuşturulmuş ateşi” diye açıklanmıştır (el-Hümeze 104/4-7).
Hutame cehennemin bütününe ait bir isim olabileceği gibi belli bir
kısmını ifade etmek üzere de kullanılmış olabilir. Kelimenin sözlük
anlamı ile Kur’an’daki açıklaması arasında tam bir uygunluk vardır. Zira
tutuşturulmuş şiddetli ateş karşılaştığı her şeyi yakıp tahrip eder ve
onun en iç kısmına kadar işler. Âhiretteki cezayı ve dolayısıyla
cehennem ateşini maddî değil de mânevî olarak kabul edenler hutamenin
âyetteki izahına dayanarak “kalpleri saran ateşli kaygı” şeklinde bir
yorum getirirler. Ancak cehennem azabıyla ilgili âyetlerin bütününe
bakıldığında böyle bir yorumu doğru bulmak mümkün görünmemektedir.
5.
Lezâ. “Hâlis ateş” anlamına gelen kelime Kur’an’da bir yerde geçmekte
ve “bedenin uç organlarını söküp koparan” diye nitelendirilmektedir
(el-Meâric 70/15-16).
6. Saîr. “Tutuşturmak,
alevlendirmek” anlamındaki sa‘r kökünden sıfat olup Kur’ân-ı Kerîm’de
biri fiil şeklinde olmak üzere on yedi âyette yer alır. Saîr Kur’an’da
çoğunlukla cehennemin bir adı olarak, bazan da “tutuşturulmuş, alevli
ateş” mânasında kullanılmıştır. Aynı kullanılış hadislerde de mevcuttur
(Wensinck, MuǾcem, “saîr” md.).
7. Sakar.
“Şiddetli bir ısı ile yakıp kavurmak” anlamındaki sakr kökünden isimdir.
Dört âyette cehennem kelimesi yerine kullanılmış, bunlardan Müddessir
sûresinde (74/28-29), “yaktığı şeyi tüketircesine tahrip etmekle
birlikte sönmeyip yakmaya devam eden ve insanın derisini kavuran”
şeklinde nitelendirilmiştir. Kurtubî’ye göre sakar kemiği değil eti
yakıp tahrip eder (et-Tezkire, s. 448). Bu yorum kelimenin sözlük
anlamına ve Kur’an’daki kullanımına da uygun düşmektedir.(Bekir
Topaloğlu, DİA, "Cehennem Md" 7/227).
"The
Principles of Truth are Seven; he who knows these, understandingly,
possesses the Magic Key before whose touch all the doors of the Temple
fly open."
— The Kybalion
Seven is a sacred number found throughout the world in many ancient traditions spanning ages. The symbolism of the number seven may vary throughout cultures but the correspondences are endless.
Seven is the number of the cosmos. It is the three of the heavens (soul) combined with the four (body) of the earth; being the first number containing both the spiritual and the temporal. In looking over the list of meanings it doesn't take long to figure out why the seven has become significant in metaphysical, religious and other spiritual doctrines.
There are:
7 chakras
7 endocrine glands
7 planets/luminaries that can be seen with the eye
7 days of the week
7 metals of Alchemy involved with the Great Work
7 heavens
7 levels in the astral plane
7 ages of man
7 seas
7 continents
7 ancient wonders of the world
7 days of creation
7 spheres/ circles of Universe
7 cosmic stages
7 pillars of wisdom
7 Hermetic principles
7 colors in the visible light spectrum
7 musical notes
7 rays of the sun
7 levels the Sun ascends and descends in Mayan Cosmology
7 stars in the Pleiades
7 indestructible stars in the Great Bear
7 headed dragons (The writings about the seven-headed dragon appear throughout India, Persia, the Far East, especially Cambodia, but also Celtic and other Mediterranean myths.)
The number seven is held sacred in many traditions found throughout the world. Listed below are just some examples of the supreme importance this number had in different cultures.
Buddhist:
Seven is the number of ascent and of ascending to the higest; attaining the center. The seven steps of Buddha symbolize the ascent of the seven cosmic stages transcending time and space. The seven-storied prasada at Borobadur is a sacred mountain and axis mundi, culminating in the transcendent North, reaching the realm of Buddha.
Christian:
Seven is idealogogy. God is represented by the seventh ray in the center of the six rays of creation. There are seven sacraments; gifts of spirit; the seven of 3+4 theological and cardinal virtues; deadly sins, tiers of Purgatory (in metaphysical belief this would be one of the lower astral planes - or in Buddhism, one of the Bardo planes). There are 7 councils of the early church - crystal spheres containing the planets - devils cast out by Christ - joys and sorrows of Mary the Blessed Virgin, mother of Jesus - liberal arts - major prophets - periods of fasting and penitence - seventh day after the six of creation.
In the Old Testament there are the seven altars of Baalam; oxen and rams for sacrifice; trumpets; circuits of Jericho; seven times Naaman bathed in the Jordan. Seven is the number of Samon's bonds; the child raised by Elisha sneezed seven times. The Ark rested on the seventh month and the dove was sent out after seven days.
The number seven appears all throughout the New Testament as well. The number seven is listed in the book of Revelation 55 times alone. Examples abound: seven churches, seven trumpets, seven seals, seven bowls, seven eyes, etc etc.
Mayan:
There are seven levels of the Maya Cosmos, as well as seven levels the Sun ascends and descends on its journey throughout the day. The number seven (called Uuc in Yucatec and Wukub' in K'iche' Maya) is an important number in the sacred Tzolk'in calendar. As it sits exactly in the middle of the sacred trecena it represents the very center of humanity and the laws of life. It symbolizes unity and neutrality and it also can represent closure, endings, change and death.
Egyptian mythology:
There are seven Hathors as Fates and the priestesses of Hathor have seven jars in their seven tunics. Ra has seven hawks representing the seven Wise Ones. There are seven scorpions sent to Isis for protection from Set. Six cows and a bull represent fertility. There are seven houses of the underworld, as depicted in Egyptian myths, with three times seven gates. Seven is the sacred number of Osiris.
In Chapter XVII of the Book of the Dead, the opening passage reads: "I am Tem in rising. I am the only One. I came into being in Nu. I am Ra who rose in the beginning... The pillars of Shu were not as yet created. It is Ra, the creator of the names of his limbs, which came into being in the form of the gods, who are in the train of Ra" (i.e., the gods who personify his phases) -- fourteen Spirits, SEVEN dark and SEVEN light...
"I am the Bennu bird (the Phoenix, type of resurrection) which is in Anu, and I am the keeper of the volume of the book of things which are and of things which shall be." In the eternity of his being occur vast cycles of activity followed by equal periods of rest: "Millions of years" is the name of the one, "Great Green Lake" is the name of the other, the "Lake" representing the cycle in which are swallowed up all things produced by "The Begetter of millions of years." In Chapter XLII he "who dwelleth in his eye" is beaming in "the solar egg, the egg to which is given life among the gods." In Chapter XV he is "Yesterday," "Today," and "Tomorrow," the one "who reposeth upon law which changeth not nor can it be altered."
In Chapter LXXV of the Egyptian Book of the Dead he is the self-created god:
"I gave birth unto myself together with Nu in my name of Khepera, in whom I come into being day by day. I am the creator of the darkness who maketh his habitation in the uttermost parts of the sky and I arrive at the confines thereof. I sail over the sky which formeth the division betwixt heaven and earth and divided in into SEVEN parts."
In these extracts are all the fundamental teachings regarding Space, the One Life, the Self-existing Deity, Law, Cycles, Reincarnation, Being, and a hint of the septenary nature of cosmos.
Graeco-Roman:
Sacred to Apollo, whose lyre has seven strings, and to Athene/Minerva and Ares/Mars; Pan had seven pipes (again a reference to seven musical notes and frequency); there are also seven Wise Men of Greece.
In the Hebrew tradition:
Seven is the number of occult intelligence. There are seven Great Holy Days in the Jewish year; the Menorah has seven branches; the Temple took seven years to build; and there are seven pillars of wisdom.
In Kabbalah there are many references to the number seven. In the Kabbalistic Book of Creation the importance of the seven double letters is described :
"Seven Doubles: BGD KPRT, With them were engraved, Seven Universes, seven firmaments, seven lands, seven seas, seven rivers, seven deserts, seven days, seven weeks, seven years, seven sabbaticals, seven jubilees,and the Holy Palace, Therefore, He made sevens beloved under all the heavens."
— The Sepher Yetzirah
Sumero-Semitic:
There are seven lunar divisions and days of the week. "Thou shalt shine with horns to determine six days and on the seventh with half a crown.", the seventh thus becomes opposition to the sun and symbolizes darkness and balefulness and therefore is dangerous to undertake anything on the seventh day because that is the day of rest. We can see here the influence of this belief in other religious contexts. There are seven zones of earth; heavens, symbolized by the planes of ziggurat.
There are seven branches to the Tree of Life each having seven leaves. Leaves are symbols of fertility, renewal and growth. There are seven gates of hell, seven demons of Tiamat and seven winds to destroy her---interesting to note that in many belief systems it is said that the astral plane has seven levels to it--one sound on one of those levels is "wind".
In Hinduism:
There are the seven chakras and their correspondences. There are seven Jewels of the Brahmanas. There are also seven gods before the floods and seven Wise Men saved from it.
Islamic: The perfect number is seven. In Islamic tradition there are references to seven:
7 heavens
7 climates
7 earths and seas
7 colors
7 prophets (active powers) states or stations of the heart
The Ka'aba is circumambulated seven times representing the seven attributes of God.
Magic:
There are seven knots in a cord for "spellbinding" and incantations are sevenfold. Certain orders of Brotherhood use theme of tying seven knots in their rope sash worn around their waist.
Pythagorean:
Seven is a cosmic number with three of heaven and four of the world.
"By the Pythagoreans the heptad--7--was called "worthy of veneration." It was held to be the number of religion, because man is controlled by seven celestial spirits to whom it is proper for him to make offerings. It was called the number of life, because it was believed that human creatures born in the seventh month of embryonic life usually lived, but those born in the eighth month often died. One author called it the Motherless Virgin, Minerva, because it was nor born of a mother but out of the crown, or the head of the Father, the monad. Keywords of the heptad are fortune, occasion, custody, control, government, judgment, dreams, voices, sounds, and that which leads all things to their end. Deities whose attributes were expressed by the heptad were Ægis, Osiris, Mars, and Cleo (one of the Muses).
Among many ancient nations the heptad is a sacred number. The Elohim of the Jews were supposedly seven in number. They were the Spirits of the Dawn, more commonly known as the Archangels controlling the planets. The seven Archangels, with the three spirits controlling the sun in its threefold aspect, constitute the 10, the sacred Pythagorean decad. The mysterious Pythagorean tetractys, or four rows of dots, increasing from 1 to 4, was symbolic of the stages of creation. The great Pythagorean truth that all things in Nature are regenerated through the decad, or 10, is subtly preserved in Freemasonry through these grips being effected by the uniting of 10 fingers, five on the hand of each person."
—Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages
In Hermeticism:
"For there were in the Chaos, an infinite darkness in the Abyss or bottomless Depth, and Water, and a subtle Spirit intelligible in Power; and there went out the "Holy Light" and the Elements were coagulated from the Sand out of the moist Substance.
And when all things were interminated and unmade up, the light things were divided on high. And the heavy things were founded upon the moist sand, all things being Terminated or Divided by Fire; and being sustained or hung up by the Spirit they were so carried, and the Heaven was seen in Seven Circles."
—The Corpus Hermetica
There are seven Hermetic Principles:
1. The Principle of Mentalism.
2. The Principle of Correspondence.
3. The Principle of Vibration.
4. The Principle of Polarity.
5. The Principle of Rhythm.
6. The Principle of Cause and Effect.
7. The Principle of Gender.
By the Word of God the material universe was fabricated, and the seven creative powers, or vowel sounds--which had been brought into existence by the speaking of the Word--became the seven.
—The Kybalion
In Theosophy:
The Septenary figures heavily in Helena Blavatsky's teachings. There are seven principles of man and the human constitution, and seven planes of being and seven slanes of existence.
"The teaching about the Septenary constitution of the sidereal bodies and of the macrocosm – from which the septenary division of the microcosm, or Man – has until now been amongst the most esoteric. In olden times it used to be divulged only at the Initiation and along with the most sacred figures of the cycles.
These seven planes correspond to the seven states of consciousness in man. It remains with him to attune the three higher states in himself to the three higher planes in Kosmos. But before he can attempt to attune, he must awaken the three “seats” to life and activity. And how many are capable of bringing themselves to even a superficial comprehension of Atma-Vidya (Spirit-Knowledge), or what is called by the Sufis, Rohanee!”
—H.P. Blavatsky.
The Mithraic Mysteries:
The cave of Mithras has seven doors, seven altars, and a ladder with seven rungs depicting the seven grades of initiation into the mystery schools.
"The ancients counted seven planets, thus arranged: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. There were seven heavens and seven spheres of these planets; on all the monuments of Mithras are seven altars or pyres, consecrated to the seven planets, as were the seven lamps of the golden candelabrum in the Temple.
That these represented the planets, we are assured by Clemens of Alexandria, in his Stromata, and by Philo Judaeus.
To return to its source in the Infinite, the human soul, the ancients held, had to ascend, as it had descended, through the seven spheres.
The Ladder by which it reascends, has, according to Marsilius Ficinus, in his Commentary on the Ennead of Plotinus, seven degrees or steps; and in the Mysteries of Mithras, carried to Rome under the Emperors, the ladder, with its seven rounds, was a symbol referring to this ascent through the spheres of the seven planets. Jacob saw the Spirits of God ascending and descending on it; and above it the Deity Himself.
The Mithraic Mysteries were celebrated in caves, where gates were marked at the four equinoctial and solstitial points of the Zodiac; and the seven planetary spheres were represented, which souls needs must traverse in descending from the heaven of the fixed stars to the elements that envelop the earth; and seven gates were marked, one for each planet, through which they pass, in descending or returning. We learn this from Celsus, in Origen, who says that the symbolic image of this passage among the stars, used in the Mithraic Mysteries, was a ladder reaching from earth to Heaven, divided into seven steps or stages, to each of which was a gate, and at the summit an eighth one, that of the fixed stars. The symbol was the same as that of the seven stages of Borsippa, the Pyramid of vitrified brick, near Babylon, built of seven stages, and each of a different colour. In the Mithraic ceremonies, the candidate went through seven stages of initiation, passing through many fearful trials–and of these the high ladder with seven rounds or steps was the symbol."
— Albert Pike: Morals and Dogma: Of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
****************************************
"Symbolism is the language of the Mysteries. By symbols men have ever sought to communicate to each other those thoughts which transcend the limitations of language."
—Manly P. Hall
"Understand now, at the commencement of your studies along occult lines, that the universe of matter is only a symbol, and the infinity of material objects are but an infinite number of symbols. Back of each symbol lies a mystery – truth. It is to solve the mystery or discover the truth of being for which you now labor. As you discover truth after truth, the mysteries disappear; and the true illuminated one’s last hope is finally to solve all mysteries and attain to immortality, or eternal truth."
—Milton A. Pottenger
"When the human race learns to read the language of symbolism, a great veil will fall from the eyes of men. They shall then know truth and, more than that, they shall realize that from the beginning truth has been in the world unrecognized, save by a small but gradually increasing number appointed by the Lords of the Dawn as ministers to the needs of human creatures struggling co regain their consciousness of divinity."
—Manly P. Hall
"All teems with symbol; the wise man is the man who in any one thing can read another."
— II.3.7 First Ennead - Plotinus
— The Kybalion
Seven is a sacred number found throughout the world in many ancient traditions spanning ages. The symbolism of the number seven may vary throughout cultures but the correspondences are endless.
Seven is the number of the cosmos. It is the three of the heavens (soul) combined with the four (body) of the earth; being the first number containing both the spiritual and the temporal. In looking over the list of meanings it doesn't take long to figure out why the seven has become significant in metaphysical, religious and other spiritual doctrines.
There are:
7 chakras
7 endocrine glands
7 planets/luminaries that can be seen with the eye
7 days of the week
7 metals of Alchemy involved with the Great Work
7 heavens
7 levels in the astral plane
7 ages of man
7 seas
7 continents
7 ancient wonders of the world
7 days of creation
7 spheres/ circles of Universe
7 cosmic stages
7 pillars of wisdom
7 Hermetic principles
7 colors in the visible light spectrum
7 musical notes
7 rays of the sun
7 levels the Sun ascends and descends in Mayan Cosmology
7 stars in the Pleiades
7 indestructible stars in the Great Bear
7 headed dragons (The writings about the seven-headed dragon appear throughout India, Persia, the Far East, especially Cambodia, but also Celtic and other Mediterranean myths.)
The number seven is held sacred in many traditions found throughout the world. Listed below are just some examples of the supreme importance this number had in different cultures.
Buddhist:
Seven is the number of ascent and of ascending to the higest; attaining the center. The seven steps of Buddha symbolize the ascent of the seven cosmic stages transcending time and space. The seven-storied prasada at Borobadur is a sacred mountain and axis mundi, culminating in the transcendent North, reaching the realm of Buddha.
Christian:
Seven is idealogogy. God is represented by the seventh ray in the center of the six rays of creation. There are seven sacraments; gifts of spirit; the seven of 3+4 theological and cardinal virtues; deadly sins, tiers of Purgatory (in metaphysical belief this would be one of the lower astral planes - or in Buddhism, one of the Bardo planes). There are 7 councils of the early church - crystal spheres containing the planets - devils cast out by Christ - joys and sorrows of Mary the Blessed Virgin, mother of Jesus - liberal arts - major prophets - periods of fasting and penitence - seventh day after the six of creation.
In the Old Testament there are the seven altars of Baalam; oxen and rams for sacrifice; trumpets; circuits of Jericho; seven times Naaman bathed in the Jordan. Seven is the number of Samon's bonds; the child raised by Elisha sneezed seven times. The Ark rested on the seventh month and the dove was sent out after seven days.
The number seven appears all throughout the New Testament as well. The number seven is listed in the book of Revelation 55 times alone. Examples abound: seven churches, seven trumpets, seven seals, seven bowls, seven eyes, etc etc.
Mayan:
There are seven levels of the Maya Cosmos, as well as seven levels the Sun ascends and descends on its journey throughout the day. The number seven (called Uuc in Yucatec and Wukub' in K'iche' Maya) is an important number in the sacred Tzolk'in calendar. As it sits exactly in the middle of the sacred trecena it represents the very center of humanity and the laws of life. It symbolizes unity and neutrality and it also can represent closure, endings, change and death.
Egyptian mythology:
There are seven Hathors as Fates and the priestesses of Hathor have seven jars in their seven tunics. Ra has seven hawks representing the seven Wise Ones. There are seven scorpions sent to Isis for protection from Set. Six cows and a bull represent fertility. There are seven houses of the underworld, as depicted in Egyptian myths, with three times seven gates. Seven is the sacred number of Osiris.
In Chapter XVII of the Book of the Dead, the opening passage reads: "I am Tem in rising. I am the only One. I came into being in Nu. I am Ra who rose in the beginning... The pillars of Shu were not as yet created. It is Ra, the creator of the names of his limbs, which came into being in the form of the gods, who are in the train of Ra" (i.e., the gods who personify his phases) -- fourteen Spirits, SEVEN dark and SEVEN light...
"I am the Bennu bird (the Phoenix, type of resurrection) which is in Anu, and I am the keeper of the volume of the book of things which are and of things which shall be." In the eternity of his being occur vast cycles of activity followed by equal periods of rest: "Millions of years" is the name of the one, "Great Green Lake" is the name of the other, the "Lake" representing the cycle in which are swallowed up all things produced by "The Begetter of millions of years." In Chapter XLII he "who dwelleth in his eye" is beaming in "the solar egg, the egg to which is given life among the gods." In Chapter XV he is "Yesterday," "Today," and "Tomorrow," the one "who reposeth upon law which changeth not nor can it be altered."
In Chapter LXXV of the Egyptian Book of the Dead he is the self-created god:
"I gave birth unto myself together with Nu in my name of Khepera, in whom I come into being day by day. I am the creator of the darkness who maketh his habitation in the uttermost parts of the sky and I arrive at the confines thereof. I sail over the sky which formeth the division betwixt heaven and earth and divided in into SEVEN parts."
In these extracts are all the fundamental teachings regarding Space, the One Life, the Self-existing Deity, Law, Cycles, Reincarnation, Being, and a hint of the septenary nature of cosmos.
Graeco-Roman:
Sacred to Apollo, whose lyre has seven strings, and to Athene/Minerva and Ares/Mars; Pan had seven pipes (again a reference to seven musical notes and frequency); there are also seven Wise Men of Greece.
In the Hebrew tradition:
Seven is the number of occult intelligence. There are seven Great Holy Days in the Jewish year; the Menorah has seven branches; the Temple took seven years to build; and there are seven pillars of wisdom.
In Kabbalah there are many references to the number seven. In the Kabbalistic Book of Creation the importance of the seven double letters is described :
"Seven Doubles: BGD KPRT, With them were engraved, Seven Universes, seven firmaments, seven lands, seven seas, seven rivers, seven deserts, seven days, seven weeks, seven years, seven sabbaticals, seven jubilees,and the Holy Palace, Therefore, He made sevens beloved under all the heavens."
— The Sepher Yetzirah
Sumero-Semitic:
There are seven lunar divisions and days of the week. "Thou shalt shine with horns to determine six days and on the seventh with half a crown.", the seventh thus becomes opposition to the sun and symbolizes darkness and balefulness and therefore is dangerous to undertake anything on the seventh day because that is the day of rest. We can see here the influence of this belief in other religious contexts. There are seven zones of earth; heavens, symbolized by the planes of ziggurat.
There are seven branches to the Tree of Life each having seven leaves. Leaves are symbols of fertility, renewal and growth. There are seven gates of hell, seven demons of Tiamat and seven winds to destroy her---interesting to note that in many belief systems it is said that the astral plane has seven levels to it--one sound on one of those levels is "wind".
In Hinduism:
There are the seven chakras and their correspondences. There are seven Jewels of the Brahmanas. There are also seven gods before the floods and seven Wise Men saved from it.
Islamic: The perfect number is seven. In Islamic tradition there are references to seven:
7 heavens
7 climates
7 earths and seas
7 colors
7 prophets (active powers) states or stations of the heart
The Ka'aba is circumambulated seven times representing the seven attributes of God.
Magic:
There are seven knots in a cord for "spellbinding" and incantations are sevenfold. Certain orders of Brotherhood use theme of tying seven knots in their rope sash worn around their waist.
Pythagorean:
Seven is a cosmic number with three of heaven and four of the world.
"By the Pythagoreans the heptad--7--was called "worthy of veneration." It was held to be the number of religion, because man is controlled by seven celestial spirits to whom it is proper for him to make offerings. It was called the number of life, because it was believed that human creatures born in the seventh month of embryonic life usually lived, but those born in the eighth month often died. One author called it the Motherless Virgin, Minerva, because it was nor born of a mother but out of the crown, or the head of the Father, the monad. Keywords of the heptad are fortune, occasion, custody, control, government, judgment, dreams, voices, sounds, and that which leads all things to their end. Deities whose attributes were expressed by the heptad were Ægis, Osiris, Mars, and Cleo (one of the Muses).
Among many ancient nations the heptad is a sacred number. The Elohim of the Jews were supposedly seven in number. They were the Spirits of the Dawn, more commonly known as the Archangels controlling the planets. The seven Archangels, with the three spirits controlling the sun in its threefold aspect, constitute the 10, the sacred Pythagorean decad. The mysterious Pythagorean tetractys, or four rows of dots, increasing from 1 to 4, was symbolic of the stages of creation. The great Pythagorean truth that all things in Nature are regenerated through the decad, or 10, is subtly preserved in Freemasonry through these grips being effected by the uniting of 10 fingers, five on the hand of each person."
—Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages
In Hermeticism:
"For there were in the Chaos, an infinite darkness in the Abyss or bottomless Depth, and Water, and a subtle Spirit intelligible in Power; and there went out the "Holy Light" and the Elements were coagulated from the Sand out of the moist Substance.
And when all things were interminated and unmade up, the light things were divided on high. And the heavy things were founded upon the moist sand, all things being Terminated or Divided by Fire; and being sustained or hung up by the Spirit they were so carried, and the Heaven was seen in Seven Circles."
—The Corpus Hermetica
There are seven Hermetic Principles:
1. The Principle of Mentalism.
2. The Principle of Correspondence.
3. The Principle of Vibration.
4. The Principle of Polarity.
5. The Principle of Rhythm.
6. The Principle of Cause and Effect.
7. The Principle of Gender.
By the Word of God the material universe was fabricated, and the seven creative powers, or vowel sounds--which had been brought into existence by the speaking of the Word--became the seven.
—The Kybalion
In Theosophy:
The Septenary figures heavily in Helena Blavatsky's teachings. There are seven principles of man and the human constitution, and seven planes of being and seven slanes of existence.
"The teaching about the Septenary constitution of the sidereal bodies and of the macrocosm – from which the septenary division of the microcosm, or Man – has until now been amongst the most esoteric. In olden times it used to be divulged only at the Initiation and along with the most sacred figures of the cycles.
These seven planes correspond to the seven states of consciousness in man. It remains with him to attune the three higher states in himself to the three higher planes in Kosmos. But before he can attempt to attune, he must awaken the three “seats” to life and activity. And how many are capable of bringing themselves to even a superficial comprehension of Atma-Vidya (Spirit-Knowledge), or what is called by the Sufis, Rohanee!”
—H.P. Blavatsky.
The Mithraic Mysteries:
The cave of Mithras has seven doors, seven altars, and a ladder with seven rungs depicting the seven grades of initiation into the mystery schools.
"The ancients counted seven planets, thus arranged: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. There were seven heavens and seven spheres of these planets; on all the monuments of Mithras are seven altars or pyres, consecrated to the seven planets, as were the seven lamps of the golden candelabrum in the Temple.
That these represented the planets, we are assured by Clemens of Alexandria, in his Stromata, and by Philo Judaeus.
To return to its source in the Infinite, the human soul, the ancients held, had to ascend, as it had descended, through the seven spheres.
The Ladder by which it reascends, has, according to Marsilius Ficinus, in his Commentary on the Ennead of Plotinus, seven degrees or steps; and in the Mysteries of Mithras, carried to Rome under the Emperors, the ladder, with its seven rounds, was a symbol referring to this ascent through the spheres of the seven planets. Jacob saw the Spirits of God ascending and descending on it; and above it the Deity Himself.
The Mithraic Mysteries were celebrated in caves, where gates were marked at the four equinoctial and solstitial points of the Zodiac; and the seven planetary spheres were represented, which souls needs must traverse in descending from the heaven of the fixed stars to the elements that envelop the earth; and seven gates were marked, one for each planet, through which they pass, in descending or returning. We learn this from Celsus, in Origen, who says that the symbolic image of this passage among the stars, used in the Mithraic Mysteries, was a ladder reaching from earth to Heaven, divided into seven steps or stages, to each of which was a gate, and at the summit an eighth one, that of the fixed stars. The symbol was the same as that of the seven stages of Borsippa, the Pyramid of vitrified brick, near Babylon, built of seven stages, and each of a different colour. In the Mithraic ceremonies, the candidate went through seven stages of initiation, passing through many fearful trials–and of these the high ladder with seven rounds or steps was the symbol."
— Albert Pike: Morals and Dogma: Of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
****************************************
"Symbolism is the language of the Mysteries. By symbols men have ever sought to communicate to each other those thoughts which transcend the limitations of language."
—Manly P. Hall
"Understand now, at the commencement of your studies along occult lines, that the universe of matter is only a symbol, and the infinity of material objects are but an infinite number of symbols. Back of each symbol lies a mystery – truth. It is to solve the mystery or discover the truth of being for which you now labor. As you discover truth after truth, the mysteries disappear; and the true illuminated one’s last hope is finally to solve all mysteries and attain to immortality, or eternal truth."
—Milton A. Pottenger
"When the human race learns to read the language of symbolism, a great veil will fall from the eyes of men. They shall then know truth and, more than that, they shall realize that from the beginning truth has been in the world unrecognized, save by a small but gradually increasing number appointed by the Lords of the Dawn as ministers to the needs of human creatures struggling co regain their consciousness of divinity."
—Manly P. Hall
"All teems with symbol; the wise man is the man who in any one thing can read another."
— II.3.7 First Ennead - Plotinus
The Mouth of Hell ( شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ ) Çukurun Dudakları
Yine siz, bir ateş çukurunun (Çukurun Dudakları ) tam kenarında idiniz de O sizi oradan kurtarmıştı. 3/ÂLİ İMRÂN-103
Yine siz, bir ateş çukurunun (Çukurun Dudakları ) tam kenarında idiniz de O sizi oradan kurtarmıştı. 3/ÂLİ İMRÂN-103
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