Posted by Jonah on August 05, 2101 at 15:29:04:

In Reply to: Nine posted by Bo Salisbury on August 04, 2101 at 13:04:55:

Hi Bo, welcome back!

For some general citations re numerology, look at this section in the Resource Guide at bahai-library.org/books/rg/rg.biblio13.html#49. Here it is, below (unformatted). And have you looked at Robert Riggs' books at http://bahai-library.org/books? He might touch on this, I know he has some discussion of number symbolism. -Jonah

NUMEROLOGY: THE "ABJAD" SYSTEM

The writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá are almost entirely devoid of things occult. The one possible exception to this is a prevalent use of the abjad system of numerology. The practice of assigning numbers to letters in order to derive additional meaning from words is found in all Semitic languages, most famously Hebrew and its various forms of Qabbalah, or Cabala. It should be noted, though, that the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh used abjad numerology simply to derive greater poetic significance from alphabetical and numeric language and not for divination or occult ritual, as some later Qabalists and numerologists did. Wendi Momen has reproduced the abjad system in A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary, 5-6. Notes to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas define the numberings of some of Bahá'u'lláh's terminology (n28, n50, n122, n172, and 252). Robert F. Riggs' non-scholarly but intriguing The Apocalypse Unsealed examines and employs occult numerology, gematria, and astrology in demonstrating a Bahá'í fulfillment of the Book of Revelation. Elena Maria Marsella takes a similar approach, though with a greater exploration of biblical symbolism, in The Quest for anon. Abbas Amanat gives some examples of the use of numerology by early Bábís in Resurrection and Renewal, 94-95. Mention should also be made of Martin Gardner's "Farrakhan, Cabala, Baha'i and 19," in the Skeptical Inquirer, 21:2 (March/April 1997), which is a misinformed and somewhat unsympathetic discussion of Bahá'í numerology.

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