Facts on 33

Geography and 33

• Baghdad, Iraq is at 33°33′N latitude.
• “The longest continually inhabited city in the world” is Damascus, Syria, at 33°30′N latitude.
• The place where 33°30′N, meets 33°30′E, is near the Southern end of the island of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean Sea, believed to host vast, unexplored archeological resources from nearby ancient cultures, allegedly even the lost city of Atlantis. Recent sonar imagery of the region reveals underwater structures resembling canals measuring 330 ft. wide with 33 ft. high walls.
• Roswell, New Mexico, is at 33°37′N latitude. This geo-latitudinal line also passes through what is known as the “Bermuda Triangle” in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Hiroshima, Japan, is very nearly situated at the intersection of 133°30′E longitude and 33°30′N latitude. Nagasaki is near the 33°30′N, as well as is the White Sands Testing Range (New Mexico), where the atom bomb was first detonated.

Religion and 33

• In the year 33 AD the Assyrian Church was founded by Thomas, Bortholemew and Thaddeus.
• Mircea Eliade establishes that there are 33 major religions in the world today in his book, The Eliade Guide to World Religions [Mircea Eliade, Ioan P. Couliano – HarperSanFrancisco, c1991)]. Its format presents 33 extensive “macro-dictionary” articles and a “micro-dictionary” of brief entries and index references. The volume provides an authoritative if brief overview of major religious traditions.
• Monotheism began with Egypt’s Pharaoh Dynasty of Akhenaten in Amarna, 3,300 years ago.
• In the field of Numerology, many systems hold 33 as the highest of the “Master Numbers.” It symbolizes “Christ Consciousness,” or the ultimate attainment of consciousness. [“Master Numbers” are repdigits that are not “reduced” (33 is not reduced to a “6,” as is 42, for example)].
• The diamond is associated by some gemologists and numerologists with the “Master Number, 33.”
• “33″ and “22″ are patrilineal and matrilineal, respectively, in the history of “shamanism.”
• The hexagram [a.k.a. “Solomon’s Seal” or “Star of David”] can be seen as two superimposed triangles. An effect of this may be to find in the symbol a “33″ – two “three-fold” forms, combined. This figure is significant in many of the world’s spiritual and mystical traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christendom, and Al-Islam.
• The theologian Hippolytus of Rome (c. AD 170-236), in the book Refutation of all Heresies , “tries to discredit the ideas of Gnosticism by tracing their origin to the Greek philosophical systems, which were considered ‘pagan’ and therefore heretical by the church leaders. In doing so, he not only describes 33 Gnostic systems, but gives to history an outline of the contemporary Greek ideas of astrology, magic, and religious mystery.” [See Links: “Gnostic Christianity…”]

Hinduism

• The Rig Veda apparently describes, “the 33 divinities.” There are claimed to be 330 million “Gods of Hinduism.” (Dancing With Shiva, Subramuniyaswami) Also, this: [from The Book of Hindu Imagery by Eva Rudy Jansen] “…the early books mention three gods; later there are 33, later still, 3,339 gods ‘worshipped Agni.’” “There are ’33,333′ gods,” according to a children’s book entitled, INDIA. Alain Danielou, in his book, The Myths and Gods of India, explains: “The number thirty-three is taken as a symbolic expression representing a particular aspect of the [Hindu] pantheon. Actually there can be no limit to the number of the gods. Each aspect of manifestation is a channel through which man can reach the Divine. The number of the Hindu gods is therefore the same as that of the possible aspects of manifestation, created or potential. It is, in later Hinduism, represented by the symbolic number of thirty-three crores (330,000,000).”
• The Myth Of Invariance, (The Origin of the Gods, Mathematics, and Music From The Rg Veda to Plato) by Ernest G. McClain, on pg. 69, refers to the Vedic reference to “the Thirty-Three Gods,” and suggests that this refers to music, representing a system of intervals shown in a diagram [Chart 13] entitled, “Mandala of the 33 Gods in 60 degrees.” (pg. 67)
• There are 33 consonants in the Devanagari alphasyllabary (alphabet), most associated with Sanskrit, Hindi, and other related languages.
• When the word “OM” is written in Devanagari script as a word (rather than as the composite symbol for the word), the effect is that a 33 appears to the eye, especially for those who do not read Devanagari.
• Yoga Sutra 3:33 states: “Through keenly developed intuition, everything can be known.”
• In Sanskrit jaapa, 1,331 repetitions of the rudra mantra equals one maha-rudra cycle.
• Thirukural is an important work of Tamil literature by Saint Thiruvalluvar, which contains 1330 couplets divided into 133 chapters of 10 (7-word) couplets each. In 2000, the government of Tamil Nadu erected a large stone statue of the saint, measuring 133 feet high, representing the 133 chapters of Thirukural.
• The Mahatma Gandhi ended his 21-day fast on May 7, 1933.
• According to ancient precepts of temple architecture, there will be flag post between the sanctum sanctorum and the main altar (palibeedam) and it will be made of special type of wood covered with brass with thirty-three rings (knots) and shall have a flag with three rows at the top. The thirty-three knots represents the thirty-three bones of the spinal cord. The three rows in the flag represents three stages of the Soul.

Buddhism

• “The scriptural reference to female forms of Kuan-yin appears as early as Kumarajiva’s recension of Chapter 25 in the Lotus Sutra [which states that] Kuan Yin assumes thirty-three appearances, of which seven are female. The number thirty-three has been associated with Kuan-yin ever since by both devout Chinese and Japanese Buddhists.” – Paul, Diana Y. Women in Buddhism – Images of the Feminine in the Mahayana Tradition. 1979, Univ. of CA Press.
• “The Saddharma Pundarika Sutra affirms that, of Avalokiteshvara’s 337 earthly incarnations, all were male and all human except for one.” – Blofeld, John. Bodhisattva of Compassion, The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin. 1977, Shambala Publications.
• The story of “KUKURIPA, the maha-siddha” found in the book, Masters Of Enchantment by Keith Dowman, tells of “Gods of the Thirty-Three Sensual Heavens.”
• In Japan, one of two type of pilgrimages (junrei), is exemplified by the “Pilgrimage to the 33 Holy Places of Kannon in the Western Provinces” … circuits of series of temples or holy places. “The Kamakura Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage of Bando” in Eastern Japan circuits 33 temples Sacred to Kannon, ranging over Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures.
• The name of Sanjusangendo Temple in Japan refers to the “33 bays” between the pillars of the long building, which houses 1001 statues of the 1000-armed Kannon Buddhist Goddess, Quan Yin.
• According to the Lotus Sutra, Kannon Bodhisattva (Avilokateshvara) has 33 transformations in order to perform his task of salvation.
• One legend says that 33 “Arhats” spread Buddhism.
• The period of time between the passing of His Holiness, the Sixteenth Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu lineage, until the enthronement of the (current) Seventeenth – a period prophesied by the Fifth Karmapa to be a dark time for Buddhist Dharma – spanned 33 years.
• Required to become a Tibetan lama: solitary retreat of at least 3 years, 3 months, 3 days.

Taoism

• China’s Taoist holy mountain, Wudang, is known as the cradle of Taoism. The oldest temple in the ancient Taoist temple complex, Wulongci (Five Dragons Ancestral Temple) represents the commencement of the promotion of Taoism. In 1413, at the peak of its development, Emperor Zhdi of the Ming Dynasty ordered 33 temples to be built within ten years. It was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1994.

Zoroastrianism

• 33 plays an important part in Parsi ritual: Ahura-Mazda created this universe with the power of Yazashne using 33 “steps,” also known as 33 Zaothra (Alaats); 33 Alaats (instruments, methods) are used in the Yazashne ceremony, which are divided into four categories: 17 Mineral Kingdom (Jamadat), 8 Vegetation (Nabatat), 4 Animal Kingdom (Hevanat), 4 Elements of Khorshed-Meher (Ravi). The celebration of the Vendidad requires 35 twigs, of which 33 form a bundle.

Judeo-Christendom

• Psalms 1333: “Heenay matov umah nayeem shevet aheem gam yahad” – Oh how good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together in unity and in peace.
• King David reigned in Jerusalem for 33 years.
• In the English version of Genesis, God is mentioned 33 times.
• Jesus Christ is believed to have been either 30 or 33 years old when He died. Many Christians consider the “perfect age” to be 33.
• Some believe that Jesus lived 33 lives, the first as Adam of Genesis. (This idea appears in Edgar Cayce’s 33 Lives of Jesus.)
• Saint Joseph was also 33 years old when he married with the Virgin Mary, according to visions of Mary Agreda.
• Constantine declared the practice of crucifixion unlawful in 337 A.D.
• From the Bible, in Revelation, there are references suggesting a third (33.3%) of things that will be killed or destroyed. Also, when Lucifer left Heaven, he took a “third” of the angels with him.
• The Christ in the Gospels accomplishes 33 miracles of which 24 were cures.
• According to the law of Moses, following the circumcision of the foreskin of the child, the mother had to purify her blood. She would not touch anything sacred nor go to the sanctuary until 33 days had passed.
• Jacob had 33 children by his first woman, Leah, including his daughter, son and grandsons.
• A Rebbe I know has offered some interesting information about the Kabbalistic/Hebrew significance of the number 33: The number 33 signifies “entry into the mystery” or “the secret levels of creation.” It is associated with the word, gal, which was used in Psalms in the manner of “asking God to reveal the secrets of the Torah.” Also, it suggests “the end of suffering.”
• Lag B’Omer occurs thirty-three days after the start of Passover. Its name comes from the Hebrew letters lamed and gimmel, which together equal 33, according to gematriah in the Hebrew numerical system. Lag B’Omer is the thirty-third day of the omer count. It is this day that most Jewish people recognize as the end of the mourning period of the Omer. [Because, on the 33rd day of the Omer, Rabbi Akiva’s students stopped dying, and he started to reveal the light of the Torah to new students. Also on the 33rd day of the Omer, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the author of the central work of Kabbalah called the Zohar, died. His death is a celebration because on the day of his death he revealed the light of the Torah to his students.]
• The “Tree of the Sephiroth” of the Kabbalah has 33 elements, including the whole of it and its constituent parts.
• By some accounts, the 66 books of the Bible – 39 in the Old and 27 in the New – were written by 33 different people.
• Billy Graham has said that the Biblical Eden existed on Earth at the location “between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle-East.” If the place referred to is where they come closest together, this is at 33°30′N latitude. (See also: “Geography,” and “History”.)
• The Vatican recognizes “33 Doctors of the Church.” Pope John Paul II proclaimed St. Theresa of Lisieux Doctor of the Church; she became the 33rd person, and the third woman, to be honoured with this title.
• The funeral of Pope John Paul II concluded at exactly 12:33pm (Rome time) on April 8, 2005. It was then immediately followed by the Interment.
• The Pope at the time decreed 1933 as a Holy Year to Aid World Peace.
• Pope Gregory IX created the Inquisition in 1233 to curb heresy, or denial of truths of the Catholic faith. It reached its peak in the 16th Century as it battled the Reformation; its most famous trial was that of Galileo in 1633.
• Pope John Paul I had been pope for only 33 days before being found dead (1978).
• 33 Bishops comprise the Irish Bishops’ Conference, the official body of Catholics in Ireland.
• The Basilica of saint Peter in Rome counts 33 chapels: 29 in the Basilica itself and 4 in the crypt.
• The 2005 “traditional Christmas greeting” was delivered from the Vatican this year in 33 languages including Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Finnish.
• In the heart of the Andes, Ayacucho Huamanga, the religious capital of Peru, is “The City of the 33 Churches.”
• The Rosary of the Precious Blood of Christ has 39 grains. The practice of piety is accomplished by the recitation of 33 Our-Fathers in memory of 33 years of the earthly life of Jesus.
• The Anglican Church created its own rosary in the 1980s. It also has 33 beads, remembering the years Christ lived.
• The Greek Orthodox “prayer rope” has 33 and other numbers of knots for numerical repetition of prayers.

Freemasonry

• The 33rd degree is the highest degree within the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. (Indeed, “The Supreme Symbol” is a double-headed eagle with an illumined triangle balanced on its crown, with a “33″ emblazoned within.)
• 33 members compose the Council of the Order of the Great Orient of France.
• Alliester Crowley was a 33rd Degree Mason.