John Stanley- 24th September 1355
Next morning, early, they rode up to St Ferriol and called on Estavan. Ximene explained that they were investigating aspects of her inheritance and that they had been guided to Brenac church. She gave a brief summary of what they had found there.
Estavan smiled broadly. ‘That is just what I am looking for, a chance to do something different. Give me a little time to organize my affairs and we will go to visit this church.’
It was late in the year but on this day by lunchtime, it was very warm. Despite the warning Maurice had given them, whilst they waited they explored the pretty village of St Feriole. It did not seem to be threatening. The few people they met hardly gave them a second glance.
There was little shade on the way to Brenac but when they entered the church it was comfortably cool. John showed Estavan the paintings either side of the altar drawing his attention to the strange animals and the tablets, depicted on the paintings. Estavan nodded but then spent half an hour gazing at all the other paintings, studying each one in turn.
John broke into his reverie. ‘It is actually the two larger paintings which I showed you first, the ones either side of the altar, which we wanted some help with.’
Estavan put his hand on John’s shoulder. ‘Just give a little time John, I am as intrigued with the all these strange illustrations as you were when you first saw them yesterday. I want to get a feel for this mysterious place. What I am trying to establish is if there are any links to the other paintings in the church.’
Ximene pulled at John’s arm. ‘John I am sure Estavan knows what he is doing.’
Estavan eventually did turn to the task of interpreting the ‘tablet” paintings. He spent another half hour crossing and re-crossing the church to make comparisons. During all of these considerations, he remained silent but made copious notes.
John became impatient. ‘Have you got anything to tell us Estavan?’
Again Ximene tugged at his arm. ‘John!’
Estavan grinned. ‘No, that is good. I am ready now. Just a little bit of explanation. I am intending to use the science of numerology to penetrate this mystery.’
He glanced at both John and Ximene through lowered eyes. ‘Science? Hmmm, possibly!’
He took a deep breath. ‘So one way numerology is used is as an accompaniment to astrology, the linking of human potential to the movements of planets. It is in my opinion, a trivial occupation but many people like to think that their potential and future is linked to events beyond their control. They reject the concept that their progress through life is actually determined by their own energy, initiative or determination to succeed. Numerology contributes to this by assigning to every letter in the alphabet a numeric value. Consequently, for any name, it is possible to calculate a value. some people believe that from that value it is possible to make an assessment of the character and potential of the person carrying the name.So shall I give some examples?’
John raiesed his eyebrows and Ximene nodded.
‘John, J, O, H, N. J=1, O=7. H=5, N=5. Total for name=(1+7+5+5)=18=(1+8) =9.’
Estevan reached inside his satchel and pulled out a small book.
‘John… number 9. Hmm. It says that if you focus your attention on someone it will be impossible for them to escape that attention. You are a seeker after truth and justice. When you see injustice or suffering, you will not hesitate to devote yourself to rectifying it. More importantly, you will not then waste energy to seek credit for your actions.’ Estevan stopped to take a breath. ‘You will not force herself upon others. When circumstances require, you can be a powerful force, strong enough to take over and bend others to your will. Yet your leadership qualities are in the higher realms of philosophy and persuasion. You change peoples minds!’
Estevan stopped reading and raised his head. ‘Do you recognise yourself, John?’
John shook his head, Ximene giggled and nodded.
Estevan turned his gaze to Ximene
X,I,M,E,N,E X=5, I=1, M=4, E=5, N=5, E=5
Total for name ( 5+1+4+5+5+5) = 25= 2+5=7
Ximene number 7. You are also a seeker, but specifically a searcher for the truth. You don’t take anything at face value you are always trying to understand the underlying, hidden truths. You know that nothing is exactly as it seems and that reality is often hidden behind illusions. If you are a woman you will most likely be beautiful. You won’t like to fuss in front of the mirror, but you can be very seductive, deliberately seductive. If necessary you will take on a room full of men in any discussion, totally unaffected by the fact that many of them have something completely different in mind than the quality of your argument.’
Estevan grinned. ‘Again I must ask do you recognise yourself?’
Ximene sighed. John chuckled
I will give you one other piece of information. The characterisation of both 9 and 7 are the ones above all others which can equally be applied to both males and females. If you are, as I suspect, in a close relationship, then the characteristics of both identities may become totally merged so that that you act as one to achieve the same ends.
John pursed his lips. ‘And do you believe in this?’
‘No, as I think I told you, I don’t. I think of it only as a diversion.but it can give some very interesting results.
He sighed ‘But that is not why we are here, I only mentioned it to give you some idea of how numerology works. There are many other uses for numerology.’ Traditionally,numerological processes reveal more than one outcome and are used to conceal important information. There are therefore usually some clues to make it possible to choose the correct solution. It is necessary to pay attention to the clues and have the patience to work through multiple strings of information which will be generated.
Ximene frowned. ‘Multiple strings?’
‘Yes. each string starts with a calculated or given number, this then leads to the discovery of derived numbers and then the final single digit number which ends the string. I think the best way to explain that is to start to unravel the puzzle presented to us.
The two illustrations one each side of the altar are a classical numerological display. All the floral work, scrolls, and quasi heraldry should be ignored. The animals, which look like horses emerging from flowers, should also be ignored.’ There are two illustrations and two tablets on each illustration 2, 2, 2, this indicates either 222 or alternatively =2+2+2= 6
Our first end number is therefore 6.’
John frowned. ‘And two hundred and twenty-two has no meaning?’
‘In this case I believe not.’ Estevan waved his arm. ‘let’s study the tablet on the right of the illustration on the southern side of the altar. Let’s call it tablet one.’
He beckoned them into a position where they could see the illustration clearly. ‘It depicts a triangle followed by a Roman numeral V, this followed by a VI, then a VII.
I believe the triangle is most important. It tells us that the purpose of this particular example of numerology is associated with a figure of some kind, probably a triangle. but what kind of a triangle The angles of a triangle always add up to 180 degrees, an equal-sided triangle every angle at 60 degrees. For the vast majority of triangles, typically the angles are between 30 and 90 degrees, so we should be looking for numbers in this order of magnitude. it is not possible to have one angle of a triangle equal to 220 degrees so certainly at this stage it is of limited interest.’
‘But an angle of only six degrees is of interest?’
‘Probably it could be an angle of a triangle, though it would be a most unusual triangle. In this particular puzzle, we are not necessarily concerned with establishing a final single digit result but reviewing all the numbers which emerge as we progress. We can explore the addition of numbers to discover if anything of interest emerges. So let us move on He pressed lips tightly together, ‘What we are then left with is four tablets. It is the numbers which matter. The same puzzle could have been presented in a simple table but it would not have been as dramatic. These puzzles always rely on the combination and recombination of the numbers. The two illustrations are in fact a single numerology problem.’
Let me give another example. On the first tablet underneath the triangle is V, VI,VII
Numerology just does not work with Roman numerals, therefore…it might be intended for us to accept these numbers as they are, 5,6,7 or add them together thus 5+6+7 = 18 in Arab numbering. In numerology 18 could also be the sum of 1+8 = 9 or alternatively 1 and 8. Add the numbers which fall out of this all together, 18,9,8 and 1, gives us 36, but that in turn gives 3+6=9.
36 is within the range of numbers I feel we are looking for.
A second end number has now been produced… 9
Add these first two end numbers together 6+9=15=1+5=6. 6 again!
John pressed his lips together. ‘But aren’t you just picking these numbers at random?
Ximene broke in. ‘ No, John. no. Pay Estevan some respect.’
Estevan smiled. ‘ Thank you Ximene, but you know John is to a certain extent correct. the calculations I am carrying out are speculative. John is perceptive. He has not been taken in by the drama. And yet it is not entirely random,
He cleared his throat again. His voice climbed an octave. “Now if we look at the northerly picture, There are no numbers on the left-hand tablet, call this Tablet 3, just undecipherable scribble, which I take it to mean that we are being given a message, however, this is a numerology problem. There are four lines of text with nothing below. we should add a four to our list of end numbers.’
The second tablet on the northerly picture certainly is unusual. The display uses exclusively Roman Numerals but on this tablet, there is a number VV which does not exist in Roman numerals. I have decided it should be ignored
Ignoring the VV the total is IV + XVI= XX= 20 or 2+0=2
Adding the end numbers together gives 4+2=6. Hmmm a third six,666
I will spare you the detail of my examination of all four tablets but my findings are I think most significant
If we list all the numbers we have found we get 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,15, 18, 21,27,34, 36, 66,72, 222 and 666
1,2,3,5,8,21,34 are all members of the Fibonacci series where each number is the sum of the previous two numbers in the series. To comlete the series the number 13 would be required but it did not occur. Perversly this may mean that the number 13 is important
9, 18, 27,72 are all members of a simpler series in which all the members of the series are divisible by 9
6,7,15,222,666 are not part of either series .
‘So what does that all mean?’
‘Well let’s deal first with 666.’ He frowned and scratched his head. 666 is called the number of the beast; the devil’s number , so this may represent a warning to those attempting to solve the puzzle not to go any further.’He shivered but continued. “I cannot imagine what the threat might be, but potentially we could be in great danger.’