The Firestarter

After emerging from the “womb” of creation of the number 0, we come to the initiator, the trailblazer, the pioneer, the “first one” and the “fire-starter”: the number 1. Now, you may be wondering though, how this number can be regarded as all of these things when in fact we began with the number zero. Well, the 0 can be thought of as a branching point from where we can move into other numbers- the “neutral gear” as I have described in my last post. So, if we see it in this manner, we could regard the 1 as the first true number outside of the default state of the zero, and so with that comes many connotations.

To begin with, we see the shape of the 1 as a simple straight vertical line in the English numerical vocabulary, sometimes with a diagonal slash on the top and a small horizontal line base. Now, to me both of these shapes seem to represent a common symbol: that of a streamlined arrow, rod, missile, rocket, projectile or jet; likewise, this almost signifies a one pointed, focused, singular and powerful flow of energy in one direction. Whereas the 0 could be thought of as a huge, perhaps infinite, reservoir pool of raw potential energy, the 1 takes that energy and gives it a narrow-focused, one pointed direction of force. Naturally then, the powerfully concentrated energy of this number could be harnessed towards things like achievement, whether that entails reaching a career goal, or the creation of something new, for example.

This brings me to my next point: the involvement of 1 and creation. Whether you hear the term “oneness”, or “unity consciousness” or “the one creator” (of course, this depends one’s religious or spiritual beliefs), there’s a clear historical association with 1 as a creative force. Now, you may ask, but didn’t I refer to the 0 as the “womb of creation?”, and you’re correct; but see, my view is that creativity isn’t exclusive to any single number, but that it can, in fact, be a property of multiple numbers. Principally though, I would see both the 0 and 1, along with the 2, and maybe the 3, as highly creative numbers. So if the 0 is the womb of creation, with the potential for new life, then “1” is the genesis, the actual creation and “actualizing” of that new life, and could represent that new life itself. This would be much akin to a developing embryo progressing onwards to the eventual neonate and infant stages after birth. And in alignment with this term “neonate”, with the “neo” prefix meaning “new,” you basically have a fresh, naive, innocent, spirited, excited and joyful being experiencing life in the world for the first time as a baby that basically at one point, did not exist as an individual; and so, you have life that sprung forth from nothingness. Other examples of this could include the fresh new starts you see in springtime of the year, after the abstract and sleeping abyss of winter, or morning time of the day after the dark and empty void of night; accompanying this, you also get the innocence, naivety and a restless urge for activity after the latent, passive and almost unconscious “sleeping potential energy” of the 0, again much like the aforementioned winter or nighttime. Another example would be the birth of a tornado. First you would have the massive spinning supercell up in the sky, with the visible buildup of lethal kinetic energy and wind speed; yet, at this point, it still hasn’t connected to the ground to do its dance, and so it can be thought of as a built-up dam of energy at this stage, again aptly represented by the zero. The 1 of course would come into play in the oncoming moments where that potential of energy is finally given a physical, concentrated form: the funnel, which roughly resembles the shape of the 1. So once the funnel is formed and connects to the ground, now all that potential has been activated and “put to use”; it has transformed from an abstract, potential, “sleeping”, passive energy into a concrete, active, flowing energy of the spinning vortex on the ground, where it’s able to make its presence powerfully felt on the ground. You can see here the process of manifestation, of materialization, of the bringing into physical form of something that was once abstract or even non-existent: this is precisely how the 1 becomes the engine of creation. In other words, you get a harnessing, harvesting, channeling, concentration, actualizing and focusing of that potential energy into concrete physical reality.

To expand on this, let’s focus upon this idea of concentration of potential into physical reality. As already mentioned, the 1 has a very linear shape, but also note that it’s among the simplest of shapes compared to other numbers as it contains no other lines, no branching points or joints to other lines. This fundamental simplicity gives it an indivisible quality which is of course reflected literally in basic math where you can’t further divide “1” into a smaller number. I like to think of this undivided quality bestowing the number 1 with a certain strength and fortitude in the sense that without having any joints or connections to other lines, there is a lack of potential areas of weakness by which the structure of the shape of the “1” can be altered, separated or divided, much like an unbreakable sword, which also has the shape of the number 1. Hence, we get the term “united we stand; divided we fall” as the unity and oneness of different elements, like say, the unity of soldiers of a country during the world wars all working together towards a common mission, or a magnetic field aligning iron powder into organized lines, adds together significant strength and power. Naturally then, such a unified force, with all of its components aligned together in a common direction, becomes difficult to break or destroy. Alluding again to the tornado example, consider that it’s essentially the funnel of the twister that directly causes catastrophic destruction to the environment. Now, why is this? The reason is that nature has decided to take that massive convective energy in the atmosphere, swirling loosely around as a supercell, and tightly pack it into the spinning figure skater-like, pinpointed, singular, concentrated, laser-like focus of the narrow funnel onto the ground, which makes it particularly powerful, and clearly dangerous. You see the same thing with a magnifying glass concentrating UV rays into a pinpoint on paper causing a flame, or the ability of the extremely high energy of a laser beam to burn through objects and materials, with its essence being the concentration of light and radiation into a single, highly concentrated area. Also, think about starting up a car: that turning of the ignition to fire up the engine is that first activity which suddenly “awakens” the vehicle, and allows the “sleeping” potential energy of the gasoline to suddenly be converted to chemical and mechanical energy to get the engine running. Lastly, you could think of a pile of dry wood at a campsite, and that first scratch of either a matchstick, or the clicking of a BBQ lighter, or if you really wanna go old school: using the friction of flint and rocks to get that first initial spark, which leads to a fire. So, that spark itself could be very symbolic of the nature of the number 1, and also fits nicely with the heading of this post. Speaking of being a “firestarter”, the number 1 is traditionally associated with the Sun; in one way, this could make sense since the sure, steady Sun can be counted on to rise and set at basically the same time everyday (taking into account seasonal changes of course), and this steadfast quality again can tie into the fortitude of this number we talked about earlier.

Repeatedly seeing “1” then, whether alone, or in repeating patterns, may be trying to convey to you a message about something in your life relating to any of the themes we have discussed above. For instance, perhaps if a person feels they are wandering aimlessly in life without any direction or passion, maybe this is the wake up call they need to get off their behind, find something meaningful to do, and give a clear, organized and focused direction to their life. It could also be an indication for the need to reinvent oneself; that after burning off and destroying the old, worn out and useless clutter in one’s life, that it’s time for a brand new fresh start, and the need to resurrect oneself again from the ashes of an old and dead existence, like the proverbial phoenix rising. Related to this, it may also signify that a person should be more creative in their life, or a confirmation to continue doing so if they are already are. Lastly, it may also indicate a sense of loneliness, isolation or aloneness; a sense that a person has cut themselves off from social interaction, friends, family or even the world, and that this may not be the healthiest option physically, mentally and emotionally. However, the flip-side of this may be pushing an overly empathetic and self sacrificing person to indeed withdraw back all of their precious energy, which is constantly depleted by giving to the outside world, and reclaim it and centre it back inside themselves so that they can sit and bask in the glow of their own unique individuality and feel the power of their own presence. In such a case, the appearance of the “1” may be an approval for this particular person to indeed be “selfish” but only in the positive sense of finding oneself, gaining knowledge of and love for oneself first “before being able to love another person”, as the cliché goes. Such a person may indeed need a period of first discovering who they are as a person, and of course at a higher level, their spiritual essence, before coming down to the world and exchanging their energy there, for we can only function effectively in the world if we have a solid sense and love of who we are as an individual person. In this vein, seeing the 1 here could be telling someone that they need to make clear boundaries between their own individuality and the outside world consisting of other people.