Shakespeare's love for Jesus and Mary in his epitaph: special study

1. Roman gematria drew its enormous effectiveness from the most objective system of order, the system of numbers organised in the decimal system. Shakespeare could apply the principles of gematria by studying the classical works of Roman poets, especially of Ovid.

Shakespeare also realized that the values of significant Christian terms and names were in full conformity with the principles of the decimal system. He must have come to the conclusion that the human mind could discover the numerological relations and meanings of words, but that the formation of these words and their relations were created by a supreme divine plan.

2. The names of MARIA and IESUS seem to give proof of the decimal system as the central gematric model of reference, both consisting of 5 letters. Their numeric values (NV) are 40 and 70, forming the ratio 10*(4:7) with 11 as average value per letter.

If the name CHRISTUS (112) is added, the sum 222 = 6*37 establishes a significant relation to WILLIAM (74 = 2*37).

3. Shakespeare certainly knew the SATOR Square as the perfect model of gematria. The ratio of the 8 different letters to the remaining 17 letters is 102:201 = 3*(34:67). Inverted numbers suggest a return to the beginning as is the case with a circle line.

The SATOR Square can be considered as a main motive for a gematric practice by which the frequency of certain letters is carefully chosen to be assigned to one or more words so that meaningful results in relation to these words are recognisable.

4. The last letters A and S occur a second time in MARIA and IESUS. Furthermore the lette I appears in both names. So Shakespeare could assign the frequency of letters in his epitaph to three options of the two names which form the basis for the following study.

II. The Model Construction

1. Before Shakespeare set out for his geometric construction, he counted the numerical values (NV) and factoral values (FV) of the three options (O):

	O1		O2		O3
	MARIA	IESUS	MARI	IESU	MARIESU
NV	40	70	39	52	82	283
FV	32	36	31	28	53	180
	72	106	70	80	135	463

The 7 letters of the third option can be divided up into 3-1-3:

	MAR	I	ESU
NV	30	9	43
FV	25	6	22
	55	15	65

If I is added to MAR, the ratio of the NS+FS is 5*(14:13). In the hexagon one axis consists of 2 lines and 3 points, which amounts to 6+9 for three axes. As 9 has the FV 6, it is the relevant number for its composite equivalent 69, the NV for SATOR – Creator:

The NS 283, understood as 28+3, points to a cross made of two double rhombi, with 4*7 frame elements plus 3 central points. This imagined figure can be put together to an octahedron.

2. Shakespeare now had to try to put up the 25 letters of the three options in this figure: 7 letters, 5+5 letters, and 4+4 letters:

The 7 letters can be placed on the 7 points of the vertical double rhombus. It makes good sense to start the names from their opposite positions and proceed in the mirror image way to the centre. As start is chosen the lowest point and the name of IESUS.

The twice 5 letters should find their place on the horizontal double rhombus, again in concentric manner from the margin to the centre. Each rhombus provides 4 points and 1 cross line.

The twice 4 letters should connect the two double rhombi. This is best possible if the outer and inner triangles are occupied clockwise, starting with IESUS on the outer and going on with MARIA on the inner ring:

The three central letters read SVA – his own, his property. Related to Jesus Christ, it reminds of St. John's prologue (1,11):

In propria venit et sui eum non receperunt.

He came to that which was is own and his own did not receive him.

By a change of letters the word VAS – vessel is formed. This refers to the octahedron that can be made of two crossed double-rhombi. VAS stands for God's creation, the KOSMOS, which is an image of himself. God is on the one hand absolute, on the other hand he is present in his creation. MARIA and IESUS are God's most perfect creations. Under Mary's assistance Jesus performed the work of redemption, renewing the face of creation.

3. Two rectangular rhombi can be shifted towards the to other two so that an octagon is the result. There can be two different combinations of rhombi and two different shifts. The decision for the right shift depends on which values of two rhombi harmonize best, either in themselves or in relation to the other two. In the above figure the values of the left and top rhombi harmonize best: NS 142:141, FS 92:88:

III. Implications of the Construction

a) Introduction

1. The added NV of MARIA and IESUS are 40+70 = 110. The added single numbers of the ratio 10*(4:7) and the factors 11*10 point to the 21 elements of the double-rhombus. But they also refer to the 3*7 = 21 elements of the tetraktys frame. One side of the tetraktys triangle is to be considered as a complete unit, to which its parts can be related. As one side consists of 4 points and 3 lines, two ratios 4:7 and 3:7 can be formed. The same applies to the 3*5 = 15 elements of the hexagon axes with the ratios 3:5 and 2:5. The three axes and the three tetraktys sides form an coherent structure:

2. The inner coherence becomes evident if the ratios mentioned are treated as 2-digit numbers and the FV of the upward and downward numbers are established:

					sm	sm
up	35	25	37	47	144
FV	12	10	37	47		106
down	53	52	73	74	252
FV	53	17	73	39		182
					396	288
144:252=36(4:7);288:396=36(8:11)

The NS of the two groups of numbers are to each other as 4:7 like the NS of MARIA and IESUS , and the FS 288 shares with the NS 396 the common divisor 36. 106 is the NS+FS of IESUS, 182 the NS of IESUS CHRISTUS.

3. Each of the 3 tetraktys sides consists of 4 points and 3 lines, together 12+9.= 21. The partial number 12 so is to the complete number 21 as 12:21 = 3*(4:7). The partial number 12 must be repeated in the second part of the ratio: 12:(12+9).

The numbers 12 and 9 are the NV of the initials of MARIA and IESUS. Mother and Son form a complete unit of 21. If M = 12 is to be related to the total sum of 21, the ratio would have to be in terms of letters M:(M+I). Mary's double presence might be interpreted as her status of both Virgin and Mother.

b) The values of the double-rhombi

1. If the Model Construction shown above is to have objective quality, some numeric evidence should be found. This is the case, if the FV of the NS and FS of the vertical (V) and the horizontal (H) double-rhombus are established:

V	NS/FS	73	41	65	50
	FV	73	41	18	12	144
H	NS/FS	76	42	69	47
	FV	23	12	26	47	108
		96	53	44	59	252
144:108 = 252 = 12*(12:9)
140:112 = 28*(4:5)

The two numbers 144 and 108 exactly provide the ratio numbers corresponding to M:(M+I).

The number 28 = 4*7 contains the NS ratio of MARIA and IESUS, it is the ideal number of the double rhombus, because the single digits add up to its 21 elements: 2 cross lines, 8 frame lines, 4 triangular areas and 7 points. If the product 28*9 is understood as additive numbers, the result is 37, which corresponds to the elements of the tetraktys with 10 points, 18 lines and 9 triangles.

2. Because of her special relationship Jesus, Mary is considered as COREDEMPTRIX in assistance of her son as REDEMPTOR. The number of letters 12 and 9 coincide with the NV of the initials M and I. The NV are 141 = 3*47 and 108 = 12*9 together 249. Mary is the vessel of the Holy Trinity PATER, FILIUS, SANCTUS SPIRITUS (NV 347), which can also be seen if we include the numeric letters M = 1000 and I = 1: 40+1001 = 1041 = 3*347. The factors 12*9 show Jesus as Mary's son.

The total NS 249 can be split up into 24+9 = 12+(12+9) = 33. 249 is the FS of the SATOR Square.

c) The 25 letters and the SATOR Square

1. The 25 letters of MARIA and IESUS may prompt us to associate them with the same number of letters in the SATOR Square. They suggest being arranged in a concentric way, starting with MARIA and ending with IESUS. Each line runs from left to right, regardless of the line construction of the Roman original:

2. The essential question is whether the second square has an intrinsic relationship to the first in a providential sense. It must be decided by examining the relevance of the gematric values.

Let's first look what new letters come to the 8 letters of PENSATOR. It's the letters IMV. The NS+FS of the 11 letters is:

	V	I	M	sm	PENSATOR	tot
NV	20	9	12	41	102	143
FV	9	6	7	22	80	102
				63		245
63:245 = 7*(9:26)

The NS 102 of PENSATOR converts into the FS of the new group of letters. The NS 143 = 11*13 means an average value of 13 for the 11 letters. This average value is known from the NV of PATER NOSTER in the SATOR Square. The repetition of TER is just replaced and complemented by VIM. So the New Square preserves and continues essential contents of the Old.

Astonishingly, the 4 Y-words of Shakespeare's epitaph – in the 22 count of Y – have the same values 143 and 102.

3. As we will also see later, the values 20+9+12 are of programmatic significance. The letters VI represent a unity inasmuch as they are often found together and are used to denote the numbers 5 and 1. 20 is to be understood as 4*5, 9 as 4+5. 9 refers to one square side of 4 lines and 5 delimiting points. As an added unit of 29 they represent a cross of double-rhombi with 29 frame elements, which are completed by additional 12 (M) elements (4 crosslines + 8 areas):

The letters VI, in their gematric and number values, total 29+6 = 35, which is contained in the NS 245 7 times.

4. The three letters VIM are a Latin accusative form meaning power, force. It refers to Jesus Christ, who has overcome the powers of evil. The word has to be connected to the word TENET in the SATOR Square: Jesus both exercises power and checks the violence and despotism of the evil powers.

Christ also supersedes the system of VESTA, whose NV is 63 just as the NS+FS of VIM.

5. The number 29 also appears when the NS+FS of the SATOR Square and the MARIA-IESUS (MI) Square are added:

	S-sq	MI-sq		factors
NS	303	283	586	2*293
FS	249	180	429	31113
	552	463	1015	5729

The total NS+FS 1015 of 50 letters contains the factors 5*7 = 35 just as the 11 different letters. And the important meaning of the number 29 becomes evident again, also in the prime number 293. Its significance mainly derives from the trinitarian meaning of 9+8 is 17 as the concentric counterparts of 1+2, and, remarkably, the FV of the two numbers 6+6 = 12 just confirms the complementary principle of concentric relations. So MARIA with M+R as letter equivalents of 12+17 proves to be the favoured vessel and temple of the Holy Trinity.

Just for remembrance, the number 35 is connected with 29 via the letters VI, newly introduced by the MI-Square.

6. Both numbers 29 and 35 emerge again, if the two squares (S, MI) are seen as structures consisting of the central point, 8 points of the inner and 16 points of the outer square frame. NS+FS are combined as before:

	centre				inner frame			outer frame
	S	MI	sm		S	MI	sm	S	MI	sm
NV	13	9	22	NS	84	81	165	206	193	399
FV	13	6	19	FS	70	65	135	166	109	275
sm	26	15	41	sm	154	146	300	372	302	674

Ratios can be established if the central values are suitably assigned to the frame values: 300+19 = 319; 674+22 = 696; 319:696 = 29*(11:24).

300+15 = 315; 674+26 = 700; 315:700 = 35*(9:20).

The numbers of the second ratio are an ideal demonstration of their interrelatedness.

d) ARIES – RAM

1. The third line of the MI-Square offers a surprise: the Latin word ARIES – ram. The ram as a symbol for Jesus Christ mainly originates from the story of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22). God wanted Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on a mountain. He collected wood for an altar and when he was about to kill his son with a knife, God held him back, saying:

"Do not raise your hand against the boy. For now I know that you fear God. You have not refused me your son, your only son."

In his epistle to the Romans St. Paul sees Abraham's sacrifice as a prefiguration of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross, when he says:

"He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Rom 8:32)

2. The principal symbol for Christ, of course, is the lamb prefigured by the yearly Pascha rites which were introduced before the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 12). Isaiah first uses this symbol referring to God's servant who is "burdened with the sins of us all":

"He was led like a lamb to the slaughter" (Isaiah 53:7)

John the Baptist takes up Isaiah's words on the occasion of Jesus' baptism, calling him "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world"(John, 1,29).

3. The LAMB mainly symbolises innocence, purity and meekness. The RAM, however, also stands for an essential reality of Christ's life, his moral strength, his heroic struggle and victory over the powers of darkness and their worldly temptations. He says to his disciples:

"Be brave! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

In Revelation 5,7 the lamb is visualised with seven horns and seven eyes – symbols of strength and omniscience.

4. The Latin word ARIES is by no means inferior to the strong biblical symbolism of RAM and LAMB. The animal gave its name to a highly effective besieging machine, the battering ram, employed to destroy the walls of a hostile place. At the front of a beam, up to 30 m long, there was a conical head reinforced by metal that was hurled against the wall of the besieged town. The head of the besieging machine was often formed like the skull of a ram:

The head of the ram has a certain similarity to an octahedron (if the following representation is tilted backward):

5. I have already explained that an octahedron can be fitted together from two crossed double-rhombi which are derived from the tetraktys star. The octahedron – as a three-dimensional figure – represents the completion of the decimal system. The following two double-rhombi show two ways of numbering their frame elements. Instead of the numbers the equivalent letters are used:

If the numbers 1-9 and 1-18 are added, the result is 45+171 = 216 = 6³. An octahedron has 6 corners, so 6³ is an adequate way of symbolising this 3-dimensional figure. The splitting up of 216 into 21+6 = 27 furthermore corresponds to the 27 elements of the octahedron, including 1 element for the volume.

When the end points of the right double rhombus coincide to one corner to constitue one half of the octahedron, the letters ARIS are placed beside each other. Understood as a locative case ARIS means on the altars, emphasising the sacred nature of the octahedron. If the E of the centre point is added, the word is ARIES. And there is a third word ARENIS if the letters are read from bottom to top.

6. The close connection of Roman state cult and governmental system makes it understandable that these three concepts came to be interrelated and mutually sanctioned as important military, political and cultural institutions: Hostile towns were attacked in a just war, and the captured enemies (later institutionalised gladiators) sacrificed on the altars of their arenas.

The semantic interrelation of the three terms provides further connotations for Jesus Christ's role as redemptor of mankind: During his public mission he pulled down the walls of false pretense of the Jewish leaders, defeated long lasting diseases, conquered the fortresses of demons by expelling them from obsessed people and, in an impulse of holy wrath, drove the merchants from the temple. In fact, ARIES can be changed into ES IRA – You are the Wrath.

Finally Jesus got entangled in the intrigues of the pharisees and scribes, but instead of seeking a way out by force, he chose to confront himself to his adversaries and have himself innocently sentenced to death on the cross.

In founding his church, Christ made himself a most powerful battering ram for the faithful against their own weaknesses and the temptations and hostilities of the unbelieving world. Like their master, however, they must be prepared to sacrifice themselves rather than sacrifice others.

7. The number 216 as a mark of identification for the octahedron can be found in the NV of the axes of the two squares. The centre letter is counted only once:

	IM-SQ		sm	S-SQ	sm
	hor.	vert.		h.+v.
	ARIES	RRES		TENET
NV	50	57	107	109	216
FV	37	47	84	109	193
					409

One characteristic of ARIES is that the NV per letter is 10. Three groups of letters are divisible by 5: AI-RS-E: 5*(2+7+1). The prime number 193 refers to the 13 points of the tetraktys star.

IV. Shakespeare's analogous construction

1. In order to show Shakespeare's analogous construction, the complete values have to be available. First the frequency (fr) of the 7 letters in the total amount of 25 letters, then in the text of the epitaph is established. Then the two frequencies have to multiplied and the result again multiplied with the NV and FV of letters:

	M	A	R	I	E	S	U
NV	12	1	17	9	5	18	20
FV	7	1	17	6	5	8	9
fr(25 lt)	3	4	3	5	3	4	3	25
fr(txt)	3	7	7	2	21	14	4	58
fr(lt*txt)	9	28	21	10	63	56	12	199
NV*fr	108	28	357	90	315	1008	240	2146
FV*fr	63	28	357	60	315	448	108	1379
	171	56	714	150	630	1456	348	3525
	3525 = 75*47

Shakespeare chose the bottom and left rhombus as coherent. The combined NS+FS of these two rhombi form a ratio against the values of the other two rhombi of 1410:2115= 15*47*(2:3).

The total sum 3525 is to be understood as the NS+FS of the letters RS, which constitute the symmetric centre of MARIA and IESUS: 17+18 = 35; 17+8 = 25.

The numbers 17 and 18 are among the main constructional principles of the SATOR Square, whose frame develops from a cross of axes (originally the first letter of the square is R, not S):

Each arm of the cross consists of 9 elements, 5 points and 4 lines. To compensate for the missing second central point in the regular cross, there are three central points in a second.

The 2 letters RS are the basis for the other 5 different letters (EU MAI), if the 4 values are established. The equivalent letters for MARIA and IESUS are marked by the colours blue and red with yellow background:

	NS	FS	let.	3	4		3
RS	35	25	EU	ISA	MR	EU	ISA
FV	12	10		28	29	25	28
let.	M	A I		82			28

If RS = 35 is the basis for the following 5 letters, the FV of all 7 letters is the inverted number 53:

	M	A	R	I	E	S	U
NV	12	1	17	9	5	18	20	35+47
FV	7	1	17	6	5	8	9	53

2. The second half of the table (343) has to be seen in analogy to the VESTA-system. As I have already explained earlier, the name VESTA is composed of the phrase V-EST-A, the letters V and A symbolizing two tetraktyses within two concentric circles:

Twice the letters ISA (9+18+1) correspond to the neuter plural of the Greek adjective ISOS – equal. So their numeric values can be assigned to two tetraktyses: 9 triangles (cf. fig.), 18 frame elements and 1 centre point. The double letters A and S in MARIA and IESUS have complementary function: Mary is on the one hand the origin of Jesus' human nature, on the other hand she – perhaps like any human being – is embraced by his divine nature. The letter I can also refer to the 10 points of a tetraktys, if the value 1 as number letter is added to its 9^th position in the alphabet. The value 1 would then relate to the centre point.

There is also at least one common basis for the two pairs of letters MR and EU:

The points and lines of two axes are concentrically numbered from outside to the centre and from the centre to the outside. The 9 diametrical elements are relevant for the tetraktys star and can be developed to a square with 9 elements for each side of the frame, as is the case with the SATOR Square.

2. Shakespeare's results can be better understood if we look at the octagon that can be formed out of the cross of double rhombi:

The 4 central letters – in a right-turn circle – read ARES. The letters AR and ES take up the second and third place in MARIA and IESUS. This is a congruent fact for the ratio 2:3.

The 4 letters can only be understood in connection with the Roman goddess VESTA, an abstract name for the Roman gematric system. The letters ES in word position 2 and 3 mean You Are and have the NV 23 (5+18)– in consistence with their positions. The numbers 5 and 18 correspond to a certain numbering situation of the tetraktys:

The word ES has an enormous theological significance, especially if it is connected with the other three letters of VESTA: TAV, the Greek pronunciation of the letter T. The NS+FS of the word is 40+29 = 69, the NV of SATOR – Creator.

We can read the word ARES also as ERAS – You were. This may refer to VESTA – the Virgin Goddess, who is now replaced by MARIA, the source of human salvation, freed from the original sin and without sin throughout her life. By her consent God's Son could become flesh.

ARES is the Greek God of War. But it is also a Latin verbal form meaning May you plough. In fact, the Roman counterpart of ARES was MARS, originally the God of Agriculture. So we might interpret like this: ARES, your time is over. Now a new, redeemed order of life has started. You are to use your weapons for purposes of peace as Isaiah has prophesied in 2,4:

They will beat their swords into ploushares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Now you are to wage war against the sins of the flesh and be a warrior in the service of the Lord.

3. The 4 letters ARES have the NS+FS 41+31 = 72, which is the NS+FS 40+32 of MARIA. Here relation between MARIA and VESTA becomes evident again. Of course, the remaining 6 letters MIA-IUS have the NS+FS of IESUS 70+36 = 106. MIA takes the part of the FS, IUS of the NS:

	NS	FS	sm
MIA	22	14	36
IUS	47	23	70
sm	69	37	106

4. The central letters of the Model Construction are VIAE, Latin noun for ways. The word can be turned into IAVE, which is the Latin form for Hebrew JHWH. The four letters so can be understood as the Ways of God. Again in the same chapter of Isaiah (2,3) we read:

He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.

So VIAE IAVE refer to God's plan of Salvation to send his Son into this world to change the course of mankind.

V. Meaning of 75*47

a) Relation to the Tetraktys

1. The following tables shows two ways of numbering the frame elements of the tetraktys:

The right triangular side takes account of the fact that the tetraktys is an extension of the hexagon which allows the numbering to proceed to 4 and 5 for the lines and points, according to the steps of construction.

The sum of this numbering amounts to 25 for one side and 75 for all three sides.

2. The number 47 may refer to the ratio 4:7 of one tetraktys side, 4 points related to the whole of 7 elements.

The FV of 75*47 is 13+47 = 60, which is the sum of numbers if they are counted around the whole frame (not separately for each side).

b) Relation to the Double-Rhombus

1. If the frame of a double-rhombus (DR) is numbered in the way just demonstrated, the total amount is 23+1+23 = 47:

The number 75 must be seen in its single digits 7 and 5 and its factors 3*5*5. They refer to the fact that the area of the outer concentric circle is 3 times the area of the inner circle, and that there is also a ring area of the size 2. The diametrical elements of the DR gain meaning in relation to the area they belong to. The DR consists of 7 points and so represents the area size 3, 5 points belong to the hexagon circle and so stand for the 1 area unit. Thus 75 expresses the area ratio 3:1.

2. The factors 3*5*5 refer to the radial elements of the two circles: 3 stand for 1 area unit of the inner circle, 5 (=3+2) for 1+2 area units, the second 5 for 3 area units as a whole.

The two countings of area units amount to 4 and 7. This may also account for Shakespeare's choice of both the numbers 75 and 47.

Written: March 2009

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