In the traditional First Nations directions, there are six, north, east, south, west, up, and down, with the last often seen as a metaphor for looking within.

This seems to correspond to the three dimensions of ordinary reality, in which "four directions" are all-encompassing only if one lives in Flatland and believes in a Flat Earth.

So the all-encompassing number is actually six, a perfect feminine number.

In modern mathemetics, we use the same six directions to map out locations in the real world of three dimensions.

The traditional Star of David, a six-pointed star, represents in interpenetration of the spiritual and the physical in perfect union. Perhaps this denigration of six, and by extension 666, represents an anti-Semitic slur?

The same symbol, the "Shatkona," is seen as a symbol of the union of feminine and masculine power in Hindu philosophy and religion, shakti and purusha, of which Shakti is the true source of all power. So we see that partisan rhetoric now targets both sorts of "Indians."

To the Pythgoreans, the number six represented creation,

Similarly, the six-spoked Sun Wheel, or the World Wheel of Tibetan Buddhism, half of which is the symbol of the Isle of Man, represent sacred numbers from deep antiquity, perhaps the most ancient of all.

All this exegesis about the "true symbolism" of 666 is artificial, since all such "explanations" depend on selecting which examples to choose from the many available that support a given position or contradict it.

Using similar logic, one could easily prove that coins always wind up with "heads" on top, because "tails" only happen when one doesn't toss the coin properly.

Cheers,

Puddin'