Vigintitresology (the study of the number 23) appears, at first, quite humorous. But it does have the tendency to cluster seemingly unrelated facts into strangely beautiful patterns. 23 is one of the principles which weaves the web of Maya... The Human mind is a machine which creates meaning by structuring the meaningless "stuff" of which reality consists. For some reason, yet undiscovered, one of the rules built into this structuring machine is the Formula of 23; the possibility is here entertained that only now are we becoming aware of this enigmatic 23.
23 is a randomizing agent. As the spirit of Irony and the soul of Paradox, the Principle 23 is the ordering principle which creates reality. The key to understanding the meaning of 23 is in the I-Ching; the 23rd Hexagram is Po / Splitting apart. 23 presides over disintegration, dissolution, revolution, disasters, or, in sum, any radical change in situation. It is neither good nor bad, but always unexpected. 23 is the opposite of what appears to be inevitable. It is, therefore, the opposite to the tragic, perhaps more akin to the comic. — It is the essence of chance as change.
23 signals the chaotic state between two stable states. As such, it fits into the category of 'in betweenness'. It is therefore one of those things which is Not. 23 is one from the demonic hosts of Non-being about to invade Being. The 93 Current will split apart the unconsciously created world we inhabit. 23 is not identical with 93, but an emanation from it. 23 is the herald of the end which will be a new beginning.
Why Crowley's life can be so neatly aligned with 23 should now be obvious. His life points to the end which contains a new beginning. 23 stands at the point between dissolution and coming together. (Hence, it is a Magico-Alchemical Formula, as will be demonstrated below.) As an initiation, it is a rite of Passage; through initiation one passes through the state of duality (2) to a state of integration on a higher plane (3).
The following Gematiric delineation should reveal the Magico-Alchemical Formula contained in 23: The word V.I.T.R.I.O.L. is derived from the initials of the Latin alchemical phrase: Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invennies Occultum Lapidem. ("Visit the interior parts of the earth: by rectification thou shalt find the hidden stone") The numeration of this Universal Solvent is 726 which equals 2 x 3 x 112 = 22 x 33 or (2 x 11) X (3 x 11)... All lending credence to the Magico-Alchemical Formula of 23 as expressed in, and identical to the regenerative process of IAO. In fact, 23 should be 'written' as 203 to reveal its full nature; for the zero is the essence of the Formula, as 23 is the heart of the A in IAO. But the zero is Nought and, hence, Not there until it begins its manifestation in consciousness.
Hence, Aleister Crowley's entire life — the 3 stages — is a manifestation of 23 (2 - 0 - 3) fulfilling the formula of IAO. This is not to say that each individual's life is not an expression of the Formula, but, rather, that Crowley's appears to be the most dramatic and poignant demonstration of the Web of 23... or the Great Work, as expressed in the Union of the 5 nd 6 which equals 11 = Abrahadabra = IAO = 203 = 23.
In effect , the above has demonstrated the correspondence of 11 with 23; but then, if 23 is capable of extension as 203, revealing its full nature, then 11 must also. So, we have 101 the sum of the first 10 prime numbers... 23 is the 10th prime number! This is all symbolic of the function of 23; with its arrival the pattern is broken and begins anew; the beginning is in the end.
