The Hidden Meaning of 666 (& Mark of the Beast)

Symbols are the dialogue of the unconscious mind.

Image from Canva

In the study of psychology as related to archetypes and symbolism, Carl Jung theorized that symbols exist within the "collective unconscious."

Many of these symbols are universally used by different groups of people despite having no contact with one another. The swastika is an example of this.

The idea is that humans are influenced by the collective unconscious, which manifests through symbolism and isn't always easy to communicate through our primitive languages.

One of these symbols we see but don't understand is 666.

What about these numbers made Ozzy write a song about it? Or Aleister Crowley call himself the manifestation of them. Why not 333? Or 420? Or 69? The number 666 appears a few times in the Old Testament and other places in the Bible, which can help us understand its significance.

This symbol plays an important part in your daily life; understanding it will change how you think, whether you're religious or not.

The Meaning of 666

Early Church Fathers, especially Saint Irenaeus of Leo and Saint Hyppolitus of Rome, discussed the Antichrist and the notion of 666. They would go back into Scripture to identify patterns where similar occurrences could help them understand 666.

The mystery of 666 has two parts. The first is in the book of Revelation.

The Mark of "666" is connected to the Beast of the Earth, the Antichrist. His purpose is to promote the authority of a first beast, the Beast of the Sea, and he commands the people of the Earth to make an "image" of the Sea beast.

Anyone who doesn't worship this beast or its image will be killed.

The Book of Revelations is like 10 bad acid trips rolled into one, but here's where this mystery becomes more grounded and impacts your life.

Obligatory Hieronymus Bosch painting

666, as described by St. Irenaeus, is the number of man.

6 Days of Creation

600 years Noah traveled before the flood.

6,000 years the Earth has lived as written in Genesis.

In other words, 6 is a creation number in the bible; it’s invention, and how many days we work in a given week.

But it's missing something. It's missing the edge of creation. It’s missing the 7th, the day of rest. 7 is the exception that is allowed to exist on the edge.

666 isn’t this gothic, Lovecraftian horror that Napalm Death or Burzrum sang about. 666 is man's perfection and an omen of how that leads to destruction.

When you think of it this way, the 666 warning is easy to see. We live in a work-driven never stop never stopping kind of culture, and it’s accelerated by the rapprochement of technology and AI to make us even more productive. When you see it like this, 666 isn't Ozzy Osbourne; it's a businessman. And it ends with AM in "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream."

666 in Work Culture

The first and most obvious scripture related to 666 is in Genesis: "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

I once heard a Jewish person explain what they miss if they skip the Sabbath. They replied, "I miss the Sabbath." That's what you miss.

A day away from the world, away from work and daily stressors. A day to focus on what's truly important: connecting friends, family, and yourself. (and God)

CNBC ran an article last year showing that resting during the workday can stimulate creativity, help you concentrate better, and make your time on meetings and tasks more efficient.

Deep down, we all know this: workaholic culture is a moth to a flame.

Carl Jung, Jesus on 666

This is why I started with Carl Jung. Many of us can intuit problems in our society, or in ourselves, but we don't have the tools to rationally word them.

666 stats with personal destruction through burnout and workaholic culture.

There's a parable about it in the New Testament (Matthew 12:43-45): Jesus says, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first."

I read this as if you try to force perfection upon yourself too fast, you'll leave your house empty. It won't work. Only incremental progress will. This 666 notion of work will destroy you.

666 as The Mark of the Beast

One more story: 666 is predicted by Daniel when he interprets King Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue (Daniel 2:31-44). And in the dream, those who do not worship the statue are killed.

So what does this mean?

666 scaled up to the highest level is the perfect manmade system; it's this statue that if you do not bow down to you're killed. Goodbye. Adios. Nice knowing you.

This is human-level intelligent AI, it's the World Economic Forum, it's CBDCs, it's something coming. Something soon.

As Yuval Noah Harari said in a 2020 World Economic Forum speech, “There will be two classes: the exploited and the useless class (people who don’t adopt digital IDs, wearable technologies, etc.). It’s better to be exploited than useless.”

I'm no Luddite, but this desire for a perfect system is at a fever pitch. It's right there, and we can't stop it in some Moloch's dilemma fever dream.

We can only watch for it.

Conclusion … Dune 2

Have you watched Dune 2?!

I found it, and it's lore interesting. Without spoiling much, the idea is that a figure rises up, is hated by all, becomes a universal leader, and takes the phrase "you have to be the bad guy for everyone's sake" to heart.

It culminates with the fourth book, "God Emperor of Dune," where the son of the leader in the first book goes many steps further, merging with an alien entity to live forever and becoming a villain pursuing the greater good for all humanity for thousands of years.

Yup. Bad acid trip! I mention Dune because the rise of an authoritarian figure will likely happen soon. In fact, one of the most popular bloggers on Substack, Curtis Yarvin, just wrote about why we need a Monarch. He’s very compelling.

(Mandatory reading for the weekend)

I caution: Will this person be a savior or an Antichrist-like figure? And I find it ironic Dune 2 is so popular in expressing these ideas. Conspiracy? IDK. Wrapping up, 666 is not just a scary number or an apocalyptic warning. It symbolizes man's pursuit of perfection and how it can lead to destruction if not balanced with rest and humility.

This isn't a religious call; it's common sense.

And besides, faith isn't beneath anyone. As GK Chesterton said, "If there were no God, there would be no atheists.” An even more important quote by him: “A madman is not someone who has lost his reason but someone who has lost everything but his reason”

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Mathematically 666 is also interesting.

6 * 6 = 36. Add up 1 + 2 + 3 +4 ... all the way to 36 you get 666.

I also received much help in unraveling this mystery from Christian scholar Jonathan Pageau and his brother Matthew's book “The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis.”

Lastly, 666 definitely has something to do with Nero and Rome. Beyond the scope of this article. But if you extrapolate Rome you get America.