Properties of the number 55

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Symbolism

• Represent the Divine Person, according to Abellio.

• According to R. Allendy, it represents "the individual life confused with the cosmic life; ratios of the life on the whole to the life of the parts in the individuality - 5 + 5 = 10".

• Represent the limit of the humanity, according to E. Bindel.

• Representative number of the Virgin Mary.

• Represent the total and complete man, symbolized by the two hands which join at the moment of the prayer to remake the unit in the form of ten, but being able also to express that under the form of 55, "addition in the senses of the divine wisdom" according to saint Martin.

• According to Lima of Freitas, it symbolizes the fusion of the sexes, the androgynous being, but who, in spite of his perfection, stay strictly human.

General

• Fifty-five years separate the Annunciation from the Assumption of the Virgin.

• This number is found in the rosary of the Virgin Mary: the circle formed by the necklace is composed of 55 grains. In visions of Mary Agreda, this one mentioned a mysterious number attached to a necklace of which the description makes think of that of the rosary. A few days before the birth of Jesus, the Virgin Mary was carried in the Sky. In sign of the privileges which She had as Wife of God and as Queen of the Universe, She was covered by two seraphes of clothes and splendid jewels, whose a necklace to which hung three precious stones with a mysterious number whose the meaning was not discovered to Her. It is only after the birth of the Saviour that the secret of number of the ornament was revealed to Her.

• Being Redeemer with the Christ, the Virgin felt in a mysterious manner on her body all sufferings of her Son since the beginning of his passion. Following the death of Jesus in cross, these sufferings still continued and this, until the resurrection of her Divine Son. During 55 hours she supported her sufferings since the beginning of the agony of Jesus to Gethsemane until his resurrection. The number 55 could be also seen as the union of the 5 physical wounds of Jesus with the 5 mystical wounds of Mary.

• The rosary of the Holy Family is composed 55 grains, divided into five tens. On the small grains, the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph are invoked. On the coarse grains, a prayer is addressed to the sacred Heart of Jesus to protect our families. Finally, on the cross, the following prayer is told "acts of Faith, of Hope and of Charity".

• The Appearances of the Virgin Mary to Amsterdam, Netherlands, begun on March 25, 1945, feast of the Annunciation, and continued until May 31, 1959. There was a total of 55 appearances. Our-Lady appeared to a woman of average age of the name of Ida Perleman and has confided to her a messages concerning the future events in the world and the Church. The most significant prophecy given by Our-Lady concerns the last dogma of the history which will be promulgated by the pope. This dogma will declare that henceforth, Mary will carry titles of Redeemer with the Christ, Mediator and Advocate.

• A rabbinical study enumerates 55 prophets, divided into 48 prophets and 7 prophetess. This list appears in the Comment of Rachi on Meguilla 14a.

• The Bouriates knew 99 gods, divided into 55 goods and 44 bad. These two groups of gods would fight for a very long time between them.

• The "Hits'eu", which is a comment of the "Yi King", develops the system of numbers: "To the Sky belongs 1; to the Earth 2, to the Sky 3; to the Earth 4; to the Sky 5; to the Earth 6; to the Sky 7; to the Earth 8; to the Sky 9; to the Earth 10 (...). Celestial numbers reach 25, and terrestrial numbers 30. The numbers of the Sky and the Earth reach 55 together. It is by these numbers that undertake changes and transformations, and that the demons are maintained (...)".

• The decibel, tenth part of the "bel" unit, is used to measure the intensity of the sound. The human voice has for average intensity 55 decibels and the thunder, 70.

• Sum of the two series of following numbers: 1, 2, 4, 8 and 1, 3, 9, 27, it is also the sum of the numbers one to ten, that is to say the tenth triangular number. Anatolius points out that 55 is still the sum of aliquot parts of 36 (1+2+3+4+6+9+12+18 = 55), the sum of 5 successive triangular numbers (3+6+10+15+21 = 55) and the sum of 5 first square numbers (1+4+9+16+25 = 55).

• Anniversary of marriage: weddings of emerald.

Gematria

• Numerical value of the name of the Virgin Mary (alchimia), obtained by using the following numerical alphabet: A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=6, G=7, H=8, I=9, K=10, L=11 and M=13. This information was revealed by the Blessed Virgin to Andreae, Rosicrucian, of which the history is told by himself in the "Noces Chymiques de Christian Rose-Croix", Anthroposophiques Romandes Publishing, Geneva. But an anomaly was pointed out by some commentators: a "printing error" (reproduced here in numerical values of letters) would have slipped into the number that provides the total of the addition since letters of the word "alchimia" give the total 56 and not 55. Nevertheless, the Virgin declares categorically that the number of her name is 55.

• This number can be considered as being the numerical value of the first word of the Genesis if we write the first verse in Greek language and not in Hebrew:

                    E   n     a   r   c   h     e   p   o   i   h   s   e   n
                    5  50     1  100 600  8     5  80  70  10   8  200  5  50
                     55            709                       428
  
                    To          origins                     he made
  

Occurrence

• The number 55 is used 2 times in the Bible.

• By 55 times in the New Testament it is referred to the Virgin Mary: 26 times by the word mother, 10 times by the word woman and 19 times by the name of Mary. In the NRSV, the name of Mary occurs 55 times.

• At the end of his Gospel, saint John devotes on the whole 55 verses (chapter 20 and 21) to describe the schemes of the Christ which took place after his death, that is to say his resurrection and his appearances.

• The words throne and number are used 55 in the NT.

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Last modification: December 19, 1998

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