2

The number 2, in the context of the Qabalistic numerology that forms the backbone of Aleister Crowley's Liber 777, represents the Sephirah Chokmah (Wisdom), the first emanation from Kether and the active, dynamic principle of the Universe. It is the number of the Duad, the first division of Unity, the Dyad which establishes polarity and allows for creation. In Hebrew, its counterpart is the letter Beth (ב), meaning "House," symbolizing the vessel or structure that contains the force of the creative Word.

Position on the Tree of Life

In the schema of Liber 777, the number 2 appears as the numeration for Path 12. This Path connects Chokmah (2) to Binah (3) and is attributed to the Hebrew letter Beth and the astrological sign of Mercury. However, in its primary role as the number of the Sephirah Chokmah itself, 2 occupies the second position on the Tree of Life, directly below Kether (1) and forming the first vertical pillar, the Pillar of Mercy. It is the Cosmic Father, the force of pure, undirected Will before it receives form from Binah (3).

Astrological and Planetary Correspondence

While the number 2 in the context of Path 12 is attributed to the planet Mercury (and hence to its corresponding zodiacal signs Gemini and Virgo), its prime Sephirah correspondence is to the fixed stars of the Zodiac as a whole and to the Primum Mobile, the first source of movement. In the specific table context of Col. LI, which deals with Numeration, the number 2 itself is the value assigned to Chokmah, aligning it with concepts of wisdom, the creative Logos, and the first differentiation of all things from the undifferentiated One. The astrological symbol of Chokmah is the circle crossed by a line (♂), the symbol of the planet Uranus in modern attributions, representing the flash of lightning that is the first creative impulse.

Historical Context

The Qabalistic valuation of number 2 finds its roots in the Sefer Yetzirah, where the eight categories of oppositions (e.g., Wisdom and Folly) are enumerated as the "two and two" that are essential for creation. The number 2 is the Dyad of Pythagorean philosophy—the principle of duality, of difference, and of the feminine (as the second monad), which in the Kabbalah is subordinated to the masculine principle of Kether. In Christian Kabbalah, Chokmah corresponds to the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son, who is the Word made manifest. Later esotericists of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, such as S.L. MacGregor Mathers, clarified that the number 2 represents the first positive polarity, the Yod (י) of the Tetragrammaton, the active seed that requires the passive womb of Binah (3) for gestation. Crowley, in his commentaries on Liber 777, specifically numbers the Sephiroth in the order of their emanation, making 2 the number of the second Sephirah, giving it the value of 2 in the system of numeration as distinct from the numerical values derived from Gematria.

In the table of Liber 777, the number 2 is the specific numeration assigned to the Sephirah Chokmah within the column designated for the values of the Sephiroth themselves. This is the pure number of position, not a Gematria value, but a specific key for the magician to use when constructing talismanic squares or calculating complex correspondences. It is the numerical root of Wisdom itself.