law of 7 and 3 (info quote)

[3bob]

A quote from Wikipedia:

(I'm not exactly getting into discussion here since I probably won't get involved very much, just sharing some info for anyone else who wants to discuss or take it from here... )

 

Cosmic Laws

"Gurdjieff focused on two main cosmic laws, the Law of Three and the Law of Seven.

• The Law of Seven is described by Gurdjieff as "the first fundamental cosmic law". This law is used to explain processes. The basic use of the law of seven is to explain why nothing in nature and in life constantly occurs in a straight line, that is to say that there are always ups and downs in life which occur lawfully. Examples of this can be noticed in athletic performances, where a high ranked athlete always has periodic downfalls, as well as in nearly all graphs that plot topics that occur over time, such as the economic graphs, population graphs, death-rate graphs and so on. All show parabolic periods that keep rising and falling. Gurdjieff claimed that since these periods occur lawfully based on the law of seven that it is possible to keep a process in a straight line if the necessary shocks were introduced at the right time. A piano keyboard is an example of the law of seven, as the seven notes of the major scale correspond exactly to it.
• The Law of Three is described by Gurdjieff as "the second fundamental cosmic law". This law states that every whole phenomenon is composed of three separate sources, which are Active, Passive and Reconciling or Neutral. This law applies to everything in the universe and humanity, as well as all the structures and processes. The Three Centers in a human, which Gurdjieff said were the Intellectual Centre, the Emotional Centre and the Moving Centre, are an expression of the law of three. Gurdjieff taught his students to think of the law of three forces as essential to transforming the energy of the human being. The process of transformation requires the three actions of affirmation, denial and reconciliation.

How the Law of Seven and Law of Three function together is said to be illustrated on the Fourth Way Enneagram, a nine-pointed symbol which is the central glyph of Gurdjieff's system.

Use of symbols

 

In his explanations Gurdjieff often used different symbols such as the Enneagram and the Ray of Creation. Gurdjieff said that "the enneagram is a universal symbol. All knowledge can be included in the enneagram and with the help of the enneagram it can be interpreted ... A man may be quite alone in the desert and he can trace the enneagram in the sand and in it read the eternal laws of the universe. And every time he can learn something new, something he did not know before."^[27] The ray of creation is a diagram which represents the Earth's place in the Universe. The diagram has eight levels, each corresponding to Gurdjieff's laws of octaves.

 

Through the elaboration of the law of octaves and the meaning of the enneagram, Gurdjieff offered his students alternative means of conceptualizing the world and their place in it."

Edited September 17, 2013 by 3bob

[hydrogen]

The law of three is easy to see and understand. The pattern of three is everywhere.

 

The law of seven is tricky to spot and explain. Can someone elaborate more about the law of seven? Thanks.

[3bob]

one example related to the law of seven is how something (such as an aim undertaken by people) starts out well and with good intentions but can end up going downhill, even to the point of opposite results as first envisioned!

[hydrogen]

one example related to the law of seven is how something (such as an aim undertaken by people) starts out well and with good intentions but can end up going downhill, even to the point of opposite results as first envisioned!

 

I don't see the connection. Can you break it down for me please?

 

Or maybe I don't understand the law of seven.

 

The law of three is seen in nature a lot like triangle. How can the law of seven be explained?

[Jetsun]

It is quite a hard law to understand, especially if you get into the mathematics, but it is basically about the movement and transformation of all forces in the universe and the body. One example of this law is the way Christianity developed in that it began with upward momentum and vibration teaching love, but somehow at some point its momentum took a downward turn and ended up with the Inquisition killing and torturing everyone. Its basically saying that at certain points things can devolve instead of evolve, just look at the history of most empires and great nations, most at some point take a dramatic downward turn. The purpose of understanding the law it is that if you are conscious enough to know when these points of downward momentum can occur you can intervene with extra effort or cultivation or a shock to keep the momentum going upward.

 

Ouspensky describes it in most detail in his book "In Search of the Miraculous"

"The next fundamental law of the universe is the "Law of Seven" or the "Law of Octaves". In order to understand the meaning of this law it is necessary to regard the universe as consisting of vibrations. In ancient knowledge, the understanding of vibrations is based on the idea of the discontinuity of vibrations. All vibrations in nature do not develop uniformly, but instead develop with periodic accelerations and retardations. The force of the original impulse in vibrations does not act uniformly, but becomes alternately stronger and weaker. The periods of uniform action of the momentum are not equal, and the moments of retardation of the vibrations are not symmetrical. One period is shorter; the other is longer.

 

The law of octaves explains why there are no straight lines in nature. At the moment of the retardation of vibration a deviation from the original direction takes place. Let us assume that a movement begins at "do". It will continue in a straight line through "mi". But a deviation occurs between "mi" and "fa" which causes a change from the original direction. From "fa" through "si", the movement continues in the new direction. Between "si" and "do" the second interval occurs which causes a new change in direction. The next octave gives an even more marked deviation so that the line of octaves may eventually complete a circle. "

 

Page 125
The seven-tone scale is the formula of a cosmic law which was applied to music. In the ascending octave, we will designate the low end "do" and the point at which the vibrations have doubled also as "do". The period between one "do" and the next is divided into seven unequal parts because the frequency of vibrations does not increase uniformly.

Page 125
The ratio of the pitch of the notes is as follows:

 

• do: 1

• re: 9/8

• mi: 10/8, or 5/4

• fa: 4/3

• sol: 12/8, or 3/2

• la: 5/3

• si: 15/8

• do: 16/8, or 2

Page 125
The difference in acceleration is as follows:

 

• do -> re: (9/8 : 1) = 9/8

• re -> mi: (10/8 : 9/8) = 10/9

• mi -> fa: (4/3 : 10/8) = 16/15 [increase retarded]

• fa -> so: (3/2 : 4/3) = 9/8

• so -> la: (5/3 : 3/2) = 10/9

• la -> si: (15/8 : 5/3) = 9/8

• si -> do: (16/8 : 15/8) = 16/15 [increase again retarded]

Page 126
The differences in the pitch of the notes are called intervals. There are three kinds of intervals in an octave: 9/8, 10/9, and 16/15. The smallest interval 16/15 occurs in the places of retardation in the octave. In music, one semitone is found between the following pairs: do-re, re-mi, fa-sol, sol-la, and la-si. A semitone does not exist in the mi-fa and si-do intervals.

Page 129
The law of octaves explains many phenomena in our lives:

 

• The principle of the deviation of forces

• The fact that everything in the world is moving and changing

• In development rises and falls are constantly taking place

 

 

 

[3bob]

Ah ha, Jetsun, good quotes.