1 and 6

To briefly “rap” without rhyming: unlike the 1-5, this certain combination creates a complex conundrum consisting of contradictions which constitute the concerned digits. Consequently, we see alternations between opposites such as rest and bursts of activity; as well as accumulated tension and stress creating sudden, powerful change and massive releases of energy. However, we can also see concepts of passion for materialistic pursuits, the processes of reflection and review and the fast arrival of things into our personal lives. Another little crazy fact: today is the 7th; why this is important will become clear further down, and no I didn’t plan it this way.

We’ve already outlined in The Firestarter the bursts of activity related to the 1; on the other hand we have the idea of rest, recuperation and a peaceful pause of activity in the 6. Together, this can mean shifts between activity and rest, with the defined upward arrow of the 1 epitomizing a hard cranking up of action, juxtaposed to the subtle downward curve of the 6 symbolic of a soft winding down of activity. Particularly, if you see something like: 1616, it tells a story of flurries of action followed by periods of rest, and then action again, kinda like periods of hockey followed by the intermissions in between. Practically, this could mean that you need to balance out your life by breaking down large tasks into small bits followed by periods of downtime as opposed to cramming everything into one huge, stressful crisis that ends in a nervous breakdown and burnout.

Waaay back in the day I talked about how the 6‘s temptation can lead to the 4‘s addiction and entrapment. Well, this pairing could very well be the starting point for such an addiction. Allow me to explain: you have the passionate, driven 1 paired with the luxurious, materialistic and gluttonous 6; so, this would lead to…right: a passion to chase after such gluttonous, hedonistic and material things. At least at the time, these things seemed fun and exciting to the impulsive, inexperienced 1. Now, you fast-forward the 1’s headfirst dive into mindless, blind pleasure-seeking by a few years and you end up with the broken, brain-rotted, catatonic, possessed zombie silhouette of a person; that silhouette is now thoroughly trapped, even suffocated, in the 4’s unforgiving clutches of compulsive addiction like a Venus fly-trap. There’s really not much to elaborate on how this applies to life: try not to get your a– caught in something you’d regret later, whether that’s smoking, alcohol, relationship, people-pleasing, food, video game or smart phone addictions; drugs, gambling or other carnal obsessions; and, that you gotta have some self-discipline. But wait a minute, we can also turn this whole materialistic theme on its head and instead talk about a passion and drive for spirituality because remember in the Sixth Sense how 6 can also represent the bridge and pathway between humanity (5) and divinity (7)? So, 1-6 has two sides to it, and this latter higher expression could be telling us to lay down those first scary steps across this bridge to finally begin an inward spiritual quest to complement the material physicality of our lives.

Another angle on this pairing is the idea of reflection and review if we look specifically at the number 16, or any combination of the 1 followed by 6’s like 166, for instance. Here, the 1 is a mirror and the spiralling 6 a curving line which attempts to move backward but instead collides with the 1, forcing the line to then curve back upon itself. Interestingly enough, this ties into the whole concept of self-analysis and review, which get this, sounds strangely like the 7. And guess what? The addition of the 1 with the 6 gives you what? So here’s an example of a compound digit number functioning as a single digit number in this regard. Now, please keep in mind that the backward curve of the 6 is important because it implies the whole idea of reflecting back on something versus the forward curve of the 9, which we’ll discuss later. Practically, this number pair is symbolic of themes of reminiscing, reflection, nostalgia and review, much like the 7 and the 9. Maybe we need to go back, study and find the reason things went wrong, why we made mistakes in the past, or why we acted a certain way that we regret. But, as discussed in 0-7, we have to be careful to avoid overdoing it since self-analysis can in itself become a never-ending, perfectionist, neurotic obsession causing an inward spiral into mental dysfunction which the lower half of the 6 can also represent here; an example of this could be models or athletes with body dysmorphia.

Building upon this idea of numerical shapes and the curving of the 6 in the last section, I propose a funny, basically juvenile way at viewing the 1-6: the 1 can represent either a standing person or a shield, and the 6 is -wait for it- the original Mario Bros fireball.  So, continuing down this ludicrous rabbit hole (the next paragraph is back to serious and profound I promise) the 6 is a spiralling Mario Bros fireball aimed at you on the left of the screen; so, it’s coming at you from the side of Bowser on the right of the screen with the little axe and the bridge. It follows then that the fireball is something flying quickly towards you, which can be good, like an opportunity or promotion, or bad, like an accident or calamity about to hit. So, in the former case: it’s all good; in the latter case you can either be the standing victim or if you heed 1-6’s message, the 1 can turn into a shield ready to deflect or absorb the ensuing trouble. Either way, 1-6 is kinda like a messenger telling you to prepare as something is on it’s way to you and fast. 

Yet another take on these digits is to consider the 1, when written with the half spear-tip shape as in the title, implies an ascending motion, whereas the 6 has the descending spiral motion (as discussed in 0-6) together. To me, this indicates friction and tension since we have two forces together acting in opposition to each other, almost like your violent updrafts and downdrafts occurring simultaneously in a supercell thunderstorm.  Now hear me out: not always but rather often in nature, the concurrence of extremely opposite forces results in powerful, and sometimes powerfully transformative phenomenon due to the profound stress, tension and instability created, akin to the aforementioned supercell storm example, or lightning with your positive/negative charges lined up across from each other cloud/ground or vice versa, or continental plates moving opposite to oceanic plates triggering earthquakes and tsunamis, or even the dance between differential high versus low pressure oceanic areas leading to hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones; you get the point. This may be the reason why biblical theologians and tarot readers alike apparently associate number 16 with catastrophes, shock and “tower” moments.  To expand upon this, not only can we think of these two digits “flowing” in opposite directions, but even their shapes are opposite in the sense that the 1 is straight, direct and upward in shape; whereas, the 6 is curvilinear, subtle, gradual, flowing and can be seen as downward in shape. And then, we top it off with the last opposition in this triplicity: the fact that the restless, hard-driven, action-seeking 1 is contrasted by the restful, easygoing 6, who prefers to recharge with a peaceful nap. The point is the same: that this combo can be associated with or imply dramatic oppositions and extreme contradictions (like the 2), sudden shock, crisis, emergencies, disasters or some degree of powerful, jolting change occurring over a short timespan. Obviously, you can then surmise that the marriage of these digits can imply or predict the same in one’s life. Of course, it need not be something fearful, as we can view 1-6 as maybe giving a helpful warning that a certain course of action could lead to a problem(s) or even that, similar to the 5 busting out of the 4’s prison, in some area of our lives it’s time for an overhaul and a complete, positive evolutionary transformation if we want any hope of survival.