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Upon asking a few random people what comes to mind when they see the symbol 666, the typical response relates to evil in some form, but more often than not, "the mark of the Beast" is the predominant answer. Of course, a person's religious background will play a significant role in what this symbol means to them. However, from a Christian perspective this is the general consensus.

One common theory is that the symbol 666 applies to Nero, a significant Christian persecutor who committed suicide in 68 A.D. The argument is that Nero's Greek title, Neron Kaisar, when translated into Hebrew equates to 666.

Another theory originates from the city of Babylon around the life time of Daniel from the Bible. The people of Babylon worshipped 37 gods, the most powerful being the god associated with the Sun. The other lesser gods were based on the moon, stars and visible planets. Believing that certain numbers had power over the gods, they assigned a number to each god, from 1 to 36. What do you get when you add the numbers 1 to 36 (1+2+3+36), why 666 of course! Therefore each lesser god received his number, from 1 to 36, and the god associated with the Sun was given 666. The people of Babylon not only worshipped these gods, but also feared them. Because of this fear, the people crafted amulets that were believed to protect them from the wrath of the gods. On these amulets they created a 6x6 matrix and placed the numbers 1 through 36 within the matrix in such a way that each row would add up to 111, which meant when you added the 6 rows (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) you were left with 666.

However, none of these theories have a simple direct tie to Satanism as we know it today. Aleister Crowley is an individual who is often associated with modern Satanism. However, early in Crowley's involvement with Satanism, he wasn't exactly accepted into the community. In fact, many Satanist's today don't see Crowley as genuine. Crowley, however, was a persistent individual. To make a long story short, after being rejected Crowley proceeded to develop his own version of Satanism. His version was based on a concept that came from Crowley's "Book of Law", which was apparently dictated to him by his guardian angel. This book explained 3 different "time frames" occurring throughout the history of the world. The first of these time frames was when the world was ruled by women (the rule of Isis), and the second time frame was when the world was ruled by men (the rule of Osiris). But of course, according to Egyptian mythology, Isis and Osiris had a child named Horus. This child represented Crowley's new, current time frame, and in Crowley's mind this child was possessed by demons therefore bringing on a new age of evil. Crowley had an interesting experience related to the 666 symbol which simply instilled his concepts further. One day Crowley's wife, Rose, said, "They are waiting for you." Soon after she added to her statement and said, "He who is waiting was Horus". Rose then led Crowley to a museum, walking past statues of Horus, and finally stopping at an image of Horus. This display number of the image turned out to be 666. This all came from Rose, someone who apparently knew very little if nothing about Egyptian myth.

Whether or not Crowley is accepted as a Satanist or not, it can't be denied that he played a huge role in its evolution. Additionally, Crowley's "666" experience only concretized to himself and others where Satanism and the world was headed. This isn't the earliest account of the 666 symbol in Satanism by any means, but I would say it is one of the more significant.

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