The Figure 8 infinity insignia is interesting, in that it can by turning it upright or on its side, become either a number or a sign of numberlessness, a figure 8 or the Infinity sign. Therein lies its mystery, power and absolute significance for your life.

The ultimate key to your past, present and future lies in understanding the meaning of this symbol.

A symbol is a living sign which exists on the edge between the finite and the infinite. When a symbol reveals the relationship between the Infinite and the finite, it comes alive. When a symbol conceals this relationship, it turns into a symptom.

The Figure 8 here is considered to be a symbol of the finite or limited world. When this figure is turned on its side, it become the mathematical symbol for infinity proposed by the mathematician, John Wallis, in 1650. When you hold this symbol in your hand and turn it back and forth between the two positions, the Act of Switching Positions itself become symbolic of the relationship between the finite and the Infinite, just like shaking hands is a symbolic act of good will or of sealing an agreement.

Symbols hold the meaning of a person’s life. Words are the chief example of symbolic meanings. Objects, sounds, colors, touch, smells, thoughts, feelings and behaviors are also symbols which contain the meaning we assign to them. The word "house" could symbolize one thing to a real estate agent and another to the prospective buyer. The activity of shopping can mean one thing to a man and another to a woman.

In numerology, the meaning of the number eight is certainly indicative of the finite world of practical endeavors, status,, power, and material goals. The number eight symbolizes getting ahead, taking care of business, common sense, hard work.

I am using the number eight, however, to represent any and all numbers. A number is considered here to be symbolic of the finite or limited world of the mind. ( ) on the other hand, is considered to be numberless or symbolic of the infinite and cannot be contained in the mind.

Therefore, please think of this symbol as representative of all other symbols. Consider that when you Switch its Position, you are symbolizing what it means to live on the edge between the finite and the infinite. Turn the Charm upright and then turn it on its side several times. As you turn it back and forth, say to yourself "My life is like the turning of this Charm. I am switching back and forth between the finite and the Infinite at every moment. As I Switch, I remind myself that I am both finite and Infinite and so is everything else."

All human problems arise from the belief that this world, this life, is only finite, only limited, only visible, only human, only time, only stuff. There is no such world and no such life, and the assumption that there is, is why we are so stressed and unhappy. The only world that exists is the finite/infinite world. The finite world of 8 only exists in our thoughts and belief system.

What does this have to do with you? Absolutely everything! Your self-concept is a finite figure 8 concept. Your Self is infinite. Therein lies a world of difference: the difference between your self image and your Self. Turning this charm will open the eyes of your understanding if you persist.

At the present time your life operates about 95% of the time at the finite sight level. At least 5% of the time it operates at the finite/infinite level or you would not be surviving at all. Our goal is to function 100% of the time on the edge of finite/infinite awareness.

That level of functioning usually takes many lifetimes of trial-and-error experience: many mistakes, much suffering, incredible frustration and anger, repetitive cycles of hope and despair.

But you can shorten those cycles of repetitive experience by inquiring into the meaning of life with this Charm Meditation. This Charm is symbolic of who you really are. This meditation is called Turning-on-the-Charm, and believe it or not, it turns on the charm, not only for others but for yourself .

Insofar as we do not live consciously on the edge between the finite and the Infinite, we develop symptoms of one kind or another. A symptom is a dysfunctional symbol. A symptom, however, is really a gift. It is here to remind you that you are an infinite being in a finite world. Symptoms are here to remind us that we are not merely human and that we do not know ourselves.

"Know thyself" was the counsel of the ancient philosophers. Usually people are not interested in who they are, since they already "know". But you and I do not know ourselves and we never will totally know the infinity of ourselves, and that is no excuse for not beginning the journey of discovery. Most people, however, see no need to begin this journey until they are in serious trouble. You have some habit, some painful symptom, some relationship failure or loss, some secret suffering, some health or money problem, some medical or psychological symptom, that persists and recurs. Neither advice nor pills remove it. Your symptom is your curse and your blessing. As long as you consider it a curse, you will not get the blessing.

The Figure 8 Charm is here to help you ask questions. Without deep on-going self-inquiry and questioning of every belief held in your mind, you will not discover your infinity. You do not believe in your infinity. Everything you have ever been taught is finite. The entire subconscious mind is filled with thousands of hours of tape recordings about your finiteness, your limitations, your shortcomings, your inadequacies, your lacks, your entrapment, your loneliness and separateness. Not only from this life-time but from the entire history of the human race. Thousands of these limiting finite beliefs are stored in the collective racial mind.

These beliefs have become reality to us. They operate unconsciously like a hypnotic spell. While science has been designed to help us cut through our superstitions and stereotypes by use of the scientific method, science itself tends to fall into the same pit. Until the discoveries of modem physics, science had also fallen victim to its own finite assumptions.

Religion was designed to help us cut through our false belief system, but all too often religion falls into a letter of the law mentality. Religion all too often becomes part of the sickness of the mind. Religion tends to become part of the curse. Many people consider religion to be bad news.

This Charm is a combination of the best of science and the truth of spirituality. This Charm is presented here as a meditation by which you may address your innermost pain and your most persistent symptoms. All of your stress, pain and symptoms arise from the unawareness of your infinite/finite nature. We have bought into the finite belief system of human history and we are victims of that mindset.

Look at your daily thoughts. How often do you feel like a victim of something or someone? How often do you tell yourself a pityful story of "Ain’t It Awful" or "Poor Me"? How often do you take full responsibility for everything that happens in your life? How much more comforting does it feel to tell yourself that someone or something else is to blame for your bad feelings or bad luck? How much of your infinite power do you limit by some outer circumstance? Do you know which beliefs you give power over yourself? Do you know which of your beliefs give you your pain? Do you know which of your beliefs you are making yourself a victim of?

At this point you may say "I don’t know". And that would be correct. But to admit that you don’t know and at the same time to admit that you want to know, is how you begin the journey of self-discovery. These two admissions will create conscious stress. Up
until you make these two admissions, the real cause of your stress
remains unknown. The real cause of all stress is the conflict,
dissonance, or distance between your self-image and your Real

Self, between what you have and what you want, between what you know and don’t know.

Did you know that you can look at your thoughts, feelings, behavior and self-concept? Yes, you knew that. But who is doing the looking? Who is this observer? I can tell you who the Observer is, but you probably won’t believe it for awhile. The Observer is the Infinite Self. What the Observer observes is the finite world. But 95% of the time we are unaware of the Observer’s activity and 100% of the time we are unaware of what its meaning is. We assume that we are finite beings in a finite world, and that we have to struggle to find a bit of safety and pleasure wherever we can. We have no idea that we are Infinite Beings in a finite world. Until we begin to realize what this means, we are stuck with the good/bad human experience. But we will have our symptoms to remind us that something is awry. Symptoms are both your curse and your blessing. Inquire into them, experience them totally, and you will get the blessing. Your symptoms will not be cured by any pill, advice or clever scheme, only by awakening to Reality. And this awakening begins with asking questions and questioning everything you "see" and believe. You are a creature of finite sight and a being of infinite vision. However, we tend to get stuck in finite sight and to ignore our infinite vision. The wall of ignorance is the ignor-ing of the Infinite. Charmed by the finite world, we enter a hypnotic trance which we call reality, and we come to believe that man can live by bread (the finite) alone.