The Mystical Meaning of 369 and Its Link to Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was an engineer who, among other achievements, patented the rotating magnetic field, a technology that is fundamental to most modern alternating current machinery. Tesla was granted over 300 patents worldwide during his lifetime and is widely considered one of the greatest inventors ever. 

Born during a lightning storm in modern-day Croatia in 1856, Tesla also conceptualized many modern technologies that have come to define our world today. He imagined wireless internet, portable communication devices, self-driving cars, and robotic warfare long before these things were actually invented.

Tesla’s brilliant mind also sometimes took him far afield. He had visions—in his later years, he said that he was visited by an ailing white pigeon, and claimed to have seen a burst of light streaming from its eyes the moment it died. He also believed he may have received signals from aliens. Another one of his more out-there interests, according to popular lore, may have been the numbers three, six, and nine.

Was Tesla Obsessed With the Numbers Three, Six, and Nine?

Tesla is rumored to have believed that the numbers three, six, and nine had special powers. Allegedly, he once said, “If you only knew the magnificence of the three, six, and nine, then you would have a key to the universe.” 

Historians have not found a definitive source for this quote, but that hasn't stopped it from taking off and sparking a great deal of speculation among those looking for a cheat code to the cosmos.

There are a number of theories as to why Tesla may have believed this. One theory holds that doubling one, two, four, and so on creates a numerical pattern that, notably, does not include three, six, and nine. According to inventor Marko Rodin, three, six, and nine’s absence from this list of doubles may indicate that these figures represent a “vector from the third to the fourth dimension.”

Certainly, the number three has long been recognized as a powerful digit. Sacred trinities—like the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost in Christianity—appear frequently across various religions. Tesla himself reportedly cited “energy, frequency, and vibration” as the three elements that he believed held the key to understanding the nature of the universe.

The inventor certainly had a well-documented interest in the number three. In Tesla’s life, this interest led to an obsession with the number that some have connected to possible OCD. Tesla would often walk around blocks three times before entering buildings, and would use 18 napkins—a multiple of three—to wash his dishes. He also insisted on staying in hotel rooms with room numbers that were divisible by three, and died in room #3327 of the New Yorker Hotel in 1943.

What Is the 3-6-9 Manifestation Method?

In modern times, Tesla’s rumored interest in the numbers three, six, and nine has been co-opted by Internet users who claim these numbers may be the key to manifestation. The most commonly suggested approach to harnessing these numbers' power involves writing down or repeating your desires out loud three times in the morning, six times in the afternoon, and nine times at night. According to advocates, this practice is supposed to “reprogram” your mind to align with your intentions, thus drawing them towards you.

It’s unclear what Tesla would have thought of all this. However, the inventor was certainly open to unorthodox ideas that lay outside the realm of traditional science.

“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena,” he once said, “it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”

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