How to Count on Numerology

Examining the fact numerology is a category of systems for understanding the world which are not necessarily in agreement, what they are each useful for, and how to engage with them to support and enhance your spiritual path.

Transcript

How to Count on Numerology

When someone tells me they read Tarot, I immediately know the basics of what they are doing. I will be interested in knowing what deck(s) they use and why, what layouts they use, and what their practice focuses on as topics in general, but I don't have questions about the service they are providing because Tarot is a system. A deck of 78 cards separated into Major and Minor Arcana, suits with court cards, and images either unique to each card or stylized/simplified for the Minor Arcana.

The process is similar for anyone telling me they practice Astrology. It's assumed they mean Western Astrology vs. Chinese or some other variant as that is what's most commonly practiced here. There is a standard, if complex, means for arriving at any variety of charts which everyone agrees on in general, and the only change to the practice over the past few hundred years (besides converting it to digital rather than doing everything by hand) has come in the 2010's when science discovered a 9th planet in our solar system.

Reiki is even easier because while there are any number of variations to it, the differences are fairly minimal between them. Usually the question which comes to mind first is what level of education or mastery have you achieved, Level I, II, III.

In spiritual community, people tend to talk about Numerology in this same way. As if there is one agreed upon system which everyone understands and uses. Clients and students are uniformly stumped when I ask what type of numerology they have studied or are using. They have no idea what I'm talking about.

But Numerology isn't a system, it's a category. It's like saying "I drive an automobile." Depending on who you are or what career you're in I can guess you mean a car vs a truck or some other wheeled vehicle. But all you've told me is you get from here to there with motorized wheels. If you want me to know more, you'll need to be more specific.

To be specific Numerology is both the belief in the divine or mystical relationship between a number and people, things, and events and also the study of the numerical value of the letters in words, names, and ideas.

The reason why there isn't just one system for working with numbers is because there is no one thing they can mean. Or said another way, numbers in and of themselves mean very simply what they mean (1 = One, 2 = Two...), but in relationship with other things they can become greater than the sum of their parts. Basically numbers are like tofu, taking on the flavoring of whatever they are with.

For example: Binary is a base 2 language which turns the numbers 0 and 1 into on off switches and is the language which runs computers and computer programs. In this system the numbers have little to do with counting and instead with whether something can or cannot, is or is not happening in the moment. They describe certain states of being within our physical reality turning numbers into gatekeepers and also into the symbols for "Yes" and "No".

Hexadecimal (also base 16 or hex) represents numbers using a base of 16. Unlike the common way of representing numbers using 10 symbols, hexadecimal uses 16 distinct symbols, most often the symbols "0"–"9" to represent values 0 to 9, and "A"–"F" (or alternatively "a"–"f") to represent values 10 to 15. This is the language used by computers to understand what color should show on your screen. It's also the human friendly way to understand the complexity of binary language for those who need to work with it on a regular basis.

And of course every database, government agency, and bureaucracy use their own numbering systems to represent whatever is most important to them. The TV show MASH poked fun at this regularly through the character of Radar who understood all of the forms, number systems, and arcane symbols necessary to keep the camp running while at the same time being clear it was all made-up crap which had no relevance other than being a means for the staff and their patients to survive.

These are just some of the ways in which numbers have meaning in the secular world. There are of course entire careers based on mathematics and what numbers are capable of meaning and doing. Plus science utilizes them in amazing ways from the Hadron Collider helping us further understand the foundations of the physical universe and how it comes into being from the Akashics to all the different space agencies working to help us understand Mars with their rovers.

In spiritual community there are several Numerology systems currently available to seekers and practitioners. 

The simplest is to associate numbers with the letters of the Roman alphabet. This way you can get a numeric value for your name or other words and seek connections and correlations.

Astrology utilizes math calculations to understand the influences of the stars and planets on you and the life you're leading, to greatly overgeneralize. Various numerology systems can be incorporated into this to connect individual numbers with aspects of personality leading to numerology charts which simplify what a full astrology chart provides.

Tarot cards each have an assigned number which not only determines their relationship to each other, but creates an association between that number and their core meaning. We can see stories unfold in each suit from the Ace (1) to 10 or back again if read in the opposite order. We can see the unfolding transformation of a human being's life or role in a situation through the Major Arcana evolving internally via the 0-10, then externally 11 - 22. This loop closes with the revelation in 22 that the seemingly wise person who has emerged from this epic journey truly knows everything/nothing and therefore returns again, wiser, to begin the journey of the Fool in 0.

Beyond these are Numerology systems which are spiritual paths unto themselves.

Gematria is a Hebrew alphanumeric code or cipher which was used in biblical times and later adopted by other cultures. It is still widely used in Jewish culture. Similar systems have been used in other languages and cultures such as the Greeks isopsephy, and later, Arabic abjad numerals, and English gematria. Similar but different as I've never heard of the Arabic or English systems causing schism within a culture or potentially destroying entire economic systems.

The major difference between Gematria and other forms of Numerology is in the meaning, not of the numbers associated with the letters, but the meaning of the letters themselves. Each letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet has its own spiritual meaning, much like a tarot card. In Torah scholarship and more intently in Kabbalah, they are meditated on, studied, used as gateways to a fuller understanding of Yahweh as well as the universe and much more. When numbers are added to this, the meanings take on further dimension and the associations between them expand exponentially.

In this system, words and their variety of meanings can be seen to be related to or associated with other words which have the same numerical total. Kabbalists have utilized this feature of Gematria throughout the centuries not only to delve deeper into their spirituality, but to talk with each other in what amounts to a hidden mystical language.

This language and its meanings are one influence which facilitated the rise of the most recent Jewish messiah, Sabbatai Sevi. The gematria around his name, his coming to prominence where and how he did, all influenced a hope in Jews living in Europe that the end of the world had come, and it was time to return home to Israel. In other times this might just have been an interesting event watched by other cultures, however when this happened, the 1600's, there were no countries as we understand them today with centralized governments and banks. Instead there were rulers of various types ruling everything from small valleys to sprawling empires, all of which eschewed money lending, for the most part, because it was against their religious practices. The economy was therefore underpinned by Jewish money lenders, many of whom simply wrote off what was owed to them because the end of the world was happening, packed up their lives and left. 

As you might imagine, having all the banks close their doors at once and having all debt erased threatened to change the status of pretty much everyone, meaning the rich were so no longer and they had little hold over the little guy, who was no longer quite so little. This caused a swift reaction from the war lords and governing bodies which shut their borders and quickly rounded up all the Jewish resettlers in an attempt to prevent catastrophe (as they saw it).

The story of Sabbatai Sevi is fascinating and if you want to know more, I recommend Sabbatail Sevi: The Mystical Messiah by Gershom S.Scholem. For a primer on Gematria I recommend the Sefer Yetzirah. 

But wait, there's more! ;)

Beyond these there is the less known, in the West, Vedic Numerology, and the Chaldean system which were both influential on the West throughout ancient times up to the Victorian period. 

The Chaldeans were ancient people who ruled Babylonia from 625 to 539 BC. Chaldean numerology is used to recognize the energy changes which occur when someone speaks or thinks. The sound of someone speaking comes out in vibrations of different frequencies which affect the speaker and those around them. So, when we speak of words having power and meaning, this system describes some of the mechanics of how this is achieved.

Chaldean numerology uses the numbers 1–8, but sets 9 aside because it is regarded as sacred due to its connection to infinity. Each letter is assigned to a number, one to eight, based on the Chaldean numerology chart. 

The numbers associated with a person's name have great relevance as they indicate the energies a person is living and manifesting in each moment and much more.

The Pythagorean system is referred to as either Western numerology or Pythagorean Numerology. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and philosopher who lived from 569 to 470 BC, is known as the father of Western numerology. Pythagoras began his theory of numbers by discovering the numerical relationship between numbers and musical notes. He found the vibrations in stringed instruments could be mathematically explained. The Pythagorean method uses an individual's name and date of birth. The name number reveals the individual's outer nature. This is the personality they present to the outside world. To start, one needs to use the individual's full name as written on their birth certificate. Then, each letter is assigned to a digit, based on the Pythagorean system. 

In the Pythagorean system, there are three master numbers (11, 22, 33) which do not get reduced to a single number. Hence, if one's name number or birth number comes out to one of these master numbers, then they shall not be combined to form a single digit. Finally, the single digit name number and birth number are assigned a particular meaning and significance based on the Pythagorean system.

So, what does it all mean?

Well, while some of these systems are compatible with each other, much about them is contradictory and trying to figure all of them out would probably make your head explode. Or make you into a mystic mathematician or some form of quantum astrophysicist. Perhaps something new entirely?

And for those who want there to be an underlying Universal truth underneath all of this, the answer is well, no. Tofu is tofu. Numbers are numbers. They are wholesome in and of themselves and in their essence mean what they say. 1 = One and 2 = Two. Whatever other meanings they may acquire is basically coming from us and how we relate to them. For example, the number 666 means six hundred and sixty-six of something, but to Christians and those who associate with Christian culture it is the Mark of the Beast and either something evil or the butt of jokes. While in Jewish culture and academic studies it's a mistranslation of the ancient texts and doesn't mean any such thing at all.

The numbers mean all of this, none of this, and more depending on the relationship we have with them. Which is why, when clients ask me what seeing 1111 or 2222 or 1212 means and so on, I don't have a pat answer to give. Often the answer is the numbers themselves don't mean anything. Instead, it is the person's guides trying to get their attention in response to requests, prayers, and meditations they have been doing or healing/transformation/problem solving they are attempting to achieve. It's like flashing lights on the side of the road, nothing more. We can't know what the true situation is, how to help or what needs to be done, until we stop what we're doing and attend to the details and circumstances we find there.

So, when looking to Numerology to help us understand ourselves and the world around us, it's good to know we can choose what system works best for us and supports us on our spiritual path. We have the power to determine how we add up and whether or not we count.