Numerology
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Template:Tone Numerology is the parascience that studies the purported mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and the character or action of physical objects and living things.
Numerology and numerological divination were popular among early mathematicians such as Pythagoras, but are no longer considered to be part of mathematics and are now regarded as pseudomathematics by most mathematicians. Today, numerology is associated with the occult along with Astrology and similar arts. This is similar to the historical development of astronomy from astrology, and that of chemistry from alchemy.
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Particular numbers
Four
Christian-oriented observers note that the life story of Jesus is told in four gospels. In the Jewish religion, the number four is significant because of the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God which is so holy it is never spoken. In Chinese numerology (as well as that of other Oriental languages), the word "four" is a homonym of the Chinese word for "death" (see Tetraphobia). As thus, some hospitals do not have a 4th floor.
Six
According to Genesis, the universe was created in six days. This is known as the Hexameron. The seventh day is reserved for rest.
In ancient Greek numerology, six is the first perfect number.
Seven
There are seven days in the week, the ancient solar system consisted of seven luminaries (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), human body consists of seven chakras and some versions of the Kabbalah have seven sephiroth.
Eight
Although eight is considered "good luck" in Chinese culture, it is of no particular importance according to the esoteric beliefs of Chinese numerology.
Nine
Nine was considered sacred and not assigned a numerical equivalent to any letter in the Chaldean alphabet. It takes nine calendar months to bring a baby into the world from its initial conception. The number nine was sacred to the Norse.
Ten
Ten is a higher octave of the number one. It takes ten lunar months to bring a baby from conception into the world, there are ten sephiroth in many versions of the Kaballah, the most common number system used today is based on the number ten, and most currencies in use today have been decimalised. People generally have ten fingers on which to count, leading to an easy adoption of ten as the base of our intuitive number system. This belief is also central to Chinese numerology.
Eleven
Eleven is a higher octave of the number two and is considered to be a master number (the second master number being 22).
Twelve
Twelve is a higher octave of the number three. Twelve is significant in ancient man’s life because there were twelve tribes in Israel, twelve disciples followed Jesus, there are twelve astrological signs in the zodiac, there are twelve months in the year, and our modern clock is divided into two groups of twelve hours. It is considered to be the ancient number of completion as it signals the end of childhood and the beginning stages of adulthood. Additionally, the ancient numbering and measuring systems are based on this number, as evidenced by terms such as a dozen (12), a gross (12 times 12), a shilling (12 pence) and a foot (12 inches).
Thirteen
Thirteen is a higher octave of the number four and is one more than twelve. Thirteen is considered to signify the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one, as evidenced by the fact that there are thirteen lunar months in the year and thirteen signs in the Celtic and Native American systems of astrology. See also triskaidekaphobia. Thirteen is also a significant astrological number. The sum of thirteen is 91, (1+2+3..), which is each number of days in a season.
Twenty-two
Twenty-two is a higher octave of the number four and is considered to be a master number. There are twenty two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, twenty two pathways in many versions of the Kaballah, and twenty two cards in the Major Arcana. It is also an approximation of pi times 7, and also the number of pounds in 10 kilograms.
The number 22 also has a profound Biblical meaning. The 22nd and last letter of the Hebrew Alphabet is Tav, with the sound of 'T'. Before the Jews picked up new 'fonts' in Babylonia Tav was written as + in Phoenicia and as x by the Hebrews, in other words as a cross. The cross is the meaning of 22. That is why there are 66 books in the Bible, 3 x 22. The Bible hints at the 3 crosses (22) of Calvary. Of those 66 books 44 have less than 22 chapters. Exactly 22 books have 22 chapters or more. The last (66th) book of the Bible - Revelation - ends with chapter 22.
On the cross Jesus allegedly said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, thus quoting Psalm 22. Christians consider Psalm 22 as the Psalm of the Cross. Another intriguing thing is that the God of the Bible only asked one man to sacrifice his son, namely Abraham. It is reported in Genesis 22. The chapter number refers to the cross (+ x). The United Kingdom has both kind of crosses, the St. Andrew's cross (x) of Scotland and the St. George's cross (+) of England. The two flags of England and Scotland - with the two crosses - together form the Union Flag, numerologically 22 + 22 = 44. No wonder that the telephone code of the United Kingdom is 44. (Source: the Bible, The Telephone Guide, Flags). Bible verses weren't numbered until the fourth century when organized Christianity got its kick off at the Council of Nicaea.
Fifty-one
Fifty-one has the meaning of repentance in the Bible. The number gets its meaning from Psalm 51, king David's Psalm of repentance after his adultery with Bathsheba. The number 51 is confirmed by the 153 fishes (3 x 51) the disciples caught in John 20. Peter had denied Jesus three times. After the catch he was asked three times by Jesus, if he loved him. The three times 51 fishes stand for Peter's threefold repentance, for the three questions and for the three denials. The Old Testament also gives an example of 3 times 51, with the third 51 being the repentance. Elijah sits on a mountaintop (2Kings 1)and is summoned to come down by a captain of fifty and his fifty (51). 'Man of God' says the captain, 'the kings summons you to come down.' Not in the mood Elijah says that if he is a man of God, let fire come down and destroy them all. And 51 charred bodies are the result. The second captain and his fifty undergo the same lot. When the third 51 arrive - 153 soldiers in total - the third captain starts pleading with Elijah. Repentance saves his skin. Most likely the 51 for repentance comes from the Jubilee Year (50th). When the people got their property back they would say in the 51st year: Let's not mess up now!
There are 51 and 3/7 degrees in the angle of the Egyptian pyramids, which is 1/7 the arc length of a circle. Kepler identified the angle of 51 and 3/7 degrees as a septile. Western astrologers regard the septile aspect between planets to be one of a fated quality, because the number seven (septile) is related to fate in astrology.
Digit summing
Numerologists often reduce a number or word by a process known as digit summing. In the case of a number, you take the sum of all of the digits of the number, and if the result is a number with 2 or more digits you add up the digits of that number; you repeat the process recursively until you arrive at a single-digit number. For a word, you sum up the values corresponding to each letter's place in the alphabet (i.e., A=1, B=2, etc.) and then perform digit summing on the resulting number. The characteristics associated with the resultant number reveal information concerning the thing or person named.
Examples:
3,489 -> 3+4+8+9 = 24 -> 2+4 = 6 Hello -> 8+5+12+12+15 = 52 -> 5+2 = 7
There are exceptions to this process: There are three numbers greater than 9 that numerologists often will not break down further into a single-digit number. They are called master numbers, and their values are 11, 22, and 33. They are considered higher vibrations of their digit-summed counterparts and very highly charged. They each have a specific meaning.
Master numbers not withstanding, it's worth noting that an alternative way to arrive at a digit summation is simply to take the value modulo 9, substituting a possible result of 0 with 9 itself.
Numerological divination
In numerological divination, a student of the field will use the name, birthdate and birthtime of an individual to analyze and define something of the personality and propensities of that individual. Specific numbers are also assigned to the letters of the alphabet. One such system (for the English alphabet) is represented here:
The basis of the belief that dates and times have numerologic significance appears to be that underlying vibrations of the universe as a whole occur in regular cycles and that things created or changed at one or another point in these cycles will express the properties which the vibrations at that point in the cycle create. It is less clear how names, words and appellations would follow such a rule. One theory put forward by some numerologists is that persons who name things are subtly affected by universal vibrations to assign appropriate names which harmonize with the vibrations of the thing named.
Another question which has been asked relative to the numerological significance of words is how, if letters can be assigned numbers, things can have a uniform numerological identity when they are named differently in different languages and with different alphabets. For example, the numerologic value for "shirt" in English would be 8. The same item in Spanish would be "camisa," a 6 in numerology. One theory to explain this apparent inconsistency is that the different names for an object in different languages and orthographies correspond to different distinctive qualities of that object, just as different words for the same thing in the same language can carry different connotations.
To date, there is no scientific verification for the validity of claimed numerological principles. Numerology has thus been classified as a pseudoscience, and most scientists regard it as either deluded quackery or deliberate fraud. True science, as recognized in modern society, is based on the scientific method and requires that assertions answer to the regular and replicable use of this method to be considered as scientifically verifiable fact.
Numerologists reply that their study does not answer to science as the mechanisms of interaction between universal vibration and gross physical things are too subtle to be detected, measured or quantified by tools currently available to science. However, given that numerologists make predictions about observable events, scientists would argue that the simultaneous claim that science cannot detect any effects is illogical. Empirical observations relating to the regular and predictable mathematical relationships between things in the universe are pointed to as evidence of a numerological fabric underlying all things. However, such observations give no direct support to numerology's claims.
Numerology is by no means a unified study. Proponents of its veracity may be generally divided into three schools. With limited elaboration:
- Numerology is true by Divine fiat and contains clues placed into the fabric of the universe by the Almighty for the enlightened to decipher, thereby bringing them closer to unity with a Grand Plan.
- Numerology is true because of universal spiritual agreement between all life on one level or another. And because the Universe is the product of the mean (as in statistical mean) agreement between all of life everywhere, the agreement on mathematical regularity in the universe creates a Numerological sub-fabric throughout the universe.
- Numerology is true because it is a reflection of Natural Law, giving clues to the state of a complex of vibrations which regulate function and existence in the universe. The failure of modern science to verify this fact is merely a reflection of insufficient advances in science. After all, science once believed all matter was composed of earth, air, fire and water in different combinations. If and when science is sufficiently advanced, it will be able to verify the truth of numerology.
Historians believe that modern numerology is an integration of the teachings from Ancient Babylonia, Pythagoras and his followers, (6 th. Century B.C. Greece) Astrological philosophy from Hellenistic Alexandria, early Christian mysticism, the occultism of the early Gnostics and the Hebrew system of the Kabbalah. The Indian Vedas, the Chinese "Circle of the Dead",and the Egyptian "Book of the Master of the Secret House", (Ritual of the Dead) are records giving strong evidence that Numerology dates back thousands of years.
Pythagoras and other philosophers of the time believed that because mathematical concepts were more "practical" (easier to regulate and classify) than physical ones, they had greater actuality. This is an idea in harmony with philosophical pragmatism and a choice for permanent concepts over changeable physicality.
St. Augustine of Hippo in A.D. 354 - 430 wrote " Numbers are the Universal language offered by the deity to humans as confirmation of the truth." Similar to Pythagoras, he too believed that everything had numerical relationships and it was up to the mind to seek and investigate the secrets of these relationships or have them revealed by divine grace.
In 325 A.D., following the First Council of Nicaea, departures from the beliefs of the state Church were classified as civil violations within the Roman Empire. Numerology had not found favor with the Christian authority of the day. It was assigned to the field of unapproved beliefs along with astrology and other forms of divination and "magic." Through this religious purging, the spiritual significance assigned to the heretofore "sacred" numbers began to disappear. In spite of this suppression there were still many devout believers, who kept the secret knowledge locked away.
An important example of the influence of numerology in English literature is Sir Thomas Browne's 1658 Discourse The Garden of Cyrus. In it the author illustrates that the number five and related Quincunx pattern throughout' art, nature and mysticism. The Discourse is a late example of the influence of Pythagorean thought in English philosophy.
At the Million Man March in 1995, Minister Louis Farrakhan made repeated references to the number "19" during a speech he gave at the event; some have speculated that these references had numerological implications.
A claim of numerology is that its practitioners, through empirical observation and investigation, have concluded that through the study of numbers man can uncover hidden aspects of himself and the universe.
Numerology in science
Scientific theories are sometimes labelled 'numerology' if their primary inspiration appears to be mathematical rather than scientific. This colloquial use of the word 'numerology' is quite common within the scientific community and it is mostly used to dismiss a theory as questionable science.
The best known example of 'numerology' in science involves the co-incidental resemblance of certain large numbers that intrigued for example such eminent mathematical physicists as Dirac, Weyl and Eddington. These numerical co-incidences refer to such quantities as the ratio of the age of the universe to the atomic unit of time, the number of electrons in the universe, and the difference in strengths between gravity and the electric force for the electron and proton. As one author has observed however , we are bound to find co-incidences if we look long enough at any sample of numbers and therefore the kind of study that Dirac, Weyl and Eddington pursued 'seems like numerology' to many physicists ('Is the Universe Fine Tuned for Us?', Stenger V.J. page 3[1]).
Large number co-incidences still continue to fascinate many mathematical physicists even at the risk of being labelled 'numerologists'. Thus for instance James G. Gilson has constructed a 'Quantum Theory of Gravity' based loosely on Dirac's large number hypothesis (see Gilson's web page, about one third down the page[2]).
Postmodern critique
There is also a serious postmodern critique of Number and the actual cognitive, linguistic, and political meaning of numbers. John Zerzan and George Lakoff are among the best known of these theorists. A common argument in such circles is that the Greek and Roman worlds elevated Number to a god, in part for its power to predict timing of natural phenomena, and engineer reliable infrastructure. At the core of such claims is that primates have an intuitive ability to "count up to four" using their own senses, and that retaining the counted items and the criteria by which they are distinguished from the sensory environment in short-term memory becomes unreliable - requiring trust in memory, measurements and counting systems and a social hierarchy of priests or military or administrators. In short, a culture.
Numerology, according to this cognitive science of mathematics, is readily explained by the fact that numbers themselves are a part of culture:
"Math is a mere human invention, a systematic way of capturing the way the brain sees the world. "The only mathematics that we know is the mathematics that our brain allows us to know," George Lakoff claims, "Consequently, any question of math's being inherent in physical reality is moot, since there is no way to know whether or not it is. "Mathematics may or may not be out there in the world, but there's no way that we scientifically could possibly tell," Dr. Lakoff claims. Math succeeds in science, Drs. Lakoff and Raphael Nunez argue, "only because scientists force it to."
This claim is controversial among scientists, but the thesis has received few serious objections, and has been warmly received by mathematicians in fields, such as chaos theory, which seem to require new cognitive foundations.
Critics of these claims point out that while mathematics and numbers (at least above four) may well be a human invention, and the sharing of mathematical proofs and thus numerology may well be part of human culture, the great apes have the same sensory and cognitive abilities. Recent experiments have demonstrated that the chimpanzee specifically can quickly distinguish collections up to a dozen items. Future theorists may be forced to distinguish between objective primate mathematics relying directly on shared traits of great apes, and a subjective mathematics with perhaps no more of a basis in cognitive reality than traditional systems of numerology.
Numerology and astrology
Some astrologers believe that each number from 0 to 9 is ruled by a celestial body in our solar system -- the layout below is the most widely accepted system amongst modern astrologers but there are other conflicting systems as well.
In popular culture
In the movie π, the protagonist is searching for hidden numerical patterns in the stock market and the Torah. Each Hebrew letter corresponds to a number. The true name of God is said to correspond to a 216 digit number. Ironically, the number 216 is the multiplication product of 6 x 6 x 6 = 216. 666 is considered the number of the beast or Satan.
British goth band Inkubus Sukkubus changed their name from 'Incubus Succubus' on the advice of a friend who said that the numerology of their first name was bringing them bad luck.
See also
- Cognitive science of mathematics
- The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences
- The Number of the Beast
- Gematria
- Isopsephy
- Pythagoras
- Numbers & Professions
- Moleeds
- Dr. Matrix
- Gnostic circle
- Lexigram
References
- The Mystery of Numbers, by Annemarie Schimmel (1993) ISBN 0195063031 — A scholarly compendium of the connotations and associations of numbers in historical cultures.
External links
- Free Prophecy by date of birth Easy day prophecy by date of birth online
- Free Numerology Calculator Compute your important numbers from your Birth Date.
- Articles on Numerology
- Blog on Numerology Web log on numerology, questions and answers on numerological ideas.
- Numerology Notes at Enchanted Spirit - Articles on the history of numerology, how to determine important numbers and their meanings.
- Basics of astrology & numerology
- Bible Prophecy Numbers: The Pattern of Prophecy The meaning of days and years explored from the perspective of bible prophecy.
- Cafe Astrology's Numerology
- Guidance through numerology
- Indian numerologyda:Numerologi
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