The Symbolism of Numbers
The invention of numbers enabled people to count and measure. However, almost simultaneously, they were also used for spiritual and metaphysical purposes. Four thousand years ago, the ancient Sumerians tried to explain the entire universe mathematically.
The belief that numbers have magical and symbolic significance is extremely old. Mathematical philosophers in Babylon and Greece believed that numbers could reveal the mysteries of life. The ancient Hindus believed numbers were the building blocks of the universe. The Aztecs associated each number with a god, direction, quality, and color.54
Numerology is one of the oldest occult sciences. It is so old that Pythagoras (c. 580 B.C.E.–c. 500 B.C.E.), the Greek philosopher and mathematician, is credited with modernizing it more than 2,500 years ago. He considered the universe to be a balance of opposites. Odd numbers, for instance, were considered to be masculine and active, while even numbers were feminine and passive.
Numerology has changed and developed over the last few thousand years, and numerology today has little in common with the numerology practiced by the Sumerians or the members of Pythagoras’ mystery school. In fact, numerology as we know it today is not much more than one hundred years old.55
Your Most Important Numbers
Although your numerological chart contains most, if not all, of the numbers, four are considered especially important. These are your Life Path, Expression, Soul Urge, and Day of Birth.
Life Path
Your Life Path reveals your purpose in life, and represents about 40 percent of your makeup. It is derived from your full date of birth, reduced down to a single digit. Unfortunately, there are two exceptions. In the process of reducing the numbers down to a single digit, you stop if the numbers reduce to either an 11 or 22. This is because these are Master Numbers. Here are two examples, one involving a Master Number:
12 (month)
9 (day)
1967 (year)
These numbers are added together, and reduced to a single digit: 12 + 9 + 1967 = 1988. 1 + 9 + 8 + 8 = 26. And 2 + 6 = 8. This person has a Life Path number of 8.
2 (month)
29 (day)
1944 (year)
1 + 9 + 7 + 5 = 22. As the 22 is not reduced further, this person has a Life Path number of 22.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
|
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
|
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
Expression
Your Expression number reveals your natural abilities. In numerology, it represents 30 percent of your makeup. Your Expression number is derived from the letters in your full name at birth. These are converted into numbers and reduced down to a single digit or a Master Number. The first person to use numerology in this way was Cornelius Agrippa. Here is the chart he devised:
Let’s work out the Expression number of an imaginary person called Elizabeth Mary Smith. We start by converting each letter into a number. We then add them up, and finally reduce them to a single digit (or Master Number).
ELIZABETH MARY SMITH
539812528 4197 14928
43 21 24
7 3 6
7 + 3 + 6 = 16, and 1 + 6 = 7
Elizabeth has an Expression number of 7.
Soul Urge
The Soul Urge number reveals your inner motivation, your heart’s desire. It shows what the person desires from life. The Soul Urge represents 20 percent of the person’s makeup. It is derived from the vowels in the person’s full name at birth reduced down to a single digit (or a Master Number). The Soul Urge is complicated in that the letter “Y” is sometimes classed as a consonant, but at other times can be a vowel. If it is pronounced, as in “Yolande,” it is considered a consonant. If it acts as vowel, as in “Daryl,” or is not pronounced, as in “Kaye,” it is classed as a vowel.
The “Y” in “Mary,” Elizabeth’s middle name, is classed as a vowel.
ELIZABETH MARY SMITH
5 9 1 5 1 7 9
20 8 9
2 8 9 and 2 + 8 + 9 = 19, 1 + 9 = 10, and 1 + 0 = 1.
Elizabeth’s Soul Urge is 1.
Day of Birth
The day of the month you were born on is responsible for the final 10 percent of your makeup. (In fact, this is not totally correct, as numerology involves much more than these four numbers. These percentages show the relative weighting of each number in your makeup. Your Life Path makes up 40 percent. Consequently, it is four times more influential than your day of birth.) The day of birth has an influence on the other three numbers, and can be considered an additional, but less important, lesson than that provided by the Life Path.
Again, the day of birth is reduced down to a single digit, except for the Master Numbers. People born on the 11th, 22nd, and 29th of the month have a Master Number in their day of birth. (29 reduces to an 11.)
Interpretations For Each Number
Here are the basic meanings of each number:
One
One symbolizes independence and attainment. People with this number as one of their four main numbers have a strong desire to stand on their own two feet and to achieve something worthwhile.
Two
Two symbolizes harmony and cooperation. People with a two in their chart can harmonize and balance difficult situations. They are gentle, loving, adaptable, and considerate.
Three
Three symbolizes creativity and the joys of life. People with a three in their chart need to express themselves in some sort of way, ideally creatively. They are positive, optimistic, and enthusiastic.
Four
Four symbolizes system, order, and hard work. People with a four in their chart are capable, well organized, and prepared to work hard to achieve their goals. They can be rigid and stubborn. They need to work within the limits they find.
Five
Five symbolizes freedom, variety, and change. People with a five in their chart are versatile, adventurous, and positive. They need to use their freedom wisely, rather than scattering their talents over too wide an area.
Six
Six symbolizes love, as well as home and family responsibilities. People with a six in their chart are frequently responsible for far more than their fair share. They are the people others are attracted to when they need a shoulder to lean on. Six is also a creative number.
Seven
Seven symbolizes wisdom and understanding. According to the Bible, God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. People with a seven in their chart need time on their own to learn, to understand, and to develop spiritually. Seven utilizes a different approach to life that can make people with this number appear remote and hard to get to know.
Eight
Eight symbolizes money and material freedom. People with an eight in their chart will work hard to achieve their financial goals. They can be generous once they have achieved their financial goals. They are stubborn, rigid, self-centered, and ambitious.
Nine
Nine symbolizes humanitarianism and universal love. People with a nine in their chart are generous, caring, and frequently selfless. They experience great pleasure from giving to others.
Master Numbers
Eleven and twenty-two are called Master Numbers. They are on a higher spiritual level than the other numbers. People with them have greater potential than those without them. However, these people are generally not aware of that, especially early on in life, and are held back by nervous tension and self-doubts. They are usually at their peak late in life, once they have learned how to handle the enormous potential of their Master Number.
Eleven
Eleven symbolizes idealism, intuition, and illumination. People with an eleven in their chart are idealistic, impractical dreamers who have visions of a perfect world. Once they become aware of their special capabilities, and learn to keep their feet on the ground, they have unlimited potential to achieve their goals.
Twenty-Two
Twenty-two is frequently known as the Master Builder. This is because people with this number in their charts have the potential to harness the idealism of the eleven, with a practical, pragmatic approach, to achieve goals that would daunt most others.
Progression of the Numbers
The numbers can be looked at in different ways. Each number can be considered to be the opposite of the number that precedes it. Six, for instance, symbolizes responsibility, while five symbolizes freedom.
I prefer to see the numbers as a logical progression. One (independence) is followed by two (cooperation). Three (creative self-expression) is followed by four (limitations, hard work). Five (freedom, variety) is followed by six (home and family responsibilities). Seven (spirituality) is followed by eight (material freedom). Nine (humanitarianism) is followed by eleven (idealism, impracticality).
Harmonizing the Numbers
Your Life Path, Expression, Soul Urge, and Day of Birth numbers may all be different. However, it is possible for two, three, or even four of the numbers to be the same. When this occurs, the person is likely to have difficulties early on in life harmonizing and balancing the number that has been doubled, tripled, or quadrupled.
Some groups of numbers harmonize easily. Three, six, and nine are all creative numbers. Someone with all of these numbers in his or her makeup will have considerable creative potential and be highly original.
One, four, and eight is another group that harmonizes well. Someone with these numbers would do well in business.
No matter what numbers make up your Life Path, Expression, Soul Urge, and Day of Birth, the combination of them is a symbol of you, numerologically speaking.
Compatibility
Numerology is a useful way to test your compatibility with someone else. Generally speaking, you will get on better with someone who shares one of your four main numbers. If you have a six Life Path, for instance, you would get on with people who also had a six as one of their four main numbers: their Life Path, Expression, Soul Urge, or day of birth. The presence of this number in common gives you both a contact point. You will look at the world in much the same way, and will share similar views. A close friendship or romantic relationship could develop as a result.
The closest relationships occur when two people have the same Soul Urge number. However, this does not necessarily ensure a long-lasting relationship. All relationships need to be looked after. If someone fails to nurture, support, and love his or her partner, the relationship will not last, no matter how good the numerological nuances of the names may be.
The Planes of Expression
Everyone on this planet contains a body, mind, heart, and spirit. Two people might share the same Soul Urge number, but if they operate on totally different levels on the Planes of Expression, they will have problems. If one person predominately uses his or her mind, but has a partner who primarily works on emotions (the heart plane), it is likely they will experience difficulties. Likewise, someone who works mainly on the physical (common-sense) plane will find it hard to communicate with people who operate mainly from the mind (reasoning), heart (emotional), or spirit (intuitional) levels.
The Planes of Expression are determined from the numbers relating to each letter of your full name at birth:
The Physical Level (Body) 4 and 5
The Mental Level (Mind) 1 and 8
The Emotional Level (Heart) 2, 3, and 6
The Intuitional Level (Spirit) 7 and 9
Here is how Elizabeth Mary Smith operates:
Physical (E, E, M, M) 4
Mental (Z, A, H, A, S, H) 6
Emotional (L, B, T) 3
Intuitional (I, R, Y, I, T) 5
Elizabeth is fortunate in that she can operate on any level. However, the two strongest are the Mental and Intuitional Planes. In a moment of crisis, she is likely to use these methods of expression, in preference to emotional or physical. Here is another example:
FRANK ORVILLE FOX
69152 6949335 666
PHYSICAL (N, V, E) 3
MENTAL (A) 1
EMOTIONAL (F, K, O, L, L, F, O, X) 8
INTUITIONAL (R, R, I) 3
In a moment of crisis, Frank would always express himself emotionally as this plane of expression is so much higher than the others.
Frank and Elizabeth would have problems in a relationship, no matter how harmonious their four main numbers were. This is because whenever anything went wrong, their responses would be totally different.
Numbers as Symbols
Many of the early fathers of the Christian Church were fascinated with the symbolism of numbers and how they were used in the Bible. St. Jerome noticed that the five Books of the Law, the eight Books of the Prophets, and the nine Books of the Hagiographa totalled twenty-two, the numbers of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. He also discovered that there are five double letters in the Hebrew alphabet and also five double books in the Bible: two Samuels, two Kings, two Chronicles, two Ezras (Ezra and Nehemiah), and two Jeremiahs (Jeremiah and Lamentations).56
The Jewish people consider their alphabet to be of divine origin, and a great deal of symbolism is attached to it. The Jewish kabbalah uses number symbolism extensively.
Numbers are highly symbolic on their own, but are usually linked with other forms of symbolism. Seven, for instance, is connected with the seven visible planets, and twelve is associated with the signs of the zodiac.
Four of the numbers are especially related to the themes of love and romance. They are two, three, five, and six.
Here are the symbolic meanings of each number:
One
One symbolizes individuality. One stands all by itself. Consequently, it is not a symbol of love and romance, though it can represent someone both before and after a relationship. A single bed belongs to someone who sleeps alone, by choice or circumstance. In feng shui, a bed that has a long side against a wall symbolizes someone who does not want a partner. A single bed with a long side placed against a wall, not only looks like the numeral one, but clearly shows the subconscious desire of the person who sleeps there to be on his or her own.
Two
Two is considered a feminine, maternal number. It symbolizes a dualistic world, with day and night, heaven and earth, water and earth, and yin and yang. The ancient Egyptians used lucky amulets in the shape of two fingers. They were reputed to bring good luck.57 Cornelius Agrippa considered two to be the number of marriage. He wrote: “It (two) is also called the number of charity and mutual love, of marriage, and society, as it is said by the Lord, two shall be one flesh.”58
Three
Three has always been considered a positive number in symbolism, mythology, legend, folklore, and religion. Three appears commonly in different religions. The Hindus had Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The Egyptians had Isis, Osiris, and Horus. The Greeks had the three brothers, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. In Christianity, three is the number of the Trinity. Three also appears numerous times in the New Testament. These include the three crosses at Golgotha, the Resurrection after three days, and the three denials of Peter.
Three also symbolizes the family unit of mother, father, and child. The ancient Romans wore rings engraved with three ravens to attract love and romance.
Four
The number four contains a great deal of symbolism. It relates to the square, which conveys honesty and integrity. This may be related to solidity. In Pythagorean numerology, one relates to a point, two to a line, three to a surface, and four to a solid. It also relates to the four elements, the four winds, the four cardinal directions, and even the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the four rivers that flow from the Tree of Life in Eden, and the four stages of life (childhood, youth, maturity, and old age).
Five
The Greeks associated five with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and marriage. This symbolism may have come originally from Mesopotamia, as they used a five-pointed star to symbolize Ishtar, their goddess of love. Ishtar’s planet was Venus.
The number five symbolized marriage to the Pythagoreans. This is because it was the sum of the two opposites, two and three. As two was considered feminine, and three masculine, it is not surprising that five came to symbolize a permanent relationship between a man and a woman. (Number one symbolized unity to the Pythagoreans and was not considered a number. Consequently, three was considered the first male number.)
Six
The number six symbolizes union, love, and family. This association may have originally come from the Star of David symbol, a hexagram that contains two overlapping triangles, one pointing upward and the other down. The upward pointing triangle symbolizes fire, air, and masculine energy. The downward pointing triangle symbolizes water, earth, and female energy.
Six is also the product of the first male number and the first female number (3 x 2 = 6). The combination of male and female frequently produces children, which is why six symbolizes family.
Seven
Seven has always been considered a sacred, magical number. This probably dates back to the seven planets (Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn) that the ancients were familiar with. Another influence in this would have been the four seven-day phases that make up the lunar calendar.
There are numerous references to the number seven in the Bible, starting with God resting on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). In Hinduism, the world mountain has seven faces. Seven is the number of perfection in Islam, which is why pilgrims walk around the Ka’aba at Mecca seven times. They also have seven earths, seas, heavens, hells, and doorways to Paradise. Seven was associated with protection and childbirth in Arabia. There were also seven Pillars of Wisdom, seven deadly sins, seven hills of Rome, and, in Japan, seven Gods of Luck.
Eight
Eight is a symbol of rebirth and renewal. This is why baptismal fonts are usually eight-sided. Seven is often considered the number of completion, which means eight is the number of new starts. Eight also symbolizes the four cardinal directions, along with the four intermediary ones. The Star of Bethlehem is often shown with eight points. In Hinduism, Vishnu has eight arms. In Chinese Taoism and Japanese Shintoism, there are eight Immortals.
An eight-pointed star originally symbolized the Roman goddess Venus, with lines joining each opposite point. This symbol was also the Gnostic sign of creation.
Nine
The number nine is an important number in most traditions. For the Hebrews, it symbolized truth. Christians had nine choirs of angels, possibly because they saw nine as the symbol of order within order. Odin, the Norse god of knowledge and wisdom, hanged himself on Yggdrasil, the World Tree, for nine days and nights. He was then pierced with a spear, and his blood created the first runic symbols.
Eleven
Eleven is a master number in numerology and symbolizes mastery in the physical dimension. It is the sum of five and six, which relate to the microcosm and macrocosm, or Heaven and Earth. In Africa, it is related to fertility. St. Augustine didn’t like the number eleven as he associated it with sin. Ten, in his mind, was perfect, which meant that eleven related to overindulgence and excess. However, for other Christians, eleven related to the faithful apostles.
Twenty-Two
Twenty-two is the second master number in numerology, and symbolizes mastery of the mental and emotional dimensions. Twenty-two is also the sum total of all the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The sacred texts of the Zoroastrians, the Avesta, were written in books of twenty-two chapters. They also had twenty-two sacred prayers. In Christianity, the Revelation of St. John contains twenty-two chapters. There are also twenty-two major arcana cards in the Tarot, and twenty-two paths that connect the ten sephiroth in the Tree of Life.
Jeremy’s Experience
Jeremy came to one of my first numerology classes, more than thirty years ago. I remembered him well, as he sat in the front row, and used shorthand to record everything I said. I recently met him again at a New Age festival, and was interested to hear how he’d used numerology to attract his partner.
“I remember you saying that when two people have the same Soul Urge number, they live for each other,” he told me. “My Soul Urge number was nine, so I created a collage using that number. I got sheets of colored paper, and cut out the number nine in different sizes and colors. I then glued them all over a large piece of cardboard. I hung this on my bedroom wall, so I could see it last thing at night and first thing in the morning. Then I got the idea of carrying a nine around with me. I made a small one out of paper and had it laminated. I kept it in my wallet. It worked like one of your silent affirmations. Each time I saw it, I remembered I was telling the universe to send me the right person.
“Actually, it took quite a while, but that was partly my fault. I went overseas for a few months, and then came back and looked after my sick aunt until she died. So I was out of circulation for about a year. Anyway, one Saturday morning I made myself a coffee. While it was brewing, I pulled the nine out of my wallet and was looking at it. I was about to pour the coffee when the doorbell went. I went to the door, and there was Tom. He was supposed to be going next door, but came to my house by mistake.
“It’s amazing. You’d have thought we’d always known each other. He could smell the coffee, so I invited him in. I did his numbers, and almost died when I discovered he had a nine Soul Urge! He didn’t get to see his friends next door on that visit!
“We’ve been together eighteen years now. It hasn’t been easy at times, but when two people love each other the way we do, you make allowances. I believed what you said in your class, but now I know it’s true!”
54. Jack Tresidder, Dictionary of Symbols (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1998), 146.
55. Matthew Oliver Goodwin, Numerology: The Complete Guide, Volume 1 (North Hollywood, CA: Newcastle Publishing Company, Inc., 1981), 4.
56. Ernest Busenbark, Symbols, Sex, and the Stars: In Popular Beliefs (New York, NY: The Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1949), 245–246.
57. Bill Harris, The Good Luck Book (Owings Mills, MD: Ottenheimer Publishers, 1996), 121.
58. Henry Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, edited by Donald Tyson (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1993), 245.