There is question among numerologists as to when the Y is to be considered a vowel. Some always use the final Y as a consonant; others always use it as a vowel. Some say it is such a letter of indecision that it is not fit to be considered as a vowel in the Soul's Urge expression at all. Indecision occurs because Y asks “Why?” and because it is a symbol of a crossroads where a decision must be made.
Some use Y as a vowel only when it sounds like E, as in the name Betty, but not as a vowel when it is next to another vowel, as in May. And so the confusion. Who is right?
Mrs. L. Dow Balliet did not recognize the Y as a vowel, and I feel she was in error on this point. In her book Number Vibration in Questions and Answers, she explains the meaning of the master numbers by their own “spiritual urge”: her name for the vowel count that we call the Soul's Urge. On page 23 of that book is the question: “Which is the higher vibration, 11 or 22?”
Her answer is that the 11 is higher, as the vowels of “twenty-two” make 11, showing the 22 wants to make 11. The vowels of “eleven” are EEE, or 555, which totals 15/6, or 6 value, showing the eleven wants to be a Cosmic Mother.
To me, that answer does not add up. She is counting only the E and O in the 22 as vowels (5 and 6), thereby making the pronunciation, “tent-two.” The “ee” sound is gone, and that is definitely an aspirated vowel sound.
Also, the W gives the “oo” sound, so I feel it is a vowel. In “two,” where the W is silent, it is a consonant.
Here is what happens when we include the W and the Y in the Soul's Urge of “22”:
This number, 23/5, is accurately defined in The Divine Triangle, by Faith Javane and Dusty Bunker, as “strength in material ideas, intelligence in action and wisdom in control.” And this is the true essence of the master number 22. It is known as “the material master,” or “ the great architect.”
To be absolutely accurate we should give the W two Soul's Urges, the first recognizing it in its consonant position, which would make the first Soul's Urge 18/9. This number is the goal-setter (1) working hard (8) to complete (9) projects. It's only natural that the master architect would first set the goals, and then in 23 complete them with intelligence in action.
From the time of its inception into the alphabet in the first century B.C. the Romans used the Y as a vowel. According to the Reader's Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary:
The initial Y represents either a vowel pronounced as in honey, pretty, steady; a diphthong pronounced I as in fly, my, or the final glide of diphthong as in gray, obey and annoy.
Internal Y represents a vowel I as in lyric, myth, syllable; a diphthong I as in lyre, type, psychic, and an R-colored central vowel, ur, or er as in myrtle and martyr.
Further indication that Y is a vowel can be seen in the Soul's Urge of the word numerology. Without the Y (7) the soul is 20: a collection. It is a collection of numbers; but 27/9 is truer because the 7 adds the most important part of numerology—the spiritual essence which is the beginning of understanding. The 7 wants to dig down deep to get to truth. The 9 root represents humanity, so the spiritual truths are there for all who seek. And it is true that through the study of numerology people are led to great spiritual truths. Here you can readily see how much more accurate the Y reads when used as a vowel.
So the rule is the same for Y as it is for W and any other vowel: “A vowel is a speech sound produced by the relatively unimpeded passage of breath through the mouth.” And, “consonants have no phonic value.”
There may be such words where the Y gives no phonic value, but I could find no name whose sound was not changed by it. Henry would be “Henr” (No “ee”). Shirley and Yvonne would be “Shirle” and “Vonne” (No “ee”).
But in names like Yolanda, Young, and York, where the first letter is Y and it precedes a vowel, the Y is a semi-consonant, just as the W is a semi-consonant when it precedes a vowel, as in William and Walter.
Normally Y before R, as in Ayres, is considered a consonant. But notice the change of phonic sound; with the Y it is pronounced “Airs.” Without the Y it is “Ares.” Here, too, the Y is really a semi-consonant.
People with a Y in their names have a leaning toward the mystical; a desire to study the mysteries of life. And since Y is the 25th letter (25/7), there is a drawing power of the 7 vibration to a deeper inward reflection.
The W has its ups and downs; the Y, its crossroads where a decision must be made. The W has its subtle “oo” sound and the Y, subtle “ee.” In every case where this subtle vowel sound occurs I have found that more significant information can be gleaned when the Y, like the W, is used first as a consonant and then as a vowel, giving a double Soul's Urge.