Although the practice of using numbers to understand the world has ancient roots, contemporary numerology comes from a system derived from Pythagoras, a philosopher and mathematician of ancient Greece. Pythagoras based numerology on a belief in the energy of the digits that make up the universe. Numerology is the pseudo-scientific and pseudo-mathematical belief in a divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value of letters in words, names and ideas.
It is often associated with the paranormal, along with astrology, and is similar to the divinatory arts. Some alchemical theories were closely related to numerology. For example, the Arab-Persian alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan framed his experiments in an elaborate numerology based on the Arabic names of substances. Numerology figures prominently in Sir Thomas Browne's 1658 literary discourse The Garden of Cyrus.
Throughout its pages, the author attempts to demonstrate that the number five and the related Quincunx pattern can be found in all the arts, in design and in nature, especially in botany. There are several systems of numerology that assign a numerical value to the letters of the alphabet. Examples are the Arabic abjad numerals, Hebrew numerals, Armenian numerals and Greek numerals. The practice within the Jewish tradition of assigning mystical meaning to words based on their numerical values, and connections between words of equal value, is known as gematria.
Some Chinese assign a number of different meanings to numbers and certain number combinations are considered more fortunate than others. In general, even numbers are considered lucky, as it is believed that good luck comes in pairs. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and its associated fields such as acupuncture, base their system on mystical numerical associations, such as that the 12 vessels that circulate blood and air correspond to the 12 rivers that flow to the Central Realm; and that the 365 parts of the body, one for each day of the year, are the basis for locating acupuncture points. Scientific theories are sometimes labelled as numerology if their main inspiration seems to be a set of patterns rather than scientific observations.
This colloquial use of the term is quite common within the scientific community and is mostly used to dismiss a theory as dubious science. The best known example of numerology in science concerns the coincidental resemblance of certain large numbers that intrigued such eminent men as the mathematical physicist Paul Dirac, the mathematician Hermann Weyl and the astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington. These numerical coincidences concern quantities such 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 forces between gravity and the electric force for the electron and the proton. Is the universe fine-tuned for us? Stenger, V, J.
The discovery of the atomic triads, an early attempt to classify the elements in some logical order by their physical properties, was once considered a form of numerology, yet it eventually led to the construction of the periodic table. Here the atomic weights of the lightest and heaviest elements are added together and averaged, and the average is found to be very close to that of the element of intermediate weight. This did not work for all triplets in the same group, but it worked often enough that later workers were able to create generalisations. One of the most fascinating aspects of numerology is that all readings are based on when you entered the universe in your human form.
So whether you like your name or not, or when your birthday falls in the year, it all has meaning. In their study of mathematical concepts, the Pythagoreans classified numbers into categories. Numbers such as 1, 4 and 9 were squares because a corresponding number of dots or pebbles could be arranged in a perfect square. 1, 3, 6 and 10 were triangular, since one, three, six or ten dots can be arranged in regular triangles.
Two, six and 12 were oblong, as the corresponding number of pebbles formed rectangles. The most important of these is the life path number, a sum total of the entire date of birth. The number of the day of birth also carries a lot of weight, while the number of the year of birth, the month of birth and the attitude (sum of the day and month of birth) carry less weight. Research into claims of numerological ability has found no evidence of genuine psychic ability.
Other writers may have published work prior to Balliett, but his books seem to incorporate Pythagorean principles and add the concepts used in numerology today. It would be fair to say that numerology was the origin of the theories of electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, and gravitation. Based on your day of birth with the month, your birthday number will tell you of specific talents and potentially where they fit in your universe to give you true purpose. The origin of numerology and how it came about is somewhat mysterious, like many ancient philosophies.
However, in the same way that numbers are infinite, someone's numerology chart can still be read from many perspectives as an ongoing project. If the result has two or more digits, the numerologist will add those digits together, repeating that step until a single digit is reached. More generally, followers of numerology believe that numbers, and the associations between them, are mystical and meaningful. Other evidence shows that numerology was used thousands of years ago in Rome, China, Greece and Japan.
So now that you are beginning to realise that the numbers in your life (whether you notice them or not) might have more meaning than you think, here are some interesting facts about numerology that are worth knowing.
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