Numerology is the relationship between one’s birth date, birthplace, and name with their future experiences. It interprets the numerical value of letters in names or words to produce insight into someone’s personality or what events may occur during their life.
It is an esoteric spiritual tradition whose origins are uncertain but appear to have developed independently of the ancient Greek and Vedic traditions of assigning a numerical value to letters. Other cultures such as Chinese, Hebrew, and Egyptian civilizations used more sophisticated systems that did not always rely on arithmetic; their symbolic system often assigned meanings of qualities (e.g., good versus evil) to the different numbers.
The Pythagoreans believed that because mathematics was closely linked to the universe’s structure, it could be used to tell you about things in your life based on what they could see happening today around them by using abstract concepts like multitudes or portions. This belief is considered to be an esoteric spiritual tradition that has survived for centuries. This has resulted in people being able to use numbers for practical applications, such as predicting the future before it happens. Thanks to modern technology, it’s gaining more attention, making it easier for people curious about these practices to get started.
While numerologists typically use numbers associated with letters (e.g., 8 for H), it can also be seen as assigning correspondences to each letter (e.g., “A” = 1). Pythagoras originated the theory behind this method. Some modern practitioners confine themselves to using numbers 1 through 9, while others have expanded their methods to include higher numbers in calculations.
The number chosen as the root of a person’s life path is usually calculated by using an individual’s date of birth; it gives significance to the total number value of that specific day, month and year. The next step involves calculating one number for each letter in a name: the variations per name, like nicknames and duplications, make no significant difference.
For a full name, the letters in each name are added together until reduced to a single digit. In some cases where only an initial is used, it may be possible for different names to become the same number under this system. The other method is to call the numbers up until reduced to a single digit. In many cases, the numbers are added until they reduce to one number. Still, in some cases where there are repeating digits, they are added together until the total number of digits is reduced to a single digit.
The names in specific languages have correspondences between their letters and how they can be used to form strings of words that hold hidden clues about what events will occur to the bearer—the key being in which language the name originated in. Modern numerologists typically use strings in English because it has very few repeated numbers while other languages offer more possibilities. Hebrew-origin names present challenges when assigning numbers for this; although Hebrew lacks vowels, some experts include them.
The level of accuracy that people can achieve when using numerology depends on their ability to recall and remember details about the person, the number system they’re working in, and whether they’re taking into account all factors (any nicknames or changes of name). There is no empirical evidence supporting numerology.
People have been using numbers from ancient times to discover knowledge about themselves and the world around them. It’s part of a broader belief in divination, which is gaining more attention thanks to modern technology, making it easier to get started with these practices. Numerology has survived for centuries because of its practical applications: being able to predict future events before they happen allows you more leeway in altering them—or knowing how best to prepare for them.