numerology

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Numerology is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things.

Numerology and numerological divination were popular among early mathematicians, such as Pythagoras, but are no longer considered part of mathematics and are regarded as pseudomathematics by most modern scientists. This is similar to the historical development of astronomy out of astrology, and chemistry from alchemy.

Today, numerology is often associated with the occult, alongside astrology and similar divinatory arts. The term can also be used for those who, in the view of some observers, place excess faith in numerical patterns, even if those people don't practice traditional numerology. For example, in his 1997 book Numerology: Or What Pythagoras Wrought, mathematician Underwood Dudley uses the term to discuss practitioners of the Elliott wave principle of stock market analysis.

History

Modern numerology often contains aspects of a variety of ancient cultures and teachers, including Babylonia, Pythagoras and his followers (6th century B.C. Greece), astrological philosophy from Hellenistic Alexandria, early Christian mysticism, the occultism of the early Gnostics, 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).

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.

St. Augustine of Hippo (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 and 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.

An 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.

Methodologies

Number definitions

0. Everything and nothing or absoluteness, the All
1. Individual. Aggressor. Yang.
2. Balance. Union. Receptive. Yin.
3. Communication/interaction. Neutrality.
4. Creation.
5. Action. Restlessness.
6. Reaction/flux. Responsibility.
7. Thought/consciousness.
8. Power/sacrifice.
9. Completion.
10. Rebirth.

Digit summing

Numerologists often reduce a number or word by a process known as digit summing, then reach conclusions based on the single digit that is produced.

Digit summing, as the name implies, involves taking the sum of all of the digits in a number, and repeating the process as necessary until a single-digit answer is produced. For a word, the values corresponding to each letter's place in the alphabet (e.g., A=1, B=2, through Z=26) are summed.

Examples:

• 3,489 → 3 + 4 + 8 + 9 = 24 → 2 + 4 = 6
• Hello → 8 + 5 + 12 + 12 + 15 = 52 → 5 + 2 = 7

A quicker way to arrive at a single-digit "summation" is simply to take the value modulo 9, substituting a 0 result with 9 itself.

Different methods of calculation exist, including Chaldean, Pythagorean, Hebraic, Helyn Hitchcock's method, Phonetic, Japanese and Indian.

English letter numeric values

English letter numeric values — Chaldean method

Other

In some cases, in a type of numerological divination, the name and birth date of an individual will be used to analyze and define personality and propensities.

Chinese numerology

Main article: Numbers in Chinese culture

Some Chinese assign a different set of meanings to the numbers and certain number combinations are considered luckier than others. In general, even numbers are considered lucky, since it is believed that good luck comes in pairs.

Chinese number definitions

Cantonese frequently assign the following definitions, which may differ in other forms of Chinese:

1. - 一 sure
2. - 二 easy
3. - 三 live
4. - 四 - considered unlucky since the pronunciation of 4 ( sì ) sounds like the word for death ( sǐ ).
5. - 五 - the self, me, myself, nothing, never
6. - 六 - easy and smooth, all the way.
7. - 七 - a slang/vulgar word in cantonese.
8. - 八 - sudden fortune, prosperity
9. - 九 - long in time, a slang/vulgar word in cantonese

Some lucky number combinations include:

• 99 - doubly long in time, hence eternal; used in the name of a popular Chinese-American supermarket chain, 99 Ranch Market.
• 168 - road of prosperity or to be prosperous together - many premium-pay telephone numbers in China begin with this number. Many businesses also prefer to have this number as part of their names.
• 518 - I will prosper, other variations include: 5189 (I will prosper for a long time), 516289 (I will get on a long, smooth prosperous road) and 5918 (I will soon prosper)
• 814 - Similar to 168, this means 'I will be wealthy my entire life'. 148 also implies the same meaning.
• 888 - prosperity x3.
• 1314 - whole life time.

Other fields

Numerology and astrology

Main article: astrology and numerology

Numerology and alchemy

Many alchemical theories were closely related to numerology. Persian alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan, inventor of many chemical processes still used today, framed his experiments in an elaborate numerology based on the names of substances in the Arabic language.

"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. ^{[citation needed]}

The best known example of 'numerology' in science involves the coincidental resemblance of certain large numbers that intrigued 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. ('Is the Universe Fine Tuned for Us?', Stenger V.J., page 3[1]).

Large number co-incidences continue to fascinate many mathematical physicists. For instance, James G. Gilson has constructed a 'Quantum Theory of Gravity' based loosely on Dirac's large number hypothesis [2].

Numerology in the Bible

Main article: Biblical Numerology

Ivan Panin's numeric patterns that he claimed to be found from Bible are sometimes called Bible Numerology.

Popular culture

Numerology is a popular plot device in fiction. It can range from a casual item for comic effect, such as in an episode titled "The Seance" of the 1950s TV sitcom I Love Lucy, where Lucy dabbles in numerology, to a central element of the storyline, such as the movie π, in which the protagonist meets a numerologist searching for hidden numerical patterns in the Torah.

References

• Numerology: Numbers and their Influence by RoseMaree Templeton Rockpool Publishing (2007)
• The Mystery of Numbers, by Annemarie Schimmel (1996) ISBN 0-19-506303-1 — A scholarly compendium of the connotations and associations of numbers in historical cultures.
• Numerology : the number game, by Aaadietya Pandey (2006).
• Numerology: Or, What Pythagoras Wrought by Underwood Dudley; 1997; Mathematical Association of America.
• Andras M. Nagy (2007): "The Secret of Pythagoras".(DVD) ASIN: B000VPTFT6

External links

• 2006 article about juror being removed from trial after using numerology
• Aesthetic views of numbers on human history -- An analysis
• Comparative Numerology: Fundamental Powers: The Numbers One to Ten -- Compares qualities of numbers of different numerological systems
• Numerology tutorial with descriptions of all the numbers -- Deals in the field of calculation based on one's given name, beyond the scope of this article

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