What's in a Name?
A little fun with numerology
Numerology can be a lot of fun, and it can also give us a basis for some very deep inner reflection, and maybe even a revelation or two. So I thought I’d show you how it works and share a few of my favorite ways to use it.
The numerology I use is based on the Pythagorean system. There’s also a Chaldean system, but I’ve never used it. Pythagorean is the system most frequently used today.
The idea is to reduce your subject to a single digit from 1 to 9. Each digit has specific meaning associated with it, so the system is a form of divination and insight.
Here’s how to do it with numbers, but you can also do it with words and names. Let’s start with a birthdate, no one’s in particular.
January 7th, 1965. = 1/7/1965.
To transform the date into a single digit, you line up all the digits and add them together.
1 + 7 + 1 + 9 + 6 + 5 = 29
If your sum is more than one digit, you just repeat the process, adding the two digits together.
2 = 9 = 11
And repeat until you get a single digit.
1 + 1 = 2
A person born 1/7/1965 breaks down to a 2 in numerology. (I’ll include brief interpretations for each digit below.)
You can use this with any series of digits, a phone number, an address, lottery numbers, anything.
You can also use it for words and names
There’s a chart to convert each letter of the alphabet into a word. You can make one yourself. I scribble these things on scraps of paper everywhere. Just write the digits 1-9 across a single row, and then write the alphabet out directly beneath it. When you reach the ninth spot, add another row until you get to Z, which is an 8.
You can spell out your birth name along with any name changes you might be considering. Just match each letter to a number, and then proceed as above, adding the digits until you come up with a single-digit sum.
MAGGIE SHAYNE = 417795 181755
4+1+7+7+9+5+1+8+1+7+5+5 = 60
6 + 0 = 6
Now you know how to do it!
But what do the numbers mean?
Traditional Meanings of Numerology
1: A natural leader, breaking new ground, beginnings, impetus, the mover and shaker, confidence, power, action, paving the way for others to follow, opportunity. 1 takes control of the future and shapes it to its liking.
2. Balance, choices, feminine energy, diplomacy, strong intuition, equality, partnerships, opposites, choices. The ability to “read the room,” find the clues, follow the logic and solve the issue. More about teamwork than authority.
3. Creativity, the act of combining other elements to make something new, fun, zest for life, originality, uniqueness, curiosity, youthfulness, a child at heart, joy, exuberance.
4. Stability, strength, efficiency, wise rationality, reliable consistency, the tried and true, practicality and loyalty, planning and foundation.
5. Freedom, adventure, going wherever the wind blows with a kind of fearless, joyous abandon, adaptability to change, easily bored, loves excitement, craves the new.
6. The number of the heart, unconditional love, nurturing, support, healing, empathy, protective of others, romantic.
7. Digs for deeper knowledge, both intellectual and spiritual, both analytical and intuitive, finder of hidden truths and deeper meaning. Not satisfied with surface answers and pat solutions. Takes nothing at face value, always wants to go deeper.
8. The achiever of goals, a pursuer of success, a strong presence, the shape of the 8 represents balance. Sideways it’s the lemniscate, symbol of eternity. 8s are lucky and represent ultimate achievement.
9. Moving from the end of a cycle to the beginning of the next. Completion. Fulfillment, but not an end point. Transition, transformation and guidance. The act of receiving knowledge from spirit and transmitting it to humanity. Humanitarian, compassionate and kind.
There is much more detail on the digits at Numerology.com
Exercises to learn more about yourself
Find Your Soul Number
To find out more about your intentions and purpose for the current lifetime, add the numbers of your birth date until you get a single digit, and then explore the meanings behind that digit. Also be sure to consider what that digit means to you.
Your Personality Number
Convert the letters of your full name at birth to digits and reduce to a single digit to learn more about your personality this time around. You can try this with any name change you’re considering, too, be it through marriage, transition, pseudonym, magical name, or any name of any sort.
Your Year Number
Substitute the current year for your birth year in this formula (month/day of birth and the full 4-digit current year) to get some insights into what the current year’s journey, lessons, and focus will be. These change in a natural, cyclical order, and it’s a fun New Year exercise.
Your Couples Number
Combine your birthdate with your partner’s to get a single digit.
Also, do the numerology on the wedding date to get a peek at how the marriage is going to be focused. Like with year numbers, you can use the month and day of the wedding, and the current year to see trends.
Other ways to understand your numbers
Other wise ones equate the digits in other ways for even deeper insights. I personally love to look at where each of the 9 digits falls on the Qabala or Tree of Life, where each sephira or sphere also bears a number.
My go-to reference for this information is a book called The Goddess and the Tree: The Witches Qabala, Book1 by the late Ellen Cannon Reed, who also created the Witches Tarot and its companion book, The Witches Qabala Book 2.
I found it on Amazon, but the title has been changed. I checked the sample text, however, and it’s the same book. (Book 1) I’m linking it here to Amazon US. You can search where you buy books under the newer title, “The Witches Qabala” and the author name, Ellen Cannon Reed. (These books changed my approach to the Tarot entirely. I only read with Reed’s now-rare, out-of-print deck. I’ve bought 3 of them because they’re so hard to find.)
So those are some fun things you can do with numbers and dates!
I hope you enjoy playing around with this and getting to know the system. This is the digest version, with enough info to get you started, but the layers of knowledge awaiting discovery here are practically infinite. Dive in and enjoy the journey.
Talk with you next week!
