Mysteries and Secrets of Numerology. Patricia Fanthorpe

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СКАЧАТЬ very well be of similar age. Brought to America in the days of the slave trade, and carefully researched by academic African Americans in our own time, this African numerology resembles its Chaldean counterpart in some aspects, but differs from it significantly in others. In the old African system, “0” is thought of as the origin of everything else. It is considered a representation of God. The “1” is, again, male, and the “2” is female, just as in the Chaldean system. “Three” is also the number of creativity and growth. In the African system, “4” symbolizes the entire universe, having 4 corners or quadrants. It also represents the 4 stages of human life: conception, birth, existence, and death. Whereas the Chaldean “5” stood for change and resourcefulness, in the African system, “5” symbolizes religion and groups of the faithful. It also represents a combination of femininity (“2”) and creation (“3”), as well as family and tribal life. “Six” symbolizes something very similar in the African system, so “5” and “6” can almost be taken together in terms of meaning. If they are, of course, they create the all-powerful and highly desirable “11.” In the African system, “7” symbolizes deep thought, spirituality, and philosophy. This is closely comparable to the Chaldean meaning of “7” as the symbol of truth-seeking. In the Chaldean system, “8” stood for power and control. In the African system, it represents balance, poise, and equilibrium. For the ancient African numerologist, “9” is the symbol of nature, whereas in the Chaldean code it ruled over all the other numbers except for the “0.” The Chaldean “9” meant patience, tolerance, and compassion. In the ancient African system of numerology, “10” is the perfect number. It brings together the “1” of man and the “0” of God. It unites humanity and divinity.

      The ancient Japanese numerology was especially focused on “3,” “5,” and “7.” Children younger than 3 had their heads shaved or had very short haircuts. At age 3 they were allowed to grow hair. Five-year-old boys were permitted to wear a hakama for the first time. When girls reached the age of 7 they were allowed to fasten their kimonos with an obi. At ages 3, 5, and 7 children were taken to a shrine to pray for long life, good health, and to be protected against evil spirits.

      Chinese numerology differed from most other systems because it was a homophonic system, meaning the sound of the number, when spoken aloud, gave it its significance. In Chinese symbolism, “2” was a good, helpful, and lucky number because the sound of “2” in Cantonese was a homophone for the word easy. The favoured number “2,” therefore, made difficult tasks easy to perform. “Three,” in Chinese, sounds like the word for birth, so “3” is also considered a good, positive symbol in the old Chinese system. “Six” represented liquid, or fluidity, because of its homophonic partner in Mandarin. This meant it was a good number for business. In Cantonese, the same sound meant a blessing, so that also brought good luck. “Seven” is favoured among many systems of numerology, and the Chinese system, at this juncture, falls in with the majority. “Seven” symbolizes togetherness, friendship, and a happy community. “Eight” represents wealth and great prosperity. It is particularly interesting to note that a famous international banker has a string of “8”s as a telephone number. This seems to work well and bring prosperity. Chinese and Asian clients are especially keen to use this bank’s services. In the ancient Chinese system, the number “9” was always associated with the Emperor. His robes were decorated with 9 dragons, and in the old mythology, the dragon had 9 children. “Nine,” in the Chinese system, also symbolizes endurance and length of time, so it is conventionally used at weddings. As well as all these good and positive numerical homophonic associations, there are some negative ones. “Four” is avoided scrupulously, for example, because it sounds like the word for death.

      There is a tradition that the first so-called “magic square” appeared in China about 4,000 years ago. In the legend it appeared on the shell of a turtle that had been sent by the river god to assist the emperor. The essence of these numerological magic squares is that all the columns and rows in the square, as well as the diagonals, add up to the same number. Chinese traders who visited India with spices also seem to have carried numerological concepts with them. According to the form of numerology that developed in India, every person is endowed with 3 numbers. The first of these is the psychic number, which is related to the person’s date of birth. Anyone born on a date from the first to the ninth day of a month has a psychic number between 1 and 9. Someone born on the fifteenth of the month, for example, has a psychic number of “6” (1+5). A birth date on the twenty-ninth works in 2 stages: first, the numerals in the number 29 are added together (2+9=11), then, the numerals from whatever the sum of the first equation was, are added together (1+1=2).

      The next number is referred to as the person’s destiny number. This is found by adding the sum of the numerals for the year of their birth to the sum of the numerals for the day and month of their birth. For instance, co-author Lionel was born on 9/2/1935. Since the numerals for the day and month (9 and 2), are singular, we leave them as is. The year, however, needs to be calculated into a number below 10 using the reduction method we have previously demonstrated. So, first we add together the 4 numerals of the year (1+9+3+5), which comes to the sum of 18. We then add together the numerals of this sum, 18, which equals 9 (1+8). We now can add the 9 (representing the year of Lionel’s birth) to the numerals representing his day and month of birth: 9 (day)+2 (month)+9 (year)=20. Finally, we add together the numerals of the sum 20 (2+0). This comes to 2, whereas his psychic number is “9.” The destiny number refers to the way that other people see you, whereas the psychic number represents who you actually are. The third number, known as the name number, is rather more complicated.

      There are several ways in which the name number can be calculated. The simplest and best known technique is to use a number for each letter, but different numerologists would tend to allocate different numbers. One school of numerologists might say: A=1, B=2, C=3, and so on until I=9; but that would mean J=10, so the reduction of 10 (1+0) reverts to “1” again, like the “A.” The next letter, “K,” becomes “11,” which is reduced to “2” — the same number as allocated to the letter “B.” There are also complications about which name the person prefers, and which name he or she is best known by. This again distinguishes between the introspective self and the public self. In some systems the capital letter with which the name begins may be allocated additional weight and numerical value. Therefore, 2 equally well-qualified and experienced numerologists working with slightly different systems could reach very different conclusions.

      In the sixteenth century, Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), the mathematician, painter, and engraver, brought the old Chinese art of

       magic-square-making to its zenith. In his engraving entitled Melancholia, which he completed in 1514, there is a magic square in the top right-hand corner. The theme of the engraving is a proto-

       scientist, an alchemist in all probability, who is surrounded by unused equipment. His posture and the position of his head suggest that he is deep in melancholic thought.

16	3	2	13
5	10	11	8
9	6	7	12
4	15	14	1

      The magic square that he has created contains each of the numbers from 1–16. When added vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, they total 34. This has the numerological significance of “7,” which is found by adding the numerals of the sum 34 together (3+4). Each of the 4 corners adds to make 34 as well, as do the 4 centre squares. Dürer has even managed to incorporate the date of his work, 1514, by placing the numbers “15” and “14” together at the bottom of his magic square. It is a truly amazing piece of numerology.

      Basque numerology has significant contributions to make to the general history of the subject. Their language is not related to the old Indo-European, and their ancient origins are the subject of much speculation. Were the Basque people the original inhabitants of Europe prior to the arrival of the Indo-European peoples? Or were they from Chaldea? Interestingly, “11” has special significance in the Chaldean system. The Basques were certainly written about in Roman times. There are numerological СКАЧАТЬ