Do certain numbers crop up in your life with astonishing regularity? For instance, if you were born on the 4th, you might find that this number seems to carry a lot of significance in your life. The number of your house might add up to four, you might have four children or your partner might also have been born on the 4th. Numerology will give you some clues as to why this should happen, by telling you the significance of the number four (it symbolizes stability and reliability) and showing you how to discover the numerical significance of any name that figures in your life, as well as any birthdate.
Four different numbers in your life:
- Your destiny number, from your date of birth
- Your personality number, from the name by which you’re usually known
- Your heart number, from the vowels that are in that name
- Your expression number, from the consonants that are in that name
DESTINY NUMBER
You calculate the destiny number from your date of birth. It is a very significant number because you can’t change it legally (even if you tell everyone that you’re younger or older than you really are), and it reveals the sort of lessons you will have to learn during the course of your life. If you believe in karma, the Eastern belief that your current actions determine your future, you could consider this to be your karmic number.
It’s extremely easy to calculate your destiny number. Simply add up all the numbers in your birthdate until you reach any number between 1 and 9, or 11 or 22.
Let’s say you want to find the destiny number of John Lennon, who was born on 9 October 1940. Write down the date in numerical form and add all the numbers together (you can just ignore the noughts), then add up the numbers in this result in order to reach the final number:
9+1+1+9+4=24
2+4=6
So, his destiny number is Six.
Incidentally, if you have added or subtracted a few years from your real birthdate, you should calculate both dates. The destiny number of your real birthdate will tell you about your true self, while that of your assumed birthdate will reveal a great deal about the way you would like to be seen by others.
PERSONALITY NUMBER
This number, taken from the name by which you are usually known, shows your natural abilities and talents, your strengths and weaknesses.
If you dislike your real first name and are always known by a nickname, then you should use this to calculate your personality number.
Equally, if your real name is Susan but you (are always known as Sue, that is the name you should use. Ignore any middle names, unless they form part of the name by which you are always known.
Now imagine that you want to calculate John Lennon‘s personality number. His original full name was, in fact, John Winston Lennon, but he later changed this to John Ono Lennon. So which name should you use? Actually, because he was known simply as John Lennon, that is the name you should use to calculate his personality number. If he had preferred to call himself Ono Lennon, or if he had only ever been known by his surname, those would be the names that you would use.
Now you need to convert the letters of the name into numbers, using the following system, known as the Pythagorean system.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |
| J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R |
| S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Numerologists disagree about whether Y counts as a vowel or a consonant. Some say it’s always a consonant while others believe that its pronunciation is the determining factor. So, when they calculate the name Yolande, Y acts as a consonant, but when Y is pronounced in the same way as a vowel, as in Holly, that is how you should count it. You can experiment with names and see which system works best for you. However, there is an unbreakable rule for a name without any vowels, such as Lynch — always count the Y as a vowel, whether it’s pronounced that way or not.
First, write down the name, then put the numerical value of each letter either above or below it. Write the numbers for the vowels above the name, and those for the consonants below it.
| 5 | 6 | |||||||||
| J | O | H | N | L | E | N | N | O | N | |
| 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
You are now ready to add up the numbers. Start with the vowels in the name:
6 + 5 + 6 = 17
This number is too high for the purposes of numerology, so it has to be reduced by adding the two digits together:
1 + 7 = 8
So, all the vowels in the name add up to Eight. This is the heart number.
The next step is to calculate the numerical value of the consonants:
1 + 8 + 5 + 3 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 32
Again, this number is too high, so you have to reduce it:
3 + 2 = 5
So, all the consonants add up to Five. This is the expression number.
All that is left to do now is to add the numerical value of the vowels and consonants together to find the personality number:
8 + 5 = 13
1 + 3 = 4
So, John Lennon‘s personality number is Four.
HEART NUMBER
This is calculated from the vowels in a name. It gives an extra depth of meaning to the personality number by revealing the person’s innermost desires, the way they would like to be in a perfect world and what they may fantasize about. The heart number is the private side of the personality, so when you calculate it for someone else you may not recognize this facet of their character.
In the example given for John Lennon, his heart number is Eight.
EXPRESSION NUMBER
This is calculated from the numerical value of the consonants in a person’s name. It reveals the way they react to the world and the face they present to other people. This may be a reflection of their inner self or it might be a completely different facet of their personality.
In the example given for John Lennon, his expression number is Five.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Once you have all this information you can start to gain more insight into your own personality, and also that of the people whose numbers you calculate. For instance, you may discover why you don’t get on well with some people, or the reason you feel drawn to others. You’ll also be able to know yourself better, which is, after all, the key to successful communication.
It is most harmonious for someone if their destiny and personality numbers are either both odd or both even. You may be able to change slightly the spelling of your name, or introduce an initial, to turn your name into an even or odd number that harmonizes with your destiny number. This enables the energies of the two numbers to work better together, with the result that your life will run more smoothly
You can also use numerology to find the most auspicious name for a company you want to set up, a child, your house, or your young brother’s rock group. Some numbers (especially Eight) are ideally suited for business; others (such as Nine) are very creative but may need some solid backbone in the form of willpower and determination (which is when you need to look carefully at the expression and heart numbers).
When you’re familiar with the meanings of each number, you might like to read the interpretations of John Lennon‘s four numbers, because together they present some surprising insights into his character. They also demonstrate something that you’ll quickly realize when you study numerology in more depth — many people have contradictory or very different numbers, some of which may be difficult to reconcile with the person concerned unless you know a lot about their life. For instance, John Lennon‘s destiny number is Six — a home-loving number you might not associate with someone renowned for their creativity, restlessness and ascerbic wit (qualities that are vividly reflected in his expression number of Five). But this makes sense once you know that he spent his last years in New York simply being a house-husband, baking bread and looking after his son Sean. He was apparently extremely happy.
