What Is Numerology? Types, Numbers and How to Calculate

Numerology is the belief that numbers carry meaning about a person. It turns your date of birth and your name into a few small numbers, then reads each one as a set of traits.

Below: where it came from, the main types, how to work out your own numbers, and what 1 to 9 are said to mean.

What Is Numerology?

Numerology is a system that links numbers to personality and life themes. Each letter of your name gets a number, and so does your birth date. Those numbers are added up and reduced to one digit from 1 to 9, or to a "master number" (11, 22 or 33).

Wikipedia describes it as the belief in a mystical link between numbers and events or ideas, often grouped with astrology.

Numerology in Short

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• Tell me your birth date and I will tell you your life path number.CopyShare
• Numerology: the maths class where every answer is about you.CopyShare
• My mulank says I am a leader. My mornings say otherwise.CopyShare
• Same birthday, different name, different number. That is numerology.CopyShare

How Numerology Works

Every system follows the same basic idea: turn something into digits, then add the digits until one is left. This is called reducing a number.

For example, 28 becomes 2 + 8 = 10, and 10 becomes 1 + 0 = 1. So 28 "reduces" to 1.

What changes between systems is what you count and how letters become numbers.

A Short History of Numerology

Number symbolism is very old, but modern numerology is fairly new.

• Ancient Greece. Greeks used letters as numbers, and Aristotle wrote that the followers of Pythagoras (6th century BCE) added up the number values of words, a practice called isopsephy. Hence the name "Pythagorean", though the Skeptic's Dictionary notes there is no evidence Pythagoras used numbers to read people's lives.
• Hebrew gematria. Hebrew letters were given number values to interpret scripture. Kabbalah numerology grew from this.
• Chaldean. Named after ancient Babylon, but today's chart was spread mainly by 20th-century writers such as Cheiro. Its ancient roots are claimed, not proven.
• The word itself. Older English called this "arithmancy" (recorded from the 1570s). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, cited on Wikipedia, the word "numerology" is not recorded before about 1907.

Types of Numerology

The five systems below are the ones most people search for. The biggest difference is how letters become numbers.

Western/Pythagorean Numerology

This is the most common system online. It uses the numbers 1 to 9 plus the master numbers 11, 22 and 33. Core numbers: life path, expression (full name), soul urge (vowels), personality (consonants) and birthday.

Chaldean Numerology

Chaldean numerology groups letters by sound and uses only 1 to 8. The number 9 can still show up as a total, but no letter carries it.

Kabbalah Numerology

Kabbalah numerology comes from Hebrew gematria, where every Hebrew letter has a number value. The modern version applied to English names reads only the name, not the birth date.

Tamil Numerology

Tamil numerology is a South Indian form of Vedic numerology. It gives each person a birth day number, a destiny number and a name number, and links each to a planet: 1 to the Sun, 2 to the Moon, 3 to Jupiter, 9 to Mars, and so on.

How to Calculate Your Numerology Numbers

You need your full date of birth and full birth name.

Life Path Number (Full Date of Birth)

Your life path is the most important number in Western numerology. Add every digit of your birth date, then keep adding until one digit is left. Stop if you reach 11, 22 or 33.

Example: 7 November 1998 (07-11-1998)

1. Write out the digits: 0, 7, 1, 1, 1, 9, 9, 8.
2. Add them: 0 + 7 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 9 + 9 + 8 = 36.
3. Reduce: 3 + 6 = 9.

So this person has life path 9. Read more in Number 9 in Numerology.

Some numerologists reduce day, month and year first: 7 + 11 + 9 (from 1998) = 27, and 2 + 7 = 9. The final digit is the same either way; only master numbers can differ.

Mulank (Birth Day Number)

Mulank is the Indian birth number, from the day of the month only. Ignore the month and year.

Example: born on the 7th, the mulank is 7. Born on the 25th, it is 2 + 5 = 7 too. Born on the 29th, it is 2 + 9 = 11, and 1 + 1 = 2.

Mulank is read as your everyday nature, how you come across.

Bhagyank (Destiny Number)

Bhagyank is the Indian name for the number from your full birth date. It is worked out exactly like the Western life path, so for most people bhagyank and life path are the same number.

So 7 November 1998 gives mulank 7 and bhagyank 9. Bhagyank is read as the bigger theme of your life.

Name Number (Expression Number)

The name number (also called the expression or destiny number in Western books) comes from the letters of your full birth name. In the Pythagorean system, each letter gets a number from this chart.

Example: RAHUL SHARMA

1. RAHUL: R (9) + A (1) + H (8) + U (3) + L (3) = 24.
2. SHARMA: S (1) + H (8) + A (1) + R (9) + M (4) + A (1) = 24.
3. Total: 24 + 24 = 48. Then 4 + 8 = 12, and 1 + 2 = 3.

So Rahul Sharma has name number 3 in the Pythagorean system. See Number 3 in Numerology.

With the Chaldean chart the same name gives RAHUL 17 and SHARMA 16, a total of 33, which reduces to 6. Different systems can give different name numbers, which is one reason readings vary so much.

Meaning of Numbers 1 to 9 in Numerology

Here is the short meaning of each number as most Western and Indian sources describe it. The planet column follows Vedic numerology.

Number 1

The pioneer. 1 likes to start things and lead, and can be stubborn. Full guide: Number 1 in Numerology.

Number 2

The peacemaker. 2 is patient and good with people, but can avoid conflict and struggle to decide.

Number 3

The creator. 3 is chatty, fun and artistic, and can scatter its energy. Full guide: Number 3 in Numerology.

Number 4

The builder. 4 values order, plans and hard work, and can get rigid or overwork.

Number 5

The explorer. 5 loves change, travel and new people, and can find routine hard.

Number 6

The carer. 6 looks after family and friends, and can take on too much. Full guide: Number 6 in Numerology.

Number 7

The thinker. 7 wants to understand things deeply and needs time alone. Full guide: Number 7 in Numerology.

Number 8

The achiever. 8 is linked with ambition, discipline and managing money and people. Full guide: Number 8 in Numerology.

Number 9

The humanitarian. 9 is caring and big-hearted, and has to learn to let go. Full guide: Number 9 in Numerology.

Master Numbers 11, 22 and 33

In Western numerology, 11, 22 and 33 are called master numbers and are not reduced when they appear as a life path or name total. They are read as a stronger form of the digit they reduce to.

Indian mulank calculations usually reduce them (11 to 2, 22 to 4).

Master Number 11

Intuition and inspiration. 11 is read as a sensitive, idealistic 2 with a lot of nervous energy. Full guide: Master Number 11 in Numerology.

Master Number 22

The master builder. 22 is the practical 4 with bigger plans, linked with turning large ideas into something real.

Master Number 33

The master teacher. 33 is the caring 6 turned outward, linked with teaching, healing and service. It is the rarest of the three as a life path.

Is Numerology Scientific?

No. There is no scientific evidence that numerology works. No controlled study has shown that people with the same life path share a personality.

Skeptics, including the Skeptic's Dictionary, class it with astrology as a belief system rather than a science. Mathematician Underwood Dudley's book "Numerology: Or, What Pythagoras Wrought" (Mathematical Association of America, 1997) shows how easily number patterns can be found in anything.

Why does it feel accurate? The descriptions are broad enough that most people see themselves in them, known as the Barnum or Forer effect. Fine as a hobby, but not a basis for big choices.

Numerology in Daily Life

Most people use numerology as a fun way to reflect, not as a rulebook. Common uses include:

• Self-reflection. Reading your life path description and asking which parts feel true.
• Baby names. Especially in India, parents check a name's number against the baby's mulank.
• Name spellings. Some people add or drop a letter to change their name number.
• Dates. Picking a wedding, launch or moving date with a number they like.

A fair rule: use it for ideas and conversation, and use facts for decisions.

If you enjoy number meanings, you may also like angel numbers, which read repeated numbers such as 1122 as signs.

अंक ज्योतिष क्या है? (Numerology in Hindi)

अंक ज्योतिष यह मान्यता है कि अंकों का हमारे स्वभाव से संबंध होता है। इसमें जन्म तिथि और नाम से कुछ अंक निकाले जाते हैं और हर अंक का एक अर्थ माना जाता है।

भारत में दो अंक सबसे ज़्यादा देखे जाते हैं:

• मूलांक: केवल जन्म की तारीख से। जैसे 25 तारीख को जन्म हुआ तो 2 + 5 = 7, यानी मूलांक 7।
• भाग्यांक: पूरी जन्म तिथि के सभी अंकों को जोड़कर। जैसे 07-11-1998 = 0+7+1+1+1+9+9+8 = 36, और 3 + 6 = 9, यानी भाग्यांक 9।

मूलांक को आपका रोज़ का स्वभाव और भाग्यांक को जीवन की बड़ी दिशा माना जाता है।

ध्यान रखें: अंक ज्योतिष एक मान्यता है, विज्ञान नहीं। इसे मनोरंजन और आत्म-चिंतन के लिए पढ़ें, बड़े फ़ैसलों के लिए नहीं।

Frequently Asked Questions

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