Number Meanings

• Before kindergarten, children are taught how to recognize the numbers one through nine; in numerology, each of these numbers corresponds to a personality trait that interplays with other numbers in a person's life to create unique situations. Here are what the numbers mean: One represents independence, originality and ambition; two means diplomacy and cooperation; three denotes creativity and self-expression; four is organized and hard-working; five represents variety and restlessness; six denotes responsibility and family; seven, serious intellectual thought and physical rest; eight is financially ambitious, always thinking of the big picture; and nine is humanitarian and selfless.
  
  

Evaluating Personality

• Just as in astrology, a person's birth date is used in numerology to evaluate a person's personality. The birth month, day and year are added together and reduced to a single digit called the "life path number," the equivalent of the sun sign in astrology. The name is also used in numerology to determine a person's "expression number," which is another aspect of a person's personality. Added together, the life path number and expression number will reveal a "destiny number," the ultimate path a person should follow in life to be happy.
  
  

Predictive Numerology

• Numerologists don't simply discern a person's traits by using numbers, but can also give a person an idea of how best to live her life from one day to the next based on what numbers are prevalent in her chart. For example, using the current year as a base number and adding a person's birth digit to it (the month and day of birth), a numerologist can determine a person's personal year, month and day. This can serve as a blueprint for life, pointing out good days to begin and end projects, put forth extra ambition and change jobs.
  
  

History

• No one is certain of the absolute history of numerology. Numbers played an important role in ancient Greek and Roman society. Some often consider the Greek mathematician Pythagoras to be the first numerologist, as he felt that everything in life could be related to numbers.
  
  

Master Numbers

• In predictive numerology, there are three two-digit numbers that do not get reduced to single digits. These "master numbers" are 11, 22 and 33. They each vibrate "higher" ideals of their single digit counterparts. For example, 11 reduces to the number 2, and symbolizes inspiration and leadership. If found in a person's chart, these numbers are supposed to reveal the presence of an "old soul," one who has been reincarnated many times.
  
  

Warning

• There are as many "professional" numerologists as there are astrologers. But not all numerologists provide a legitimate service to their patrons. The primary function of a numerologist should be to provide a person with insight into why he is compelled to act in particular ways or follow a particular path. A numerologist who claims to be able to pick winning lottery numbers for a client probably is not in the field to help him determine his place in the world or how he can make the world a better place.