The Number Game
Stars
often take on stage and screen names. Hence the metamorphosis of Norma Jean
into Marilyn Monroe, Yusufbhai into Dilip Kumar, Meejhabhen aka Meena Kumari, Harry Webb into Cliff
Richard without the “s”...
A
remarkable story of the transformation a name change can bring about involves
Gerry Dorsey, a talented but struggling torch singer, unable to break out of
the UK “B Club Circuit” where he’d languished for 14 long years. At last, his
manager, on one inspired day, changed his stage name to Engelbert Humperdinck,
borrowing this so-unhip-that-it’s-hip
name from an obscure 19th century German classical music composer.
And immediately, overnight, Engelbert arrived, and stayed.
It may be clear, from this aforementioned
nugget, that sometimes, talent, and for that matter, destiny, needs a little nudge
for the ready lamp to light. After all, not everyone is born with a name to
suit - like rock King Elvis Presley - and even the pelvis had to dye his hair
black.
Traditionally,
the current trend of attracting a little magic in one’s direction, was embedded
into paths of least resistance taken at the suggestion of family astrologers.
Many,
not placed on the right track at birth by prescient astrologers, develop the
urge, in these new aged times, to make a course correction much later. Is there
substance in numerology that is superior to the four-leaf clover or the
rabbit’s foot after all?
Numerology
harks back to the Hebrew Kabbalah and their practice of Gematrics, an elaborate
scheme that lays out the interrelationship between alphabets, words and
numbers, Chinese divinatory systems, ancient Egyptian writings and our very own
Vedas.
Change
your name, or even the way it is spelt, change your destiny goes the promise.
And more and more ordinary people are undertaking contortions of spelling to
realign their names. These folk are following the examples set by role models,
celebrities such as Shobhaa, Jayalalithaa and Viviek.
So which of all the numbers are auspicious? Bingo
players will mumble “lucky 7” but the thing is, every number comes with its own set of goodies and each letter of
the alphabet in the “Roman Script” corresponds to a given number. The premise
holds true in other languages and scripts too. So interpretation becomes quite
a bitch. Take the word “shirt”: it’s numerical charge in English is 8, but, in
Spanish, “shirt” is “camisa,” and the numerological
equivalence is 6. So here we are, shirt-tail in hand, embedded on the horns of
a meanings and implications dilemma. Numerology is probably a good way to start
arguments, and, perhaps, if you have a meditative bent of noggin, a good way to
exercise grey cells.
Here’s the roll call.
Numbers one to nine are used in numerology to describe character, predict
outcomes, attract good fortune and side-step the charge of enraged bulls.
Compound numbers are tinctures and
higher octaves of the same 9 primary numbers. Alphabets a, b,
c, d, e, f, g, h, and i take the
first nine seats front row but the next set of nine get the same nine numbers
in sequence and so on. This is how you
land up with families of same number
alphabets, about three to the pack. So j
has a numerical equivalence of 1, just like a.
Words, names, street addresses,
flowers, fruit, mountain, stream, trees, movie, serial titles, shop fronts, and
Victoria’s Secret, can all be tweaked. The myriad names of God, the Devil,
lovers, heroes, heart-throbs, villians and banes, exes, pets: can all be
reduced to sets of single and sometimes compound numbers, and analysed to
reveal all.
Each individual number of a
compound can likewise be analysed separately and in conjunction for all that
they represent. The navigating principle in all of this is the bank of received knowledge, your native intuition and
a good “feel” for sorting wheat from chaff and seeing woods for trees.
Playing around with numbers as a
unifying principle: adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing them,
pondering likelinesses and applicability, creating integers and formulae and
other building blocks, did eventually give birth to calculus and modern computing. So it’s
probably best if you don’t sneer at the esoteric by-products. It would be
sneering at Pythagoras, a keen 6th century numerologist, for
example.
One is the loneliest number as the
song has it. Numero Uno, first, tough at the top, associated with the Sun,
Sunday and immensely powerful. It represents the beginning, the start of
things, the origin, perfection, absolutism and God - in monotheistic faiths,
that is. Number One people, (born on the 1st,10th or 28th,
those whose entire birth-date adds up to 1, or those whose most-frequently-used
name numbers add up to 1), are happy, loving, dynamic and charismatic when
they’re feeling smooth and fitted into their groove. But if they’ve got out of
bed on the wrong side, the self-same Ones can be sharply egotistical, selfish
and melodramatic. Ones are simply not afraid to be individuals, be obstinate, or go for a walk all by
themselves.
Two
is altogether more amiable, Moony and Mondayish. Twos represent duality: partnerships
and interaction with others on the one hand, and disunion and polarities on the
other. In symbolising partnership, Two implies that individual achievements are
not always sustainable and benefit from
co-operation and teamwork. You also most definitely need two to tango and
sustain der master race. Two has great fun with synonyms and antonyms,
Chinese Yin and Yang medallions and considerably less when buffetted by the
tension generated by some of those infamous polarities. Twosas have feminine
virtues, like the Moon, thought of as feminine, in contrast to the fiery and
masculine Sun. Twos display intuition, they nurture and protect. Having said this, a negative twofer can be a right-pain-in-the-a:
full of the petty vexations of the human spirit. It’s the grief of being Number
Two, the frustration of being a perpetual Tonto but never The Lone Ranger.
Three is
expansive Jupiter’s number with Thursday all to itself. And By Jove, it puts a third leg to the
see-sawing polarity of two. This injects
stability, integration and the
wholeness into the occasional table. Three is the number of the Holy Trinity in
more than one major world religion. Three jives with mind, body, and spirit.
Our visible world is three dimensional. Three is lucky, a money magnet and
career builder. Three associates with successful communication of all kinds:
expression, drama, acting, humour. On
the upside, Threes can be wise, understanding and knowledgeable. On the flip,
Threes can be sad sacks, foolhardy and take unnecessary risks particularly when
attempting to run three-legged races.
Four is ruled by Rahu, the
Shadow Planet Dragon’s Head, and shares Sunday’s with Number One.The first
"composite" number; that is to say, the first number that can be
created from multiplying numbers other than itself. The simplest solid, a right
square, has four sides. There are four cardinal points as any weathervane will
tell you, (North, South, East and West), months have four weeks mostly and some
lucky climes have four seasons. There are four Christian gospels and four
"elements": viz. Fire, Air, Earth, and Water. The "composite
personality" of the Foursomes often
leads to fiercely independent, "out-of-the-box" thinking. Dilbert
must have been created by a 4. In the Jewish religion, the number four
resonates with the four-letter name of the
God, Yod-He-Vau-He. The other
four-letter word we live by needs no introduction. However, Chinese numerology
doesn’t like 4 because the word "four" is a homonym of the Chinese
word for death. So the Chinese skip the 4th floor on their buildings
just as much of the rest of the world skips the 13th ( a higher
octave of the self-same 4).
Five stands for sensual
awareness in the form of the five senses. If Lolita spoke up, this might well
turn out to be her number. Associated with the thinking planet Mercury and
Wednesday, Fives are highly analytical but can over-ponder an issue too.
Contrast this contradiction with their
Quicksilver temperaments which bestow great
and instant grasp and can exude killer charm. Fives are versatile and
kinky, scandalously open to new ways of
doing “it”. Bet you can’t wait to meet one armed with this intelligence.
Six is Venusian, not specially rich but very
comfortable thank you. Number Six is surrounded by luxury and sensual
fulfilment. But line ‘em up three in a row(666) and it becomes the number of
The Beast (The Antichrist, who it is prophesied, will rule the world with the
consummate charm of the Devil). By itself, Sixers are tactful, beautiful and
harmonious. And why ever not? The Six deals primarily in attraction and
pleasure, possess charm, grace and the ability to make diplomatic small talk in
abundance. But piss off a Chakka and
you get trashed. The Sixer will go on a philandering spree, bitter as gourd,
vengeful as the whole rack of wrath with no barbecue sauce to help things
along. Still, should you want to play math footsie, Six is the first "perfect" number, in that the sum of its
divisors, other than itself, is equal to itself: 6 X 1 = 6 and 3 X 2 = 6, and 1
+ 2 + 3 = 6. Interestingly, the product of its divisors, other than itself,
also equals 6.
Seven is Neptune’s number, illusive and veiled, fish-tailed
and armed with a trident. Seven is also
ruled by Ketu, the Shadow Planet Dragon’s Tail and shares Monday with the polar
Twos. Lucky Seven is concealed and sacred. Three Sevens in a row (777) is God’s own number by Biblical tradition. In
Islam, however, the number is 786 being the total value of
the letters of "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim". Then you have 7 days a week, the
Bible says God created the world in 7, the ancient solar system had 7
planets (getting a bit messed though,
what with recent discoveries). There are 7 chakras too. But when it comes to 7
people, it does take a bit of doing to
find the light under this complicated and
dreamy bushel.
Eight on the other hand packs a Saturday Night Special. Eight also
serenades you with all eight notes (octave), of the musical scale. The Chinese
love 8 best of all and set up a clatter of chatter in praise of the "good
luck" number, mainly because Eights move heaven and earth to achieve
wealth and material success. To the Chinese, this wealth and pelf thing is THE
IDEAL. Saturnian, the Atka is loaded
with sinuous ability to tame karmic influences. Eights work hard for their
money and learn avidly from experience. The number of seriously rich and famous
Number Eights are legion because nothing deters them from their objective.
Lovers love their ardour. Everyone say Salut! Tamam shud.
Nine is the number of the
genius, ruled by warrior planet Mars and reformist Uranus. Innovative,
changeable, do-gooding Nines possess all
our Tuesdays and are happiest making
some kind of difference.
And those of us who cannot yet
find a truth in all of this are worshippers of the Zifr, the Arabic zero, the
sublime Fool of the Tarot deck, the unborn, full of possibility.
For: Sirfnews
By Gautam
Mukherjee
31st
October 2015
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