Numerology is any belief in the purported divine, mystical or other special relationship between a number and some coinciding events. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs. Numerology and numerological divination by systems such as isopsephy were popular among early mathematicians, such as Pythagoras, but are no longer considered part of mathematics and are regarded as pseudomathematics or pseudoscience by modern scientists.
Today, numerology is often associated with the paranormal, alongside astrology and similar divinatory arts.

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Despite the long history of numerological ideas, the word “numerology” is not recorded in English before c.1907.

The term numerologist is also used derogatorily for those perceived to place excess faith in numerical patterns (and draw scientifically unsound inferences from them), even if those people do not practice traditional numerology. For example, in his 1997 book Numerology: Or What Pythagoras Wrought, mathematician Underwood Dudley uses the term to discuss practitioners of the Elliott wave principle of stock market analysis.

Number definitions

There are no set definitions for the meaning of specific digits, and interpretations of the meaning of digits and their orders vary throughout different cultures and schools of numerology. Common interpretations include:

1. Individual; aggressor; self; leadership yang
2. Balance; union; receptive; partnership yin
3. Communication/interaction
4. Creation
5. Action; restlessness; life experience
6. Home/family; responsibility; artistic in nature
7. Thought/consciousness; spirit
8. Power/sacrifice
9. Highest level of changes

Some numerologists analyze double-digit numbers as well, from 10 to 99. These numbers (e.g., 11, 22, 33,…) are commonly referred to as “master numbers” (Buess, 2005). This study of numerology is based on the evidence of significant double-digit numbers in the Kabbalah, the I-ching, the Pythagorean numerology, the Tarot Arcana of the Eastern faiths, and the Runes of the Viking age. Various authors of numerology books determine various meanings for each number, from 0 to 9 and from 10 to 99.

Of relevance to numerical interpretations is arithmancy, which refers to a group of techniques involving the manipulation of numbers in order to determine meaning.

Alphabetic systems

There are many numerology systems which assign numerical value to the letters of an alphabet. Examples include the Abjad numerals in Arabic, the Hebrew numerals, Armenian numerals, and Greek numerals. The practice within Jewish tradition of assigning mystical meaning to words based on their numerical values, and on connections between words of equal value, is known as gematria.

For example, numbers are assigned to letters as follows:

• 1 = a, j, s,
• 2 = b, k, t,
• 3 = c, l, u,
• 4 = d, m, v,
• 5 = e, n, w,
• 6 = f, o, x,
• 7 = g, p, y,
• 8 = h, q, z,
• 9 = i, r,

…..and then summed. Examples:

• 3,489 → 3 + 4 + 8 + 9 = 24 → 2 + 4 = 6
• Hello → 8 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 6 = 25 → 2 + 5 = 7

A quicker way to arrive at a single-digit summation (the digital root) is simply to take the value modulo 9, substituting a 0 result with 9 itself.

Different methods of calculation exist, including Chaldean, Pythagorean, Hebraic, Helyn Hitchcock’s method, Phonetic, Japanese, Arabic and Indian.

The examples above are calculated using decimal (base 10) arithmetic. Other number systems exist, such as binary, octal, hexadecimal and vigesimal; summing digits in these bases yields different results. The first example, shown above, appears thus when rendered in octal (base 8):

• 3,489₁₀ = 6641₈ → 6 + 6 + 4 + 1 = 21₈ → 2 + 1 = 3₈ = 3₁₀

“Numerology” in science

Scientific theories are sometimes labeled “numerology” if their primary inspiration appears to be a set of patterns rather than scientific observations. This colloquial use of the term is quite common within the scientific community and it is mostly used to dismiss a theory as questionable science.

The best known example of “numerology” in science involves the coincidental resemblance of certain large numbers that intrigued such eminent men as mathematical physicistPaul Dirac, mathematician Hermann Weyl and astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington. These numerical coincidences refer to such quantities as the ratio of the age of the universe to the atomic unit of time, the number of electrons in the universe, and the difference in strengths between gravity and the electric force for the electron and proton. (“Is the Universe Fine Tuned for Us?”, Stenger, V.J.).

The discovery of atomic triads (dealing with elements primarily in the same group or column of the periodic table) was considered a form of numerology, and yet ultimately led to the construction of the periodic table. Here the atomic weight of the lightest element and the heaviest are summed, and averaged, and the average is found to be very close to that of the intermediate weight element. This didn’t work with every triplet in the same group, but worked often enough to allow later workers to create generalizations. See Döbereiner’s triads

Large number co-incidences continue to fascinate many mathematical physicists. For instance, James G. Gilson has constructed a “Quantum Theory of Gravity” based loosely on Dirac’s large number hypothesis.

Wolfgang Pauli was also fascinated by the appearance of certain numbers, including 137, in physics. British mathematician I. J. Good wrote:

There have been a few examples of numerology that have led to theories that transformed society: see the mention of Kirchhoff and Balmer in Good (1962, p. 316) … and one can well include Kepler on account of his third law. It would be fair enough to say that numerology was the origin of the theories of electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, gravitation…. So I intend no disparagement when I describe a formula as numerological.

When a numerological formula is proposed, then we may ask whether it is correct. … I think an appropriate definition of correctness is that the formula has a good explanation, in a Platonic sense, that is, the explanation could be based on a good theory that is not yet known but ‘exists’ in the universe of possible reasonable ideas.

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