Pythagorean Numerology- Basics

Although I have been using and studying Chaldean numerology for many years, I will also write some articles on Pythagorean numerology. Why would someone write anything about a “competing” method of numerology? One reason is that the Pythagorean method is based on the official sequence of the alphabet and is therefore located in the collective matrix. The question is whether the effects of Pythagorean numerology are tangible, or how strongly this pattern works in the matrix.

Based on a multitude of analyses, I am personally convinced by Chaldean numerology. I was disappointed with Pythagorean numerology, especially when studying the influence of the universal and personal years, months and days. However, two or three years ago I also became acquainted with a particular Pythagorean technique which seems to have a predictive validity of about 80% (more analysis would be needed). The Chaldean approach is undoubtedly the leading one when analyzing a personal chart. There are several pitfalls to be considered and known by the numerologist when changing a first or last name. In fact, this is why some Chaldean numerologists use the Pythagorean school as an additional aid in their analysis. This eclectic approach was pioneered by numerologist Lloyd Strayhorn. It is a kind of fine-tuning to get the most out of a change of first or last name.

So, what can we say about Pythagorean numerology? Its originator is said to have been Pythagoras, half mythological being and half philosopher. Some consider it to represent the combined “embodiment” of several philosophers. The most widely accepted interpretation is that he lived in the 6th century BC and that he formed a secret spiritual and philosophical school around 500 BC. There is no historical evidence that Pythagoras also used numerology. The first Pythagorean to use numerology is thought to have been the 5th century BC philosopher Philolaus. Pythagorean numerology had a unique interpretation of numbers in antiquity – the monad (1) was supposed to represent God and unity, the dyad (2) was supposed to represent duality, the tryad (3) represented perfection, and so on. For some, the number 10 represents the tetractys, a special and sacred number.

The original Pythagoreans numbered the Greek alphabet, but later they also began to study the sequence of letters in the Latin alphabet. Sometimes they assigned ones to the first nine letters, tens to the next nine, and hundreds to the rest. At other times, ordinal values were used, where a number in the sequence was assigned to the letter. By the beginning of the 20th century, reduced values from 1 to 9 prevailed. We can see some historical alpha-numeric codes in Pythagorean numerology, shown with reduced values for ease of comparison with modern coding:

Modern Pythagorean numerology as an occult or metaphysical science about the influence of numbers on people’s destiny was developed in the 16th century by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. His coding was used by some numerologists until the beginning of the 20th century. Interestingly, between 1870 and 1908, Pythagorean numerologists mainly used the system first traced by Louisa Lawford (1870). Her descriptions of numbers are quite different from the ancient Pythagorean school and are in some places influenced by Chaldean numerology, or at least the numerology of the Tarot. From the total name number (TNN) it was necessary to subtract the highest number described that could be subtracted. Then we use the next highest possible number… The numbers we have used are supposed to have a special meaning. This approach is not very convincing; Sepharial claimed that such list of numbers was an expanded version of another text, and that not all numbers should be considered.

In 1908, Luo Clement and L. Dow Balliett each published a book. Both used modern alphabet numbering and different meanings of numbers than Lawford’s.  This gave birth to the modern Pythagorean school. Luo Clement used the system of tryads (1&5&7; 3&6&9; 2&4&8) and the day-of-the-month analysis. L. Dow Balliett, on the other hand, used the Life Path number and attributed to the numbers 9 and 11 meanings like those in the symbolism of the tarot and arcana IX (the Hermit) and 11 (the Force) respectively. The mastery of the lion in the symbolism of arcana 11 represents a force. The English word MASTER has the value 4+1+1+2+5+9= 22. The concept of master numbers 11 and 22 is a complete innovation which has no connection with the older Pythagorean tradition.

The approach of L. Dow Balliett prevailed over all others, as Balliett managed to gather several enthusiastic students (Julia Seton, Roy Page Walton, etc.) around her. In addition to Life Path and vowels, they soon began to analyze consonants, universal and personal years, months and days, and the four pinnacles. They also developed predictive techniques with transits of letters. In this method, the distinctions between odd and even numbers are often of great value. The first manual to present this new numerological trend in a comprehensive way was Florence Campbell‘s Your Days are Numbered (1930). This school of numerology was so successful that it almost completely superseded Chaldean numerology after the Second World War. Until a few years ago, up to 95% (and perhaps even more) of all numerology books belonged to this approach.

It was also the L. Dow Balliett school that some Chaldean numerologists (Strayhorn) began to include in their analyses. Some Chaldean numerologists, however, have stuck to the Chaldean alpha-numeric coding, but then follow the Pythagorean approach when analyzing the results. The first Chaldean numerologist to do this was Montrose, followed by Mykian.