In 1926, Chaldean numerologist Cheiro published the idea that in certain cases it is necessary, through a process of combining numbers, to uncover a special active number—a two-digit number with a particular influence. The idea was to reduce the numbers of personal names, surnames, and certain honorific titles to the basic numbers from 1 to 9 and then add them together. If the result is less than 10 and the day of birth is also less than 10, the two are added together in order, if possible, to obtain a compound number. This does not always occur, but when it does, Cheiro proposed that this number be treated as the key number in the analysis of the entire numeroscope.
For example, the name numbers for Anna Kay yield a 3 for the first name (the essence of 12) and a 4 for the surname. Their sum gives a Total Name Number (TNN) of 7, which is a single-digit number. Let us assume that she was born on the 5th of the month. Adding the TNN 7 and the birth day 5 gives 12, which is a compound number. According to Cheiro, this number then becomes the most important number in the chart. Cheiro never named this procedure in his publicly available works.
Some Danish numerologists refer to this process as the “augmentation of numbers,” but they take it one step further than Cheiro. If a personal name or a surname has a value below 10, it must also be augmented using the birth day (reduced to its single-digit essence). Unlike Cheiro, they are not concerned with whether the birth day is a number below 10 or between 10 and 31. In the augmentation process, they always use the vibrational key, or essence, of the birth day. If the result, even after augmentation, is still below 10, they simply add 9 in order to obtain a compound number with the same vibrational key and the next higher value.
In the case of our Anna Kay, this would mean accepting the number 12 for Anna, while the surname Kay, which yields the number 4, would need to be augmented using the birth day 5. This results in 4 + 5 = 9. Since this number is still below 10, we add another 9 and obtain the compound number 18. When we then add the essences of the first name and surname, we again arrive at 12, namely: 3 + 9 = 12. In this case, the result is the same as with Cheiro’s approach—but this is not always so.
If Anna Kay had a daughter named Saly, matters would become more complicated. The name Saly has an essence of 8, and the surname Kay again has an essence of 4. Let us assume she was born on the 17th of the month. Under Cheiro’s approach, the TNN would simply be calculated by adding the essences: 8 + 4 = 12. The key number would therefore be 12. In the Danish approach, however, the name Saly would be augmented with the essence of the birth day, resulting in 8 + 8 = 16. The surname Kay would likewise be augmented to 4 + 8 = 12. The total name number would then be 10, 28, or 73, depending on the technique used. In other words, the TNN would be entirely different from the one Cheiro would have obtained.
Some even claim that the Danish approach is in fact the original form of Chaldean numerology. This, however, is very unlikely. One of the earliest examples of the application of Chaldean numerology to names is the famous riddle of the number of the Beast, which among other things represents the name of Emperor Nero. As NRVN QSR it corresponds to the number 666, and as NRV QSR to the number 616:
N (Nun) = נ = 50
R (Resh) = ר = 200
V (Vav) = ו = 6
N (Nun) = נ = 50
Q (Qof) = ק = 100
S (Samekh) = ס = 60
R (Resh) = ר = 200
Total: 50 + 200 + 6 + 50 + 100 + 60 + 200 = 666.
However, when using reduced values, the name Neron yields the number 18 (NRVN = 18), while the imperial title yields only 9 (QSR = 9). Nero was born on the 15th of the month, with an essence of 6. The imperial title would therefore have to be augmented to 9 + 6 = 15. The emperor’s TNN would then be 15, 24, or 96, depending on the technique used. Yet in antiquity, the name of Emperor Nero was not interpreted in this way, but rather as 18, or—when using standard values—as 666 (where 3 × 6 again equals 18).
When Cheiro analyzes the name of Queen Mary (Mary of Teck), he likewise does not augment the name. QUEEN MARY yields 22 and 8. She was born on the 26th of the month, with an essence of 8. According to the Danish approach, the name Mary would be augmented to 8 + 8 = 16. The final values would then be 22 and 16, which numerologically produce a TNN of 11, 38, or 47, depending on the technique applied. Cheiro, however, defined the TNN in his analysis as the sum of the essences 4 and 8, resulting in 12. Cheiro therefore did not use the augmentation approach employed by the Danish neo-Chaldean school.
August Darius Danielsson, the original author of the Danish neo-Chaldean school, claims that he received knowledge of Chaldean numerology around 2014 from an unnamed Iranian master who showed him ancient Persian cuneiform tablets. These tablets allegedly referred to Chaldean numerology. Yet on Danielsson’s own pages we can also read descriptions of compound numbers up to 52 that are said to appear on these tablets—and these descriptions are identical to Cheiro’s, which themselves were an expansion of Sepharial’s descriptions from 1895. It would therefore appear that someone in the 20th or early 21st century traveled back in time to the Achaemenid era and produced tablets containing 20th-century material—or else someone simply made the whole story up. I am not claiming that this was Danielsson or his alleged teacher. The window for such a fabrication opened as early as 1926 with the publication of Cheiro’s Book of Numbers. If descriptions of compound numbers are falsely presented as Persian tradition, how can we trust the same source when it claims that number augmentation, the structures of the Human Self, Higher Self, and Highest Self, as well as daily and yearly ranks, are authentic traditions of ancient Persia? No known historical source prior to 2014 describes or explains these concepts.
Personally, I do not use the described “Danish-style” augmentation. I also apply Cheiro’s approach only partially. Numbers tell their story even without this added complexity. At times, a somewhat more conservative stance is more appropriate—and less risky.
Sources:
- Cheiro: Cheiro’s Book of Numbers (for the analysis of the name Queen Mary)
- The Bible (for information on the number of the Beast, 616 or 666; among known proposals, only the name of Emperor Nero fits both)
- Numerology Toolbox – Calculator. This calculator allows examples of calculating the Human Self, Higher Self, and Highest Self using the rule of augmentation. You can simulate these examples in the Numerology Toolbox and independently infer the augmentation rule being applied.
The Mystery of Numbers, Luck, Worlds and Planets 