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Can numbers determine our destiny?

I’m sure almost everyone reading this has a favourite number – mine is 6. It hasn’t been particularly lucky for me, but it sure crops up a lot in my life. Some people believe numbers can reveal a lot about ourselves, but can they determine our destiny? Can numbers be used to predict our future?

Numerology

Numerology dates back thousands of years and is often associated with Pythagoras, the man attributed with a²+b² = c². Pythagoras was a religious man as well as mathematician, and he and his followers very much believed in the divine power of numbers and associated characteristics to them.

The practice has evolved over the years and when studied properly, Numerology can help guide important decisions in your life e.g. when to change jobs. Your numbers are unique to you, derived by simple equations using your birth-date and birth name. The resulting numbers all have traits that relate to you as an individual, allowing insight into your personality and where you’re heading. You can’t change these numbers and therefore one could say our destiny is already mapped out – these numbers control us.

Like with astrology, skepticism surrounds Numerology, as there will still be people who have the exact same numbers assigned to them as you, but are living entirely different lives. I think the more open you are to it though, the more you will see the benefits it can bring. My numbers were scarily accurate in relation to my personality; now I understand why I act a certain way and how I can overcome negative traits.

As for predicting the future, a search online will reveal people claiming their Numerology predictions came true, so take from that what you will.

Superstition

Many cultures have numbers they dread and believe will bring misfortune. For example, in India many tragic events within the last two decades have happened on the 26^th of the month – now the number is feared.

There’s no definitive reason as to why 13 is so foreboding in the West, but many refuse to tempt fate by finding out. In China, the number 4 is avoided because the word for 4 sounds eerily similar to the word for death.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom, in many Asian influenced countries, the number 8 is considered to bring wealth and prosperity. In the West, 7 is considered lucky thanks not only to its religious connotations, but also with its appearance in nature e.g. the seven wonders of the world. However, I’m yet to find any concrete examples of where lucky/unlucky numbers, with the exception of 26, have had any mass bearing on historical events.

Fortune Telling

Whether it’s Astrology or Tarot, numbers play an important role in fortune telling practices. Like with Numerology, numbers can have their own meanings. For example, in Tarot, an abundance of a particular number in the spread or even its position in it, can add extra meaning within the reading. Lots of twos would indicate you’re at a crossroads or have a complex decision to make. Whereas many eights (like with superstition earlier) relate to positivity.

From my personal experience practicing Tarot, I found that if the person I was reading for didn’t believe in it, then their reading made no sense. Perhaps this is why we can’t prove that Numerology or other fortune telling methods work, because to prove something is possible, you have to believe it’s possible.

Science and Nature

How about science –  can science and nature prove the power numbers possess?

Well, we’re back to maths with the Fibonacci sequence.

Throughout nature, there are many occurrences of Fibonnaci numbers, from the amount of petals on flowers to the number of spirals of seeds in fruit. Even the human body is made up of these numbers; we tend to have two of something (arms, eyes, kidneys), or five in the case of digits, even DNA can be linked to Fibonacci numbers 21 and 34. Clearly there are certain numbers that bear a huge significance to our existence. Do these numbers determine our destiny though? Well, there’s no official answer, it all comes down to what you believe.

For decades, scientists have conducted experiments on whether or not we have free will and pending on who you speak to, the answer will differ. The Times Paradigm website explains both sides very well. If we do have free will, then it means the future is not set in stone and we can change our fate. If we don’t, then our destiny is pre-determined, in the same way we can’t change the past, we can’t change the future. If the latter is true, there’s no reason to suggest that we can’t use numbers to predict what will happen, in the same way we use numbers and equations to predict possible outcomes in science.

My personal belief is that there are certain things in life that are destined to happen, events we have no control over. It’s the journey in-between these events we can change. Think of it like a map, in most scenarios there are alternative routes that all get you to the same destination. Which route you choose is up to you and can be influenced by the past, length of time it takes to get there or even guidance from someone who has done the route before. That’s where practices like Numerology can help; they act as the guide that helps you pick which route to follow.