Esoterics
Numbers
About Numerology
This site is mainly about the Tarot, but cards have numbers and Numerology is popular, and people like to combine the two areas. So here is something to begin with.
There is the so-called Pythagorean system of numbers and we are using the English alphabet. You begin with the letter A and its corresponding number 1; then B goes with 2 and so on up to the letter I and 9. With J, you begin again with 1; K is therefore 2; and so on to R, another 9, so S is 1 again.
Each of the numbers has its own characteristics, that you have to learn.
As an example, consider the word “life”. L is 3; I is 9; F is 6 and E is 5. When you add the numbers 3 + 9 + 6 + 5 you get a total of 23 = 2 + 3 = 5.
For this number, books will tell us things like: It is considered to be a positive number that brings good luck in life. If you are a 5 personality, you are intelligent, adventurous, and have good communication skills. However, negatively, you may talk too much and be over-confident. This may or may not be an accurate description of a 5 personality, but it doesn’t tell us much about life itself.
By contrast there is the Chaldean or Cheiro system, presented in print around 1930. This method relates numbers to planets, and so it can be adapted to describe conditions and situations and not just personality types. Life here translates into 3 + 1 + 8 + 5 = 17 = 1 + 7 = 8.
There happens to be a 17th Major Trump – The Star – so that card and its illustration will help us answer the question of: What is life? At the same time, 8 is the number of the planet Saturn that rules or is characterized by discipline, hard work, structure, limitation, and so on. Life, then, is about building and working within boundaries. Or something like that.
Below is a list of the values of the different letters:
1 = A, I, J, Q, Y
2 = B, K, R
3 = C, G, L, S
4 = D, M, T
5 = E, H, N, X
6 = U, V, W
7 = O, Z
8 = F, P
The planetary rulership of the numbers is as follows:
1 – the Sun. The body whose light and heat makes life possible; it is the God-creative force (as opposed to 9 which is our personal creative energy so it’s different).
2 – the Moon. The mental personality; how you think; the past that comes easily, but that is to be left behind.
3 – Jupiter. The planet of expansion; but also excess and possible over-indulgence. It can be luck, which is fine, but that can be a problem if you rely only on it and don’t make any effort.
4 – Uranus. Uranus was the chief sky-god until he was overthrown by his son, Saturn, who took his place. He represents ancient knowledge that is valuable and that we might bring up to date; but also disruption, which we can understand when it interferes with current norms. Uranus was discovered in 1781 and before that, 4 was the negative Sun – destroying in order to create space for new growth.
5 – Mercury. This is the quick mind; wit and knowledge and communication – that again can be uplifting and inspirational, but may insult and make us fearful.
6 – Venus. The goddess of love and beauty and harmony. Art – a word whose origin is the root “ar” that means to arrange harmoniously. but it can refer to people and not just things.
7 – Neptune. Neptune is spiritual understanding, that has no end so we content ourselves with always learning more. It is also self-deception, illusion and delusion – and we know when we are taking the easy way out or trying to escape. Neptune was discovered in 1846, and before that, the number 7 was the Full Moon – when the Moon was equal in size to the Sun at the mid-point of its journey from new Moon to new Moon.
8 – Saturn. Saturn is structure and boundaries, that are necessary if we are to produce and not just float off into oblivion. It sometimes feels hard and tough, though, and we fight against restriction.
9- Mars. This is the number of personal creative energy. We all have at least some and we are meant to do something with it, but will we? Mars is also the God of War, so 9 can be angry and hostile.
Next step? Play with words and turn them into numbers using Cheiro’s system. Learn more about the symbolism of the planets, so you can do more with the words you find interesting.
Astrology
Here is something about the Moon to begin with.
This article is quite long, but there are no short cuts with Astrology. The section headings are:
Moon in Scorpio men; The trader who was talked out of money; What is really going on?; Clint Eastwood; Martha Stewart; The Moon is your mind; Keep notes; Events too; Other people’s life events; The Moon has no light of her own.
Moon in Scorpio men
Men who are born with the Moon in Scorpio have a menstrual cycle – that’s to say there are a couple of days each month when they are particularly touchy. Or rather, we can say that if they are going to over-react during any month, it will be with the Moon in the same position.
For example, an old acquaintance, an Aries man with the Moon in Scorpio is very difficult to be around – he gives in to his bad temper – when the Moon is in Leo. His friends realized it was a good policy to leave him alone during those couple of days each month. Or, a Cancerian man I know who has the Moon in Scorpio is particularly prone to upset when the transiting Moon is in Scorpio. So stay away on those days if you want a peaceful life.
This is how they are built. It is how – or when – they behave, and it is sensible to work with this understanding. Their behavior is predictable, though it takes a bit of work to understand a whole cycle’s ups and downs.
The trader who was talked out of money
A different type of activity is provided by the example of a trader who called his broker. He knew what was going to happen with the market and wanted to buy and make a quick profit. However, someone other than the usual person answered the phone – and the trader found himself being talked out of buying. The arguments made were sensible enough, and he hung up. A short time later – when his selections had gone the way he knew they would go – he wished he had bought and made the profit. He wanted the cash, but he learned a valuable lesson in the following days by studying the transits in operation at the time of the phone call. He was willing to explore the idea that transits to his natal chart could correctly reflect what worked itself out in the world. He was better off for the experience.
What is really going on?
I mention these examples because an important question is: What is really going on? Or: Can we know in advance what is going to happen? I want to say that the answer is: Yes. This doesn’t mean that we have no free will, or no choice in the matter. It’s a bit like a weather forecast. If we know it’s going to be raining, we can take an umbrella with us, or wear a raincoat, or just go out and get wet.
Partly what is going on is that you have a natal chart with 12 Houses, each of which represents an area of life. The natal planets are spread out among these Houses, making certain things possible and likely to happen, and not others. There is expansion in certain areas, and not in others; we have anxiety about certain things and not about others. This all shows in the natal chart – and it’s not just from aspects.
We might want to remember before we go further that Astrology used to be private and was kept secret. It wasn’t for everyone, so we should not expect that all we read in textbooks – modern or ancient – is valuable or even true. Just because someone’s writing has survived, it doesn’t automatically mean the author was particularly knowledgeable. We have to work out our own understanding and avoid the red herrings. Or rather, if we’re willing to develop our understanding by doing the work, we have a chance. If not, our progress will be limited. Memorizing what someone else thinks won’t take us very far.
As the Moon moves around the zodiac, she passes through the Houses – our own uniquely set-up areas of life. So the 3rd House shows in general how we communicate, but our actual style and manner will be different depending on the sign and decanate on the cusp, any planets in the 3rd, and the sign and House position, and the aspects of the ruler of the sign (and the decanate if there is one).
Clint Eastwood
There is Clint Eastwood with 22 Capricorn on the 3rd. Saturn is in Capricorn, retrograde in the 2nd. Combined with the Scorpio Ascendant, is this his quiet authority? With the ruler of the 3rd in the 2nd, he talks about his own values. 22 Capricorn is the Virgo decanate, and Mercury is in the 7th, retrograde in the Capricorn decanate of Taurus. Clint may also talk about other people, but it comes back to him and his values because Mercury is in a Saturn-ruled decanate.
We should not be surprised that he likes to direct movies – he is in control. He communicates or expresses himself through his own values.
When we look at a chart to figure out, for instance, what makes this person a movie director, we’re not always going to find planets in the 10th or an aspect that makes “a director”. 6 + 4 = 10, but so does 3 + 7, and 2 + 8, and 1.39 + 8.61. So if 10 is “a director”, we should realize that there are many ways to get there. The ruler of the 3rd in the 2nd can be one of these routes, though it won’t be equally important for all directors.
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart, on the other hand, has 12 Capricorn on the 3rd and Saturn in the 7th at 27 Taurus only a degree or two away from Uranus. People know that she can suddenly yell and scream and go ballistic, as they say, for no good reason at any time. 12 Capricorn is the Taurus decanate, and Venus is in the 10th – so what she says will come before the public; hence her television and media work. Venus being in Virgo, the sign of the teacher, is to be expected if you have seen her demonstrating how to make the perfect cake, or the perfect home.
The Moon is the mind
The Moon is your mind , and our thoughts change as the earth’s satellite moves from one house to the next. So you could be thinking about business as the Moon goes through the 10th house, but then you are more concerned with goals, for instance, as the Moon moves into the 11th which is the House of hopes and aspirations; or perhaps you are more concerned with friends or some other 11th House matter. There is a change again as the Moon moves into the 12th House, and so on around the horoscope.
Step One: 1. Keep notes.
You need data to work with so you need to know what you were thinking or what was going on in your life on different days and at different times. Sometimes things go well and results are as expected. There may be periods of difficulty too, and indecision, fear, doubt. Track your own moods and states of mind.
Track events too
Make notes of events too. These may be examples of situations happening in your life – you receive an important phone call at a particular time of day or night; the teller makes a mistake with your account at the bank; you get stuck for 45 minutes in a traffic jam; etc.
Other people’s life events
You can also make notes of events in the lives of other people because they can show in your chart. The 3rd House we all know shows your brothers and sisters. The 7th shows your partner, and the 3rd from the 7th – your 9th House – will describe your partner’s brothers and sisters. So your brother-in-law might get good news at 11.12 am as the Moon aspects a planet in your 9th house – but the transit doesn’t have to mean that you will take a long trip or be involved with foreign countries at that time. Yes, it’s your 9th, but it’s also your partner’s 3rd; or your first child’s 5th, so the event could happen with a grandchild; and so on. 2.
Relate events and changes to the natal chart and discover your own truth. You may find correlations when the Moon moves into a new House, or when she makes an aspect to a natal planet or natal House cusp. The Moon’s transit through a particular sign may be key, but you will have to find out for yourself. It may be a planet that is important.
We are all unique, and so it is hard to give specific directions on what to look for, or what you personally will find. Working along these lines, however, will improve your ability with astrology. You will come to know more and see more in a chart – in any type of chart – and you will be using astrology and not be dependent on intuition or psychic sense or any other ability that might be right sometimes (like a broken clock that tell the right time twice a day), but that can be very, very wrong.
The Moon has no light of her own
It is very easy to forget, but important to remember, that the Moon reflects the Sun. This means that the Moon’s movement through a House will not be the same every month. Thus, for instance, the Moon moving through the 10th House in April will be reflecting the Sun in Aries that is shining on a natal House with its rulerships. The Sun may be in the same House around the 20th of the month when he moves into Taurus – but there is a change for the Moon who is now reflecting an earth sign. In May, the Moon will still be reflecting the Sun in Taurus, but he will probably have moved into the next House, so the area of life that is being highlighted will have changed.
I’m telling you this, but it’s not to put you off. It can and does get hard to hold all these factors in your mind at the same time and you might get to the point of thinking it makes no sense. However, if you don’t have this very basic understanding in place, how can you hope to read the chart of a person, an event, a stock or whatever? How can you make real sense of progressions or transits or solar returns? It would be like trying to add, but not knowing that 2 + 2 = 4. It’s like wheels within wheels. With astrology, we are not usually dealing with a single factor in isolation. We can do this, of course, and we should from time to time to get an idea of a planet’s influence or the significance of a particular factor.