The Witch's Book of Numbers: Enhance Your Magic with Numerology

By Rebecca Scolnick

In The Witch’s Book of Numbers, author Rebecca Scolnick reveals how you too can apply the incredible power of numerology to amplify your magic using only pen, paper, and a simple calculator (no complex mathematics required)! In these pages, you will learn:

• How to find your Significant Six—the six important numbers that reveal powerful clues to your unique path in this lifetime.
• How to use the ancient Magic Square technique.
• How to use the power of numerology to amplify and enhance your spellwork.

Whether you’re a beginner witch or have years of experience, The Witch’s Book of Numbers will deftly guide you through the history and relevance of numerology for today’s practitioner, offering exercises, spellwork, correspondences, and activities all designed to help boost your practice and enrich and empower your journey as a witch.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hierophant Publishing
• Release date: Sep 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781950253289

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Magic, or at least a belief in magic, has been around for pretty much ever,

at least if the oldest artifacts of humanity are to be believed.

—Sarah Lyons

During my junior year of high school, I got into a rather heated argument with my mom over my less than satisfactory grade in Algebra II. I was struggling, which was unlike me, because I was a good student. I could've blamed my teacher, or the fact that the class was held out in the portable classrooms whose temperature was either freezing cold or boiling hot with no in-between, but the reality was that I just didn't get it. I didn't understand how to calculate the right answers, and I definitely didn't know how any of it applied to the real world. Language, music, drama, history—those subjects all made sense to me. But slap a numeral onto the hypotheticals or ask me to find the value of x and I was lost in the wilderness. "I am an artist, I whined. I won't need math unless I'm in Math: The Musical!" The following week, my mother enrolled me in a remedial program at a local learning center.

While I did go on to pass Algebra II and several other math classes afterward, I can't say that my relationship with the subject shifted all that much, which is irksome because math seems to provide concrete answers to an otherwise mysterious world. I've always been an inquisitive person with big questions. And growing up, some potential answers (or at least the space to ask deeper questions) were made available to me in the form of organized religion.

When I was seven, my mother became a cantor at a traditional Catholic Church. I was mesmerized by all of the ornate costumes, the theatrical rituals, and audience participation—how does everyone just know these calls and responses? But ultimately, their refusal to let me take communion led me to check out other options. Without any direction, I chose a community Bible church from the Yellow Pages and asked my dad to drop me off. Of course, there were obvious questions about the child who sat alone in the front row taking notes on the sermon, but I was welcomed with open arms.

Years later, I was cast in my first leading role in a school musical and told my pastor that I was going to have to take a break from the church youth group to prioritize rehearsals. He remarked that God was disappointed in me, which just felt off. There was no way that the Divine with whom I'd been communing over the years—who already didn't match the wrathful God of the Old Testament or the loving rebrand of the New Testament—could possibly be so upset over a high school production of Oklahoma!

I began wondering if organized religion was really the right place for me. What I received at church—music, stories, history, folklore, ideal personal and community conduct, metaphors, and thought puzzles—had to be available elsewhere from other communities with values that were a whole lot more aligned with mine. So, I dug deeper into theater, film, literature, and philosophy, anything that scratched my itch to experience mystery and awe, and continued my spiritual education.

It's also when I started feeling drawn to witchcraft. Shortly after I graduated high school, I received my first tarot deck from the elderly witch running the lone metaphysical shop in my hometown. As she described all of the different tarot decks and their uses, I knew right away that witchcraft was a rabbit hole I could thrive in. Not long after, my mom had my numerology chart done by a sidewalk mystic in a foggy Northern California beach town, and suddenly numbers were back in my life, although reframed and taking on a whole new spiritual meaning.

The Magic of Numbers

Captivated by numerology and curious about math for the first time in my life, I began to look into this newfound divinatory tool that promised to link the digits of my nightmares with the poetic insights of my dreams. What I found was that the ancient mystics of Egypt, Greece, Babylon, and countless other cultures saw mathematics, geometry, and science as the language with which the Universe was created. Answers to life's big questions varied according to what or whom you asked, but when the mysteries of the Universe were broken down sufficiently, what you were left with was numbers—the building blocks of all life.

Numerology is the ancient study of that cosmic language of the Universe, numbers, as well as the intuitive application of divine principles to people, places, and events. It's both a calculated practice and a creative art that blends the spiritual and the scientific through sensory experiences, philosophical concepts, lyrical metaphors, and an abundance of synchronicities to enable you to draw meaning from them in your life. Turns out that all I needed to do to shift my relationship with math was to integrate it with all of the other subjects to which I was naturally drawn. That's when I started finding answers.

Numerology and the magical aspects of numbers acknowledge very little separation between the practical and the spiritual. The men who studied at some of the world's first universities trained as both scientists and priests. Room has always been left for that which could not be explained through empirical means. In fact, there's still so much about this world that we yet do not understand. New evidence of divine intelligence is still being discovered every day. We humans—mere animals who've evolved to think, speak, and experience consciousness—have tried so hard to separate ourselves from nature, sometimes to our own detriment. Yet, numbers continually remind us that we are nature and we are also divine. They are our proof—and the smallest sets of proof—that we are both mundane and magical, and that we are certainly all interconnected.

In mathematics, numbers are positioned in chronological order along a line, but in numerology, it may be helpful to reimagine the single-digit building-block numbers of 1 through 9 as a spiral. We'll talk more about this shape in Chapter 11, but for now, visualize how this shape is seemingly never-ending, the ending folding into the beginning as the pattern begins again. These numbers, when seen through a numerological lens, offer us another way to be a part of the story of the Universe. They give us a way to be one with the stars above, the Earth below, and the living beings all around us. They invite us into the rhythm of life's repeating cycles of death and rebirth. These cycles are natural and can be quite comforting once we familiarize ourselves with them. After all, consider how many times we hear the same story repeated without tiring of its basic characters and the plot twists it contains. In life, there is room for every story, and they all add up to something.

Even though numerology had firmly planted its roots in my spiritual practice, it would still be over a decade—years spent in esoteric study and playing with different modalities and crafts—before I ever called myself a witch. The term just wasn't on my personal radar; I didn't identify myself with it. And then one day, it felt so right on my tongue that I couldn't believe I would dare to see myself any differently.

So, if you're reading this and still questioning whether that word describes you—welcome! What an exciting part of your journey! May your explorations lead you into deeper connection with your unique and magical will, your truest intentions, and your most potent actions. That's all that witchcraft requires! It entails a personal revolution, and a practice that can incorporate many tokens and tools—or none at all, regardless of how hard our capitalist society tries to sell them to you. After all, there's no right way to be a witch.

Which Witch Is Which?

Witch is a gender-neutral term that can be hard to define because, for so many years, it was used as a generally derogatory term for anyone who didn't comply with the dominant social and religious powers of the time. The word has deep roots in anti-Semitism, with many early and sadly long-lasting physical depictions of the witch matching those of harmful Jewish stereotypes. However, those who were persecuted throughout history for being witches also included Pagans, healers, herbalists, cunning folk—my ancestors—scientists, philosophers, astrologers, mystics, and others who simply didn't share prevailing Christian beliefs and had no interest in converting to them. As the Church rose to power and suppressed mystical thought and practice, more and more people were inaccurately labeled as witches. Even Hypatia, one of the most prominent Pagan philosophers and numerologists of Alexandria, was killed by a violent Christian mob around the time that Egypt ceased to be a diverse, intellectual Utopia.

One thing that linked those mislabeled as witches was their deep connection with the physical world. They shared a powerful curiosity about the world and a desire to know the self and to live in right relationship with and serve the community. In numerology, witch is what is known as a 27/9 word—one that connects with the Spirit in service to the collective. Today, those interested in reclaiming the title of witch are also those who observe and ritualize the natural world in ways similar to those of more pragmatic scientists and mathematicians. They see numbers as the code with which the natural world was written and work with numbers to understand and enact physical and energetic change. Science and spirituality can thus work together as they were always meant to do.

How to Use This Book

Numerology offers a deep well of possibilities, both on its own and when used in tandem with other practices. Covering each and every spiritual tool is the subject for another book, however. In this book, I cover the general practices of numerology in addition to providing you with a reading list if you desire further knowledge.

The Mathematics of Numerology

Throughout this book, there will be opportunities to do some basic addition (with no shame in the game if you need to grab a calculator). Rest assured, though, that nowhere in these pages will you be tested on mathematics. In fact, the numeric information given within will not actually contribute to your overall understanding of arithmetic, formulas, or theorems of any kind. Nor should it! Even Pythagoras, who believed that everything was numbers and fathered some of the most famous mathematical theorems ever derived (as well as the numerological path that I follow), would roll over in his grave if he knew what had become of his precious digits in the modern hellscape of standardized testing. Instead, I hope you find yourself inspired and challenged by this mathematical practice, and even come to see yourself within these numbers. They're magic. You're magic. And we're all destined to remember the divinely coded constructions that we are.

Rituals and Spells

Rituals are planned or spontaneous events that are created for intentional observation, reverence, and action. They can be performed individually or in a group setting. Rituals commonly include some kind of invocation to create the ritual space before moving into the intended work, such as setting up an altar with magical items, reading from a text, performing an opening song or dance, offering an invitation to the divine energetic beings who are welcomed into the space, and asking for protection while working. The work is then followed by a closing of the space, an offering of gratitude, and final wishes for a blessed outcome.

A spell, on the other hand, is an intention that is energetically cast. It typically expresses a specific desired result, although I think that flexibility is key when approaching magical outcomes. I am personally always expanding and softening my definition of a spell. Every time I leave my house, I say love and protection on my way out the door. That's a spell. Telling your friend to get home safe is a spell as well. Thanking a customer service agent for help, holding the door open for a stranger, or cursing out the driver who cut you off on the freeway—they're all spells! Abracadabra, from Hebrew, means I create as I speak. What is a spell if not speaking something into existence.

Each chapter in this book includes at least one ritual or spell that energetically corresponds to the number addressed in that chapter. For those who feel most comfortable with following directions or instructions, I've tried to make these practices as detailed as possible, while also providing room for personalization and play. That being said, please let the Spirit move you when using any of them. What works for you is absolutely the most potent formula.

Astrology

Astrology decodes snapshots of the night sky through the placement of planets, asteroids, and mathematical points within the twelve signs of the Zodiac—Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each of these planets and their signs have attributes and characteristics derived from mythology and psychology that are used to weave unique narratives and deepen our understanding. A great starting place for anyone interested in astrology is to have your basic chart interpreted. You just need your birth date, time, and place, although you can receive a fairly full chart without your birth time. Be sure to use a trusted astrologer or choose a credible online chart generator like Astro.com or cafeastrology.com.

As we work our way through the numbers, I will link each number to its corresponding astrological sign (or signs). Some schools of numerological thought also connect the numbers to the planets, but in my practice, there are no common associations.

Tarot

Originating in late fourteenth-century Europe, the tarot has evolved into a tremendously popular divinatory tool that boasts countless decks and interpretations. Tarot readings are typically centered around a question or a life issue about which the subject of the reading seeks guidance. The reader shuffles the deck and pulls cards that represent the answer sought. Tarot is for everyone; there is no right or wrong way to read the cards. What inspires me about current tarot theory and deck creation is that it's evolving to be more inclusive, detaching it from harmful social stereotypes and religious dogma.

Numerology is intrinsic to the tarot. Each deck has seventy-eight cards (7 + 8 = 15, 1 + 5 = 6, for support and expansion) that are divided into twenty-two big picture Major Arcana cards (2 + 2 = 4) and fifty-six all-encompassing and connective Minor Arcana cards (5 + 6 = 11). All Major and Minor Arcana cards are identified with a number, which carries its own energies and associations that, when applied to a reading, can create a richer meaning. These numbers can also provide a cheat sheet for those who are just learning to interpret cards and spreads.

Crystals and Crystal Grids

In each chapter, I give you the names of crystals whose vibrations will resonate with the number energy at hand. I have chosen them based on both personal experience and the properties that are commonly associated with the crystal. Unlike the more structured practices of astrology and the tarot, however, these interpretations are based largely on my own intuition. I encourage you to make your own associations if you're familiar with crystals and like working with them.

Another way to work with numbers and crystals is to think of the ways in which crystals can be placed on your altar or within your ritual space. Crystal grids are geometric layouts that some witches use to amplify the energy of their spell-work. These are commonly created through a purposeful choice of the types of crystals, the arrangement of the crystals, and the intentions of the ritual or spell. While there are templates available online or in books on the subject, I encourage you to use your own intuition in this creative process.

Herbal Helpers

Plants and herbs have been used in healing and magical practices for thousands of years and are a great way to add Earth energy to any spell. These natural materials have a wide array of uses and techniques. They can be dried and burned; mixed with other materials to make oils, salves, or balms; used to decorate altars or other sacred spaces; incorporated into candle dressings; and even added to ritualistic food or drink. For each number, I offer specific herbal allies to incorporate in ritual work based on their traditional uses and associated themes. While I do note a few that are not safe to ingest, please do your own research on any herbs you choose to eat or drink; and consult with a nutritionist, doctor, or other trusted medical professional before adding anything to your diet or supplement regimen.

You Are Your Own Best Teacher

I trust that you'll be responsible for yourself and your own needs as you read. After all, you're your own witch and you know your craft better than anyone else. Because the definition of a witch is so broad and personal, the examples of spells and magical rituals given throughout this book are also varied. Play around with them. Add your notes in the margins. One of my teachers, breathwork instructor and acupuncturist Amy Kuretsky, invocates each of her spaces with an intention of co-teaching and co-learning, and I borrow that practice here. I am a forever seeker, always learning, and I thank you in advance for the grace and compassion that you'll no doubt show me as we grow together.

These pages are my craft, my spells, and my hopes for a more magical future. Through story, myth, history, and lots of questions, I hope to weave for you a glimpse of a numerical humanity that you can fight for, as well as a new way of working with your own innate magic.

1

THE ORIGINS OF NUMBER THEORY

All things are numbers.

—Pythagoras

It's been well-documented throughout history and across countless cultures that mystics, philosophers, and scientists alike have all considered numbers to be the language with which God, the Source, or the Divine writes the world. The earliest mathematical systems were created by predynastic Egyptian, Babylonian, and Sumerian societies to develop more advanced methods of agriculture, economics, and taxation. But the oldest counting tools—the Lebombo and Ishango bones found on the African continent and thought to be 37,000 and 25,000 years old, respectively—show that individual digits were used long before arithmetic came on the scene. The Ishango even boasted the oldest table of prime numbers, which scholars think may represent the notation of six months of a lunar calendar made to track the Moon or the menstrual cycle.¹ Right off the bat, math gets witchy!

Before the Scientific Revolution, societies relied heavily on mythic, spiritual, and religious narratives to explain the cosmology (how we all got here) and eschatology (where we're all headed) of our Universe. Yet, numbers also tell a story of creation, nature, and the experience of being human. As the root of all things—mathematics, science, technology, philosophy, astronomy, language, music, stories, religion, politics, and astrology—numbers hold many practical applications. But they also hold a magical code that is quite easy to decipher if you have the right tools.

Numerology, the study of that cosmic code, is one tool that can help us gain awareness of the many cycles we are experiencing and the patterns we are playing out at any given moment, both personally and collectively. As a blend of left-brain and right-brain techniques, numerology connects mathematics, arithmetic, and reason with spirituality and intuition through the art of storytelling and relationship.

Number energies, like any divine code, are magic, and therefore, cannot truly be known in a scientific sense. Instead, they offer poetic archetypes, mirrors through which to see ourselves and others, insights into complexities and conundrums, and unwavering truths about the many ways to be alive. Just as we all have a unique astrological natal chart, a zodiacal snapshot of the sky at the exact day and time of our birth, we also have our own set of personal numbers that can guide us and provide insight into our life path, our habits, our strengths, and our potential for growth. These include the Holy Trinity of your life path, your public persona, and your yearly cycle numbers. We explore these numbers in the next chapter.

Each of us also has three numbers derived from our name. We'll examine these as well. Then, we'll look at some additional numerological tools and timing techniques that may very well blow your mind while orienting you to the overall path of your life. So, by the time you meet the numbers and begin to consider how to incorporate them into your witchwork and spellcraft, you'll have some key personal numbers to consider.

Due to its mystical nature, there are many variations of numerological thought and practice. These span many cultures and are spread across a rather large geographical map that includes ancient Egypt, India, Japan, China, and Greece. Still prominent today is Babylonian