Apr
Number Crunch
Tonight we watched a movie: “The Number 23.” It started curiously and then got bizarre. One might expect that it would become more eerie, but in fact it did not. I will not tell you the end, in case you wish to see it on cable or DVD. It is a very intriguing movie.
A point the movie made was that numbers are mere amounts. The idea that certain numbers add up to 23 is convenient. It depends on how they are combined. Added one way, you get 23. Added another, you get any number of other amounts. The numbers game is not some arcane secret, but an arithmetical trick.
I had never put much stock in numerology. Numbers are merely a way to arrange symbols. Sometimes it is a switch of a number for a letter. The old “replacement “ trick substitutes a number for a letter so as to act as a code. In Rune work, we use numbers to designate Runes by aett and column. Thus, 1:4 is the Ase Rune, and 3:5 is Lagu. This does not mean those numbers have a special potency. It is just a way to locate a Rune by its placement in the Futhark. We use this system for certain talismans and the like.
Numbers are symbolic, and certain numbers have a symbolic association. This does not give them a special potency all their own. The numbers are merely amounts. One is a single thing, Two is two things, etc. Their symbolic use does not imply an actual power.
We need to be sensible. Numbers represent amounts. That is all. We can add them in tricky ways to get certain specific results, but it does not add any special importance to the numbers. Numbers have been used symbolically in myth, folklore and legend. They are symbolic, but they still have no special power. Any superstitions over numbers are just that: superstition.
I have known people who put great stock in numerology. They believe by adding certain personal data gives the number of a person, and that number is indicative of their destiny. It may be the birth date, or the name, or any combination of the two. The arithmetic varies from one type of numerology to another.
We believe that while Wyrd affects destiny, we have the final say on the matter. No arbitrarily-derived number controls you, your personality or your destiny.
Use numbers to count, use them as symbols, use them as a trick for making talismanic sigils. Do not use them to divine your destiny or as omens of your future. Numbers are just an amount. You write your future.
