For thousands of years, humans have used the analysis of numbers to attempt to explain our personalities, define our purpose in life, and determine future challenges.  The Greek scholar Pythagoras came up with more than his famous Theorem, he also devised a system to analyze the numbers associated with words and dates.  Long before Pythagoras, though, the Chaldeans developed their version of numerology. While Pythagoras assigned the numbers one through nine to the alphabet in linear fashion, the Chaldeans used vibrations to assign numbers to letters, with the exception of the number nine, which they considered to contain the vibrations of the other single digits and as such could not be assigned to a single letter. Nine represented the number of completion, sacred in its perfection.

Each system also reserved the numbers eleven and twenty-two as "master numbers". While the other numbers assigned to a word or name would be added together and reduced to a single digit, the eleven and twenty-two remained intact, elevated to a higher status.

Chart Elements

The Date of Birth: 

Known in various systems as the destiny number, the life lesson or path number, or simply the birth number, this element comes from adding the numbers of the date of date of birth and reducing it to a single digit with the exception of the numbers "11" and "22" which are considered "master" numbers and are not reduced. Example: May 10, 1888 would be added as 5+1+0+1+8+8+8=31=4.  

 The Life Path represents the lessons to be learned during the person's lifetime, and is significant because while one's name may change throughout life, the birthdate remains the same, so its vibrations remain a constant influence. 

The Birthday:

The digits of the day of birth are a less powerful, but still important element of the chart. Days with double digits are added together (again, except for 11 and 22) and the sum analyzed in relation to personal/individual matters, modified by the vibrations of each digit. For instance, someone born on the 24th of a month would be a 6 birthday, with the energies of the 2 and the 4 modifying it.  

The Whole Name Number:

Each letter of a person's full name at birth represents a number which are added together and reduced to a single digit to indicate the person's expression of personality.  For the clearest picture, use the name printed on the birth certificate as the basis of the Expression. Any spelling changes, nicknames, or name changes should be considered as modifications of the expression that affect the vibrations surrounding that individual.  

The Vowel Number

Taking the sum of the numbers assigned to each vowel in the person's name and reducing them to a single digit or master number reveals the "Soul Urge" or inner desires of the person. 

The Consonant Number

The significance of this number depends on whose work you follow. Some numerologists consider the sum of the consonants of the full name to reveal the outer personality, others view it as the Secret Self.  In the first school of thought the consonant number is more significant to the overall view than in the latter.