The Presence of Numerology in Psychology

The Internal is a Reflection of the External; The External is a Reflection of the Internal.

“Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight.”

 Wisdom of Solomon 11:20 

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

 Psalm 90:12

The entire world around us is constituted of symbols and symbolic meaning. Colours, numbers, letters, signs – in essence, the entire social world is composed of symbols. We attach symbolic meanings to colours; hence, Green means 'go', Red means' stop', Blue and Red together mean 'police', etc. We associate personally significant places with negative and/or positive meanings and thereby imbue them with a symbolic charge. Our symbolic definitions also change with time. Before WWI, Pink and Blue were traditionally associated with masculinity and femininity, respectively (Paoletti, 2012). The Infant Jesus was oft depicted as wearing pink in paintings and statues, whereas the Virgin Mary was almost always depicted wearing Blue, since Blue was the colour worn by the Queen in the Kingdom of Israel according to tradition – the Queen being the mother of the King, not the spouse. Though the exact catalyst of the Pink-Blue reversal isn’t simply pinned, Paoletti does demonstrate that the reversal began within the last century. In fine, our understanding of symbols are constantly being edified, and we are, in turn, relating to these symbols in new ways. In 2010, a new version of the symbol of access was commissioned (Baker, 2013) that would emphasise the activity and autonomy of the disabled in a social era where the individual rights of the handicapped are being increasingly prioritised. In another moment in time, the Eagle depicted upon the Great Seal of the United States was, at times, depicted facing the arrows of war until President Truman officialised its position facing the olive branches, signifying the aim of peace (White House Historical Association, n.d.) 

Symbols are non-verbal messages that articulate an ideal, sentiment, or message. Sign Language¹ is an entire language reliant on symbols for those who cannot make effective use of verbal communication. It relies only on the process of interpretation and mentalisation. It is for this reason that symbols are the language of the unconscious. Symbols are the alphabet that all comprehend, irrespective of time, place, and circumstance. Yet, symbols mean different things to different individuals. The colour White, for instance, in Judeo-Christian society, signifies purity, cleanliness, and holiness. In the book of Psalms, the poet cries out, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be made clean. Wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7 KJV). In the book of Daniel, we read “Many shall be purified and made white” (Daniel 12:10 KJV). In many paintings, we see angels robed in white garments. Yet in China, the significance of the colour White is of death, mourning, grief, and sorrow. Traditional funerary ritualists perform rites dressed in White. Confucian writings denote White as the colour of mourning as well. In Graeco-Roman Mythology, the Sun is masculine and the Moon is feminine. However, in Norse and many Asian cultures, the inverse is the case. Universally, however, we find that the symbols a culture relates to are dependent upon the ideals, environment, attitudes, and beliefs of those very same people. The most notable example of this is the naming and organisation of astronomical bodies and their astrological associations. Each culture has its proper legends of the stars, which reflect the societal values and cultural qualities which they have externalised and projected onto the celestial world. There is no such thing as one singular universal myth or legend; however, the qualities of a particular object may be universally interpreted due to its constant quality if the object itself is unchanging. For instance, the Earth, as the receptive and generating agent of life, can be seen as maternal. The heart, quickened during passionate influxes and relaxed during tranquil moments, can be seen by all as the vehicle of sentimental life, etc. Numbers function in a similar fashion. 

One is one everywhere. The same can be said of all numbers and all their possible combinations. For two plus seven shall always be nine. There shall never be a time or a moment where the answer is five or three, for the answer is always and immutably nine. It is because of this constancy of numbers that we have organised our entire world according to them – for the entirety of the universe can be measured in numbers: weight, height, distance, length, order, etc. All is comprised of numbers, even ourselves. We are assigned numbers upon birth in the form of birthdays, birth times, and social security numbers. We too have organised our home addresses and zip codes in accordance with numbers. Our calendar system (of which our entire lives are organised), too, is a numerical one and was calculated using scientific numericism. The enumerated months of the calendar, too, have been assigned meaning, for the months of the year have names, said names also containing meaning. The sixth month of June was named after Juno; The third month of the year (March) was named after Mars². The seventh month of July was named after Julius Caesar³, and so on.    

Our mind, too, is tasked with the understanding of numbers and their significance in life. It is not until the age of six that children begin to comprehend the significance of the number zero (Merritt & Brannon, 2013; Speece & Brent, 1984, as cited in Saad, 2020, p.247). It is quite the challenge for them to understand the concept of ‘nothing’ – greater still, how ‘something’ can be reduced to the state of ‘nothingness’. It is for this reason that deductive math is challenging for some children at these ages, as well as the comprehension of death as something eliminating and corrosive. The utilisation of numbers as a symbol whereby we can categorise and organise our world – and our place in it – is therefore an elemental aspect of the human mind. 

It is by their unchanging and fixed qualities that numbers derive their significance, and from which we develop our relationship with them. The relationships we form with symbols depend on their associations. It is for this reason that people have ‘lucky numbers’ which are almost always associated with something personally meaningful. We develop a relationship with numbers the same way we develop relationships with any other symbol of sentimental significance, i.e. a cross, a pentagram, etc. The Roman Catholic kisses his Crucifix, the Wiccan adorns his Pentagram with offerings, the Jew wears his Star of David faithfully round his neck, etc. Numbers can also be symbolically significant in the mass psychology of a culture and society. Seven is regarded as a benevolent number because of its biblical implications. The triple six (666) is the mark of the beast and is regarded with aversion. Thirty-three is sacred, for it was the years Jesus Christ completed while on Earth. The fifty stars upon the flag of the United States are an enumerative symbol of the fifty states. Certain times, too, being also measured in numbers, are significant as well. 3 PM is regarded as sacred, for it is the hour Christ died. Inversely, 3 AM is regarded as unholy, for it is the opposite of 3 PM, and the Devil is the inverse of God. Thus, numbers occupy a certain area of importance in the psychology of individuals and society. 

Our whole lives, too, are comprised of numbers. We often refer to events that have happened as transpiring “x amount of time ago.” We count each year with numbers and we identify ourselves with one by our age. There are even moments when one lies about their age because the identification and significance of a certain number might be inconvenient or unattractive in a certain circumstance, and choose to identify with another number (age) instead. Dates, too, are psychologically important. The Roman religion had its holidays, feasts, and seasons which it celebrated throughout the year, almost always related to the cycles of nature. The Roman Catholic calendar is, naturally, the inheritor of this practice and a transformation of the former. Simply put, each religion has its sacred days – but sacred days are not restricted to religions alone. Nations, too, have their own sacred and celebratory days. The United States has Independence Day, France has Bastille Day, England has St. George’s Day, and so on. These dates are culturally and symbolically important to the masses – the number of the day, therefore, acts as a trigger for the collective effervescence of a group to manifest in merriment and felicity. As one draws closer to these significant dates, one feels their encroaching effects. The closer one draws towards Christmas, the more merriment is felt. The closer one draws to the anniversary of a dearly departed one’s passing, the more sorrow is felt. The closer one draws to St. Valentine’s Day, the more romance is felt, etc. Hence, numbers are not only related to, but felt as well. Nations also have significant numbers as well: 1776 for the United States, 11J for Counter-Communism Cubans, 1960 for Africans, etc. These numbers are all related to dates: 1776 was the year the United States declared independence from the Kingdom of Britain; The 11th of July was a historic day for Cubans who took to the streets to protest against the communist dictatorship; 1960, known as the ‘Year of Africa’, was a significant year for Pan-Africanism. 

Dates are also significant in the psychology of the individual. Pollock (1970) wrote extensively on the matter in his Anniversary Reactions. Physical and psychological symptoms may be precipitated in a parent when the parent’s child reaches the age at which the parent themselves had experienced a traumatic event. He provides a clinical example from Hilgard (1953) where a mother developed Pneumonia and Pleurisy when her daughter was six. Her own father died of the very same when she herself was six. In like manner, birthdays, death days, holidays, or other fixed dates may trigger symptoms as well. Though these anniversary reactions are considered temporal and not necessarily numeric, the nature of temporality, by definition, binds the effect to a number. He dedicates some time, additionally, to discuss the Fantasy of Cyclical Living, where an individual expects the same catastrophes to befall them whenever a certain date comes around. Further, he provides a striking example from history: Vincent Van Gogh was a replacement child, named exactly as his dead predecessor, and frequently passed by his brother’s tombstone and saw their shared name. He was born one year after, on the same day, and in the same month as his sibling. He was inscribed in the parish registrar of birth under the same number as his dead brother, that is, 29. Vincent, the artist, committed suicide in 1890, on July 29th. Pollock, as well as others, explains this phenomenon as the effect of an unconscious sense of time, where the past, present, future, id, ego, super-ego, self, ideal, and reality are all organised into one great whole. The repressed, therefore, seeks the anniversary trigger (number) as a release. It waits patiently as an actor to come on stage. Once it sees the signal (number), it reveals itself and performs.

Within the last week, I have had a considerable number of clients report similar themes revolving around their personal lives. All of them are women, and all came to me earlier in the week (separately, in private sessions) to discuss a sentimentally significant event that happened to all of them the week before. All told me about a definite separation and emotional closure they had with emotionally significant men from their past. 

On September 7th of this year, a lunar eclipse occurred in the sign of Pisces. Pisces, being the final sign of the zodiac, is regarded as the sign of endings. The moon governs women and is associated with the feminine principle. Pisces exalts Venus, the governess of love and relationships. Two days later, the calendar day marked 9/9/2025. Numerologically, when reduced, one arrives at the total number of 9/9/9 – the final nine being the sum of two, zero, two, and five. The next time this will happen again will be on September 9th, 2034. Within this century, this numerological alignment will only happen eight more times – in 2034, 2043, 2052, 2061, 2070, 2079, 2088, and 2097. In the 21st century and before 2025, this event only ever transpired in 2016 and 2007. This numerically and symbolically significant event almost always transpires only eleven times every century. Thus, it exists as a unique phenomenon perceptually and is regarded as such on an unconscious level as well. Like the sign of Pisces, the number nine, being the final singular digit, numerologically represents endings, closings, and resolutions as well. 

One client of mine on the 13th had been working on some conflicts related to attachment – namely, letting go of an unsuccessful love interest. She and I had done wonderful Parts Work, and were now focused on healing the wounds of her independent, single self. At the core of her single self is the desire to feel loved and feel meritorious of love as well. The sudden disappearance of her former love interest had disheartened her and challenged the progress that we had made in coaching. She had made peace with the protector self and had finally been able to allow the protector to stand beside her rather than before her and allow herself to open up to the experience of love. Thus, his disappearance had created some tension between her former wounds and her new desire to grow as a person. He had reappeared suddenly and invited her out to dinner. She debated this within her heart, but concluded that if she was to see him, it would be to get closure regarding why he did what he did and to say her peace. She informed me that even though, at first, she felt quite remorseful and conflicted, she left the dinner firm in her beliefs and felt confident that his purpose in her life was only to show her that she was indeed capable and worthy of experiencing and feeling love. “I am my truth,” she said, as she elaborated “I am letting things go that no longer serve me. It’s draining. I get that everyone has their hurt, but it’s not mine to hold.” 

Another client of mine on 9/8/2025 informed me of a similar situation. She had been in a relationship with a man for many years, even getting married and giving him a daughter. This relationship was embittered due to his psychological abuse. She eventually left him to be with another man whom she has described as idealistic, passionate and caring. This relationship, unfortunately, did not succeed, and he separated himself from her to go be with another woman. At this point, we had done a considerable number of sessions within the span of a month. It was in this session that she informed me that she had proceeded with filing for divorce from her first partner (she had never divorced him after their separation) and had found out about the woman her second love was with. I brought up the fact that she was going through, in essence, two symbolic breakups simultaneously. She agreed, and we explored the significance of these two relationships in her life. She told me towards the end of the session that she recognised that both of them introduced her to the polarity of love and the masculine principle. I asked her if she thought it possible to reconcile the two opposites and appreciate the masculine principle as a whole, both inside and outside herself. She affirmed yes. Her first relationship had utterly desecrated and injured her inner feminine – she, thereafter, operated within her second relationship with this injured feminine aspect. This led her to feel like she couldn’t ‘be in touch’ with her feminine energy. Even before her first relationship, she felt like she couldn’t open up to the masculine force, so she herself had to protect the feminine. Once the masculine found his way in and injured her feminine, she overcompensated with her own masculine energy to repress her feminine aspect – for the world of the feminine is the world where one can feel pain and suffering. In other words, the fear of pain and love. She informed me, however, that effectuating the divorce allowed her to discover a sense of power in her own right, and it facilitated a greater sense of feminine autonomy and independence. Since then, she has been resting better, going out more, and participating in her spiritual community with greater frequency. Her second love had popped up in her mind with less frequency than ever, and her first love was not even in her mind, actually telling me that she couldn’t believe she dedicated so much time and energy to him, expressing appreciation and gratitude that ‘it was finally all over.’

Another client had come to me several months before seeking assistance in reorganising her life after a break-up with her boyfriend of several years. He had left her unexpectedly and with many questions. She stated that the most impactful and depressing aspect of the dissolution was that, since she was never able to have children, she considered her stepdaughter (through him, of course) as her own. She always wondered if her stepdaughter cherished her the same and would continue to do so, even when she ultimately decides to make peace with that era of her life and commend it to the past. After the first three free sessions (such was my business practice at the time) she abandoned working with me and never responded to my two attempts at reconnection. During our third and last session, I had assigned her a forgiveness letter to write to her ex-boyfriend, releasing everything she felt she needed, and then igniting the letter on fire. This same client came to me on the fifteenth, four months after our last session. She told me that the reason for her absence was that she wanted to do the forgiveness letter before her next session. She was only able to bring herself to do it the day before the lunar eclipse. She told me that she went to the river with her friend to burn the letter, yet when she did, the letter did not burn. She ultimately threw it into the river and watched it as it dissolved. It was shortly before this occurred that her former stepdaughter reached out to her through her mother's phone to let her know that she always loved her and cared for her. Towards the end of the session, when we discussed the elements at work, she stated that she is in a chapter of her life where she needs to heal rather than date (as she was doing formerly) and move on. "I need to grow financially, emotionally, mentally, and physically."

The last client I would like to bring up also brought up a similar situation on 9/10. She and I had recently begun sessions to fortify her impulsive and suffocating attachment to others. She described a recent attachment injury with her best friend of two years, who had ceased speaking to her because she was ‘too much’ for him. The feelings of despair, betrayal, disappointment, and abandonment are obvious. I had dedicated this session to introducing hypnosis to her and had performed the regular first induction procedures. She described the experience as ‘feeling like I was letting go of a lot of things that are heavy inside me… Everything holding me down, mainly my friend.’ In our next session, four days later, we did an unchaining hypnosis (similar to the fashion of Dion Fortune as described in her works) between her and her former best friend. After this, she felt that she finally accepted that she needed to move on, and all that was left for her to do is give time to time. “I know I'm moving on. I just need to accept that it’s gone and it’s already past,” she said. We met again the following week, and she felt incredibly joyous and grateful. She acknowledged that she knows in the future she will have difficult days, but is reassured in her ability to embolden herself and in her journey of learning how to love herself more perfectly. 

While indeed the sessions and the events that transpired did not occur exactly on the 7th or the 9th of September, they did occur within very close propinquity of the days. As mentioned before, one can feel the encroaching effect of a special day, like a birthday, a funeral, or a holiday, before the actual day arrives. The psychological effect of a temporal trigger is, more often than not, gradually felt, rather than sudden and abrupt. 

Besides representing closure, the number nine also represents healing, loving, empathy, and compassion. It also represents communication, expression, and diplomacy. The former three cases are perfect representations of how communication (either verbal, written, or imaginal) can lead to healing, especially when done in the mode of self-compassion. My female clients, governed by the moon passing through the House of Endings (Pisces) and triggered by the numeric date of 9/9/(9), itself totalling 9, unconsciously played out the symbolism of the time. As the significant temporal trigger encroached, its themes were unconsciously perceived, and since the significance of the day resonated with their internal environment, their unconscious responded by facilitating the actuation of the corresponding affective events and permitted them to unfold – ultimately for their betterment. After all, nine does indeed represent healing. It seems as though numerologically significant dates such as these function in a similar manner as do anniversary reactions, yet with a different charge. Whereas anniversary reactions consist of the trigger of pathologies, these ‘arithmo-psychic triggers’ (as I have called them) concern themselves with the manifestation of psychological, social, and developmental themes in an individual's life. 

In sum, the correspondence between the numerological significance of the 9/9/9 portal (as it is called) and the therapeutic climate of the time was admittedly notable. In retrospect, I too observed similar effects upon my own personal life during this time, as well as those around me. It wasn't until the first client I mentioned brought up the subject to me that I realised the significance of the date. The therapist or practitioner would do well to note repeated numbers that arise in the client's life. They would do well also to understand the clients’ relationship to other numbers and apply numerological principles to the calendars. As the client's journey through significant dates, it is indeed possible that internal conflicts seek release and are represented during that time. Numerologically significant dates, such as 7/7, 8/8, 9/9, and the like, may serve as thematic indicators of what is arising and can lead to meaningful explorations, as well as explanations.  

REFERENCES

B Paoletti, Jo. (2012). Pink and blue: telling the boys from the girls in America. In Choice Reviews Online (Issue 02, pp. 50–1061). https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.50-1061

Baker, B. (2013, December 14). Wheelchair icon revamped by guerrilla art project. BostonGlobe.com. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/13/disability-icon-revamped-guerilla-art-project/HZDJAIORZvL68dukN9L0TL/story.html

Hilgard J. R. (1953). Anniversary reactions in parents precipitated by children. Psychiatry, 16(1), 73–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1953.11022910

King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/(Original work published 1769)

Lilly, W. (1647/1659). Christian astrology (1659 ed.) [Digital scan]. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/ChristianAstrologyByWilliamLilly/page/n5/mode/2up

(Original work published 1647.)

Merritt, D. J., and E. M. Brannon. 2013. “Nothing to It: Precursors to a Zero Concept in Preschoolers.” Behavioural Processes 93: 91–97.

Pollock, G. H. (1970). Anniversary reactions, trauma and mourning. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 39(3), 347–371.

Saad, A. (2020). On the logic of the unconscious. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 101(2), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207578.2020.1726713

Speece, M. W., and S. B. Brent. 1984. “Children’s Understanding of Death: A Review of Three Components of a Death Concept.” Child Development 55 (5): 1671.

White House Historical Association. (n.d.). A brief history of the presidential seal. WHHA (en-US). https://www.whitehousehistory.org/a-brief-history-of-the-presidential-seal

FOOTNOTES

1. The difference between a sign and a symbol in semiotics is made clear: a symbol is a representation, and a sign is an indication. However, a symbol must always be present for a sign to have meaning. In other words, not all symbols are signs, but every sign is a symbol. Thus, sign language is a language of signs, yet when concentrated, is a symbolic language.

2. It is in the month of March that the season of Spring commences. The first day of Spring is signalled when the Sun enters the sign of Aries, ruled by the planet Mars. 

3.  I have not read any literature or commentary regarding the allotment of July to Julius Caesar besides mundane or historical explanations. I do opine, however, that there was a philosophical and spiritual reason for this as well. July is the month in which the Sun enters the sign of Leo, which it rules. The Sun is considered the King of the Powers of Fire and of the Zodiac, around which all of the universe revolves. When it enters the sign of Leo, it is enthroned in Heaven and issues forth its mightiest vigour and potency, manifest in the scorching Summer heat. The sign of Leo is also one of the four royal signs of the zodiac (the others being Taurus, Scorpio, and Pisces). It is for this reason, I believe, that many royal and imperial coats of arms feature leonine and solar depictions, almost always accompanied by a crown. William Lilly (1647/1659) in his Christian Astrology writes of the Sun that “He signifieth Kings, Princes, Emperours, Dukes, Marquesses, Earles, Barons, Lieutenants, Deputy-Lieutenants of Countries, Magistrates…” Hence, I opine, that the imperial significations of the Sun led to the naming of July after Julius Caesar, Imperator of Rome.