Remington Donovan - Numerology: A Beginners Guide to the Spiritual Meaning of Numbers

Numerology is a form of storytelling. I once taught a numerology workshop that was attended by a friend of mine who is a writer, storyteller and animator. He has worked on some of the biggest Hollywood films and TV shows youve ever heard of. He was one of the best numerology readers in the class, because he could take the numbers and then turn them into a story.

Another time, I was working with an actress who sent me the birthday of a fictional character she was playing. I gave this fictional character a numerology reading, and it turns out, my findings matched up with what the whole story was about. Somehow, the scriptwriter had tuned into the numerology that was aligned with this character.

I work with numbers all the time and see countless shifts, whether those are changes to careers or relationships, or simply the individual developing a better relationship with their soul, their spirit and their true self. Helping people reach the stage where they recognise that theyve always really known who they are and what they should be doing is a beautiful, powerful experience that I love with my entire heart and soul.

Through Qabalah, I learned to look at numbers and see the different ways in which they show up but sometimes, a numbers just a number, and you cant get too caught up in it. For example, in the Magickal tradition, 22 is a very important and powerful number. It represents the 22 Major Arcana in the Tarot, and the 22 paths in the Tree of Life. There are also 22 Hebrew letters, which tie into a more advanced system of numerology called number 22. Once, I was flying from New York to LA, and I decided to change my seat so that I could sit by a window. There were only a few window seats left, but I saw that 22A was available and thought, Oh, my God: 22. I love that number. And A is aleph in Hebrew. Its the Fools card in the Tarot. My logic was that this seat seemed much better than the seat I already had (18C), and so I switched. The thing is, Id forced the situation: Id overthought it, applying logic and my intellectual knowledge of the number 22 rather than allowing myself to be led by intuition. I couldnt wait to get on the plane, watch a movie and have an easy and relaxing trip.

Well, it turned out the screen for my seat wasnt working, so I couldnt watch any movies. I was sitting next to a guy in a stained tank top who smelled as if he hadnt showered in perhaps a week or two. He was eating old, brown bananas that had a very strong sulphuric smell and a soggy tuna salad sandwich. All I could do was sit there and smell him and what he was eating. And then, just to make things worse, the woman on the other side of him began eating really pungent teriyaki beef jerky. Soon my whole little section of the plane was just inundated by a combination of smells that should never be mixed, and I thought to myself, Okay. This is my lesson. Why did I get so gung-ho about taking up seat 22A? Because, in my mind, it was a mystical number. But I should have just stuck with my original seat. When I looked down the aisle to seat 18C, the row was completely empty. I would have had it all to myself. That was just a little lesson that taught me not to get so caught up in things or force the situation. Its funny, looking back on it, and the situation was harmless, but it was still an annoying and unpleasant flight that, to this day, I have never forgotten.

Another time, I was shopping at my local bougie market in Los Angeles, when a guy who knew I was a numerologist ran out to my car and flagged me down. He was very excited almost frantic and I thought something must be wrong. I pulled over and he said to me, Remington, your total came to $18.42. What does it mean?!

I thought for a minute, then told him, It means I just spent way too much money on a fresh juice and bottle of water.

As much as every number has meaning, and as fun as it can be to go down these rabbit holes, its important to apply some common sense. Sometimes a seat is just a seat, and a receipt is just a receipt, and a number is just a number.

As I have said, there are many different cultures and spiritual traditions, all with their own systems and symbols, and numerology appears in many of them. For example, there is Chinese numerology, there is yogic numerology and there is numerology used in Buddhism. Numerology is also used in ancient Hebrew, as well as Qabalah and Gematria, a practice involving the conversion of numbers and letters. I personally practise Gematria, and some of it ties with the methods well learn in this book. Theres ancient Greek Gematria and numerology, and Im sure it can be found in countless other systems, cultures and traditions. Its fascinating to think that numerology is used in all these different traditions all over the world, but the truth is that numerology is used by everybody, all the time. For example, its rare to meet someone who doesnt have either a lucky number or a favourite number, and often they will have created their own story their own mythology around that number. Or it might be a playing card rather than a number. Playing cards, and tarot cards, too, are also systems of numerology. Many games tie into numerology and systems of numbers.

The numerology I teach is based on my experience of mystical Qabalah, which is a root system of numerology. Through years of doing that, its very easy for me to look at other systems to see how they really align and tie in.

Theres something within nature, and within both our individual psyches and the collective psyche of humanity, that gets a sense of what these numbers mean on a more spiritual and philosophical level. Im often asked, Is numerology a construct? Are numbers a construct? and I say no. Numbers and numerology exist in nature, whether or not we have recognised this. We are looking at what these numbers mean: the spiritual and philosophical teachings behind them. Theres a saying: Was mathematics discovered, or was mathematics invented?

Why do bees make honeycomb in hexagonal patterns? It so happens that the number 6 in Qabalah is attributed to yellow, and bees and honey are yellow. Roses are often attributed to the number 5, and you can break down some of the petals into sequences of five. Red, too, is connected to the number 5. When you cut a red apple in half horizontally, youll see its core forms a five-pointed star. The Fibonacci sequence, known as the golden ratio, can be seen in everything from pineapples to the pyramids, from sea shells to sunflowers, from pentagrams to pine cones, tree branches, galaxies, hurricanes, DNA, human faces the list goes on. This system of numbers, mathematics, geometry and science would exist whether or not we labelled it.

Another thing I get asked about a lot is the numerology of dates. Is this a construct? Yes, the calendar that we use today is, on some level, a construct, but there are deeper spiritual teachings that say its a construct that was designed from nature. The lunar calendar is 360 days, and the rotation of the Earth around the Sun forms a circle, which is 360 degrees. We may have turned a year into 365 days, but the roots of it still exist in nature. This is important to remember when we look at how different cultures and ideas tap into the essence of a number. Why is it that in American culture, the number 7 is almost always considered the most lucky number? Here in Los Angeles, there are convenience stores called Lucky Sevens or 777. If you just write that down and look at it, theres something there. The number 7 feels lucky, whether youre thinking of slot machines and gambling, or good fortune. And why, in pop culture, are we taught to fear the number 13? Many buildings dont have a 13th floor, for example, and Friday the 13th is considered a dreadful date.