History of Numerology

History

Numerology is reputed to be one of the oldest analytical techniques in the world. Sankhyatatvwa or Numerology, as we know it, is derived mainly from ancient Hindu and Arabic teachings, but it was part of the Greek, Babylonian, Hebrew and Chinese tradition. Two and half thousand years ago, Egyptian and Babylonian priests used numerology as a way of understanding their fellow man. The Chaldeans, Mayans, Tibetans, Phoenicians and Celts are also believed to have developed their own system of numerology in order to understand nature.

For centuries, numbers were perceived as the building blocks from which the universe is constructed. Numbers were used to explain the rhythms of nature and the story of creation. The sacred rituals of the Celts were often based on numbers. Greek philosophers equated studying numbers with studying the power of God and Jewish students of the Kabbala devised their own doctrine of numbers. Even the Bible has its book of Numbers.

Much of the numerology practiced today is based on the philosophy of Pythatgoras. Thus there are many interpretations of numerology. Even among Pythagorean numerologists, there are differences of interpretation that have arisen as individual students gradually developed their own systems.