My Experience with 'Numerology'

Padang Bai, Bali, Indonesia - Saturday 9th November 2024

I’ve wanted to write about this for a while. As per usual, the following is my personal subjective experience. I still don’t particularly know what to make of it all, nor do I proclaim to be any sort of expert on the topic. So, if you choose to read on, please do so with an open mind, for this is only a story after all. Furthermore, should there be any insight into this topic that you, the reader, would like to share based on what follows - I’m always open to discussing these kind of things and would be happy to learn more! It is still a little uncomfortable for me to share extensively my inner most thoughts and experiences publicly, but here goes.

Ever since I was little, and I’m talking really little perhaps as far back as I can remember, I have had some sort of fascination with, and mysterious affinity with the numbers 2, 4, and 8. I never knew why, I just did. It was beyond intellectual understanding and more of an intuitive knowing or feeling. I would do everything with those numbers, and I still do. If you are to offer me, for example, some candies, I will eat 2. If I eat 3, I will take a fourth. This is not out of greed, but rather a sort of compulsion. If I eat 5, well that’s it I gotta have 8. If i can have 5, I will take 4, and so on. “But what if you can only have one?” I hear you ask. Good question. Well, if I can only have one, I’ll cut that motherfucker in half in my mouth and consider it two. What is this sickness?! 

Now, one could say this is just a sort of obsessive compulsive disorder. However, OCD is described more as “…characterised by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead to compulsive behaviours.” I never had any irrational fear around this behaviour per se - I wasn’t concerned that bad things would happen in the way that some people need to wash their hands over and over and over again for fear of germs, or more abstract notions such as having to turn the light switch on and off a bunch of times otherwise my parents will die or something. None o’ that shite. Or, a tidy desk, everything organised, in the right drawers, etc. God knows anyone who’s ever lived or worked with me will attest to the fact that, to the naked eye, my desk is no place of Zen. 

(Side note: I did read an article once saying that people with messy desks should not be dismissed as disorganised, and that perhaps this was a good sign in the workplace, showing that they prioritise “more important things”. I resonate with that one, and will roll with it forever ;) I’ll tidy the desk later - I got shit to do man!) 

Back to the story. 

This incessant number prison kind of bothered me. Why do I need to honour these numbers? I would think to myself. I don’t know. I just do. Oh well. Bleurgh.

I should backtrack a little here and mention that my first word as a 1 year old was “two”. You would’t be blamed for thinking this could be merely the gobbledegook of a baby - but this was back in the day when, on the English TV channel BBC 2, before every program, a gigantic number 2 would appear on the screen. According to my mother, I pointed up at the screen at this jumbo digit and called out “two!”. As a result, this became my mum’s lucky number, along with the number 22, the rationale being that it was “two twos”. I knew this growing up, but it didn’t perplex me too much, I had bigger mystical fish to fry! Must figure out what these numbers mean.

I wasn’t into odd numbers. Maybe it is something about symmetry, I thought. 2,4,8,16 (2x8, or 4x4), 64 (8x8), all this kinda stuff, those are some sexy numbers, man. On the contrary,  3’s, 5’s, 7’s, 9’s… yuck! get those odd, jagged, weird, incomplete, lop-sided figures away from me at once!

A prison of my own making it would seem. But there was something more to it! It didn’t feel as though it was just some odd obsession caused by my mum’s favourite number, there was something deeper going on here that I wasn’t really in control of. Some sort of “coding”. I would do everything in those numbers. Take four sips of water (I still do this - mini sips within one sip), choose table numbers, room numbers, phone numbers etc wherever possible you name it. Poor little bastard you must be thinking at this point. 

One day, when I was around 17 or 18 years old, I remember it vividly - I was brushing my teeth at home, and just decided to surrender. Fuck it, I’ll never understand this. Maybe I’ll understand it when I die, maybe the answers of this mystery will become clear then. For now, you just gotta give this up man, it’s taking up too much of your headspace. You need to become OK with knowing that you might just never know. So I fucked it off, but continued to ‘honour’ these numbers, no longer racking my brains as to the meaning of it all. 

It is often said that the universe will answer your deepest questions at some time or another if you remain aware, but not necessarily seeking. I am sure you have, at some point in your life, experienced this - maybe you couldn’t remember the name of, let’s say, a movie, or some obscurity, and then you give up, only at some point in the future to hear a stranger in the queue at the coffee shop reference it. Thank you very much! (Coincidence? who knows. I’m not fixing to get into that one right now). 

A number of years later is where all of this got interesting for me. I was living in a beautiful villa with my friend Harry during my second stint in Bali - the “good old days” as we often refer to them.  I had started to take my meditation practice more seriously, or at least was making a solid effort to remain consistent with it. Once I started to live in Bali, I had started to see these numbers again, more and more frequently, to an almost freakish and borderline disturbing level. 22, 44, 88 (In Asia, the number 88 is often associated with good fortune and prosperity, particularly in Chinese culture). So, there were a lot of 88’s about the place. Me likey. Feel like I’ve tapped into something here. But WTF does it mean?!

My childhood curiosity was piqued once more. I would come out of a profound meditation and the clock would read 22:22, or 22:44, etc. for as long as I have had a mobile phone I always set my alarm for 2 mins past the hour, or 4 or 8 mins past, you get the picture. Is this some kind of disease?! Numeritis?! Someone section this bloke.

During this time, I was telling Harry “I’m telling you man! This is strange! I’m seeing this shit everywhere, more and more”. He brushed all of it off even making the odd whimsical remark every now and again, alluding to my silly obsession and observations. One day, he came home and said to me “You’ll like this one… I met a girl today who was talking about “numerology”, she showed me a website, and it gives you your ‘numbers’, my life path number is a 5 apparently.” I had never heard of numerology, and was certainly intrigued! “Right…” I said, “well this will be interesting then… because, as you very well know by now my friend, I KNOW my numbers!”

He pulls up this website. Without getting into all the details here, essentially the concept and system is as follows:

Numerology relies on the Pythagorean system, where each letter in the alphabet is assigned a number from 1 to 9. This method is named after the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who believed that numbers held mystical significance.

Supposedly, your full name and date of birth is supposed to be some sort of insight as to your life’s course and the so-called “blueprint of your potential”. I liked the sound of this. As you’ll know from reading my previous posts, at this stage of my life I was freshly and firmly on my ‘spiritual quest’. 

So, there we went, I filled out my full name… ADAM…PETER…WISE… , date of birth, time of birth, I think, and maybe one or two other bits. There’s a fair bit to it, so I’ll invite you to figure out your own situation, but ultimately what happens it the letters are assigned to numbers 1-9, added up, then those numbers are added up, the numbers of that total are added, plus other things like adding up only vowels etc for other significant numbers.

First up was my “life path number”. This is calculated using the numbers from my date of birth. Month, day, year, etc. It was calculated as the number 22. 

The second number revealed to me was my “expression number” also known as “destiny number”. This is calculated by all the letters of your full name, then, same method, add those numbers, etc. It was calculated at the number 4. (Gulp… creepy now). 

The third number this website calculator thing spits out its your “soul urge number”, also know as as your “heart’s desire number”. It is calculated using the same methods but only using the vowels of your full name.

“I already know what it is… go on…..” I said to Harry. 

Sure enough, the number 8 was deduced. 

I don’t remember exactly, but I would confidently bet that a fabulously smug grin appeared on my face, ‘proving’ to Harry that I wasn’t just a rambling lunatic (or at the very least less of one than we both knew me to be!) 

There are various other numbers that can get calculated, but the above are the fundamental ones. I never really dug into it that much after then aside from some light reading or YouTubing, but I have always wanted to. Maybe I’ll look more into it. Also, I should add, I have crossed referenced this maths and system and those are definitely the correct numbers. 

Here’s a bit of a top line breakdown, supposedly: 

“Life Path 22 is known as the Master Builder. It combines the intuitive, spiritual essence of the number 11 with the practicality and discipline of the number 4. People with this Life Path are visionaries and have the potential to achieve great things by turning dreams into reality. They are driven by a sense of purpose, building structures that leave a lasting legacy. Life Path 22 often brings challenges in terms of balance, as it requires harnessing high ideals in practical ways.”

“In numerology, the number 4 represents stability, practicality, and a solid foundation. People with this number tend to be reliable, hardworking, and grounded. They value structure and often thrive in careers or environments that require discipline and responsibility.”

“Soul Urge 8 is all about power, success, and material achievement. You have a deep desire for financial security, status, and recognition. You are highly motivated to achieve your goals, particularly in business or career pursuits, and you have a natural drive to be influential. While success is important, Soul Urge 8 also points to a need for balance and using power wisely, as there is a strong desire to make an impact on the world.” 

My younger brother, Michael Alexander John Wise (whom I actually named when I was 2 - my parents let me pick names), his life path number is 11, which is also a master number, which I found interesting. I feel saddened sometimes that we don’t spend as much time together as I’d like, for now anyway, as I feel like there is some kind of mega shit to explore and potentially nurture and unfold in terms of our spiritual journeys and what we might be able to achieve together in this life time. My wish is for us to eventually live on the same land and grow old together, our future children a big part of each other’s lives. I miss him and I always feel double good when we are side by side. 

When I was born, we lived at number 42 Addison way. The house I spent most of my life in, and where my parents still reside, is number 8. The first time I moved out of home, in with my friend Simon, the house number was number 2 Huddleston Road. There was one house in the middle for a few years, which was number 36 Ferney Road. Strangely (make of this what you will) it was meant to be temporary, and we ended up there for 5 or 6 years which was undesirable. I don’t think any of us ever felt fully at home there, (although I can not speak for any of my family). I certainly didn’t. And that house, on our family timeline, was always kind of the odd one out. 

I couldn’t possibly begin to get into the various times, situations, and ultimate significance of the appearance of these numbers throughout my life. It is, of course, deeply personal, thus rendering it largely irrelevant to anyone reading this. You’ll just have to take my word for it I suppose! I wish I had been documenting these since the beginning of time. That would have been quite something, and might have lent this post more weight and credibility for the reader. 

Whenever I move house, get a decent job, am working on something fulfilling, or some big life change happens and I’m feeling good and “on the right track”, I’ll be dwelling on it and at that moment just like ‘magic’, some geezer will walk past in a sports jersey with a 22 on the back, or some similar phenomenon. I swear it feels like this stuff is happening all the time. Again, this is just my subjective experience. You can decide for yourself its relevance, if any at all! 

So what does it all mean? Who knows. Anyone who knows me well enough may be able to identify some of the significance in the above descriptions of the numbers. Those are just the very top line. There is so much more to it that encompasses fears, desires, behaviours, cycles and patterns etc, when you read more into it. I encourage you to explore the subject further with your own details - it might shake the very foundations of everything you thought to be true or false. 

Could it all be coincidence, or perhaps what is known as ‘confirmation bias’, the prospect of seeing these numbers more because I resonate with them? Possibly! Again, I am no professor on the topic. I’ve gone back to surrendering the answers. Maybe they will come in time. I was simply excited and astounded by the revelatory confirmation of my life-long intuition pertaining to those numbers.  

Of course I see other numbers throughout my daily life. But the feeling I get with these certain numbers and their implications, and implementation, is something visceral which I only I can feel. It is similar in nature to the feeling one might get when looking at a piece of art, listening to piece of music, or something similar that resonates deep within. It sounds an internal gong, and is beyond articulation. I personally believe that we all have our own communication with the divine and/or coding of the universe, and that it can take many forms - numerology possibly being one of them. 

Have you had any experiences with numerology? Do you ‘know’ you numbers? Have you felt the presence of so called ‘universal forces’? I would love to hear your story if so. Please do get in touch to share them. 

In the meantime, I will continue to honour these numbers, for reasons still not entirely known to me. I like to do little things for my own enjoyment like code these numbers in things where I can; Pagoda items, logos for clients, and anywhere else possible. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, it means a lot. xx

This is the sort of thing that would take various graphic forms before the start of any program on BBC 2.

Tattoo on my left arm 🫡