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Many of our great religions
hold that
numbers contain hidden meanings that in turn hold the mysteries of the
universe and God within them. Ancient Hebrew mystics referred to this
as Gematria. Numbers are also given corresponding associations to
various deities, colours, plants, gemstones, and superstitions. Here
are a brief list of associated correspondences and lore for the numbers
1 through 13.
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The
Number One
In the faiths of Islamic, Jewish and
Christian cultures the number 1 is associated with the unity of God.
For medieval alchemists and metaphysicians the number was associated
with the Philosopher's Stone -- the unknown catalyst that was thought
to transform base metals magically into gold. The number one is also
associated with:
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Gods and Goddesses:
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- Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love
- Apollo, the Greed God of Beauty and Truth
- Diana, the Roman Goddess of the Hunt
- Vesta, the Roman Hearth Goddess
- Freya, the Norse Goddess of Fertility
- Pangu, the Chinese God
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Colors:
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- red
- crimson
- scarlet
- cherry
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common Superstitions: |
- Break one egg and you will break a leg.
- It is unlucky to walk around the house in one
slipper.
- Only keep money in one pocket or you will lose
it.
- People with one hand are psychic.
- A one-eyed person is a witch.
- Seeing one magpie bodes a death in your future.
- Seeing one white horse brings bad luck.
- If you wash your hair on the first day of the
month you will have a short life.
- It is unlucky to get married on the first of
August or January
- It you dream about the number one, you have
received a direct message from God.
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In the Tarot deck,
the number two represents duality, choices,
decisions and partnerships. The Chinese believe that it represents the
polar forces of Yin (the receptive, constrictive female energy) and
Yang (the creative expansive male energy.)
Early Christians believed
that the number two represented the Devil or the
division between Soul and God. Similarly, the Zoroastrians believe the
number two represents the forces of good and evil locked in an eternal,
yet
equal, struggle. The
number two is also associated with:
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Gods and Goddesses:
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- Ceres, the Greek Goddess of Grain
- Frigga, the Norse Goddess of
Hospitality and wife of Odin
- Freya, the Norse Goddess of Fertility
- Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love
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Colors:
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- orange
- gold
- tangerine
- peach
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Gemstones:
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- freesias
- orange roses
- orange lilies
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Flowers:
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Common Superstitions:
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- If two crows fly over the house,
there will be a wedding in the family.
- If two people sneeze at the same
time, both will have good luck.
- If two shoots grow from the root of a
single cabbage, you will have good luck.
- Two people should never pour tea from
the same pot.
- It is lucky to have two holes in the
same sock.
- Breaking two eggs accidentally is a
sign that you will find your soul mate.
- Finding an egg with two yolks means
there will be a death in the family.
- If you wash your hair on the second
day of the month, you will have good fortune.
- It is unlucky to get married the
second of January or September.
- If you dream about the number two,
someone is jealous of you.
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Christians interpret
the number three as representing the
Trinity of
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The great psychologist Carl Jung
interpreted three as meaning the merging of the will with the heart and
the
soul. The ancient Babylonians and Celts interpreted this number to
represent creation being born out of the union of two and thereby being
a third and distinct thing. The number three is associated with:
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Gods and Goddesses:
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- Cronos,
the Greek Titan who fathered the Olympians
- Hecate,
the Queen of Witches and Goddess of the Crossroads
- Pluto, the
Roman God of Death
- Saturn,
the Roman equivalent of Cronos
- Tyr, the
Norse God of Battle and Strength
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common Superstitions:
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- A series of
unlucky events always happens in threes.
- It is bad
luck to see three butterflies sitting on a leaf.
- Spitting
three times shoos away the devil.
- It is unlucky
to light three ciagrettes from the same match.
- If an owl
hoots three times, there will be misfortune.
- If a cat
washes his ear three times, you can expect a visitor.
- A
three-legged dog brings luck.
- Try anything
a third time and it will succeed.
- If you wash
your hair on the third day of the month, you will have great wealth.
- It is unlucky
to get married on the third of May.
- If you dream
about the number three, you will lose your lover.
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For the ancient
Hebrews, the number four was considered to
be especially
significant. This connects to a mystical understanding of YHVH, the
four-letter name of God, which was traditionally never written down.
The number four and its equivalent geometrical shape, the square, were
considered to be sacred by ancient cultures that believed the world was
flat. Many modern Pagan religions find within the number four a
representation
of the four directions (north, south, east and west) as well as the
four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Also associated with the
number four:
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Gods and Goddesses:
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- Jupiter, the Roman God
- Odin, the Norse God
- Zeus, the Greek God
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common Superstitions:
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- A four-leaf clover brings luck
- If four cookies fuse together in the oven
while baking, there will be a wedding.
- Four ravens clustered together on a tree
branch means there will be a wedding.
- Finding four colors in one pansy petal bodes
health, wealth, happiness, and prosperity.
- A house with the number four in the address is
very inauspicious.
- Keeping the four aces of an ordinary playing
deck on your person is thought to bring power (spades), wealth
(diamonds), love (hearts), and popularity (clubs).
- If you hold the four of clubs while playing a
card game, you will always lose.
- If you wash your hair on the fourth day of the
month you will go gray early.
- It is unlucky to get married on the fourth of
June or October.
- If you dream about the number four, you will
soon be handed a lucky opportunity.
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Pythagoras believed that five represented
man in perfect balance with
the Universe and contained the sum of the male and female elements. At
times this was taken to symbolize marriage. For the Sikhs, the number
symbolizes the five sacred objects that are worn by all males.
The Chinese believe the
number
represents the five elements that are used
in the divination oracle, the I Ching as well as on the Pa' Kua that is
a device used for determining Feng Shui (earth, air, water, fire and
metal).
In Wiccan circles, five
can be
found in the star shaped pentagram that
symbolizes the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water surmounted
or united by spirit.
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Gods and Goddesses:
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- Dionysus,
the Greek God of Wine and Ecstatic Revelation
- Ishtar,
the Babylonian Goddess of Love, Sex, and War
- Mars,
the Roman God of War
- Thor, the Norse God of
Thunder
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common Superstitions:
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- A five-leafed clover is even luckier than a
four leafed one.
- Wearing a five-pointed star turns away evil.
- If five cookies fuse together while cooking, a
funeral will take place.
- If you twist the stem of an apple and it
breaks on the fifth twist, you will be married within the year.
- In the hoodoo tradition, a talisman featuring
a hand displaying all five fingers is known as the Lucky Hand and is
used to ward off misfortune as well as for luck in gambling.
- If you wax your hair on the fifth day of the
month you will go bald.
- It is unlucky to get married on the fifth of
November.
- If you dream about the number five you will
soon be famous.
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For
Christians,
Jews and Moslems, the number six represents the day that
man was created. Mathematicians revere the number six because it is the
first perfect number.
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Gods
and Goddesses:
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- Athena,
the Greek Goddess of Wisdom
- Bacchus,
the Roman God of Wine
- Hermes,
the Greek God of Communication
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Colors:
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- deep blue
- navy blue
- royal blue
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common
Superstitions:
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- It is unlucky to
purposely turn the number six upside down in jest as it means your
projects will not be completed.
- If you find a rose
with six petals it means you will be lucky in love.
- If you find a pansy
petal with six colors in it, it means you will receive an unexpected
visitor.
- A talisman with the
number six worn on it means you will be protected against hurricanes
and tornados.
- It is unlucky to
marry on the sixth of October or November
- If you dream about
the number six you will soon have sex.
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The number seven is equally sacred amongst
Islamic, Christian, and Jewish
religions. According to Jewish and Christian mythologies, it took six
days to create the world with the seventh day being the holiest day ~ a
day of rest. The Bible, Zohar, and other religious texts also recommend
that fields were to be left fallow every seventh year as a means of
allowing the earth to regenerate itself. Some Christians believe the
number seven represents the seven levels of Hell. It is Hebrew tradition to mourn, or sit
Shivah, for a period of seven days.
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Gods
and Goddesses:
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- Frigga
- Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Intelligence
& Wisdom
- Mithras, the Sun God in Zoroastrian lore
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common
Superstitions:
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- If your date of birth can be reduced to a
single number that can be divided by seven then you will have a
particularly lucky life.
- Shattering a mirror brings seven years of bad
luck.
- If you sing before 7:00 a.m., then you will
cry before 11:00 a.m.
- Wrapping her husband's belt seven times around
a tree causes a woman to become fertile.
- The seventh child of a seventh child is said
to have psychic powers.
- If you wash your hair on the seventh day of
the month, you will have trouble with the law.
- It is unlucky to get married on the seventh of
April or December.
- If you dream about the number seven, you will
soon meet a soul mate.
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The
ancient Greeks associated the
number eight with unhappiness and
imperfection. The psychologist Carl Jung equated the number with the
secret and dark movements of the subconscious that constantly folds
into itself, like a snake eating its tail. According to the principles
of
Chinese Feng Shui, the number eight
represents abundance and prosperity.
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Gods
and Goddesses:
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- Mercury, the Roman Messenger God
- Gaia, the Greek Earth Mother
- Hera, the Green Queen of Heaven
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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- pink roses
- pink carnations
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Common
Superstitions:
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- It is considered lucky to have a house number
that contains an eight.
- If you fall ill eight days after a new moon,
you will die by the full moon.
- If you give eight pennies away you will
receive one hundred eight times that amount.
- Repeating your own name eight times while
staring into your own eyes in a mirror is thought to bring prosperity.
- It is unlucky to give a person a bouquet with
eight flowers.
- A house with the address eighty-eight will
bring you double happiness.
- If you wash your hair on the eighth day of the
month, you will live to a ripe old age.
- It is unlucky to get married on the eighth of
February and June.
- If you dream about the number eight, you will
soon lose a great deal of money.
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In occult circles, nine is considered to
be the number of completion and
is closely connected with the Dead, especially one’s personal
ancestors, and with the forces of the cemetery and the Underworld. In
Chinese mythology, the number composes the lo-shi, a magic square that
comprises the first nine single digits on the number line.
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Gods
and Goddesses:
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- Hecate, the Queen of the Witches
- Juno, the roman Queen of Heaven
- Luna, the Roman Goddess of the Moon
- Odin, the Norse All-Father & Ruler
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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- silver
- platinum
- diamond
- pearl
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Flowers:
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- white carnations
- white roses
- lily of the valley
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Common
Superstitions:
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- You will be blessed if you find nine peas in a
pod.
- Tying nine knots in a strand of your lover's
hair will convince him to come to you.
- Tying nine knots around a photograph of an
enemy will cause him to give up the battle against you.
- An address with the number nine in it brings
you a long life.
- If a young man wants to marry, he should count
ninety-nine stars in the sky for nine days. On the tenth day, he will
meet his soul mate.
- Misfortune befalls the person who finds the
nine of diamonds on the street.
- The moon that falls nine days after the new
moon in May is considered to be an unlucky day.
- If you wash your hair on the ninth day of the
month your marriage will be happy.
- It is unlucky to get married on the ninth day
of December.
- If you dream about the number nine, your home
will soon be blessed with a child.
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For Christians, the number ten symbolizes
the Ten Commandments that were
delivered through Moses from God at Mt. Sinai. |
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Gods
and Goddesses:
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- Atlas, the Greek God who bore the weight of
the world on his shoulders
- Uranus, responsible for Imagination and
Technology
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common
Superstitions:
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- If you wash your hair on the tenth day of the
month, you will receive a promotion at work.
- If you dream about the number ten, your mate
is unfaithful.
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The number eleven and in particular the
number 11:11 (as seen on a clock)
is considered, by many light workers and channellers to be a portal to
other astral dimensions. The number eleven is also considered to be a
"master number" in schools of numerology.
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Gods
and Goddesses:
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- Neptune, the Roman Sea King
- Poseidon, the Greek Sea King
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common
Superstitions:
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- Washing your hair on the eleventh day of the
month will improve your eyesight.
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The
number twelve is associated with the Twelve Apostles, the number of
people on a jury, and The Twelve Days of Christmas.
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Gods
and Goddesses:
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- Janus, the Roman two-faced God
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common
Superstitions:
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- Washing your hair on the twelfth day of the
month will bring you misfortune.
- If you dream of the number twelve, a solution
will soon be found to a nagging problem.
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Usually considered an unlucky number, this
double digit represents
Judas, who was the guest at the Last Supper and betrayer of Jesus. As a
result, it is also thought to be unlucky to have a dinner party with 13
guests. Many hotels are
missing a thirteenth floor or have omitted the number
from their room doors.
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Gods
and Goddesses:
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- Hades, the Greek God of the Underworld
- Pluto, the Roman God of the Underworld
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Colors:
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Gemstones:
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Flowers:
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Common
Superstitions:
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- It is unlucky to have an address with the
number thirteen
- It is unlucky to have thirteen letters in your
name.
- Friday the thirteenth of any month is said to
be unlucky.
- The moon that falls thirteen days after the
new moon in August is considered to be an unlucky day.
- Washing your hair on the thirteenth of the
month ensures that you will give birth to a son.
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Sam Steven's metaphysical
articles have been published in many high-standing newspapers and she
has published several books. You can meet Sam Stevens at http://www.psychicrealm.com
where she works as a professional psychic. You can also read more of
her articles at http://www.newagenotebook.com
where she is the staff writer. Currently she is studying technology's
impact on metaphysics.
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