Historically, human beings have been drawn to numbers, attributing to them a certain cosmic power. Throughout many cultures, numbers are given particular significance as omens of good luck and ill. Some numbers, particularly, are beloved and regarded as lucky. Whether by simply naming them or including them in calendars, lottery tickets, or house numbering schemes, they are believed to hold the promise of good fortune, success, and happiness. The numbers themselves often take on special qualities or have unexpected associations and personal meanings. This article examines how several systems of counting interpret the lucky in numbers, giving us entertaining insights into what numbers tell us about being human.
Lucky Numbers in Chinese Culture: The Power of 8
For the Chinese, eight is the perfect good-luck number. Why? The number eight happens to sound like the word for ‘prosperity’ or ‘wealth’ in Mandarin. This explains why–every year throughout China–the wealthier half of the population tends to hurl its bank accounts and wedding invitations away from the eighth of the month, sometimes skipping the seventh too. A drastic effort not to find oneself with the worst of all numerical fortunes.
Ways the number 8 is embraced in Chinese culture:
- Telephone Numbers: Burmese give extra money for phone numbers with two multiples of 8s, such as 8,888,888, because numbers are thought to represent accumulated energy.
- Addresses and Dates: Openings or name changes for businesses, conferences, and celebrations are often held on 8 or days with 8, and addresses of businesses are sometimes chosen with the digit 8.
- License Plates: Because of the Chinese idea that 8 is good luck – it signifies a safe journey – people who own cars often like to acquire license plates with a number 8.
Indeed, the cultural interpretation of the magical property of the number 8 illustrates the extent to which intangible beliefs can dictate practical and often widespread decisions. Similarly to how modern proponents of numerology associate angel number 8 with abundance and personal power, in Chinese culture, lucky numbers take on a similar significance.
The Enigma of 13: Lucky or Unlucky?
The number 13 is perhaps the quintessential example of how culturally relative the association of a number to luck really is. This can be seen in the Western world where this sad notion of the 13th as an uneven, ominous, unlucky number, bad omen, and superstition. Many modern buildings in the West do not have a 13th floor and the number 13 isn’t used in certain popular games and events.
However, in other parts of the world, 13 is actually considered lucky:
- Italy: Thirteen is a number that is seen as deeply auspicious in Italy. The phrase ‘fare tredici’ means to hit the jackpot.
- Mexico: The number 13 is associated with the sacred feminine and with renewal, with rebirth.
This binary example highlights how cultural beliefs play a role in our own ‘stigmatisation’ of certain numbers, that is, believing that some numbers really are lucky or unlucky. The belief that numbers might carry this much weight is also replicated in ideas about angel numbers. Thus, angel number 13 might speak of change and spiritual growth to one person.
7 as a Universal Symbol of Luck and Perfection
Indeed, the number 7 is by far the most transcultural lucky number, idolised across many different cultures for its perceived spiritual and magical meaning. It represents perfection, completeness, and the help of divine beings – possibly the perfect number if it wasn’t up against the fight of its life with 8.
Cultural significance of the number 7:
- The West: For many Christians, since the seven days of creation are deemed sacred, the number seven is also sacred. It is seen as representative of certain aspects of divine order.
- Japan: The number seven symbolises good luck and happiness. The ‘Shichi-Go-San’ festival in Japan heralds children who have reached the ages of three, five, and seven.
- Islam: Seven holds special significance for Islam because the Kaaba in Mecca is circled seven times at Hajj.
The veneration of the number 7 shows that it’s an archetype of luck and completeness that is almost universally understood. Angel number 7 is today believed to bring about the revelation of deeper or higher knowledge, representing the seventh ray of the divine.
The Sacred Number 4 in Native American and Indigenous Cultures
Four also carries spiritual meaning in many Native American and Aboriginal cultures. Like ‘four directions, four quarters, four legs to stand on,’ the number four symbolises balance, harmony, and the connection to the natural world. It appears in prayer, ritual, and storytelling.
Significance of the number 4 in Indigenous cultures:
- Four is the sacred number of the four cardinal directions (north, south, east, west), which anchor traditional Native American cosmology and spiritual ceremonies.
- Four Seasons: In many Indigenous cultures of the year – spring, summer, autumn, and winter – and the need to live in harmony.
- Four Elements: Indigenous spiritual thought adheres strongly to the principles of the four classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water, all of which are seen as necessary for the sustenance of life.
These four associations exemplify how deeply embedded the number 4 is in Indigenous peoples’ cultural and spiritual practices, and these meanings are echoed in modern angelic numerology, where angel number 4 is associated with stability, grounding, and supportive angels.
But if you do want a good way to get closer to nature, feel more grounded in the world, or just find more balance in your life, consider binding yourself more strongly to the number 4. You might tie it to a meditation practice, attaching it to the four directions, or use it to mark the change of seasons, making a prayer for the Dawn a part of your morning routine and uniting yourself with those who have come before you, living and dead.
The Role of Numerology in African Diaspora Spiritual Practices
Numerology is an important aspect of the spiritual practices of the African diaspora: those who follow Mystic traditions widely assign the number 4 to the ancestors, the 7 to one’s spiritual guides, and the 9 to the living. These numbers are not empty linguistic conventions, but rather living symbols embodying meanings that direct rituals and serve as tools for divination and the ordering of everyday life in a mundane world.
Examples of numerology in African diaspora practices:
- Numbers in Divination: In practices such as Ifá, a system of divination practised by the Yoruba, numbers are used both to discern messages from the divine and to guide those who seek those insights.
- Numbers in Rituals and Offerings: Particular numbers specify how many offerings should be given to gods or ancestors, who in some cases can be deemed more or less powerful to win their favour or protection with specific number schemes.
- Symbolism Art/Music/Dance: Numbers are present in all forms of traditional visual art, music, and dance expressions that tie into spirituality and encounters with God.
The persistence of these numerological practices can be felt in contemporary mystical movements, where the symbolism of angel numbers can draw on these millennia-old traditions, as with the spiritually transformative angel number 505, which is firmly rooted in the fluidity of life, a key tenet of African animistic mores.
Modern-Day Superstitions and Lucky Numbers
But as we now live in a sprawling globalised world, lucky numbers and the folklore attached to them can always find new uses. Plucking lottery numbers from the air may now be frowned upon as unscientific, but choosing other numbers or making decisions about important dates is still often done frontward, using people’s favourite numbers to attract positive outcomes. Whether or not they actually work to do so is an entirely different question.
Common modern superstitions involving lucky numbers:
- LOTTERY Numbers: Some people who buy lottery tickets do so using numbers which have some relevance to the hope of winning, such as a birthday — NEW — or an anniversary, because they feel that these numbers give them good luck.
- Sports Jerseys: Players sometimes wear uniform numbers that they feel bring them good luck, and sometimes fans do, too. For them, a ‘lucky’ number might even bring the team victory.
- Digital Age superstitions: 11:11: It’s the new ‘if you see a penny pick it up and wish on it’. There are many popular entries across the internet about the obvious but hopeful belief that if you happen to look at a clock or watch and see 11:11, it’s a sign to make a wish.
Tip: Find a number that you like, find a reason (any reason) you feel lucky with it, and use that number in your dealings of the day. Try setting your alarm, making a phone call, or picking a lottery ticket number with your personal lucky number. You will find that you exude an extra dose of confidence and positive emotions just because your mind is mentally associating that number with good emotions.
The Influence of Numerology on Global Business Practices
Yet numerology isn’t merely a private quirk of individuals’ beliefs – it literally colours the decisions being taken around the globe when businesses build their practices around the numerological squiggles that certain cultures graft onto their figures.
Examples of numerology in business:
- Branding and product launches: Companies might decide to launch a new product, for example, on a numerologically favourable day to ensure it has a good start or better prospects.
- Corporate Addresses: Many businesses in some parts of Asia, like China or Japan, pick addresses with a lucky number as this is believed to bring prosperity. For instance, a business address with the number 8 is very prized in China.
- Pricing Strategies: Some firms use numerology in the pricing of certain goods implicitly choosing prices that are deemed to look luckier, better, more attractive, etc., to customers.
Tip: If you’re an entrepreneur, entrepreneurial businessperson, or even the boss, think about whether numerology could help you choose a date for a product launch or choosing prices to make a bigger splash in a crowded marketing space. The numbers might matter to your shoppers who happen to visit on that day.
The Enduring Power of Numbers
From gazing into lotto balls with good luck wishes to seeking confirmation that a date carries spiritual significance associated with God’s divine order, people around the world and throughout history have used numbers as tools to tap into the human unconscious mind. Today, many of us hope that chance will be on our side and maybe even a number.
But then again, the whole world catalogues number-magic, from the lucky seven to the life-changing 505 – an index of the desire for meaning, order, and destiny that perhaps we can never get enough of, no matter how much technology strives toward an ultimately more orderly set of environments and outcomes.