In my last two books, I explored the spiritual psychology of numbers, as taught by Pythagoras and his followers.  Today, Pythagoras is remembered mostly for the theorem of Euclidian geometry that bears his name.  But more fundamentally, Pythagoras taught that numbers represent various layers of the process by which reality is constructed, each layer infused with a divine intelligence that permeates everything.

 

My interest in working with this idea is that, assuming it is true, and that numbers can be correlated with various astrological signatures, then the birthchart potentially not only shows how an individual is wired psychologically, but also how divine intelligence is reflected in the wiring.  At this level of understanding, the birthchart becomes an exquisitely designed opportunity for each soul to work toward healing and self-actualization through an exercise in consciousness rooted in an immanent Intelligence that transcends the individual soul’s existence.  Whether we call this Intelligence God, or Goddess, or Spirit, or Great Mystery, it is ultimately our sense of it that makes the soul’s journey possible, and that gives the embodied life its ultimate meaning and purpose.

Accessing Divine Intelligence

​

When I refer to the soul as the subject of our tracking, I am not referring to the immortal soul that is often the focus of religious or spiritual practice, nor am I referring to the reincarnating soul that may or may not move through multiple lifetimes.  I do not rule out the possibility that the soul – at least in its ultimate identification with Spirit – is immortal, nor that we reincarnate, but I believe that all that we can actually track astrologically is the embodied soul, the central protagonist in the slowly unwinding story of this life.

 

As we address the issues and the challenges in which the opportunity for healing and self-actualization are couched, we must necessarily access this divine intelligence to find a viable path through them.  As we do, we become aligned with the spark of the divine within us, and fulfill our destinies not just as humans, but as spiritual beings on a path through a more conscious participation in Life toward reunion with our Source.

 

Furthermore, if these numbered layers of divine intelligence have given rise to everything, then they also point toward a level of creativity that empowers us not just to heal and self-actualize, but also to contribute in a meaningful way to the evolution of the whole.  Who we are, and what we do with our lives is not just a personal matter; it is a matter of taking our place in the larger web of Life with conscious intention, and giving something back for all that we have been given.  The key to doing this lies in knowing how divine intelligence permeates our soul’s journey, so that we can cooperate more intentionally with It.  Numbers, as understood archetypally, are the key to this level of self-knowledge.

​

Finding Divine Intelligence in the Birthchart

​

Numbers are inherent in the astrological landscape, for a consideration of masculine and feminine signs, the elements and modalities, the trifold division of the quadrants of the birthchart, the angles of the chart, the four seasons, aspects and harmonics, and the 12-fold division of the zodiac and the wheel of houses all reference numbers – particularly the numbers 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. 

 

Beyond that, the Pythagoreans associated numbers with particular deities, most of whom have astrological referents.  The sidereal and synodic periods of each planet also reference one or more numbers; as do the combination of planets as represented by these periods, multiplied and/or divided with each other. 

 

To this basic expanded Pythagorean understanding, I have added my own ideas about how interchakra dynamics play out in relation to each number.  As we track the soul, various astrological patterns point toward the soul work to be done in relation to each individual chakra.  To access the higher-level creativity necessary to make a meaningful contribution to the collective evolution, we must experience an integration of chakras working together in various ways, and this more complex dynamic is reflected in a number-realm analysis of the birthchart.

 

With a number-realm analysis, it becomes possible to tell which numbers are emphasized in a given birthchart, and how divine intelligence flows through a particular psyche.  The simple existence of a pattern related to a given number does not necessarily mean that the individual soul will be able to access divine intelligence or make a larger contribution to the greater whole, just that the potential is there.

​

Using Divine Intelligence to Make the World a Better Place

 

Before that potential can be actualized, we must do the more basic work of healing core wounds and actualizing the more garden-variety of creative potential necessary to negotiate an ordinary life – paying the bills, pursuing a career, negotiating relationships, raising a family, maintaining our health, etc. Beyond that, to self-actualize, we will necessarily have to cultivate a viable sense of identity and purpose; learn whatever lessons life is trying to teach us; find ways to effectively express our emotions; develop good communication skills; live a life of integrity that revolves around our core values; take a stand for what we believe; reach beyond our limitations and earn the respect of our peers for the wisdom, consciousness and compassion that we bring to everything that we do.

 

Whatever possibility exists for making a more lasting and deeply meaningful contribution to the collective, can only ever rest on this more personal foundation.  The history of the world is filled with stories of individuals who have made such contributions, not excused from the requirements of an ordinary life, but somehow able to use that life as a springboard to something more.  We are not the only ones facing the challenges we take so personally, and in the recognition of that is an important clue about where our larger contribution might lie.

 

As we look at a birthchart from various perspectives – as any astrologer might, using the basic language of astrology to get the lay of the land; as astro-poets, listening for the unique ways in which the symbolism reveals itself in the birthchart, as it is actually being lived; as soul trackers, exploring how the planetary configurations that structure the birthchart point to the soul work to be done in one or more chakras; and as participants in divine intelligence, observing how that intelligence is wired in relation to the birthchart – we see how these various levels of possibility are intertwined within the same birthchart, and ultimately are inspired to reach for a higher level of expression.

 

It is my intent in working with these various layers, and others yet to be articulated, to show how the birthchart can become a multi-faceted kaleidoscope through which to witness a multi-layered flowering.  As the interior life of the soul’s journey grows into an embodied life with implications not just for the individual, but for the world in which the individual participates, and to which he or she ultimately offers life as a sacred trust, we are sustained by the divine intelligence that permeates the world, as we sustain, deepen, and disseminate that divine intelligence in return.

​

Where to Go From Here

 

To listen to a lecture about how I work with the soul of numbers, go here.

 

To read the books on which the theory and practice of tracking the soul is based, go here (Part One) and here.

 

For an in-depth consultation exploring your number realm patterns, go here.

 

Experienced astrologers who wish to learn my system, go here.