Most of you reading this are likely familiar with Pythagorean Numerology. If not, it's a system that assigns numbers to letters of the English Alphabet. Words and phrases are then mapped to these numbers, allowing magicians to perform sacred mathematics. More information can be found in Ray Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft.
While I can't say for sure, I imagine this practice is derived from earlier similar systems like Gematria or Isopsephy. The former is Hebrew, and to perform it outside of their religious tradition is considered appropriation. The latter, however, is Greek, and is open to all. For that reason, we will discuss the Greek form.
Let's start by looking at a chart of Greek letters and their numerical equivalents. I've uploaded a scan of my own table below; it's based on John Opsopaus' The Oracles of Apollo:
Similar to Pythagorean Numerology, you take the Greek word or phrase and add up the numerical values. The sum total is the primary Isopsephic value, but you can also add the individual digits together until you reduce it to a single digit.
Hard to parse? Let's take a look at an example.
My chosen name is Gladstone. In Greek, that roughly transliterates to Γκλάντστοουν. If we add up the individual letters, we get 1474. By adding the digits together, we get 16, which reduces once more to 7. By Isopsephic principles, any word or phrase with the same value(s) would be symbolically related to my name--and by extension, myself.
To further illustrate, my magical motto is To Thine Alone. In Greek, that roughly translates to Σε Σένα Μόνο. If we perform the same process, we get 691, which ultimately reduces to 7. This means that my name and motto are related.
Great! But why does this matter, what's the significance?
I chose this particular name and motto out of hundreds of similar names and sentiments precisely because of their Isopsephic relation to my birth number (which is 7). To match these three characteristics together is to encourage these synergistic energies in my life.
And this goes beyond the big things like names and mottos. You can do this with ritual and spellcraft as well. Magical words or phrases can be chosen (or built!) to align with specific dates.
Say you want to perform a spell on 2024.05.25. You add these up and get 20, which reduces to 2. You can use words or phrases with Isopsephic or reduced values that match. Or you add the year, the month, and the day and get 2054, which ultimately reduces to 2. The same principles apply.
I recognize the difficulty and complexity of something like Isopsephy. It assumes a relatively wide body of expertise and willingness to translate through trial and error. But if you can get the basics down, I believe that it can lend a lot of power to your practice.
Isopsephy (/ˈaɪsəpˌsɛfi/; ἴσος isos meaning "equal" and ψῆφος psephos meaning "pebble") or isopsephism is the practice of adding up the number values of the letters in a word to form a single number. The total number is then used as a metaphorical bridge to other words evaluating the equal number, which satisfies isos or "equal" in the term. The early Greeks used pebbles arranged in patterns to learn arithmetic and geometry, which corresponds to psephos or "pebble" and "counting" in the term.
