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The Power of Numbers
The Power of Numbers is a fun guide to numerology, filled with cool math facts and information about how to use numbers, from your birth date to your house address, to find purpose and meaning in your life.
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Published January 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 11, 2025
Review written on Aug 15, 2024.
tl;dr I imagine there must be better books (or articles, YouTube videos, etc.) on the topic of numerology than this. I bought it for five dollars from Five Below, and it reads as you'd expect from that. Cute novelty, but nothing more than that.
Not tl;dr, my thoughts as I read the book:
I've never cared nor bothered to look into numerology beyond what I needed to learn for tarot, so this book was a random buy for me. It was there, it was five bucks, why not? But, it is not for me.
Right off the bat the wording in this book is more confusing and verbose than it needs to be. When doing the math to add up numbers, the author includes useless information that only makes things messier. It's almost like the book is written for little children, and I do mean little. It takes two seconds to say: Add up the individual numbers in your birthday, including your month, day, and full year, until you get a single digit. That took one sentence, her description takes up a full page.
Getting your personality number is worse, look at these instructions:
So why am I writing down the month to begin with? Just combine the two steps into one: write down the day of the month you were born. She includes examples (that also are just a few lines that also for some reason take up an entire page--SO much empty space), so that can help avoid any potential misunderstandings from a simpler explanation. But already this reads as a desperate attempt to get the word count up.
Along with that, there in general is also a ton of repetition. Yes, I know to turn to page 30 to read about Core Numbers, you've said that 12 times already. I don't then also need a literal paragraph explaining how, if I want to, I can turn to page 30 to read about Core Numbers.
This is what happens when you want to cash in on what should've been an article.
I think what I like so much about tarot is, while like numerology there are set rules, the bending of those rules makes more sense and still follows some logic. But here, it's, "Oh, you don't like the number you go for your [insert whatever calculation here]? Well, just pick a different one then." What was the point? What did I get out of it then? Why calculate any number if I can just change the result? At least with astrology, it's open-ended enough that you can wiggle your way around to make it make sense. I'm not sure if the author is just bad at explaining, or if this is a fault of Westernized numerology.
The content improved as the book went on, however, which was nice. The 'Core Numbers' (1-9) had a few pages each, with a general description of the personality of someone with that number, a list of famous people with the same life path number, talents, hobbies, strengths/weaknesses, which numbers they're most compatible with, associated colors, gemstones, plants, animals, scents/oils, health/ailments, and locations, along with careers/ambitions, and life and space organizing advice. (This sounds like a lot, but the information given was still rather brief.)
As someone who has only ever used numerology with tarot, it was a little strange to see differing definitions and usages for each number. Tarot is mentioned at the end of the book, but the differences in numerical meaning are never addressed.
After that was 'Influential Double Digits' (11-99), a description of the significance of them in general, and a blurb for each one. The same with angel numbers (000-999, 1001, 1212, 1234, 1313, and 8765)
I'm trying to be generous and respectful, as someone who does not believe in this stuff, but it's hard to not point out the scientific psychological explanation for this: It's called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, or 'frequency illusion'.
I'm not sure why this book is irking me more than previous metaphysical-based books I've read. Perhaps I felt the books I've read on crystals and astrology felt more...like there was a point? More strict in rules which gave it more structure. I did appreciate the handful of times the author here mentioned how different cultures view numbers differently, as that concept (as well as the topic of appropriation) is almost never discussed in Western metaphysical books at all. But this book does very clearly lean Western in general, and leaves a lot of open-endedness to the meanings. And with that, there was a lot of overlap in the meanings to the numbers given in this book, which made them difficult to differentiate.
The math parts were the more fun aspects of the book. Adding up the numbers and seeing where they land. It gives an opportunity of reflection and introspection, which is what I appreciate so much about tarot to begin with.
Though as I said earlier, this does feel more like an article turned into a book. To justify being turned into a book, I wish there had been more detail, history, information, cultural exploration, etc. It's otherwise just a very surface level reference guide with a lot of filler and repeated information and meanings. The book comments about 'us adults', but if anything, I'd say it's more for teens.
I do find it funny the missed opportunity to make the book a specific special number. Instead of 176 pages, some stuff could've been cut or condensed to make it 111, or actual extra information (and ideally not more filler/repetition) could've pushed it to 222.
It was a quick read, and the math parts were entertaining, but it otherwise didn't offer me anything. I'd give it a pass.
tl;dr I imagine there must be better books (or articles, YouTube videos, etc.) on the topic of numerology than this. I bought it for five dollars from Five Below, and it reads as you'd expect from that. Cute novelty, but nothing more than that.
Not tl;dr, my thoughts as I read the book:
I've never cared nor bothered to look into numerology beyond what I needed to learn for tarot, so this book was a random buy for me. It was there, it was five bucks, why not? But, it is not for me.
Right off the bat the wording in this book is more confusing and verbose than it needs to be. When doing the math to add up numbers, the author includes useless information that only makes things messier. It's almost like the book is written for little children, and I do mean little. It takes two seconds to say: Add up the individual numbers in your birthday, including your month, day, and full year, until you get a single digit. That took one sentence, her description takes up a full page.
Getting your personality number is worse, look at these instructions:
1. Write down your birth month and day.
2. Ignore your birth month.
So why am I writing down the month to begin with? Just combine the two steps into one: write down the day of the month you were born. She includes examples (that also are just a few lines that also for some reason take up an entire page--SO much empty space), so that can help avoid any potential misunderstandings from a simpler explanation. But already this reads as a desperate attempt to get the word count up.
Along with that, there in general is also a ton of repetition. Yes, I know to turn to page 30 to read about Core Numbers, you've said that 12 times already. I don't then also need a literal paragraph explaining how, if I want to, I can turn to page 30 to read about Core Numbers.
This is what happens when you want to cash in on what should've been an article.
I think what I like so much about tarot is, while like numerology there are set rules, the bending of those rules makes more sense and still follows some logic. But here, it's, "Oh, you don't like the number you go for your [insert whatever calculation here]? Well, just pick a different one then." What was the point? What did I get out of it then? Why calculate any number if I can just change the result? At least with astrology, it's open-ended enough that you can wiggle your way around to make it make sense. I'm not sure if the author is just bad at explaining, or if this is a fault of Westernized numerology.
The content improved as the book went on, however, which was nice. The 'Core Numbers' (1-9) had a few pages each, with a general description of the personality of someone with that number, a list of famous people with the same life path number, talents, hobbies, strengths/weaknesses, which numbers they're most compatible with, associated colors, gemstones, plants, animals, scents/oils, health/ailments, and locations, along with careers/ambitions, and life and space organizing advice. (This sounds like a lot, but the information given was still rather brief.)
As someone who has only ever used numerology with tarot, it was a little strange to see differing definitions and usages for each number. Tarot is mentioned at the end of the book, but the differences in numerical meaning are never addressed.
After that was 'Influential Double Digits' (11-99), a description of the significance of them in general, and a blurb for each one. The same with angel numbers (000-999, 1001, 1212, 1234, 1313, and 8765)
Have you ever learned a new word, then suddenly see that word everywhere you turn? It's kind of the same deal with Angel Numbers. They're out there, but we may not see them until we learn to do so. And then we'll start to see them everywhere.
I'm trying to be generous and respectful, as someone who does not believe in this stuff, but it's hard to not point out the scientific psychological explanation for this: It's called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, or 'frequency illusion'.
I'm not sure why this book is irking me more than previous metaphysical-based books I've read. Perhaps I felt the books I've read on crystals and astrology felt more...like there was a point? More strict in rules which gave it more structure. I did appreciate the handful of times the author here mentioned how different cultures view numbers differently, as that concept (as well as the topic of appropriation) is almost never discussed in Western metaphysical books at all. But this book does very clearly lean Western in general, and leaves a lot of open-endedness to the meanings. And with that, there was a lot of overlap in the meanings to the numbers given in this book, which made them difficult to differentiate.
The math parts were the more fun aspects of the book. Adding up the numbers and seeing where they land. It gives an opportunity of reflection and introspection, which is what I appreciate so much about tarot to begin with.
Though as I said earlier, this does feel more like an article turned into a book. To justify being turned into a book, I wish there had been more detail, history, information, cultural exploration, etc. It's otherwise just a very surface level reference guide with a lot of filler and repeated information and meanings. The book comments about 'us adults', but if anything, I'd say it's more for teens.
I do find it funny the missed opportunity to make the book a specific special number. Instead of 176 pages, some stuff could've been cut or condensed to make it 111, or actual extra information (and ideally not more filler/repetition) could've pushed it to 222.
It was a quick read, and the math parts were entertaining, but it otherwise didn't offer me anything. I'd give it a pass.
September 11, 2024
Picked this up because I saw it for five bucks. Obviously you won’t find every number sequence in this, but it covers a pretty fair amount of the more common “angel numbers.” It’s also organized pretty well, which I can appreciate in any reference book.
I’d highly recommend this for people who know absolutely nothing about numerology. If you’re already familiar with numbers, then this book won’t fulfill you. However, it’s always nice to have a quick refresher of the basics! It’s an essential keeper for me!
I’d highly recommend this for people who know absolutely nothing about numerology. If you’re already familiar with numbers, then this book won’t fulfill you. However, it’s always nice to have a quick refresher of the basics! It’s an essential keeper for me!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2025
Perfect for beginners
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews