Number as Quality

In the esoteric traditions numbers carry qualities as well as quantities: one for unity, two for division and duality, three for synthesis, four for order and the material, and so on. This category treats the symbolic numbers, the meanings a tradition attaches to each, as distinct from the positions of a numerological chart, which are treated separately.

The idea that numbers have natures is old and widespread. Pythagorean number theory, which held number to be the principle of all things, Jewish gematria, which reads the numerical values of Hebrew words, and the number symbolism of Christian and Islamic thought all contribute to it.