In this chapter, we will discuss the relevance of the concept of recommending gemstones based on numerology. Numerology is considered as the science of calculating a native’s future, nature, characteristics, goals, challenges and many other important aspects of his life with the help of numbers which are primarily derived from his name and date of birth. The science of numerology had initially fascinated western astrologers and numerologists more than Indian astrologers and numerologists but it has caught up very fast with Indian astrologers and numerologists also.
As a result, many practitioners and experts of this science can be found in India also. Many rich people, powerful people, movie stars and other celebrities are now paying visits to numerologists in order to know their lucky numbers and in order to know their future with the help of certain numbers which are drawn from their dates of birth and their prevalent names. Experts dealing in numerology also suggest some remedial measures for achieving more in different spheres of life and these measures usually include change in the spellings of names and wearing gemstones.
Hence a number of people change their names according to the advice of their numerologists in order to achieve success or more success in their respective professional spheres. This is because they are told by their numerologists that their present names correspond to numbers which are not suitable for them. These people are suggested that if they make certain changes to their names in such a way that a specific number can be achieved as a resultant, their chances of achieving success can be improved many times. Similarly, there are many other spheres of a native’s life which can be predicted with the help of numerology and which can also be improved with the help of numerology, according to the prevalent claims. Accordingly, a number of people seeking better results in some spheres of their lives take advice from numerologists in order to witness success and other good things.
The science of numerology is based on numbers which are calculated from the date of birth and name of a native whose case is under consideration for various purposes. The date of birth of a native is added up to obtain a single digit number by adding up all the numbers in the date of birth of the native where the day, month and year of birth of the native is considered for this calculation. For example, If a native’s date of birth is 14 December 1995, the resultant number of his date of birth is calculated in 4 steps where the date, month and year of birth are reduced to 1 digit numbers by adding up the numbers mentioned in them in the first 3 steps and the resultant number of the addition of these 3 numbers is obtained in the 4th step which is the final resultant number for date of birth of a native.
In the given example, the total of date comes out as 5 by adding up 1 and 4 in the date, the total of month comes out as 3 as December stands for number 12 being the 12th month of year and we get 3 by adding 1 and 2 mentioned in 12. In case of year of birth which is 1995 we get 1 + 9 + 9 + 5 which is 24 and we add up this number again to obtain a single digit number which comes out as 6 by adding 2 and 4.
Hence we get three 1 digit numbers as 5 for the date, 3 for the month and 6 for the year. In the next and final step, we will add these 3 numbers to get the final 1 digit number for date of birth. Adding up 5, 3 and 6, we get 14 which is a double digit number and by adding up the digits in this number again, we get 1 + 4 = 5. Hence 5 is the resultant number of date of birth of this native, which is called the Life Path Number, Talent Number, Birth number or the Birth force number and it is considered as the most important number in a native’s life. Many predictions are made about the native from this number.
Apart from the talent number, the other most important number for a native is obtained by adding up the digits corresponding to the English letters used in his name. Numerology assigns the following numbers to each one of the English letters:
A, J and S = 1
B, K and T = 2
C, L and U = 3
D, M and V = 4
E, N and W = 5
F, O and X = 6
G, P and Y = 7
H, Q and Z = 8
I and R = 9
The digits corresponding to each letter are taken according to the above mentioned table and then the digits are added in order to obtain a single digit number. For example, if someone’s name is Rakesh Kumar, his digital name will be 9 for R, 1 for A, 2 for K, 5 for E, 1 for S, 8 for H, 2 for K, 3 for U, 4 for M, 1 for A and 9 for R. Adding up all these numbers namely 9, 1, 2, 5, 1, 8, 2, 3, 4, 1 and 9 we get 45 which is a double digit number and adding up 4 and 5 in this number; we get 9 as the final resultant single digit number which is the number obtained for the name of the native.
The number so obtained by adding up numbers assigned to all the English letters used in a name is called Expression number, Destiny number or Name number in numerology and it is believed that this number has got a lot to do with the way your luck works and your efforts bring result. For this reason, many natives are suggested by various numerologists, to alter or change their name in such a way that more suitable and desired destiny numbers or name numbers may be obtained. These numerologists believe that doing so is supposed to enhance the luck of these natives and accordingly these natives may achieve more success in different spheres of their lives.
Looking at the relevance of this science, numerology has a limited scope in predicting as well as shaping the future of a native. This is because it is a very basic type of science which is surely much easier to learn and practice compared to complex faiths like Vedic astrology. However, it only deals with some numbers which are further related to navagraha mentioned in Vedic astrology; instead of directly dealing with the planets which are much more complex and comprehensive. Even these numbers can be confusing at times and different methods may give different results when we try to make some calculations.
What I mean to say is that if a person named Rakesh Kumar wants to get his name number, all the numbers assigned to English letters used in his name are added and the final number of a single digit is obtained as mentioned by me in the example. However this method is not only confusing, but limited also. For instance, if I write the same name in Hindi and calculate the name number according to the numbers assigned to Hindi letters used in this name, a different name number may come up. Similarly, I may get a variety of different name numbers for the same name by writing the name in different languages.
In order to avoid this confusion, it is supposed that in order to get the name number for a native, only the English spellings of his name should be considered. This is what makes the science of numerology limited as it can deal with things only from a certain angle and not from every angle. I mean if a person is born in India and he writes his name in Hindi or in another Indian language, numerology may not do much for him unless he writes his name in English. The same applies to all other natives born in cultures which have languages other than English.
All these people should either writer their names in English first; or a state of confusion may arise as the sum total of numbers assigned to letters in different languages may be different, giving different name numbers for the same native with same name written in different languages. Hence you have to write your name in English in order to use the science of numerology as otherwise; you may get more than one name number for the same name. Though this rule is practiced in order to avoid confusion while calculating a name number, it gives rise to an important question.
Does it mean that the science of numerology is only meant to be used with English language? If that is so, was this science not available before the birth of English language which dates back to a few thousand years only? As we know the answer to the second question is negative, which means the science of numerology if present; may have been present before the birth of English language also as this is a science of numbers associated with certain specific planets. Hence it primarily depends on numbers and not on letters of a language.
Therefore, if we fix English as the language to write names for the purpose of numerology, this faith is restricted. On the other hand, if we free this faith from this restriction and we use any language to write a name and then calculate the name number, we get different name numbers for the same name, causing confusion as to which of those names should be used. Hence, numerology doesn’t have a clear approach when it comes to calculate name numbers and it is in a state of confusion or restriction.
Let’s now consider the application of numerology for the purpose of recommending gemstones to different natives, based on their birth numbers and name numbers. Starting with name number, the resultant single digit name number is obtained and it is then checked which planet among navagraha it belongs to. It should be noted that Sun rules number 1, Moon rules number 2, Jupiter rules number 3, Rahu rules number 4, Mercury rules number 5, Venus rules number 6, Ketu rules number 7, Saturn rules number 8 and Mars rules number 9. This way, the ruling planet for a name number is found and the gemstone corresponding to that planet is recommended for the native.
For example, for my name Himanshu Shangari, the name number will be calculated as the sum total of all the numbers assigned to all the consonants and vowels in my name, which means 8 for H, 9 for I, 4 for M, 1 for A, 5 for N, 1 for S, 3 for U, 7 for G, and 9 for R. Adding up the numbers corresponding to the letters used in my name according to the rules of numerology, we get 8 + 9 + 4 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 8 + 3 + 1 + 8 + 1 + 5 + 7 + 1 + 9 + 9 which comes up as 80 which on further adding up like 8 + 0 comes up as 8.
Hence 8 is my name number according to numerology and accordingly the gemstone belonging to the planet which rules number 8 which means the gemstone belonging to Saturn is my lucky gemstone. Hence I should wear a Blue Sapphire according to my name number. Similarly other gemstones are suggested to other natives; based on the name numbers obtained from their names. Talking about a Blue Sapphire recommended for me, this gemstone never works for me and it starts causing a number of problems within a few days of wearing it. Since practical results are the final results, theoretical results should only be true if they are complemented by practical results.
As a Blue Sapphire suits me in theory and it troubles me a lot in practical, it means the theory of recommending this gemstone for me is flawed. This is because such recommendations of gemstones based on name numbers have nothing to do with the actual working nature of various planets among navagraha, in the horoscope of the native under consideration. In fact, many such astrologers or numerologists recommending gemstones in this way don’t even take a look at the horoscopes of the natives in the first place.
Moving on with this theory of recommending gemstones on the basis of name numbers of various natives, some astrologers or numerologists recommending gemstones on the basis of name numbers believe that success can be achieved by all natives; merely by making some changes to the spellings of their names. The new spellings results in different name numbers for these natives and accordingly, different gemstones can be made suitable for various natives or for each native merely by making some changes to the name spellings of the native. As the new name number corresponds to a different planet now, the gemstone for that planet should be suitable now.
For example, if my name is rewritten as Himaanshu Shangari instead of Himanshu Shangari by adding an extra A to Himanshu, the name number comes up as 9 instead of 8 as the added A stands for 1 in numerology and it will add a total of 1 to my name number. It means that the resultant of my new and modified name will come up as 9 and accordingly, a Red Coral becomes suitable for me now because the number 9 belongs to Mars according to numerology and my name number is now ruled by Mars instead of Saturn. Hence the gemstone for Mars now becomes suitable for me.
Similarly the gemstones belonging to all other planets among navagraha can be made suitable for me merely by making some changes to my name spellings or changing my name in a variety of combinations which will result in different name numbers and accordingly, different gemstones will be suitable for me. Hence I can wear the gemstones belonging to all planets among navagraha by changing my name and all those gemstones are supposed to bring good luck to me according to this theory of recommending gemstones on the basis of names and name numbers, practiced by some astrologers or numerologists.
By this time, most readers may have understood that the above mentioned theory of recommending gemstones on the basis of names and name numbers found through numerology is nothing but a fancy thought which has got nothing to do with reality of life, reality of navagraha, reality of karmic astrology and Vedic astrology in actual practice. The whole concepts looks just like an easy to play game through which all the natives in this world can make gemstones of their choice suitable for them by making some adjustments to their names. Such adjustments change their name numbers according to numerology and the gemstones which were previously unsuitable for these natives may now become suitable for them; merely by virtue of these natives changing their names.
The theory of gemstones, navagraha and karma is not as simple as this and at the same time it is not so easy to twist certain things and change your destiny. The working nature of each planet among navagraha is decided by the past life karmas of each native and such working nature of any planet among navagraha can be changed from negative to positive; only by doing good karmas and guided astrological remedies belonging to the significances of that planet and not by changing the name.
Gemstones work like motors or boosters which bring up the results of your past life karmas with faster speed and gemstones have got nothing to do with the fact whether such karmas are good or bad. It means that gemstones don’t have anything to do with the working nature of various planets among navagraha and they only increase good or bad events based on whether such gemstones are being worn for planets which have a large number of good karmas from the past lives attached to them or such gemstones have been worn for the planets which are associated with a large number of bad karmas from past lives.
Association of a planet with good karmas from past life makes it benefic for the native and accordingly the gemstone belonging to such planet becomes suitable for the native. This is because when such gemstone speeds up the process of bringing the results of past life karmas, it may bring an increased number of good results as it is materializing the results for good karmas done by the native in his past life.
On the other hand, association of a planet with bad karmas from past life makes it malefic for the native and accordingly, the gemstone belonging to such planet becomes harmful for the native. This is because when such gemstone speeds up the process of bringing the results of past life karmas to the native, it may bring an increased number of bad results as it is materializing the results for bad karmas done by the native during his past lives.
The process of shaping up the working nature of a planet among navagraha is a very long process and it can take the sum total of all the good and bad karmas of many past lives of a native when it comes to define the working nature of a particular planet among navagraha in the present life horoscope of the native.
The theory of karma and karmic astrology is very clear and Vedic astrology finds it readings and gives its recommendations based on the theory of karmas and karmic astrology which says that if a planet among navagraha is malefic in a horoscope, it simply means that the native having such malefic planet in his horoscope must have done bad karmas in his past lives related to the significances of that planet among navagraha. Accordingly, the native has to pay for his bad karmas in the form of various kinds of troubles and problems; unless he starts paying it by doing good karmas related to the domain of that planet.
Vedic astrology guides various natives suffering from such malefic planets that they should start doing good karmas and guided astrological remedies related to the significances of such malefic planets so that the karmic debt of such planets on these natives may be reduced. It means the malefic nature of these planets may be gradually reduced and they may finally be turned into positive or benefic planets after paying all the karmic debt of such planets among navagraha.
This is however a long or sometimes, a very long process and it needs continuous efforts and good karmas along with a great deal of patience as it can easily take many years or even the entire life of a native to change the working nature of a malefic planet. This is because, the karmic debt of a planet among navagraha, which was formed due to bad karmas done by the native during one or more than one of his past lives can easily take many years of his present life or the entire present life to be paid. This is not something which can be achieved overnight; and that too without doing any good karma and merely by changing the name.
For example, someone who killed a saint or many saints in his past life may have Jupiter as one of the most malefic planets in his horoscope of present life according to the theory of karmic astrology as killing a saint or killing many saints forms heavy karmic debt of Jupiter. Accordingly, Jupiter may become malefic for the native in order to recover such karmic debt by means of afflicting very serious types of problems and troubles upon the native. Such a heavy karmic debt of Jupiter is something which can take the whole life of the native to be paid by doing various kinds of good karmas and guided astrological remedies belonging to the domain of Jupiter. Accordingly, such native is guided by Vedic astrology to engage in good karmas related to the significances of Jupiter.
Now imagine for a second that someone can get rid of all this negativity of Jupiter and such negative Jupiter on the contrary can be made into the most benefic planet for such native merely by changing the name and doing nothing else. The idea obviously looks very stupid and so it is, because only good karmas can balance out the sufferings inflicted upon a native as a result of karmic debt formed due to bad karmas and nothing else can do the trick. It is as simple as that and nothing can beat this theory of karmas and karmic astrology. Changing the name is not a good karma and accordingly it can’t turn a malefic planet into a benefic planet by paying all the karmic debt owed to such planet among navagraha.
Hindu mythology tells us that three generations of Sooryavansh had to engage in hard worship of Lord Brahma in order to bring the holiest river Ganga on earth so that Pitra dosh formed by Jupiter on Sooryavansh could be rectified. It was only after the lifelong worship of king Anshuman and his son king Dilip that Lord Brahma came to answer the worship of king Bhagirath, the son of king Dilip. It took three generations of Sooryavansh to pay the karmic debt of Jupiter. This incident clearly tells us that paying the karmic debt of planets is a long process and it can’t be paid merely by changing the name. This is because if it had been so, king Anshuman would have changed his name in such a way that his name number had resulted in number 3 which would have made Jupiter as the most benefic planet in his horoscope and he would have then received the blessings of Jupiter; despite his family having insulted and attacked a sage.
According to karmic astrology, a planet can’t be benefic for a native if such planet forms karmic debt on the native due to bad karmas done by the native in his past lives and the only way to change the malefic nature of a malefic planet is to pay the karmic debt formed by that planet. Once this karmic debt is cleared; the planet automatically stops being malefic for the native. This is because this planet has nothing to take away from the native now.
However the process of building up of karmic debt of various planets among navagraha is a gradual and long process and accordingly, it takes a long time and sustained efforts to pay the karmic debt of some planets among navagraha by doing specific good karmas guided by Vedic astrology. This is not something that can be achieved overnight by merely changing the name and the name number as suggested by some astrologers or numerologists.
Hence gemstones should not be worn merely on the basis of name numbers calculated from your names because many astrologers and numerologists recommending gemstones on the basis of this theory don’t take the working nature of planets belonging to such gemstones, into account. It means that this theory can easily recommend gemstones for malefic planets which can cause problems or disasters for the native; depending on how malefic such planets are, according to the horoscope of the native.
Therefore the practice of recommending gemstones merely one the basis of names and name numbers should be avoided and gemstones recommended on the basis of this theory should not be worn as such gemstones can cause serious troubles for the native wearing them. Gemstones should only be worn for positive planets and gemstones should never be worn for malefic planets as doing so can bring up bad results and sour fruits from the past lives of the native. Therefore, the horoscope of the native should be studied thoroughly in the light of Vedic astrology in order to find benefic as well as malefic planets for the native and only after that, some gemstones belonging to benefic planets in the horoscope of the native should be recommended to the native.
Continuing with the same theory of recommending gemstones on the basis of numerology, many astrologers practicing in numerology believe that gemstones can be worn according to the date of birth of a person. Such astrologers state that same gemstones are suitable to all the people born on a particular day and the suitability of such gemstones is calculated from the date which falls on the day of birth of a native. For example, if a native is born on 3, 12, 21 or 30 of a month, it is believed by these astrologers that Yellow Sapphire is a suitable gemstone for these people as Jupiter is associated with number 3 according to numerology and the sum total of all the above mentioned numbers comes out as 3; like 2 plus 1 make 3 when added.
Hence these astrologers recommend all their clients to wear Yellow Sapphire, who are born on any of the above mentioned dates of any month. Similarly, these astrologers recommend Blue Sapphire as a suitable or lucky gemstone to the people who are born on 8, 17 or 26 of any month as Blue Sapphire is the gemstone for Saturn according to Vedic astrology and Saturn is related to number 8 according to numerology. Similarly, other gemstones are suggested to different natives depending on their dates of birth and this way, all the natives born on some particular dates of every month end up having the same lucky or suitable gemstones for them.
Another group of astrologers recommending gemstones on the basis of numerology considers all the numbers present in the complete date of birth of a native, adds them up and the final number is considered for recommending gemstones to the native; based on the planetary lord of that number. For example, if someone’s date of birth is 15 November 1978, the numbers 15, 11 and 1978 will be added like 1 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 9 + 7 + 8 which gives us a resultant number 33 on addition; which further gives us 6 upon addition. Hence 6 is the number which is considered as the lucky number of the native and accordingly the gemstone associated with the planetary lord of this number, which is Venus is suggested to the native. It means a Diamond or White Sapphire is suggested to the native in this case.
Some astrologers practicing in numerology combine both these theories and recommend the gemstones to their clients, which belong to the lords of numbers obtained by adding only the dates of birth of the natives as well as the gemstones which belong to the lords of numbers obtained by adding the days, months and years of birth of the natives. In these cases, the natives born on the same day of a month and the natives having the same date of birth will have exactly same gemstones suitable for them. It means that the all the natives born on some particular days will have same gemstones suitable for them, which belong to the planetary lords of the numbers that represents those days or dates.
This group of astrologers or numerologists believes that the gemstone which belongs to the lord of day of birth or lord of complete date of birth of a native is always suitable for the native. Hence these astrologers recommend their clients to wear gemstones belonging to the lords of days of birth or the ones belonging to the lords of complete dates of birth in their respective horoscopes. However, in actual practice, such gemstones prescribed for the lords of days of birth or dates of birth of the natives can give positive effects to some natives whereas such gemstones can give bad or very bad results to some other natives, based on the actual working of the planets corresponding to such gemstones, in their horoscopes.
It is interesting to note that the theory of calculating day or date number is once again limited and confusing as this theory is once again limited to the use of English calendar for the purpose of these calculations. As we know, many religions and cultures have different calendars and hence different dates fall on the same day according to these different calendars. For example, you may be born on 18th of a month accordingly to English calendar; which may be 3rd of a month according to Hindu calendar and which may be 5th of a month according to Chinese calendar. Now the same day gives you three different day numbers which are 9, 3 and 5.
So which one of these 3 numbers is your day number? I have only mentioned three numbers for the same day and there can be many of them depending on the number of calendars followed across the globe. To solve this problem, numerology sticks to English calendar. This is once again a limitation and it raises the same question again. Was there no numerology before the start of English calendar?
I have been told by many of my clients that they have suffered serious problems in various spheres of their lives after wearing the gemstones suggested by someone, for the lords of days of birth or dates of birth in their horoscopes. Looking at some scientific and astrological facts related to this theory, this theory states that about 350,000 people born during a particular period of 1 day can wear the same gemstone which belongs to the lord of day of birth or date of birth, which is the same for all such natives.
It should be noted that the basic and the most important rule for wearing any particular gemstone is that the planet for which such gemstone is being worn, should be working positively in the horoscope of the native. Combining the results of this rule with the results of the above mentioned theory of wearing gemstones on the basis of day of birth and date of birth, this conclusion can be easily derived that the lord of day of birth and the lord of date of birth in a horoscope is always benefic for the native as the gemstone for this planet is believed to be always suitable for the native and only the gemstones belonging to benefic planets are suitable for a native.
This means that a particular planet continues to be benefic for all the natives born during a particular day as all 350,000 natives (approximately) born during this day will have the same day of birth or date of birth and hence they will have the same lord of day of birth or date of birth. The working nature of all planets continuously keeps changing from benefic to malefic and from malefic to benefic and a planet can completely change from benefic to malefic or from malefic to benefic in a matter of 30 minutes.
Hence a planet can’t keep being benefic for all the natives born during a period of one day as it can change its nature many times during this period of one day. All the planets keep changing their strengths, working natures, levels of activity and many other aspects related to them with every passing minute, which makes them behave differently with every passing minute. Accordingly; all individuals are different from each other as there is a continuous change in the horoscopes due to continuous change in the characteristics of various planets.
Hence the practice of recommending and wearing gemstones on the basis of such theories of numerology is flawed and accordingly, this should be avoided as such types of misconceptions can cause serious problems for some natives. The primary and the most important rule for wearing gemstones is that the planet related to the gemstone worn by a native should be benefic in his horoscope or in other words, gemstones should always be worn for benefic planets and they should almost never be worn for malefic planets.
Vedic astrology lays many guidelines for deciding the benefic or malefic nature of a planet in a horoscope and accordingly a good astrologer should analyze the horoscope of his client with great attention in order to decide which planets are benefic for the native and then the gemstones for such planets should only be recommended.
Himanshu Shangari