Modern-day numerology is similar. Often, your name and birth date will be the starting point. A numerical value is assigned to each letter in your name. By adding these​—along with the numbers of your birth month and date—​a numerologist establishes your key numbers. He then ascribes special meaning to these numbers, which he feels provide a complete description of you​—including your personality, your unconscious desires, and your destiny.

Should You Look to Numbers for Guidance?

DOES numerology stand up under the scrutiny of science and reason? Are numbers the means by which our destiny can be revealed? Should you build your future around numerological findings and predictions?

One objection that numerologists have been unable to overcome is that different cultures use different calendars. For example, what if someone lives where the Chinese calendar is used? Consider the date mentioned in our opening article​—September 11, 2001. According to the Chinese calendar, that was the 24th day of the 7th month of the 18th year of the 78th cycle. The Julian calendar would express the same date as August 29, 2001. According to the Muslim calendar, it was 22 Jumada II 1422, while the Hebrew calendar had it as 23 Elul 5761. How could there be numerical significance to a date that is expressed in so many ways? Another factor: Languages often have unique spellings of names. For example, the letters contained in the English name John have a numerological value of 2, but the letters in the Spanish spelling of the same name​—Juan—​have a value of 1.

It is one thing to recognize that many aspects of the universe can be explained by mathematical formulas. These formulas can be tested and demonstrated. But it is quite another matter to claim that your name was preordained to coincide with your date of birth and to be linked with certain numbers so that you can ascertain your destiny.

The conclusion is clear: To believe that numerological interpretations are accurate, when they are based upon such widely variable factors as calendar and language, is to stretch the limits of credibility to an absurd degree.

“Time and Unforeseen Occurrence”

Some become interested in numerology because they desire to make their life predictable. However, the Bible makes it plain that the details of human life cannot be mapped out in advance. We read: “The swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11) Yes, many events take place unexpectedly. Such chance happenings defy efforts to predict outcomes based on birth date or numerical value of a name.

Consider another example: In encouraging generosity, the Bible states: “Send out your bread upon the surface of the waters, for in the course of many days you will find it again. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what calamity will occur on the earth.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1, 2) With few exceptions, calamities are things that people do not​—indeed, cannot—​know in advance. Hence, mathematics professor Underwood Dudley writes regarding numerologists: “They fail to give chance sufficient credit. Amazing things can happen at random.”

It is true that numerologists may make some predictions that come true. What accounts for this? In some instances, the outcome may be coincidental. Then, too, sometimes the language of numerologists is so ambiguous that it could apply to several outcomes. But there is something more serious to consider.

A Form of Divination?

The Bible does not mention numerology by name. But it does tell of Haman, an Amalekite who plotted the extermination of the Jews living in Persia during the fifth century B.C.E. The account says: “Haman ordered the lots to be cast (‘purim,’ they were called) to find out the right day and month to carry out his plot. The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, was decided on.” (Italics ours.)​—Esther 3:7, Today’s English Version.

In ancient times, casting lots was a legitimate way of settling a controversy.a (Proverbs 18:18) But Haman cast lots to practice divination​—something that the Bible condemns. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 states that God detests “anyone who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events . . . Everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah.”

The Bible links divination and uncanny power to spiritism. Wicked spirits can maneuver events to suit their purpose. Whether this is the case in a specific instance or not, one thing is certain: The practice of spiritism is condemned by God, and it can bring one under the control of wicked spirits.​—1 Samuel 15:23; Ephesians 6:12.

Numerology is devoid of scientific basis, and it fares badly when examined under the light of reason. More important, because it is a form of divination, numerology conflicts with Bible teachings. In view of that, numerology is not a beneficial means of regulating your life or planning your future.

Reliable Guidance for the Future

DOES the untrustworthiness of numerology and other forms of divination mean that we have no way to learn about our future? By no means!

Abstract numbers cannot tell mankind what the future holds. But the “living God,” who declares “from the beginning the finale,” has done so. This he does in his written Word, the Bible. (1 Timothy 4:10; Isaiah 46:10) It is also the word of the living God, not the word of numerologists, that “is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart” and so can help you to understand what motivates you and what will bring you real success.​—Hebrews 4:12.

Our Creator, the Author of the Bible, is the only one who can accurately predict the future. This is because God is all-powerful, and he has always been true to his word. “I have even spoken it,” Jehovah God said. “I shall also do it.” (Isaiah 46:11) After leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, Joshua was able to say with confidence: “Not a promise failed out of all the good promise that Jehovah had made to the house of Israel; it all came true.”​—Joshua 21:45; 23:14.

The Bible contains many prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. Among them are those that foretell a time when the earth will be wiped clean of wickedness and made into a paradise. (Psalm 37:10, 11; Proverbs 2:21, 22) Does that future appeal to you? Do you believe that our Creator has the wisdom and the power to make things right on this planet? If so, you will want to consider what the Bible says about earth’s future.a

Therefore, spend your time wisely now​—not by trying to read your future in the numbers but by striving to gain an accurate understanding of the Bible and its prophecies.