Gematria what do the numbers mean

gematria is an ancient numerical system used to decipher and communicate sacred meanings encoded in words, letters, and numbers. It is believed to have originated in the Middle East, possibly the Egypt or Babylon of antiquity. To this day, gematria remains an important tool within certain occult writings, religious texts and divinatory practices.

The numerological calculations of gematria are based on assigning numerical value to each letter in the alphabet. Every letter is assigned a number from one to nine which corresponds with its position in the alphabet. Letters that would be duplicates (for example I and J). In some cases, 1 can represent 0 or 10 depending on context; A is 1, B is 2 and so on. Some systems also use a double-digit system, where A becomes 01 and Z 26; this increases accuracy with more complex word combinations.

Each word or phrase then gets a numerical value by adding up each letter's corresponding number; for instance, if you wanted to find out the numerical value of the word "love" it would be 4+6+7+5 which equals 22 (2+2=4). This numerical value can then be used as a starting point for further study or interpretation of the word itself.

Gematria was used by early religious texts (such as Hebraic Bible) to delve further into mysteries of divine law and creation; sometimes finding sacred meaning within scripture that could not be seen in plain sight through more traditional interpretations alone. Although there are countless examples throughout history where Gematria has been used, much of its importance lies within Judaic Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism where dual numerological systems – known as Gematria Prima and Gimatria Secunda – were developed as a form of interpretation based on numerical equivalence across Hebrew poem verses as well as words within meditative prayer chants.

In modern times many believe gematria's use has been hijacked for conspiracy theories such as connecting evocative names with key dates related to tragedy - often claiming there are hidden messages encoded through Gematria predicting events yet to come in the future or validating existentialist views about life after death etc... Such applications lack any solid proof making them heavily disputed amongst experts though still fascinate those interested in numerology overall.