Questions and Answers
'There are years that ask questions and years that answer.' Zora Neale Hurston
I have always believed that different years hold different energies. This can be due to a lot of different factors, but one that I have always studied and had interest in is the topic of numerology. Numerology is a multi-faceted concept that calculates dates and assigns numerical values to letters, and then applies mystical or spiritual values to the resulting sums.The first time I had my numerology chart done I was amazed at how accurate it was at describing my life path and tendencies. At the time, I was a young mother so I had the numerologist complete charts on both of my children, Sutter and Laney.At the time, 5 year old Sutter was a sweet little momma’s boy who never ventured too far from my side. Laney on the other hand was as girly a girl as you could get- making sure that her hair ribbons matched her shoelaces, matched her purse, matched her… you get it…My reading had been spot on, but as she began to make predictions about MY children (who I knew so well) my faith in her wisdom began to falter: She said that Sutter would be a free spirit who would want few traditional ties to bind him in this world. I distinctly remember her saying: ‘Don’t be surprised if he decides to do something with his life that involves a cruise ship. This kid is going to have some adventures…’ Her words seemed nothing less than absurd. After she was done giving me her short numerological sketch of my child, I smiled politely and hoped the ‘that is not my kid…’ thought bubble ascending from the top of my head was not too noticeable.Funny enough that kid is the same one who was in Africa last week, and just sent me pictures from the Louvre museum this morning. Tomorrow will find him in Amsterdam. When I consider the entirety of that numerological reading I laughed at some 20 years ago, it seems the only thing missing in real time is a cruise ship… and he still has a few bucks left in his pocket and another few weeks of travel left on his itinerary...so who knows?And as for Laney, the numerologist informed me that this child was my ‘mini-me with a twist.’ She said she would have a voracious appetite for learning and a strong sense of culture, and social justice. She said that she would likely turn her life in a direction that would make use of her desire to impact people and the planet. Again I found mirth in this prediction- at the time, as I looked at my little girly girl with her ever present tube of pretend lip stick in her hand, I just did not see philanthropy and social policy in her future.Well, of course this is the young woman who just finished her degree in Cultural Anthropology and for years now has been mulling over thoughts of joining the Peace Corps. As for the voracious learner, just this morning she came over to visit and brought with her a stack of books that she is currently reading. One of them being the 600 page classic Clarissa Pinkola Estes Book, ‘Women who Run with the Wolves.’ (This in itself is about as mini- me with a twist as it can get.)So… watching my young adult children build their lives in hauntingly similar ways to what the numerologist predicted all those years ago, has only strengthened my love affair with numbers. I have not yet had Ajay’s numerology chart done… although when I do, I am sure whatever it predicts will make me want to raise my eye brows in surprise- cause surely the moppy haired little boy we wake to every morning, like his brother and sister before him, has an unfolding destiny that we cannot yet see… but one his numbers already foretell. I look forward to the grand unveiling that time will surely bring….The energy of numbers may not be a hard science, but it is a curious and powerful thing. I like today’s quote because it is a great reminder that all numbers have a message. In your life, is 2016 a year that asks questions, or is it a year that answers?