On Naming

I have been doing a lot of research on magickal names lately. Very often, when people begin to study the occult seriously, they want to adopt new names to go with their new selves. There are several well-known ways of going about this, but each has its drawbacks.

The most popular way of fashioning a name is to choose one that aligns with your birth number. You arrive at this number by adding the numbers of your birth date together one by one, then reducing the resulting sum to one digit. For example, someone who was born on December 21, 1932 would calculate thus: 1+2+2+1+1+9+3+2=21, 2+1=3. Armed with a birth number of 3, this person would then consult a system that assigns a number to each letter of the alphabet. Currently, the most popular system of numerology is the Pythagorean. Using the Pythagorean chart, and adding the numbers of the letters, the name “Eugene” would reduce to 3, thus aligning with the birth number. However, many people use the Chaldean system, and “Eugene” would reduce to 2 in that system. To make the name reduce to 3 in the Chaldean system, the spelling would need to be “Yewgene”.

Many people, including some very well respected authors, advocate the birth number approach, because your birth number doesn’t change. They believe that it is desirable to align yourself with when you chose to be born. I don’t agree. The whole point of a magickal name is to aid personal transformation, so why deliberately choose to align with something that doesn’t change? Why put new curtains on an old window? Why reinforce how you came into the world, when you’re seeking to grow?

Another popular way of constructing a name is to use either the Pythagorean or Chaldean system to ascertain the numbers of your current full name, then picking a new name with that alignment. The problem I see here is that you are aligning your magickal self with whatever name your parents saddled you with, or a combination of what your parents named you, plus your spouse’s name. The name your parents gave you represents their wishes for you, and has already had a tremendous impact on your life. Similarly, while taking a spouse’s last name was (hopefully) your choice, it represents what you are together. A magickal name should represent what you want to become, what influences you want in your spiritual life. It should be about you, and what you want to manifest.