\\\\\ //////////

Introduction

J

uno Jordan was in her late 90s when I heard her lecture at a conference
sponsored by the now fondly remembered Numerology Association
International. (Jordan, as you may know, died in 1984, less than two
months short of her 100th birthday.) She was frail when I saw her but
her voice was strong and her mental faculties still finely tuned. She spoke
passionately of the need for numerologists to spend much more of their
time in researching and studying the deeper meanings of the numbers.
Jordan clearly felt that the symbolism of the numbers was at the very
center of the ancient study of numerology.

In my experience, numerologists generally follow two chief avenues
of study. One is to concentrate on finding and experimenting with new
combinations of numbers and letters in search for new understandings.
When a new book is published, for instance, many numerologists enjoy
checking to see if there are any new configurations to test for accuracy
and reliability. Less often, numerologists spend time researching, con-
templating, or meditating on the symbolic meanings—and the extended
meanings—of numbers and letters.

Some numerologists see, as I do, that the heart of the matter is to be
found, simply enough, in these basic pieces. The more I understand about
each number and letter, the more I can discern in the numerology charts
I study and, in many ways, the more I also understand about myself and
the world. I agree with Juno Jordan that the study of the symbolic mean-
ings of the numbers—and their accompanying letters—is a vital place for
numerologists to devote a considerable amount of their energies.

And Shirley Blackwell Lawrence has made that kind of study consid-
erably easier by writing this book. In the substantial middle section,
Lawrence gives the broadest contemporary analysis of this material that
I’ve seen. It fills a vital need.

Though they’re not as easy to read, I’ll still enjoy browsing through
three early books devoted to such symbolism, Harriette and F. Homer