How gematria works

gematria is an ancient system of assigning numerical values to words and phrases, in order to reveal hidden meanings and messages. This numerical practice began over 3,000 years ago among the Hebrew and Greek cultures and is still used today.

The word gematria is derived from the Greek geōmetriké, which means "geometry"—the ancient practice of assigning numerical values to letters of an alphabet to represent words or phrases. Gematria works by taking the numerical value of each letter of a word or phrase, then assigning a single summation value to those total values in order to calculate and interpret deeper layers of meaning.

Different alphabets have their own individual gematric values, although they all focus on the same concept: finding numeric patterns in language. In Hebrew, every character corresponds to a specific numeric value, starting with Aleph (א) equalling one and ending with Tav (ת), which equals 400. In the Greek language, every character has its own assigned numeric value as well; usually ranging from 1-1000.

To understand how gematria works, let's look at an example using the English alphabet. The word "medicine" can be assigned its numerical value by listing out each corresponding letter's place in the alphabet (M=13; E=5; D=4; I=9; C=3; I=9; N=14; E=5). When summed, this gives us a total sum or value of 53—a number that traditional gematric scholars interpret as "mercy".

Another example in English would be "Rose" which yields 57—interpreted by some traditional scholars as "God bless you." Gematria can also be used to describe concepts such as astrology or numerology that are part of many spiritual belief systems today. By assigning numerical values to each aspect or element within astrological signs for example one can gain insight into particular attributes related to them such as creative potential (measured according to gematric values).