Numerology: Life Path and Master Numbers

It’s the time of year for parent-teacher conferences in most school districts. I was thinking about the time my parents went to a meeting and they were told that I wasn’t living up to — or performing to — “my highest potential” which has been the story of my life’s path.

I was VERYVERY smart but I wasn’t doing as well as my teachers expected, especially in math and science. According to all of them, I was capable of great things and should pursue a career as a doctor and my dad also thought I’d be a great lawyer, following in his footsteps. I’m not exactly sure why I didn’t finish either of those life paths, although I sort of started down that road, maybe because there were obstacles in the way, like studying. lol. “I wasn’t applying myself” became the repetitive theme.

Those thoughts sent me on a rabbit hole to learn more about my own life path and numerology.

Numerology is the belief in the mystical relationship between numbers and events, used to interpret character or divine the future by calculating a person’s key numbers from their name and birth date. It is a system that assigns numerical values to letters and uses these values, along with your birth date, to provide insight into your personality and life path. 

Modern numerology is often based on the ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who believed the physical world is a manifestation of the energetic vibrations of numbers.  

In a crazy coincidence, I realized that I initially wrote about this subject exactly one year ago. Or maybe it’s not a coincidence, whatcha think?

Anyway, I have no regrets because It all worked out as it should.

Due to my not exactly poor, but not exactly stellar academic performance, and especially since I declined the gifted program because I saw how those kids were ridiculed for being nerds and I wanted to be COOL, I instinctively knew how to encourage the Original Angel Boy to love learning and reading and offered supportive nurturing opportunities anywhere he expressed an interest.

For example, when he was six-years-old and interested in dinosaurs, I took it a step further and brought him to the Natural History Museum so he could meet with the paleontologists. They included him in a project categorizing dino bones and gave him some fossils to bring home.

When he realized that the local paper had misnamed a dinosaur found around here, I called the paper and they sent a reporter and photographer to the house to interview him…and yes I still have about a dozen or so of the articles which I’ve shown to the Angel Kids. “Look at Daddy!”

When he wanted to be a reporter, I called the local radio station and set up a meeting with one of his favorite bands that were in town, Trixter, (don’t judge, it was the 90s). After he interviewed them on-air, they gave us backstage passes to the show and we hung out in their tour bus. They were really nice guys and very kind to the Angel Boy, only now I’m thinking to myself, why didn’t I do the same thing with Leon Russell? Another missed opportunity. SIGH.

Since Reading Rainbow with LeVar Burton was AB’s favorite TV show, he wrote a poem for a contest hosted by the local PBS station. All the local kids who participated were brought to the station and I still have the group photo. He won something, but not the national award. The only thing that mattered to me was that he TRIED, not whether he won or lost.

I did all this so he wouldn’t end up like me and it worked. He’s still passionate about learning, reading, and writing, and now he pays it forward by teaching the next generation, so I’m very proud of myself, and AB of course. His bright future was actualized and came to fruition.

Do you know how to figure out your Life Path and Master Numbers?

Add your birth date/day/year.

For example, if your date of birth is 2/12/1938…2+1+2+1+9+3+8 = 26, which is reduced to 2+6=8.

The Life Path number of 8 indicates someone with natural leadership skills, wealth potential, and management talent, but must always use that power for good and avoid greed. They excel at business and finance.

In this case, there is no Master Number because a MN is is a special type of life path number that is a double-digit (11, 22, or 33) and is not reduced to a single digit. I don’t really understand much of this, but it’s so interesting!

My own Life Path Number is 2 and my Master Number is 11, one of the most rare of all numbers, as it can be reduced to 2, my Life Path Number.

Here’s what it’s supposed to mean for me:

  • Diplomacy:  Natural ability to mediate conflicts and bring people together. 
  • Empathy:  A deep emotional intelligence that allows them to understand and connect with others. 
  • Cooperation:  Thrive in partnership and group settings, working to create harmony. 
  • Peacekeeping:  Driven to seek and maintain peace, acting as a stabilizer in relationships and situations. 

Master Number 11 is associated with high intuition, spiritual insight, and a duality that requires balancing a spiritual path with material life. It’s sometimes called the “Illuminator” or “Spiritual Messenger” and represents a gateway to higher dimensions. Individuals with this number may experience challenges such as confusion and indecision, which emanates from a struggle to trust their intuition and a pendulum-like oscillation between extremes. 

To be completely honest, I literally have no idea what that means.

Why is the number 11 so powerful?

The number 11 symbolizes the potential to push the limitations of the human experience into the stratosphere of the highest spiritual perception; the link between the mortal and the immortal; between human and spirit; between darkness and light; ignorance and enlightenment. This is the ultimate power of the 11.

Once again, I’m reminded that I really never did reach my full promise, so those early teachers were obviously correct in their assessment.

Check out your own Life Path and Master Numbers so you can decide if you are living up to your maximum potential. It’s never too late.

I Am Feral

Today’s mood…

In my mind I am always the feral woman wearing a white nightdress with a mud-stained hem and twigs in my hair, running through a forest bathed in moonlight, screeching along with the owls and foxes.

Unknown, curated from She’s Magic & Midnight Lace
Image from Pinterest

Evolution of The Mom Hug

I’m at #3 with Angel Boy, #2 with Angel Girl.

I remember that the original Angel Boy was about fourteen years old when he entered the final stage, taller than me. Now I have to get on my tiptoes to hug him and HE bends down to me.

In my mind, he’s still and forever #1 or #2, so it doesn’t seem right that the roles have reversed, and it won’t be long before the Angel Kids will also be taller than me, because mostly everyone else is.

I guess that’s why they call me Little Grandma.

**I found this on Pinterest, but credit goes to artist Giselle Dekel.**

A Grandma’s Mantra: “Read a book…” 📚

Back when the original Angel Boy began to walk and talk, my default response when the “I’m bored, I have nothing to do” complaints started, has always been, “Go read a book.”

Now I do the same thing to the grandkids, especially Angel Boy 2.0 who has become a wonderful reader.

Recently we were in a baseball card shop and he was TAKING LITERALLY FOREVER to look at cards and decide which ones he wanted to buy and figure out how much of HIS money he was willing to spend and how much he could get from me. That scenario brought up happy deja vu memories of his parsimonious dad at the same age. The thrifty apple didn’t fall too far from THAT tree, haha.

I walked outside, I walked back in, I pulled on his shirt and whined, “Are you almost done? I’M SO BORED!!”

Without skipping a beat, he said, “Hey Grandma, why don’t you go read a book!

And then he laughed and I laughed but I got the last laugh because that proved that he had really listened to me. A total win for Grandma!

I gotta confess though, I was SO BORED in that card shop, every minute seemed like an hour. Memories.

It’s really funny, because the original AB is NEVER without a book and leveraged that love of reading into a Yale PhD, writing his own book (published by a prestigious house), and tenure at a major uni, so I guess my annoying mantra helped guide his path to success.

Grandma’s Mantra:
📚 If you’re bored, read a book!
📚 If you have a minute before school starts, read a book!
📚 If you’re waiting for a doctor’s appointment, read a book!
📚 If you can’t think of anything productive to do, read a book!

Try my method; it really works!

📚

Ugly/Cute | Birks and Crocs

Apparently, I could resist no longer. The primal pull of these Birkenstocks were too great; I succumbed to the ugly cuteness of these shoes.

What sealed the deal for me was their Hello Kitty pinkness. The style might be hideous but that color draws me in every single time.

I get it now. They are essential; maybe not as adorable as a pair of stilettos, but in their own way, they’re fashionable and even princess-y, don’t you agree?

Even better, they were on the clearance aisle at Nordstrom Rack, so I scored in my own strange, thrifty manner.

If you see me walking around with my Birks and socks, just nod and carry on.

But wait! It gets worse!! Much worse…both Angel Kids have Crocs with charms to embellish their weird looking shoes, so I became obsessed with them, too.

I found some kid-sized offbrand “crocs” for about three dollars (yay for thrifty me!) and subsequently discovered these adorable charms, so now I am officially chic/unchic. I’ve been wearing them for gardening so they haven’t been out in public yet, haha. “Mom, Grandma, Boy Mom“, how could I NOT represent my tribe???

Crocs and Birks, what the heck has happened to me? What’s next? Will I stop shaving my legs and run around naked like the hippies who lived at Taylor Camp, the 1970s commune on the island of Kauai?

Not. A. Chance. Nope. Not bloody likely. Not gonna happen. But I’ll wear the shoes…

The Popcorn King 🍿 Orville Redenbacher

Last night I made some popcorn the old fashioned way — on the stovetop. I don’t often have popcorn, but I couldn’t think of anything to eat, so I made some and sprinkled it with pink Himalayan sea salt, which I know is uber trendy right now, but I’ve always used it primarily because it’s PINK and so pretty!

While eating the warm crunchy popped corn, I remembered that once upon a time, I met the Popcorn King himself, Orville Redenbacher.

During the America’s Cup races in San Diego. I was on a spectator boat and Orville was on board, too.

There was an undercurrent of chatter; buzz that someone famous was with us, and there he was, in his trademarked glasses and bow tie. Since we know by now that I’m not afraid of talking to anybody, whether it’s Willie Nelson or Vice President Al Gore or a rude Rob Reiner (Kauai), I had a sweet little chat with OR, who WAS a very nice man, by the way.

Did you know that Orville Redenbacher actually was a scientist? He developed a new strain of popcorn that kept that whole industry alive.

Back then, before smart phones, no one was as obsessed with documenting each and every moment of their lives, and while it WAS the America’s Cup and a pretty big deal, I still didn’t have a camera with me, so I don’t have photographic proof, I’m sorry to report.

Orville asked me for my address and I gave it to him because he said he was going to send me something. I had totally forgotten about our conversation until a gigantic box arrived a few weeks later, full of OR popcorn and products.

Sadly, I didn’t know that Orville Redenbacher died in 1995 at his home in Coronado, which is on the other side of San Diego Bay.

Belated, but RIP to the Popcorn King.🍿

Lily of the Valley

May’s birth flower is Muguet de Bois, Lily of the Valley. Every year on my birthday, my mom would give me a brand new set of Coty perfume and dusting powder. I felt SO grown up! I savored its divine fragrance as long as I could, and then stashed the empty bottle in my drawers to scent my clothes.

Little thoughts written by Athey Thompson
Photos taken at home by Athey Thompson

Mother’s Day: BoyMom Edition

All I ever wanted to be was a boymom and I got my wish with the original Angel Boy.

BEST BOYMOM QUOTE EVER: “If all the little boys in the world were lined up and I had to just pick only one, I’d choose you… every time.” (Barbra Streisand to Seth Rogan in the film Guilt Trip.)

This is a funny story and all you’ll ever need to know about my AB:

Since his life threatening medical issue and subsequent (emergency) major abdominal surgery for a ruptured Meckel’s Diverticulum a few years ago, he needs to be careful about his diet for the rest of his life, mainly never popcorn, but other foods can irritate the anastomosis repair, too, which he learned by trial and error.

He recovered better than expected from the surgery except for THAT little issue.

Recently, I suggested (not nagged) that he might benefit from regularly taking probiotics to normalize his intestinal flora and fauna, and I made sure he took them every day while we were together.

How do I do that? I chose the right time, like when he was involved in editing his new book or grading papers. That’s when I know he’s REALLY the absentminded professor and won’t pay any attention to me. I then hand him the probiotic capsules with a freshly made smoothie and he downs them without argument or question. However, it’s only a delayed reaction because fifteen minutes later, he’ll ask me what it was that I gave him but then it’s too late to refuse. HAHAHAHA. #momhack

I sent him a photo of the supplements he WILLINGLY swallowed so he could take them all the time and heard nothing about it or a couple weeks…until yesterday when he texted me and I admit it took me a second or two to figure out he was being his usual snarky, facetious self:

Apparently when it becomes HIS idea, it’s worth doing. Hmmm. Whatever works, right? After all these years, I finally figured out that he likes to think about things for a while before he makes a decision, so I sent him a photo of the type of magnesium and D3 gummies I take along with this text:

That’s my Angel Boy. Stubborn child, but no matter what, he’ll forever be my heart.

Nowadays I’m even luckier to be grandma of those two vibrant Angel Kids who started calling me “Gramps” for absolutely no reason at all, but it makes me chuckle.

When I asked them, “Why do you call me Gramps?”, they laughed hysterically, so I guess that’s who I am now.

There will never be a greater joy than being loved by those guys, that’s for sure. That’s what life is all about.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and grandmas from Gramps!

FYI: Great article to explain emergency surgery for Meckel’s Diverticulum https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2533303/

LovesLight

If the house of the world is dark, love will find a way to make windows. Rumi 

My child soul is eternally fascinated by these sparkly decorator houses that light up. There could be a whole world happening inside, if that’s the story we tell ourselves. It might seem like a fantasy but who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t? For me, that’s the endless appeal.

In this story, the bunnies live happily ever after, full of love in their sweet little home.

Someone’s Spying On Me

Have you ever felt as if you were being spied upon? Some kind of spidey sense that you’re being watched? Have you ever been out in public and turned around quickly because you felt the weight of someone’s gaze?

Yesterday I was working in the garden ‘cos there’s always a lot to do. This particular project involved a lot of weeding as well as fertilizing fruit trees and the veggie garden.

At one point I was sitting on the ground on the rocky dry river bed weeding around the rose bushes that I had successfully propagated (yay for me!).

It was quite a zen moment, totally and blissfully silent except for birdsong, but I felt as if I wasn’t alone, as if I was being watched.

Some force compelled me to turn around and look up. There he was right above me in the ash tree; this gorgeous hawk. It seemed as if his hawk eyes were boring a hole in my soul. He didn’t move an inch when I ran inside the house to get my camera. He simply followed my every move.

Look at his talons!

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

I said hello as I always do, took some photos, and continued to weed under his watchful gaze.

This went on for more than an hour. I thought he’d fly away if I moved to another spot in the garden, but he didn’t — he just turned his body on the branch to continue to monitor my every move.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

He wasn’t bothered by my presence and I was in awe of him. I struck up a one way conversation, thanking him for his diligence in keeping the yard rodent-free, asked about his family, and told him how much I appreciated his visit. I hoped he would get used to the sound of my voice and we could have another chat if he returns.

The action of a hawk watching you is a symbol of divine guidance. It often signifies a messenger from the spirit realm, a call to pay attention, or an indication that you are being guided and protected. Hawks are also associated with clear vision, focus, and the need to tap into divine wisdom. 

The hawk is a messenger bird. Usually when we see a hawk it means to pay attention because a message is coming to you. Hawks represent clear sightedness, being observant, our far memory, and guardianship. They also bring courage, wisdom, illumination, creativity and truth. Hawks give us the ability to see the larger picture in life. 

He hasn’t returned today, but it was a special moment to treasure.

Come back, friend!