Theosophical reduction
Theosophical reduction is the founding operation of numerology: adding the digits of a number, then starting again on the result, until a single digit from 1 to 9 remains. So 1987 gives 1+9+8+7 = 25, then 2+5 = 7. Inherited from the Pythagorean tradition, it has a counterpart in theosophical addition, which sums every whole number from 1 up to the number studied. Only the master numbers 11, 22 and 33 escape reduction.
The basic gesture
It is also called numerological reduction: the very same gesture. Take any number, your birth date, the value of your name, add its digits one by one, then start again as long as the result stays above 9. Only keep 11, 22 and 33 intact if you meet them: those are the master numbers.
Theosophical addition, its flip side
The Pythagorean tradition also uses theosophical addition: to reach the hidden value of a number, you add every whole number from 1 up to it. For 7, that gives 1+2+3+4+5+6+7 = 28, then 2+8 = 10 and 1+0 = 1. Play with both gestures: they teach you to look at numbers as living material.
Sources
- , Numerology and the Divine Triangle (1979)