Today, gematria is still studied by those interested in exploring its mystical aspects as well as its practical applications in mathematics and cryptography. Gematria numbers are also used for numerology and divination purposes and even for finding hidden messages within text. Regardless of how it’s used, though, gematria remains an intriguing part of our cultural heritage that continues to capture people’s imaginations today. Gematria has been used by many religious and mystical traditions over the centuries, including kabbalists, astrologers, magicians, and alchemists. Its use was particularly important in Jewish mysticism where it was believed that certain words possess special power when they are composed with specific gematria numbers. Words with powerful gematria values were thought to have magical properties that could bring about specific results or provide protection against evil forces. If you are interested in numbers, you may like to know that the square of 6 (6×6) is 36, and the triangular of 36 is 666. Triangulation is a method of computation that was popular in the ancient world and was very familiar to people in the first century. Word-based numerology probably began in 8th century BCE Mesopotamia; Greeks practised isopsephia (letter-based calculation) from the 5th century BCE. Hebrew gematria only arrived in c.100 BCE, yet soon grew in complexity. Gematria is often used to detect the secret meaning of holy texts.
