Arithmancy Three: Number 9 & Personal Year Number
 

The classroom door is open, which means the time has come for yet another fun-filled Arithmancy Lesson! Professor Hadley is sitting on top of her desk, with her ankles crossed ladylike and her eyes were fixed upon the latest copy of the Daily Prophet, which she held up in front of her.

Swinging her legs casually back and forth, ever-so-subtly, she glanced over the top edge of the paper now and then with a small smile. "Take your seat and begin by reading over chapter four in your textbooks. We'll begin shortly."


ooc: You should know my rules by now. If you don't, please familiarize yourself with them before posting.

Class will begin in approximately three hours. Please RP your characters entering if you wish, but minimize the chatter! Thanks <3

Salander walks into the classroom, and nods his head at the Professor politely "Hello there Professor." he smiled as he took his seat. Didnt he say something in the last class about cracking open his book to read something up? Well he's..... doing it right now! Heh. He pulls the book out of his bag and flips for the right chapter.

Carrying her book back over her left shoulder, Kurumi hurried into the classroom to be sure that she got her seat right dead center in the front. "Hello Professor," Kurumi smiled taking out her book and setting it on the desk. Perhaps they were going to have a continuation from the Muggle Studies' joint class? They had finished on a rather abrupt note. Reading the chapter title, Energy of Numbers 1-9, it seemed like they may just be doing that. What number had she been? A 1 perhaps? She quickly flipped through to find the calculations she had done last class.

Stretching her back as she made her way towards the classroom door, the Slytherin finally relaxed before entering the room. Hmm, newspaper. Well that was boring. "Good day, Professor." she smiled just the slightest before moving to a seat, closer to the front since cookie girl was there then the back.

Hehe. Smirking at the girl, Evelyn grabbed her Arithmancy book and flipped towards the correct chapter before leaning back in her seat. Energy of numbers? ...fascinating. She read it of course, though she supposed it couldn't hurt to skim over it again.

You loverly earlybirds <3
 

Ellie walked into Arithmancy. Okay. One last shot. Then, she'll just not take it next term if she doesn't understand. But, she thought she'd try one last time.

"Hey Professor." she greeted Hadley as she walked in. True that she needed to stay on her good side. She had questions to ask her. Non-arithmancy questions, though.

She took a seat and began to read chapter 4.

Lesson starting ... kinda ;P
 

Josephina nodded and greeted hello to the last couple students to enter the classroom. Once it seemed as if a good number of people have entered the classroom (or not!), she flicked her wand and closed the door. At least now she would know if anyone cared to announce their late arrival.

Hopping off her desk, her heels made a subtle click noise as they hit the stone floor. "Last Arithmancy class before your final... before the summer... I know for some of you, that is probably the best news you've heard all term, but for others, it's not so much."

"As we end this year and embark on a summer away from Hogwarts, there is one number that really seems to strike a chord with regard to farewells. Any ideas what that number might be?" As they all just reviewed their books . . . then they all should know, right?



ooc: Class has begun, so please if you're coming late and DON'T want points deducted, then pretend like you've been here the whole time. Due to low attendance, I'll probably do more of the lesson tomorrow morning /afternoon.

Emmaleigh raised her hand. "Is it, um, the number 5? I know it has to do with changes. Or maybe the number 9. It is the completion of something." She really wasn't sure which number was right. "It seems like 9 would be for those graduating."

Aw the Summer. Such a happy, blissful, amazing...

...frustrating, hurried, and emotional time of year. Merlin she hated it. The only time she enjoyed was her birthday, which happened to fall during that time of year.

However, right now was not about summer. It was about, whatever the professor was talking about. And that was...what? What was this a trick question? MEEP! Barely beginning and she was already confused! SUMMER! See what you did to her brain!?!

But with another person speaking up, her eyes flickered over the description of numbers, thinking it over. Five? "I would have said three." she commented, mostly to the professor then the girl. Not really an answer, but just more of an opinion. No, and it had nothing to do with the fact that it had the same astrological sign as her either. Pfft. Or maybe it was because of that.

Pssh.

"It's 9 right?" Ellie asked. "9 has to do with endings. Farewell. End. Same thing." Right? Right.

Kurumi raised her hand. "In Japan, the number 4 is a kind of symbol for the end as it has the same reading as the word for death," she said a little timidly. "However, I believe that chapter four of our textbook said that the number 9 means completion. I believe that in Christian culture the number 9 is the number used when judging man and all of his works." She paused for a minute. "Professor, does 9 being the number of completion have anything to do with it being the final single digit?" If so, did that make 99 a super number of completion and 999 even more so?

Cass thought for a while and glanced down back to her book before answering.

"Well, it could be 5 because it signifies change and transition...but it could also be 9 which symbolizes endings..." She said. There really was no specific number for good bye here.

Iris sat, at the back of the class, reading through the chapter like told. When the professor asked a question, the prefect looked back down to the book. She wasn't really sure of the answer.

....

And it appeared that neither did Fletcher. Really, even though Iris didn't personally know him, he'd become a whole lot more egotistical since winning the Triwizard Tournament. Maybe eternal glory just does that to you, though. Iris wouldn't know; she doesn't have that kind of glory.

Well, that or he was just being clever with his answer. Iris glanced down at the information on the number one. Well, it was to do with beginnings... and summer was the beginning of no school for six weeks; a temporary goodbye. And for the seventh years, it was the beginning of their working life, and goodbye to school FOREVER. How ever you looked at it, a beginning is still the ending of something else.

Maybe the glory hadn't gone to the Champions head, after all.

Teehee.

Raising her hand, Iris decided to give the professor a guess of an answer anyway. "Uh... well, one number that seems to be to do with farewells from school is the number 5... because it talks about freedom and change. The start of the summer brings freedom, and the end of it brings change: A new school year. Eitherway, it's still goodbyes... in a way."

That was a lot of waffle, and not really much of a proper answer. Keeping her hand up, the prefect continued, "But... I think that, like some other people have said, the number you're referring to is the number Nine. It symbolises not only endings, but also other things that you'd hope to have gained a greater understanding of before saying goodbye to Hogwarts, such as universal oneness, dedication, compassion, multi-talent and benevolence."

Iris could have gone on to say more... but she'd already talked a LOT. Teehee.

Salander flipped the pages back and forth, he really want it to be a 5-- because its his number, and its summer, and his birthday and his sun sign and.....

"I guess its a 9 Professor, since farewells also mean endings, a certain kind of completion, but 5 could also figure in there..." yeah he juuuust couldnt help adding that in ".... because 5 is a number for change and farewells can certainly be called a lasting change."

"Changes yes, five would be correct, however I do believe I explicitly asked for a number dealing with farewells. So number nine is correct," Fina nodded at the girl, who added about it being graduating. She knew that young Hufflepuff had it in her . . . "Graduation, yes. It could be for that too."

Three? Oh my! For once, Evelyn was not correct, which meant she'd likely been daydreaming . . . about Merlin only knew what. "Evelyn dear? Are you feeling alright or perhaps you should skide off the lesson today and head straight to the hospital wing." Because clearly if the girl was saying three had to do with farewells, she was definitely feeling ill. Any other student would have been different, but Evelyn, who was rather gifted in Arithmancy, Hadley questioned her well-being.

"Yes, precisely! 9 is about completion." Fina nodded at the Ravenclaw.

"Mr Fletcher, did that shrinking charm in the tournament have an adverse affect on your ego? Because perhaps you would do well being that small once again?" Fina raised an eyebrow at the conceited Hufflepuff. What was it with Hufflepuffs and being so conceited? No scratch that, Hufflepuff boys. They were like that when she was a student too...

"And no, number one is symbolic of beginnings, not completion." And if he'd read his book instead of worrying about his looks, then he'd have likely known that!

This was why Josephina liked this Gryffindor; she always came up with the most interesting back-stories for why she was selecting a certain number. "You are correct with 9 being the number i was referring to about completion." Thinking about the girl's question, she pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "Why don't you tell me your thoughts on that? Do you-" she addressed the class now with this question, "think that the number 9 being the number of completion has anything to do with it being the final single digit? Or is it merely . . . coincidence?"

"If I asked for change, it'd have been five, but as I asked about completion and farewells, you're correct with it being 9." Fina smiled at the two Slytherin girls.


Another one to suggest the number three? Pfft, she was probably just listen to Evelyn's delusional comments. "No my dear, the number I was referring to was the number 9."


"Could I get some shout-outs for characteristics about the number nine? Anything at all you know about this number, please share out loud." Good way to start off with talking about a particular number.

ooc: try not to repeat characteristics and please limit your character's shoutouts to one or two to give others a chance. Thanksss <3

Hmm wha?

Raising a brow, Evelyn stared at the professor for a moment before giggling. Yes, she giggled. That is, until she realized what she did and cleared her throat instead. That, didn’t happen. Ever!

"No, I'm fine. Got too excited over it I suppose." Grinning, she tapped her pencil on her desk before looking elsewhere. It wasn’t like she was going to repeat an answer that was already said, so she had said three. Three was an awesome number! Pfft.

Sighing, Evelyn rubbed her eyes for a moment before looking down to the book, her eyes gazing at the words given for the number nine.

Hmm... "Being a number of completion and farewells, the number nine also represents the meanings of a person's spiritual and artistic self. Mostly referring to one's higher self and need to fulfill...one's charitable nature." she said, after raising her hand of course. "Which I suppose could all tie in with the whole 'completion' and 'endings' theme, since if you think about it, as one gets older, towards their end i should say, they are more in tune with themselves and their surroundings... not to mention are very wise and usually end up teaching the world or someone a thing or two about life. Hence, the spiritual and artistic or charitable self...and since nine is the last number in the system here..." Trailing off, the Slytherin stared at the book and words. "Would nine also be represented as the oldest number?"

If that made any sense at all. If not, perhaps she really should head to the nurse. Meep! Comparing numbers to old people. Yeaaa....

Ooh, Marie knew this, or rather she though she did. "Not only is it the number of ending, the number nine is also the number of dramatics. Which means this number MUST be all about Destiny." Yeah, no one was more dramatic than her friend. "I don't know anyone who is more dramatic than she is." That girl could turn the simplest happening into something over dramatic. Like getting hit with jelly and falling to the floor pretending to be dead.

Yep, major drama queen that girl is.

Cass raised her hand and answered "Maybe 9 is the number for goodbyes because it is the number for perfection? I mean, if you've already perfected something, wouldn't you already stop doing it?" She bit her lip tentatively, she knew she had a point, but she just didn't explain it properly.

Kurumi closed her book for a moment not wanting to spoil her thinking process by the text. What did she know about the number 9...hmmm... "Growing up, the number 9 was always seen as a kind of unlucky number because one of the pronunciations of it in Japanese means suffering," she explained playing with her ponytail a bit. "Perhaps it is connected a little to it being the number of good byes because we always feel a bit sad when we say good bye...you could call that suffering..." She was probably stretching things a bit, but it made some sense when you looked at it...or squinted really hard.

She then returned to her thought, rather question, she had asked earlier. "I don't believe many things in life are a coincidence," she smiled.

"Uhm... suffering?" the Slytherin lad responded, "You know, farewells-- almost always involves some sort of suffering from at least one person."

Oh good, Evelyn was fine! The last thing she needed was one of her best Arithmancy students feeling all wonky and mentally unstable. And if her response wasn't enough to convince, her answer about the number nine and some of its characteristics certainly were . . .

"Excellent and nicely said." Of course. "I'm not quite sure what you mean by nine being the oldest number, but if you're talking about it being the final single digit, then you're correct in that thinking... But as for number meanings, it's not necessarily oldest...."

Nice interesting reply ... well the first part of it was, but then Marie started talking about her supposed friend ... "The number nine does indeed refer to dramatics...." Fina agreed with the young Slytherin, "And it'd be interesting to see just how much your friend falls under the number nine, wouldn't you agree? As in, with her core numbers?" Or if it was just simply a case of being a teenage girl, because majority of teenage girls were dramatic, and Fina doubted this was an isolated case.

Ooh a non-Slytherin to speak up! "Yes you are correct, the number 9 does relate to completing," Fina said, but she thought they already figured THAT much out, that it dealt with farewells and completion. "It doesn't have to necessarily be completing a life though, as you'll find out shortly."

Fina tilted her head at the girl in confusion, blinking for a moment. "Yes, it does mean perfection, but I'm not sure why you would stop doing something just because you've perfected it. Though perhaps it would give you a goal to work toward...."

And another non-Slytherin; one of her top Gryffindors, actually. Josephina smiled when the girl closed her text and just started speaking with what she knew and what was true, rather than regurgitating the textbook. She nodded with each word the girl spoke, knowing each to be more true the next. "Nicely said! And you're quite correct, things in life are rarely coincidental, but rather always with meaning."

"Farewells doesn't have to be a bad thing, though, Mr Salander." Fina argued. "Because while a farewell may involve suffering, it could simply be a See you soon type thing. Or even if it's a dying type of farewell, if the person has truly lived, then they may be dying in peace rather than by suffering. Or doing for a noble cause."

Now this was a Ravenclaw-type answer! Start talking about addition and proofs and ultimately the WHY it's this way. "Yes very true points," Fina smiled at the boy, "And we're going to get to that in a moment... But you're quite on the right track by thinking that the end may be associated with new beginnings. A new cycle perhaps," she hinted at him, but didn't continue on with anything else just yet....

At first it sounded almost like the Hufflepuff had decided to regurgitate the textbook, but then Fina realized she had just been speaking random words that she felt associated nicely with the number nine. Or in Muggle psychology, this may have been termed, free-association. "It is fully a sign of accomplishment, I agree. A reminder that we've completed yet another cycle in our lives. More success, I daresay."


Fina addressed the whole class once more, as she flicked her wand and the chalk on the board wrote the words 'Nine-Year Cycles'. "Has anyone ever heard of the concept nine-year cycles? What do I mean when I refer to that phrase?"

Sarah had been quiet up till then. She really wasn't as sure in this lesson as she was in some of the others, so thought it best to just take notes and keep her mouth shut. But that might not look good for the Head Girl to be doing it ALL lesson, so she bided her time until a question she knew came up.

Raising her hand, she cleared her throat. "The nine year cycle is what a person goes through in their life. Each of the numbers, and their meanings, represents a particular year, and once someone had gone through all nine it starts again. Hence the cycle part. It's constant, and looping." Okay, so it wasn't a very detailed answer, but it was the best she had. Unless she copied verbatim from the textbook in front of her. But she kinda figured Professor Hadley might see through that one.

Josephina nodded at the first to speak up; a Ravenclaw boy, who she hadn't recognized from previous terms but seemed to have a good grasp on Arithmancy. "Precisely right! Nine year cycles repeat through our life... Every nine years, we start a new cycle!" Wasn't that cool? It was kinda like the nine lives of cats thing.

Hearing the Head Girl speak up for the first time all lesson, Fina looked over in her direction and smiled. "Isn't that cool though? It's like someone said before, nine isn't really the ending, but it's also the beginning... Because it symbolizes that next year will be the start of a new cycle!"

Ah yes, someone to bring up the topic that she was ultimately working towards. Josephina gave a small nod toward the Gryffindor before continuing. "Yes, these years are operating on a particular theme... which is also called your personal year number. What exactly is this Personal Year Number though that I speak of? Please don't tell me how to calculate it just yet though!" Cause one step at a time, ya know?

Marie knew this, she remembered it from a previous lesson they had about this same thing. Raising her hand she said, "Your Personal Year Number is a number that describes what is happening for you, personally, this year. Each year has a number and brings with it an energy that vibrates to or resonates with that number." In other words, your number would tell you want your year was going to be like.

Having been listening what was being spoken about the nine year cycle and all that jazz, Evelyn stopped flipping the pages in her book and went back to the page which held the beginnings of chapter four as a new question arose. Personal year number?

Glancing towards Marie, she had to look away rather quick before the laughter erupted again. Her answer about Destiny was making it really difficult to not burst out into a laugh. It was soooo true! "I think the name is pretty self explanatory." she snickered before clearing her throat and putting all giggles laughter in the back of her mind. "It's your own personal year number. The number tells you what you really should be focusing on in your life during that year, or whatever year you're living in at the moment, and what can really be expected. Sorta like guidelines or a 'what to do' list. And if you don't follow them, you'll pretty much...be done for." No not really, bu still. Your year will just be crappy.

Teehee. Fun, right?

Kurumi didn't know much about these life numbers, but the fact that there were 9 of them made her think about...cats...soft fluffy and adorable cats. "Professor..." she said raising her hand timidly. "Does the expression 'cats have 9 lives' come from this notion of life numbers?" Fair question, right?

Freya have been listening to the Professor and wrote down some notes on her parchment. Then she heard Professor Hadley asking about what Personal Year Number is. She had had heard about it, she raised her hand "Personal Year Number gives you insight on how to create happiness throughout the year and you could also learn some valuable information you could use to help you optimize the year's influences." she said and lowering her hand.

Cass scanned her book quickly before answering "Well, I think, a personal year number can help you find out what's in store for you for th year. Like, your own personal horoscope reading."

Hearing the question from the Gryffindor, Josephina pressed her lips thoughtfully together as she contemplated the answer. "It's definitely an interesting similarity, with the nine lives of cats and then us being on a nine-year cycle, but I don't believe it comes from this notion. Animal numerology is rather different from human numerology ... perhaps a topic for future studies." Actually that would make for an interesting topic; Fina decided, making note to study up on that topic during summer break.



Josephina nodded at each of the students, as they each said something rather similar but different about the personal year number. "Quite right. The personal year number is like your personal theme for that particular calender year. Actually it is one of the most significant numbers in your life, so it would do well to take some time to figure out what it means."

"Before we move onto some classwork and ultimately your homework, I just want to introduce to you how to calculate this personal year number. Using the current year, 2073, can someone tell me how to calculate the personal year number?"

Josephina waited a bit to see if any other students had information to add on about calculating the personal year number, but at the silence, she decided not. "Correct... assuming if by calculate, you mean adding those three numbers up and reducing each to a single digit," she said, smiling at the young Hufflepuff. Mae? Why did that name sound rather familiar? Shrugging it off she continued the last part to her lesson.

"So as Miss Mae informed us, this is the formula used to calculate the Personal Year Number," Fina spoke as she wrote the formula on the board. "It's also in page eighteen of your textbook."

Quote:

Personal Year Number = month of birth + day of birth + current calendar year

"Using my own birthday, April 2nd, I'm going to demonstrate how to calculate this number for the current year."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chalkboard 4 + 2 + (2+0+7+3) 4 + 2 + (12) 4 + 2 + (1+2) 4 + 2 + 3 = 9

"As you can see, this year is personally my ninth year in my nine year cycle. The conclusion of the cycle," and what it means, only Fina knew those deepest secrets, but it was still was fascinating. "And now for your assignment. You may take the time now, if you wish to discuss with your peers over what the year was or will be for the times in your life I've asked you find your personal year. Though as I know some of you have other exams you're stressed over at this time of year, you may also leave if you have no further questions."

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Assignment As we discussed with the number nine, in one's lifetime, a nine-year cycle occurs repeatedly, which is also called a numerological cycle. Your life is operating on repeated nine-year cycles, each year having a number which has a particular meaning. This meaning is your theme for the year, also called your personal year. Find your personal year number for the following years in your life: - When you were born - When you started Hogwarts - The current year - When you will graduate Hogwarts Please show all calculations necessary to find these numbers and describe what each number means for you and your life. This assignment is worth 16 points Due: November 20th, 11:59pm EST

ooc: You may stick around and RP to your heart's content with your characters working out these calculations and interpretations. However please DO NOT post any actual answers or interpretations [that you will submit via PM to me]. Any questions, ask me =)