Michael Joseph Jackson Destiny - 1

A number derived from all of the letters in the full birth name make up what is called the Destiny number. Destiny is a very descriptive word for the meaning of this important core element. This is the number that describes the tasks that you must achieve in this lifetime using the name that was given to you by your parents. This name, the complete birth name, symbolizes the opportunities you have at your disposal. This is sometimes referred to as your potential. Living up to attributes of this number may not be easy, but it is your goal in the here and now.  It is your life's purpose, spiritual mission, and your field of opportunity.  

The ancients attached great importance to names and many numerologists believe that the names we are given are not arrived at by mere chance. One theory is that the soul, on entering a child’s body, chooses a name suitable for its purpose in that particular incarnation. Another is that the forces that govern a person’s personality and destiny influence the subconscious minds of the parents when they are naming their infant. The method I used to evaluate the letters of the name is generally favored by numerologists and is based on the Hebrew alphabet with assistance from the Greek. The letters are not listed in the normal order in this system.

With Michael’s name, I encountered something I’ve never encountered before. I usually add up the first name, then the second, then the last name and then total these together; finally reducing them to their final number. What totally surprised me was that Michael’s first name added up to 22, a master number. But this wasn’t all. His last name, Jackson, also added up to 22.…and Michael Jackson is how the world knew him. The total of these two names reduces to 8 which could explain much of Michael’s melancholy, sadness and feelings of loneliness. Because of these anomalies, I will be using this blog to describe his Birth Name Destiny number, which is 1, and the succeeding blogs to describe, first, his master number and then, the number 8 for his professional name.

The number 1 Destiny suggests that the direction of growth in Michael’s lifetime was toward gaining greater independence and establishing himself as a leader. A name producing a 1 Destiny helped him gain the talents to become a skilled executive with keen administrative capabilities. He had within him what it took to become an original person with a creative approach to problem solving, plus he had a penchant for initiating action.
Michael knew how to get things going and make things happen. As he developed, he had little need for much supervision, preferring to act on his own with little restraint.
Progressing through life, Michael was one who sought to expand and broaden opportunities to find new careers and new inventions.

He developed his skills in innovation and ingenuity, and he had a good mind with the ability to use it for his advancement. Because of these factors, he had much potential for achievement and financial rewards. Frequently, this Destiny belongs to one running a business or striving to achieve a level of accomplishment on one’s talents and efforts.
As he matured, Michael became increasingly ambitious and determined. He was self-confident and self-reliant as he developed a strong, unyielding will and the courage of his convictions. The 1 Destiny presents a tendency for those born with it to fear routine and being in a rut. There were times when Michael may have jumped the gun because he was afraid of being left behind.

Destiny number 1 is ruled by the Sun. Michael was positive, active and daring; he was an explorer, pioneer, and innovator with the curiosity of the scientist as well as the creative imagination of the artist. He is intelligent, logical, and tenacious; being ambitious and enterprising, Michael rose from obscurity to a position of power and authority. He was purposeful and knew his own mind because whether multiplied or divided by itself, one remains one, which is not the case with any other number. He hardly ever turned to others for encouragement or advice and it was almost impossible to divert him from a chosen course of action; although he was often able to deflect others with convincing reason and argument.

Michael is constructive, original, a born leader as well as courageous and efficient in any emergency; and although possibly just as frightened as anyone else on the inside, he rarely showed it as he calmly and resolutely did what needed to be done. He was a vital and energetic person who was able to overcome any adversity; and he endured great hardship and/or pain without complaint. He had the capacity to adjust bravely to the most depressing circumstances, never tried to avoid doing his duty and usually tackled his responsibilities unflinchingly. Although he could be eccentric, at times dominating, impatient, obstinate and intolerant, he was generally exceptionally popular and often the focus of great admiration.

Michael is generous and forgiving, able to influence those about him, and always displays great sympathy for the weak and helpless. Michael has a deep sense of responsibility to those he loves and likes a reasonably well-run home; he is economical and rarely succumbs to extravagance, although he was often extremely generous to his mates. He is reasonable, has the ability to compromise, and always ready to end an argument. Michael is charming, attractive, affectionate and sincere; but emotionally controlled. One signifies the Creator of the Universe; it is the number of God. It also represents masculinity and power. One can be divided into any number leaving it unaltered, ten divided by one is still ten, and so stands for the power of the spirit which can enter all things without changing their outer forms.

Monad - 1 - is so called because it remains always in the same condition - that is, separate from multitude. Its attributes are as follows: It is called mind, because the mind is stable and has pre-eminence; hermaphrodism, because it is both male and female; odd and even, for being added to the even it makes odd, and to the odd, even; God, because it is the beginning and end of all, but itself has neither beginning nor end; good, for such is the nature of God; the receptacle of matter, because it produces the duad which is essentially material. By the Pythagoreans, monad was called chaos, obscurity, chasm, Tartarus, Styx, abyss, Lethe, Atlas, Axis, Morpho (a name for Venus), and Tower or Throne of Jupiter, because of the great power which abides in the center of the universe and controls the circular motion of the planets about itself.

Monad is also called germinal reason, because it is the origin of all the thoughts in the universe. Other names given to it were: Apollo, because of its relation to the sun; Prometheus, because he brought man light; Pyralios, one who exists in fire; geniture, because without it no number can exist; substance, because substance is primary; cause of truth; and constitution of symphony; all these because it is the primordial one. Between greater and lesser the monad is equal; between intention and remission it is middle; in multitude it is the center; and in time it is now, because eternity neither knows past nor future.

It is called Jupiter, because he is Father and head of the gods. Vesta, the fire of the home, because it is located in the midst of the universe and remains there inclining to no side as a dot in a circle; form, because it circumscribes, comprehends, and terminates; love, concord, and piety, because it is indivisible. Other symbolic names for the monad are ship, chariot, Proteus (a god capable of changing his form), Mnemosyne, and Polynomials (having many names).

One of the names for the monad - 1 - is Apollo. Here we meet the radiant sun-god Apollo, the gentleman of Olympus and lord of prophecy, music and knowledge. His nickname was Phoebus, which means “the brilliant”, and in myth he delighted in the heights of the mountain peaks. He was the son of Zeus by Leto, the goddess of Night. Unlike other children, Apollo was not nourished on his mother’s milk. He was fed nectar and sweet ambrosia, and immediately the newborn baby threw off his swaddling clothes and was endowed with manly vigor.

He set forth with the bow and far-shooting arrows which the smith-god Hephaistos had made for him, seeking a place for his sanctuary. But the place he chose was a mountain gorge which formed the lair of the vicious female serpent Python, a beast sent by Hera out of jealousy to destroy Apollo’s mother Leto. The god killed Python with one of his arrows, crowned himself with sacred laurel, and called his new sanctuary Delphi. At the shrine of Delphi he established his oracle, spoken by a priestess who became known as the Pythoness.

Meanwhile, he left Delphi every year in the autumn and traveled to the mysterious land of the Hyperboreans, where he could enjoy an eternally bright sky. Apollo was the enemy of all darkness, and could lift from men the curse of blood-guilt and the toils of sorrow; but Apollo was also the god of sudden death as well as being a healer who drove away illness and shadows. Prophecy, normally the gift of the underworld deities, was gradually appropriated by Apollo until he himself became the embodiment of far-reaching vision.

On an inner level, Apollo, the sun-god, is an image of the power of consciousness to dispel the darkness. Like Hecate, who under the name of Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister in myth, the god personifies something greater than one individual’s capacity to gain knowledge and insight. Apollo is an image of the urge toward consciousness which exists in all life, and therefore he is the natural complement and antithesis of Hecate. Through many long centuries and through the rise and fall of many cultures and civilizations, the thrust toward knowledge and the craving for freedom from the bondage of the dark, unknown nature has driven humankind toward impressive although dangerous heights.

Apollo represents the spirit of intellectual striving, combined with a vision of the future which encompasses an ideal of perfection. Apollo is the dispeller of fear, and his bright light casts away shadows. The shadows of the Moon are like the night-fears of childhood, where we feel small and unimportant in the face of the vastness of the unknown, threatened by gigantic shapes that loom in the darkness. Apollo is an image of that hope and faith which spring not from any one person’s striving, but from all of us, a human inheritance of nobility and determination which can restore man’s faith in himself because it is also a faith in the meaningfulness and purpose of the human journey.

The Sun symbolizes that indomitable spirit that has always struggled against superstition, helplessness, ignorance and bondage. It is this spirit which battles with the serpent Python, the embodiment of the negative power of blind instinct and primitive fear. Apollo’s music also lifts us out of ourselves, for music speaks with a transpersonal voice, crossing cultures and centuries and embodying human tragedy and triumph. Thus Apollo is a great deity, respected by all the gods, and even the Moirai were once made subject to his will - although only once.

Another symbol of the monad - 1 - is Prometheus. He is represented in the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck as the Hanged Man. Prometheus was the Titan who defied the law of Zeus and stole the fire of the gods to give to man, knowing full well that he would suffer for his deed. The name Prometheus means “foresight” and the Titan possessed the gift of prophecy. He was also said in myth to have created man out of earth and the water of his own tears, while Athene breathed life into the creation. Thus Prometheus had a deep sympathy for the lot of humankind, for he had made them.

But Zeus asserted his divine supremacy over men by withholding fire from them. This meant that there could be no progress or illumination, for without fire, man was condemned to live like the beasts, eating raw meat and hiding in caves. Prometheus took some of the holy fire from Hephaisto’s forge, hid it in a hollow fennel stalk, and carried it to earth. Outraged by his theft, Zeus resolved to annihilate mankind by flood to destroy the offenders, for not only was his pride injured, but with fire man might attempt to become godlike.

But Prometheus warned his son Deucalion, who built an ark and went on board with his wife, Pyrrha. The flood lasted for nine days and nights, but on the tenth day the deluge ceased and Deucalion offered up sacrifice to Zeus. The king of the gods, touched by his piety, agreed to his request to renew the human race. But Prometheus did not get off so lightly. As he had foreseen, Zeus seized and bound him with indestructible chains to a high cliff in the Caucasus Mountains. An eagle flew down each day to devour Prometheus’ liver; each night the liver was renewed and the torture continued. After thirty years, Zeus permitted his rescue by the hero Heracles, who slew the eagle and broke the prisoner’s chains. Prometheus was made immortal, while grateful mankind, honoring their benefactor, raised altars to him and for the first time wore rings, in commemoration of his bondage.

On an inner level, Prometheus, the Hanged Man, is an image of voluntary sacrifice for a greater good. This sacrifice is made with willingness and a full acceptance of the suffering that might be required. The image of Prometheus is a symbol of that part of us which has the foresight necessary to understand that such changes might be needed for the unfoldment of an inner design which is not yet clear. Thus, Prometheus represents an attitude of willing submission to that mysterious center whose workings lie behind the turnings of the Wheel. Prometheus, the Hanged Man, implies an acceptance of waiting in darkness. He is in suspension, tortured by anxiety and the fear that his sacrifice might in the end come to nothing; yet he wears a peaceful expression. And his suspension ends at last, altering both him and his relationship with the gods, for he is given immortality.

In many ways, Prometheus is an image of the relinquishing of control so that a new and greater sense of life can emerge. Because Prometheus has made man, it could be said that he is man - a kind of visionary spirit within us which sees greater possibilities and is willing to abandon all that we have previously held sacred so that this greater consciousness might be obtained. As a result, Prometheus is at first made terribly vulnerable, for if we are prepared to make such a sacrifice on trust, then we open ourselves to life, and life can hurt us.

But this price of giving up our defenses and making the journey into loneliness and self-doubt seems to be necessary for any real sense of what supports us when we cannot support ourselves. This is the meaning of true faith and it can only be gained through risking ourselves in life. The card of the Hanged Man is a natural outgrowth of the turning of the Wheel of Fortune, for it implies a willingness to trust in that Other which knows better than the ego what might be right and necessary for one’s development.