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Chaldean Numerology: What the Name Claims and What the Record Shows

Amit Sethi31 Oct 20261,465 words · 7 minNumerologyChaldean Numerology
On this page — 8 sections

The table called Chaldean cannot be Babylonian: it numbers J, U and W, which became separate letters only between the 14th and 16th centuries AD. What can be traced is far later. Sepharial printed both the planet numbers and a closely similar Hebrew-based letter table by 1920, crediting the planet numbers to John Heydon (1662). Cheiro traced his own learning to Brahmins, not Babylon. Indian practice then re-reads 4 and 7 as Rahu and Ketu.

A weathered Mesopotamian clay tablet covered in cuneiform sits on a dark wooden desk beside a closed 1920s cloth-bound book. A narrow beam of light falls between the two, marking the distance between ancient record and modern claim.

Verdict

Claim Status Basis
The letter table comes from ancient Babylon Not supported It numbers J, U and W, separate letters only since the 14th–16th centuries AD; Cheiro cites no Babylonian source
The idea of a name having a number is ancient in Mesopotamia Supported Sargon II’s inscription, 8th century BC, an Assyrian king, not a Chaldean one
“Chaldean” once meant astrologer Supported Persian and Roman usage, including Cicero
Cheiro learned the system from Brahmins Cheiro’s own claim, not verified His Foreword speaks of the East and of Brahmins
The planet numbers are older than Cheiro Supported, with one check open Sepharial (1920) prints them and credits Heydon (1662); Heydon’s text not yet checked
A Hebrew-based English letter table is older than Cheiro’s Supported, with one check open Sepharial’s “Hebraic” table (1920), read from OCR; it differs from the Chaldean table in C, H and X and in its use of 9
4 and 7 belong to Uranus and Neptune Cheiro’s choice Indian practice gives 4 to Rahu and 7 to Ketu
The year of the first edition of Cheiro’s Book of Numbers Unresolved Sources give 1926 or 1935; the copy examined is undated

The label

  • The Chaldean dynasty ruled Babylon from 626 to 539 BC (Chaldea).
  • Afterwards “Chaldean” came to mean an astrologer in Persian and Roman usage, as in Cicero’s “Chaldean astrologers” (Chaldea). The word marks a method as astrological; on its own it says nothing about origin.
  • Linking a name to a number is attested in Mesopotamia, but in Assyria: Sargon II, 8th century BC, a century before the dynasty (Gematria).
  • J, U and W became separate letters only in the 14th to 16th centuries AD (English alphabet). The table as used cannot be older than that.

The book

Cheiro’s Book of Numbers (Herbert Jenkins, London) is the text the modern system follows. The copy examined, a “seventh impression” digitised by the Digital Library of India, carries no date (archive.org scan). Secondary sources give 1926 (Satyori) or 1935 (Goodreads), and the Living in Cycles blog gives 1926 with a different publisher, the London Publishing Company. The first edition is unconfirmed.

Cheiro (William John Warner, 1866–1936; Cheiro) was already writing of radix numbers in Palmistry for All, and his publisher sold the Book of Numbers as the “fadic system” (Palmistry for All, Herbert Jenkins, introduction and back pages).

What Cheiro claimed

Checked in the scan (Foreword, Chapters I and II)

  • He learned his numbers from “a certain sect of Brahmins” while travelling in the East. India is not named in the pages checked.
  • He names Hindu, Chaldean, Egyptian and Hebrew tradition side by side, and calls the origin of numbers a mystery.
  • He gives the Sun 1–4 and the Moon 2–7, with Uranus as 4 and Neptune as 7.

Not yet checked on the page (as quoted in the Living in Cycles blog):

  • The letter table’s origin is lost; it is believed to be Chaldean and passed to the Hebrews.
  • No letter takes 9 because 9 stands for “the 9-lettered name of God”.
  • His system is the original Chaldean, Hindu and Hebrew one, set against the Pythagorean.

So the Chaldean attribution is Cheiro’s belief, with no source cited in the pages checked. His own account of where he learned it points to India.

Earlier sources: Sepharial and Heydon

Sepharial (Walter Old, 1864–1929) printed both pieces in The Kabala of Numbers; the 1920 printing is already a “New Revised Edition” (scan; Ellipsis Rare Books). He credits the planet numbers to John Heydon’s Holy Guide (London, 1662; archive.org) and dismisses them as “without any or due foundation”. Heydon’s text is not yet checked.

Planet Heydon, as reported by Sepharial Cheiro, Book of Numbers, Chapter I
Sun 1 (positive) and 4 (negative) 1, written 1–4, linked with Uranus
Moon 7 (positive) and 2 (negative) 2, written 2–7, linked with Neptune
Jupiter 3 3
Uranus not listed 4
Mercury 5 5
Venus 6 6
Neptune not listed 7
Saturn 8 8
Mars 9 9

The numbers are identical. Cheiro’s only change is to give the Sun’s 4 and the Moon’s 7 to Uranus and Neptune.

Sepharial’s “Hebraic” table for English letters, read from the scan’s OCR (page images still to check), against the modern table:

Number Sepharial’s “Hebraic” table (1920) Table now called Chaldean
1 A I J Q Y A I J Q Y
2 B C K R B K R
3 G L S C G L S
4 D M T D M T
5 E N E H N X
6 U V W X U V W
7 O Z O Z
8 F P Ph H F P
9 Th Tz no letters

Modern column as reproduced by later writers; Cheiro’s own page not yet checked. They differ in C, H and X, and Sepharial still gives 9 to Th and Tz.

Indian practice

The Indian sources checked keep Cheiro’s table and read 4 and 7 as Rahu and Ketu.

Point Cheiro, Book of Numbers Indian practice (sources checked)
Planet of 4 Uranus (Sun’s second number) Rahu (Free Press Journal, May 2026; Outlook India, April 2026)
Planet of 7 Neptune (Moon’s second number) Ketu, sometimes “Ketu/Neptune” (Free Press Journal, May 2026)
Birth day number The day of birth, reduced: his main number Mulank, the same calculation (Free Press Journal, May 2026)
Whole-date number Month and year kept separate, not added to the day (as quoted in the Living in Cycles blog; book page not yet checked) Bhagyank, the total of day, month and year (Free Press Journal, May 2026)
Changing a name’s spelling Advised, to bring the name number into line with the birth number (as quoted in the Living in Cycles blog) Widespread: adding or dropping a letter, such as an extra A or H (ezyLegal, 2025; Millennium Post, January 2024)

Two Indian teaching handouts in this series’ source files show the blend directly. One labels 4 “Uranus (Rahu)” and 7 “Neptune (Ketu)” and keeps Cheiro’s most-known-name rule; the other gives Rahu and Ketu, noting that some say Uranus and Neptune.

The split that changes readings is the whole-date number: Cheiro, as quoted, keeps month and year apart; Indian practice sums them into the Bhagyank.

How VedaJyoti uses it

The house rules for this series

  1. 01Every point gives two readings: what Cheiro’s book says, and what Indian practice does today.
  2. 02The name counted is the one a person is most known by, as Cheiro advised. This is our current rule and may be revised.
  3. 03Names are always calculated from their English spelling.
  4. 04Numerology is the frame. Where it disagrees with Jyotish, the article names the conflict and does not settle it.
  5. 05Timing is left to a later article, once the research on Vedic timing is done.

Next in the series

For the date side of the system, see the nine number profiles and the Vedic grid already in the library, including Number 4 and Rahu and Number 7 and Ketu.

Sources

Primary texts

  • Cheiro, Cheiro’s Book of Numbers, Herbert Jenkins, London, seventh impression, undated. Foreword and Chapters I–II checked; the online scan stops at Chapter X.
  • Cheiro, Palmistry for All, Herbert Jenkins, London (copy in this series’ source files): introduction and publisher’s back pages.
  • Sepharial, The Kabala of Numbers, scan dated 1920; edition details from Ellipsis Rare Books.
  • John Heydon, The Holy Guide, London, 1662: catalogue record only.

Reference

Indian practice