Category Archives: Numerology

Carrie Bradshaw by the Numbers

2 Replies
Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City

According to numerologist Glynis McCants (and Greek mathematician Pythagoras), numbers possess a vibrational energy that forms the foundation of the universe. In numerology, the numbers associated with a person’s name and birthdate reveal his or her strengths, weaknesses, goals, and gifts. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have considered using numerology as an aid in character development. So I was curious whether the qualities of successful fictional characters did, in fact, reflect their “numbers.”

I chose to examine Carrie Bradshaw, from HBO’s Sex and the City. Bravo ranked her eleventh on their list of the 100 greatest TV characters, and she came in second among TV Guide’s 25 greatest TV characters of all time. So I think it can safely be argued that she is an effective character. I located her birthdate on an infographic of fictional characters’ birthdays. Based on this date and her name, I calculated her basic numerology blueprint, below. (For an explanation of how the computations are made, please check out Glynis Has Your Number.)

Carrie Bradshaw, born 6/15/1966

Life path: 7

Birth day: 6

Attitude: 3

Soul: 8

Personality: 5

Power name: 4

So what do all these numbers mean?

Your life path number indicates the course your life must take in order for you to be satisfied. The 7 vibration is a truth-seeker, always asking, “Who am I?” In life and in her column, Carrie constantly tries to get to the truth about people. For example:

Later that day, I got to thinking about fairy tales. What if Prince Charming had never shown up? Would Snow White have lain in that glass box forever? I couldn’t help but wonder: inside every confident, driven, single woman, is there a delicate, fragile princess just waiting to be saved? Was Charlotte right? Do women just want to be rescued?

A recent article has compiled everything Carrie ever wondered about, season by season.

Your birth day number signifies how others see you. Someone born on a 6 day, like Carrie, “craves love, friends, and companionship.” Carrie’s character and the entire show are centered around this idea; the four protagonists remain inseparable. As Big observes, “You three know her better than anyone; you’re the loves of her life. And a guy’s just lucky to come in fourth.”

Your attitude number reflects your basic outlook on life. Carrie, as a 3 vibration, “values communication and creative energy”; her job as a writer is a perfect reflection of this aspect. A person with a 3 attitude “tends to be the joker. They have a sense of humor.” Indeed, Carrie uses self-deprecating humor to confront the issues in her life.

Your soul number represents what you feel inside. The 8 soul, like Carrie’s, is happy when it has “financial freedom, job security, and a nice home.” Accordingly, Carrie is very connected to her job and her apartment. She also lives on the dark side of the number 8, as shown in her lack of financial freedom: dismayed that she can’t afford to buy her apartment because of her excessive acquisition of expensive footwear, she laments that she will “literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes.”

Your personality number denotes what you show the world. The 5 personality “has an air of fun and energy” and “wants to know where the party is.” Indeed, Carrie has made appearances at countless parties—the Fleet Week party, the purse party, the party where someone steals her shoes, the all-couples party, and the black and white ball, to name a tiny fraction. The 5 personality is also known for having an addictive streak; Carrie is an on-again, off-again smoker who may have a dangerous shopping habit.

Your power name number represents the strength of your name. Carrie’s 4 vibration signifies “The Teacher.” And she really has made her name in the world by educating and enlightening others through her column and books. The people she meets often refer to her as their relationship guru.

Carrie Bradshaw seems to embody her numerology quite convincingly. Yet I can’t help but wonder: could I have made the numerology of any fictional character work? Am I just that good at twisting information for my own purposes?

Character: Sum of the Parts or Greater Whole?

Leave a reply

Here is where you are going to think I am totally mad or a genius, or possibly the entertaining hybrid mad genius. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I needed help developing characters. So I dug up a handout from the writer’s boot camp I attended several years ago. It included an “emotional development profile,” which called for the following information about a character: name, overall goal, obstacles, what he or she stands to lose, flaw, strength, hates, loves, fears, dream, and secret.

Frankenstein's monsterIntellectually, it made sense that a character would be the composite of, well, characteristics. But even if I was able to contrive a character from different traits, would I end up with a well-rounded figure—or Frankenstein’s monster? Is a character constructed from analyzed parts similar to a creature built in a laboratory? After breathing life into my precious creation, would I accept it as pleasingly human—or disavow it in horror, like the mad genius Victor Frankenstein?

To avoid such a terrible scene, I wondered if there might be a more holistic approach to character development, one that started with the whole rather than the parts. Over the last few years, I have been exposed to various systems for understanding myself and others. I am open-minded about these systems; if they work, I don’t necessarily question how or why. Here are some of my favorite tools for gaining insight into people’s personalities and motivations:

  • Archetypes. In Jungian psychology, archetypes are unconscious ideas or thought patterns that are inherited collectively and present in individual psyches.
  • NumerologyNumerology. According to numerology, a person’s name and birthdate possess specific vibrations that directly influence his or her individuality and life purpose.
  • Enneagram. The enneagram (from the Greek ennea, meaning “nine”) outlines nine basic personality types and their complex interrelationships.
  • Astrology. Unless you’re from another planet, you are already familiar with the study of how heavenly bodies influence human affairs.
  • Face reading. Chinese face reading teaches that your facial features carry messages about your true nature.
  • Ayurveda. This system of traditional medicine from India stresses a balance of elemental energies or humors, which define a person’s temperament and qualities.

If I applied these constructs to my characters, I would know their reactions to any situation, thereby creating further situations—which, I think, makes a plot!

For example, how would someone with the Bully archetype deal with rejection? How would a person with a 5 life path, the Adventurer, react to being imprisoned? What would the enneagram’s Loyalist do upon discovering a horrible secret about her spouse? Would an Aries and a Cancer have a successful romantic relationship? How would an individual with twinkling eyes, peaked eyebrows, dimples, and freckles (the fiery Fun Lover) respond to a structured routine? How would someone with the Kapha dosha function in cold, damp weather? Really, it’s almost cheating.

Of course, the challenge will be figuring out what the Trickster-Teacher-Peacemaker-Pisces-Perfectionist-Pitta would do . . .