The Soul Urge & Overcoming Challenges
A Little Background
The Soul is the essence of who we are. The Tibetans say that it is the subtle part of us that coordinates the five elements on all planes; the Greeks believed that it is a mixture of the material components of the world and the Nous, or spirit. This may be a little metaphysical for an article on practical Numerology, but it is necessary in order to see just how important the Soul Urge is, and what it can do.
Listen to Your Soul…
The soul has its own agenda; it is the part of us that seeks experience and growth. Much has been written about how health, prosperity, love and fulfillment are the result of living the life of the soul. It has been said that we find our purpose in life by expressing the desires of the soul through our actions and decisions.
Author, Shaman, Healer and Teacher Robert Moss brings up an important point: “The Iroquois Indians say that if we fail to honor “the wishes of the soul” (as opposed to ego agendas), the soul will distance itself from us, leaving us prone to sickness and bad luck, putting us on the road of the walking dead.”
This is one of the best and clearest definitions of the most devastating problem that can befall human beings. When we pursue goals at the expense of our dreams and the urgings of the soul, its participation in our lives may diminish or disappear. This can happen when one experiences extreme pain, loss or other traumas; psychologists call this disassociation. This state affects every aspect of our lives; our relationships, our work and our state of wellness.
Calculate Your Soul Urge
The Soul Urge is defined as being the longing of the inner self. We may know what this longing is, but we may not express it, either by choice or because of our circumstances. That’s why it’s so important to know the Soul Urge; it becomes much easier to work toward expressing it if you have guidelines that help you follow its lead.
In order to find your Soul Urge, you need to sum the vowels in your name. This is a technique of modern Numerology, and has a couple of special rules.
- The first is that Master Numbers count. If the sum comes to 11 or 22 it is not reduced.
- The second is that “W” or “Y” are to be treated as vowels; “W” is counted as a vowel when next to another vowel, and “Y” is a vowel when it is preceded by a vowel, or if there are no other vowels in the syllable that contains it.
1- A J S
2- B K T
3- C L U
4- D M V
5- E N W
6- F O X
7- G P Y
8- H Q Z
9- I R
I’ve added all the letters just for generalities. Calculate only the VOWELS in your Full Name (First, Middle and Last) and add all the vowels up to a single digit, except if it equals to be the master numbers, 11 and 22. Be mindful of the W and Y vowel as well. As an example, in the name Edward, “W” is a vowel because it is next to another vowel. In the name Maya, “Y” is counted as a vowel because it comes after “A.”
This number is also called “The Heart’s Desire”, and some Numerologists use it to understand your relationship style and the challenges to fulfillment in relationships.
Your Soul Urge or Heart’s Desire
One
Soul Urge: The desire to lead is prominent; rarely is an opportunity for praise passed up; likes doing big things; success oriented; impatient; dislikes dealing with details.
Heart’s Desire: Desires deep love, but has a tendency to let ego agendas get in the way.
Two
Soul Urge: Seeks partnership and craves love and appreciation; enjoys working in cooperation with others more than leading them; sensitive, emotional.
Heart’s Desire: Cannot thrive without partnership; will sacrifice for gaining the approval of a loved one.
Three
Soul Urge: Seeks opportunities for self-expression; sees the beauty and good in others and in their circumstances; outgoing, friendly, social.
Heart’s Desire: Strongly romantic and enjoys “the game of love”; cannot tolerate betrayal; may be jealous.
Four
Soul Urge: A lover of systems, order and tradition; craves responsibility in all circumstances; dependable and reliable, but demands the same from others.
Heart’s Desire: More concerned with stability and security than romance in relationships; sincere and dependable.
Five
Soul Urge: Puts personal freedom above all other concerns; seeks change, travel and the easy life; impatient and adaptable; usually has a wide range of interests.
Heart’s Desire: More interested in company and pleasure than stability in relationships; desires variety in love.
Six
Soul Urge: Understanding and a peacemaker; accepts responsibility easily; more oriented toward home and family than casual relationships; a good listener.
Heart’s Desire: Always ready to make sacrifices in order to stabilize relationships; seeks the approval of loved ones.
Seven
Soul Urge: Philosophical and a seeker of knowledge; prefers living within over social life; self-contained; attracted to meditation and other private pursuits.
Heart’s Desire: Very selective in relationships; prefers living alone to settling for “second best” in love.
Eight
Soul Urge: Loves big organizations; seeks power and wealth; is filled with confidence and courage and expresses it outwardly in their activities.
Heart’s Desire: Seeks strong partners in love and family; tends to put material concerns above love.
Nine
Soul Urge: A giver and teacher; seeker of knowledge; self-sacrificing; open and giving with the knowledge and experience that they gain in life.
Heart’s Desire: More compassionate than romantic; likes being in love; sometimes inattentive.
Eleven
Soul Urge: Inspirational and inspired; selective; broad outlook on life; tries to live by and impart ideals to others; more likely to give revelations than information.
Heart’s Desire: Has a hard time in relationships with partners who are not philosophical or spiritual by nature.
Twenty-Two
Soul Urge: Not self-seeking – desires to create and act for the greater good, rather than to improve personal circumstances; high ideals; practical and down-to-earth.
Heart’s Desire: Lofty goals and altruistic; seeks partners with the same qualities; focused on the “big picture.”
Generally, the Soul Urge is not thought to have a negative manifestation, as those along the Path of Life often do. That’s because every individual’s Soul Urge faces certain challenges that are derived from their full name. In order to find them, either the full name given at birth, or one that has been adopted at some point in the life can be used.
The “negative” attributes implied by the Heart’s Desire interpretations are not really challenges; they exist because of the difficulty in expressing the Soul Urge fully to others. They tend to interfere with one’s happiness only when the Soul Urge is not an active, conscious part of the life, or when one is not working with (or in denial about) the Soul Urge Challenge.
The Soul Urge Challenge
As mentioned above, the Soul desires to experience and grow, but the material plane into which it manifests is far from perfect, and growth never happens without struggle.
The Soul Urge Challenge represents the obstacles the Soul brings with it into incarnation; overcoming them is a major task during the lifetime. Paying close attention to the Soul Urge and its Challenge has much to say about one’s purpose or mission in life.
The Soul Urge Challenge is easy enough to find; it is the difference between the first and last vowel in the full name. For instance, a person named David Edward Hanson has a first vowel of “A” and a last vowel of “O.”
“A” has a value of 1, while “O” has a value of 6, therefore his challenge would be 6-1 = 5.
It is impossible to have a challenge of 9, because no letter has a value of 10, but it is possible to have a Zero challenge, because the first and last vowels may have the same value. This does not mean that there is no challenge – it shows that a person faces all challenges, and should not focus on overcoming one challenge or another.
Meanings for the various Soul Urge Challenges, and some keywords for interpreting them
One Challenge: Either one is lacking in drive or initiative and needs to become self-motivated, or the desire to bend others to the will is dominant and must be checked.
Two Challenge: One must learn to be more humble and to let others take the lead. Cooperation does not mean being dependent on others, this is another important lesson.
Three Challenge: To overcome this challenge, one must become more social and not fear making mistakes around others. It can cause one to live totally “inside” themselves.
Four Challenge: Too much or too little attention is given to details; one must learn balance, dependability and how to focus on work or other matters at hand.
Five Challenge: One must learn how to accept change and let go of the old to make room for the new. Another lesson is moderation; overindulgence in any pleasure can be dangerous.
Six Challenge: Being a perfectionist and having unrealistic expectations of others can be difficult for one with this challenge. One must also find ways to be responsible to family and partners.
Seven Challenge: Developing patience and understanding by finding commonality rather than differences is at the root of this challenge. It’s important to develop faith in the self and others.
Eight Challenge: Either too much or too little concern with financial and material matters is the hallmark of this challenge. It’s important to focus on people, not profits.
The Zero Challenge
The Zero Challenge encompasses all challenges, so it is important to remain flexible and vigilant, and to work with the other 8 challenges.
An affirmation or meditation that covers the other 8 challenges, when used on a daily basis, has proven helpful to many.
“I know that I am as I see myself – I flow through life without following or leading – I know that common goals are achieved more swiftly – I know that every moment is an opportunity for success – I know that change is opportunity – I allow all things to be perfect as they are – I am grateful for whomever and whatever I encounter – Unlimited gratitude means unlimited abundance.”
You can probably see how this affirmation covers all 8 challenges, but only those who have a Zero Soul Urge Challenge should take on such a strategy. It’s far more important for those with Non-Zero Soul Urge Challenges to work on the one specific to them.
So why should we work on the Challenges to the Soul Urge? These nine ego agendas are very likely to become problems that cause the soul to remove itself from the life. When you consciously work with these issues, the soul has more energy with which to express itself. 7
You can’t enjoy life in the castle while you are defending its walls
By putting forth some effort to consciously handle the challenging part of the soul’s growth, you free up more creative, intuitive and ecstatic energy from the essence of who you are.
Working with this aspect of your Numerology chart can be not only a rewarding experience, but it can help you learn to live and dream to the fullest. Life can be an exciting adventure if you call upon the soul, the essence of all you are, to come out and play.
Your Professional Numerologist,
Roy Kirkland
