In disappointing news for anyone who gets a kick out of seeing 11:11 on their watch or 3:33 on their microwave timer (this writer included, shamelessly); the woman who coined the term “Angel Numbers” has expressed regret for doing so.
In a new interview with The Cut, Doreen Virtue, a former New Age spiritual teacher, claims the concept of Angel Numbers came to her while sitting (meditating) on her bathroom floor—which she tells the publication is, “kind of perfect, because this stuff should be thrown down the toilet.” Wait, what? Allow us to explain.
Doreen explains that, in the mid-90s, she “download” that “angels were sending repeating numbers on receipts and telephone numbers, and these patterns meant something.” She adds that she began talking to people who had “these unexplainable experiences that went way beyond coincidence,” and concluded that it could be angel intervention.
Doreen explains to The Cut that she began writing about her experiences with these angel entities, and when her publisher expressed interest in the Angel Numbers concept, she began to draft meanings for each number. Doreen tells the outlet, “It was very fortune cookie stuff, very generalised.”
The resulting text was Angel Numbers: Angels Explain the Meaning of 111, 444, and Other Numbers in Your Life, which she co-authored with Lynette Brown and published in 2005. A sequel, Angel Numbers 101, followed in 2008.
In the interview, Doreen insists that she genuinely believed what she was preaching at the time and “there was no trickery involved.”
Her conversation with The Cut is not the first time Doreen has denounced her previous teachings. She began to backtrack on her writings in 2015 after, as she recalls to the journalist, hearing a preacher discuss the danger of false teachers and realising, “I thought, He’s describing me.” She has since converted to Christianity and posted videos to her YouTube channel—which boasts 363k subscribers—rejecting the validity of the exact New Age phrase she popularised.
What Are Angel Numbers?
Numerology—aka the notion that numbers or numerical patters contain hidden messages—has been around since ancient Greece. However, the specific term ‘Angel Numbers’ was coined by Doreen in 2004 and popularised by her and Lynette’s aforementioned book.
Essentially, the text posited that there are divine messages hidden in every day life. These messages appear via specific numbers or numerical sequences, which pop up in seemingly mundane places. For example, seeing 5:55 on a clock or 111 on a licence plate.
What Do Angel Numbers Mean?
Each number symbolises something different. The top line meanings are:
- 000: New opportunities or fresh starts
- 111: You are being supported in whatever you are trying to manifest
- 222: Balance
- 333: Creativity
- 444: Stability
- 555: Major change
- 666: Kindness and gentleness
- 777: Fiscal luck (aka Ca$h!)
- 888: Infinite spiritual connection
- 999: Closure of a chapter
