Bernard Madoff—
A Scammer's Karma By The Numbers

By Carol Adrienne

Bernard Lawrence Madoff, born April 29, 1938, the recently jailed financial investor accused of the biggest investment scam of all time, has the numerological Destiny number Eight—the number representing power, money, and executive leadership. Madoff's Birthpath, (the total of his birth date) is Nine—the number of the humanitarian. According to his numerological life plan, this lifetime for him was to be lived on a grand scale, with a chance to do good for others by using his expertise in the financial sector. What happened to cause this man to misuse his power? Why would he throw away his life—and the lives of his family—in addition to willfully ruining the lives of thousands of people?

This case is so mind boggling that I wanted to see what, if anything, I could deduce by studying his numerology chart. While there is no way to know if a person is going to achieve—or pervert—the potential in his or her chart, we can perhaps learn something in hindsight.

One aspect of Madoff's chart shows a "cross over the mouth" indicating a potential for being "silenced," which now has come to pass with his confession and arrest. I've seen this cross before; in particular, recently in a man's chart who had attempted an illegal venture on Wall Street. He had been investigated and censured by the Securities and Exchange Commission, restricting him from signing his name to legal business documents.

Madoff's has two karmic lessons, which stand out because they refer to finances, authority, and trust. The first is the number Eight (indicating an attraction to the world of power, influence, and money, where he will most certainly learn major lessons). The second karmic lesson is Seven. While Seven is positively associated with spirituality, learning to trust one's intuition, and the application of expertise, here it seems to indicate a decision to go into the darker side—deception, fraud, misuse of one's knowledge, cynicism, isolation, eccentricity, and even socio-pathology. The dark sides of Eight (misuse of authority) and Seven (misuse of his clients' trust) are apt descriptors of the core of Madoff's present downfall.

His chart has two relevant, strong focal points: one is called The General—indicating exceptional ability to strategize, organize, and motivate, as if for a battle. The second focal point is called the Desire for Accomplishment—accompanied by a subtle balance, which allows him to weigh factors in a calculated way until he knows exactly what he wants to do. In an honest person, this line would merely indicate a tendency to vascillate.

While his chart shows many inherent capacities for responsibility and caring about family (e.g., he is still married to his high school sweetheart) he seems to have, instead, dropped into the negative side of many of his numbers, particularly the Nine, which shows up in several instances. Nine is the number of personal charisma and power, wealth, breadth of understanding, and philanthropic tendencies (he was known to contribute generously to various causes.) However, in this case this power was wrongly applied. Interestingly, he has a lifetime Challenge number One—starting at age twenty-eight. A One developed positively gives a person leadership, honesty, and integrity. Needless, to say he dropped the ball on this Challenge.

An indicator of current possible deception shows up in his last major cycle—Seven (the number showing the likely environment and areas in which he will endeavor to succeed.) Seven is the number of hidden things, and, in extreme cases, betrayal. Positively, Seven is also the number of spiritual redemption, humility, simplicity, and solitude. He'll no doubt get plenty of time for solitude and reflection on the consequences of his actions during his time in prison.

Both last year, when he was arrested in December, and this year he has been under the influence of the karmic number Thirteen—Death, Transformation, and Rebirth. Since Thirteen would indicate that this is the time allotted in his life plan to pay off karmic debts, he seems to be incurring more this time around. It looks like old Bernie is going to have to go around another few lifetimes to work this one off.

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