Angel numbers, a branch of numerology, is the belief in the relationship between numbers and events. The term ‘angel numbers’ was first popularized by Doreen Virtue from her 2005 book ‘Angel Numbers 101: The Meaning of 111, 123, 444, and Other Number Sequences. The belief behind angel numbers is that seeing certain numbers are direct messages from higher beings.
This spiritual phenomenon grew in popularity on Instagram and Tiktok around May 2021, spreading the two-decade-old theory to the masses on TikTok. #angelnumbers currently has 346 million views on TikTok and 412 thousand Instagram posts, respectively. With spirituality on the rise on social media, angel numbers manifest on Instagram profiles in many ways today, whether directly in the username, bio, or captions.
When I first saw the trend, I doubted the legitimacy of theoretical communication from higher beings by way of numbers because the only time I would consistently see repeating numbers was on a clock. I read a tweet that suggested the brain essentially trained itself to be subconsciously alert at those times and only reinforce the habit with one’s excited reaction. Reading about angel numbers led me to other topics, and the more I looked into spirituality, the more angel numbers were suddenly everywhere throughout my daily routine.
Soon everything from looking up a phone number to a business or liking a post resulted in seeing a repeating set. Before I knew it, I had the meanings of each number memorized from referencing guides so many times and was all the way in. The wildest part of all is that this story isn’t unique to just me.
Gen-Z traditionally flies from one trend to the next, with an attention span that averages around eight seconds. Despite that, angel numbers have remained an outlier among Tik Tok dances and prank videos. The spiritual perspective offers a reason why this has resonated with so many people.
According to some astrologers, the earth moved from the age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius in March 2020. This was said to bring a change in perspective, including a “shift beyond technological and medical innovations and calls for a better way of working with each other and a greater sense of community spirit,” according to astrologer Aliza Kelly.
Psychologists also suggest an alternative reason why this trend has continued to stand the test of time. The concept called synchronicity could explain why it’s so easy to spot angel numbers again and again. First suggested by psychiatrist Carl Jung, the mind links things together that may not really be connected or causing “experiences…meaningfully intertwined, even though there is no evidence that one led to the other or that the two events are linked in any other causal way” according to Psychology Today.
Personally, the truth for me lies somewhere in the middle. Diving into numerology led me to other similar studies under spirituality, which personally affected my life. Angel numbers weren’t the starting point, but the concept did certainly grab my attention in a way nothing else had. Perhaps the aspect offering a personal connection to higher powers—unusual compared to anything else the internet has seen—was what grabbed the attention of a generation living in a world that can sometimes seem so chaotic that it might be in much need of divine intervention.