THE NUMEROLOGY OF ANTHONY BOURDAIN: A TRIBUTE, PART 2
The man. The legend himself.
Last year, in honor of the very first Bourdain Day (June 25th, his birthday), I published Part 1 of my analysis of Anthony Bourdain's numbers. I covered his Birthpath (his birthdate and natural inborn personality), his Destiny (the value of his full birth name, and what he came here to express/be in this world), and his Maturity Number (how these two numbers combine and their likely impact after age 40).
This year, in honor of the second annual Bourdain Day, my assessment continues, beginning with the meaning of his birth name's vowels.
Our full birth name's vowels indicate our inner motivations, what we value, and what we need to feel personally fulfilled and satisfied in this life. This term has several names: Self-Motivation, Soul Urge, Heart's Desire. For the purpose of this article, I will use the term Heart's Desire.
The total of Anthony's vowels adds up to the number 48, which reduces to the imaginative, witty, spontaneous, highly communicative 3.
Anthony Bourdain quotes that fit the 3 Heart's Desire:
"As your chef, I'm not your dietician or your ethicist. I'm in the pleasure business."
"Without new ideas, success can become stale."
"I'm a big believer in winging it. I'm a big believer that you're never going to find the perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I'm always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary."
The number 3 represents the creative spirit, the writer, and the excellent communicator. It's no surprise that his career went supersonic after writing his famous article to The New Yorker, "Don't Eat Before Reading This." He then went on to write the best-seller "Kitchen Confidential," and multiple books followed suit. He had an inherent mastery and understanding of the power of language, which was evident by the millions of his books that were sold worldwide. He was an expressive wordsmith with a comedic streak and a spellbinding storyteller. Interesting, entertaining, engaging language literally poured effortlessly from his mouth and into his writings. Funny enough, we also witnessed the sharpness of his wit and tongue through his use of Twitter (social media falls under the umbrella of the 3). Expressing himself regularly and thoroughly was clearly crucial for him.
The 3 Heart's Desire possesses curiosity for sharing creative ideas. Through his exploration of global cuisine, he asked many questions about the history of people's food, the inspiration behind the food, how it was created, and what it represented. He was exponentially and sincerely curious, and he knew how to frame conversations with others, so they could openly and freely express their own stories and experiences. Anthony craved quality discussions with others, and they played a significant role in his sense of fulfillment. What's more, he was always willing to learn from these dialogues and proved himself to be very teachable- another quality of the flexible and adaptable 3.
3 is the number of networking, friendships, and humor. The sheer volume of personal friends that grieved after his passing is a testament to the quality and strength of Anthony's many friendships. He loved to make constant jokes and poke fun at his closest friends, regularly needling them and cracking them up. Just look up the many videos of his fun-spirited interactions with Éric Ripert and José Andrés- he liked to have fun! He wanted to laugh! Given his Birthpath and Destiny numbers' serious nature, I would argue that he needed that sense of humor and laughter to keep his inner darkness at bay.
Not only was Anthony known as a loyal and kind friend, but he was also known to go out of his way to respond to email messages he received from the people he met during his travels- most especially up-and-coming restaurateurs that needed some words of wisdom and guidance. After Anthony's death, multiple stories emerged worldwide, telling stories of Anthony quietly helping them out behind the scenes. He valued his friends and connections, and he made sure to stay in touch with them.
The number 3 is youthful energy, spontaneous, and pleasure-seeking in nature. It also can struggle with adulthood and responsibility. It's interesting to observe that he grappled with effective money-management and addiction to hardcore drugs in Anthony's earlier life. Luckily, thanks to the anchoring effect of his 4 Personality number (which we will discuss momentarily), he was able to ground himself and make tremendous strides in both these areas as he grew older. Nevertheless, we can see how his pleasure-seeking/live-for-the-moment actions and desires played themselves out in his travel shows. How many times did we see Anthony gorge himself on delicious food and multiple servings of alcohol? He was given many opportunities to let the good times roll, and he took them. (This aspect was particularly highlighted by his 5 Maturity number.)
The consonants of our full birth name tell us how other people see us. They point out our outwardly visible personality traits and tell us about the impressions we make on others. The term I prefer for this placement is the Personality number.
The total of Anthony's consonants adds up to the number 58, which reduces to the honest, straight-forward, disciplined, dependable 4.
Anthony Bourdain quotes that fit the 4 Personality:
"An employer of mine back in the '80s was kind enough to take me on after a rough patch, and it made a big difference in my life that I knew I was the sort of person who showed up on time. It's a basic tell of character."
"Don't lie about it. You made a mistake. Admit it and move on. Just don't do it again. Ever".”
"I'm simply not going to deceive anybody about life as I've seen it. It's all here: the good, the bad, and the ugly."
4 is the number of the strongly self-disciplined hard worker. Anthony learned the value of a hard day's work in early adulthood and was known for his strong work ethic. He may have partied hard in his early days, but he also worked equally as hard.
Folks with 4 Personalities are known to be very forthright, and in all things, they prefer to not waste time and shoot straight from the hip. For as eloquent as Anthony was, he didn't beat around the bush. He chose to jump right to the point at hand and call things exactly as he saw them. Of course, much of that can be attributed to his Northeastern American upbringing; however, the 4 Personality absolutely supported that trait. When he would ask questions and see his respondents try to deliver diplomatic, safe answers, Anthony would commonly reply with something like, "So what you're saying is [insert direct answer in summation here]." In other words, the man was quite blunt. He believed in fast-tracking his conversations past the proverbial chewing of the fat and getting straight to the meat.
The number 4 resides on the physical plane and has a grounding, centering kind of energy. It represents structure and solidity. Many people with a prominent 4 know how to keep a cool head when tensions rise, enhancing their aura of competency and collectedness. We saw this in Anthony when he encountered stressful situations during his travels. During his 2006 Beirut episode of No Reservations, despite being deeply unsettled as war erupted nearby, somehow he appeared composed and in control. Anthony projected a calm, level-headed presence, calmly dealing with and processing the events around him with laser focus and stillness, which I'm sure helped keep his production team quieter in kind.
The 4 Personality is commonly seen as an honest character, and people inherently trusted Anthony. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said. He didn't try to hide who he was. There was congruence between his public persona and his personal self. He was upfront about his experiences and how he felt about them. In typical 4 fashion, some of his opinions were somewhat stubborn and fixed (read any of his quotes or writings about his feelings about vegetarianism). However, his easy-going 3 Heart's Desire and 5 Maturity Number helped give him more flexibility and willingness to remain open to others' attitudes and beliefs.
The 4 is all about sturdiness and solidness, and that was very much how Anthony was seen. He was seen as a steadfast force of nature upon whose presence we could always rely. Even though he was exceptionally candid about his restless and sometimes troubled mind, his 4 Personality made most believe he had it pretty well under control. Yet, he was truthful with us the entire time. He was candid about how his thoughts often left him feeling disconcerted- a common byproduct from the combined influence of his deeply reflective 7 Birthpath and 7 Destiny number. It was his seemingly durable 4 Personality that made most of us dismiss or underestimate the actual weight of his mental and emotional confessions. In the end, those appearances were stripped away, and his double 7 nature fully revealed itself so there could be no more denial.
No one can say he deceived us or fell short of some impossible ideal he always rejected and never wanted to embody. If we didn't hear what he was really saying, then it was us that deceived ourselves.
Anthony's numerology chart has many more interesting aspects, but the final point I'd like to explore with you is his 4th and final Pinnacle- the humanitarian-oriented, generous, universal 9.
Anthony Bourdain quotes that fit the Final 9 Pinnacle:
"I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go."
"I don't have to agree with you to like you or respect you."
"Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it's a start."
"[When I die], I will decidedly not be regretting missed opportunities for a good time. My regrets will be more along the lines of a sad list of people hurt, people let down, assets wasted, and advantages squandered."
Our lives are divided into four major chapters, known in numerology as Pinnacles. The 1st focuses on childhood/adolescence/early adulthood, the 2nd is early to mid-adulthood, the 3rd covers mid-adulthood and the "midlife crisis" period, and the 4th stays with us until the end of our lives.
First, let's examine some of the events that occurred before his transition into that 9 Pinnacle.
Anthony's career skyrocketed and flourished under his third Pinnacle's influence, the 5 Pinnacle. 5 energies are often associated with notable changes in circumstance, strokes of good fortune, and living with adventurous freedom. Anthony experienced all of these under the influence of this lucky Pinnacle. What's more, Anthony wrote "Don't Eat Before Reading This" in April 1999, at the tail end of a 4 personal year with a 5 essence, and he released "Kitchen Confidential" in May 2000, a 5 year with the continued 5 essence influencing these events. Without knowing it, Anthony maximized these numerological transits' potential, launching his career as an author, TV show host, and many other accomplishments.
His fourth and final Pinnacle was the profound and meaningful 9 Pinnacle. This is the number of culmination, synthesis, and altruism. As a final Pinnacle, this is often a time of substantial personal growth, maturity, and wisdom. There is a widening focus that develops under the 9 influence, a growing awareness and call of purpose toward being of service to others on a large scale. In his TV work, he eventually moved away from discussing the fusion of flavors and ingredients in the meals he consumed and talked more about the fusion of clashing cultures, sociopolitical issues and struggles, and trending cultural attitudes and beliefs he witnessed. His focus on eating food shifted into a narrative about food's role as a unifier of the human experience and a reflection of the human condition.
His work on Parts Unknown raised him to a new and powerful level, and his show was masterfully executed to reflect the giving and worldly nature of his 9 Pinnacle. Under this influence, there is a strong urge to understand other people, humbly give back, and genuinely connect with others. In the days following his death, many tributes poured in from all across the globe, recalling hundreds of tales of his previously silent and unknown good deeds. He felt the compassionate, philanthropic call of the 9 Pinnacle, and he answered, over and over again. Perhaps he collapsed under the weight of all that philanthropy; after all, compassion fatigue is a real thing, and I long suspected he suffered from it. However, he is gone now. So I choose to focus on what he gave us in life- which was a vast and fascinating body of brilliant, thought-provoking, notable work.
Despite the challenges he felt through his double 7s, he ultimately rose to the challenge of his numbers and triumphed. More often than not, he chose to express his numbers' more positive attributes and use those qualities for good. He carved out a remarkable legacy for himself and for us, despite the personal cost. He started his career as a dishwasher and ended as a tremendous spokesperson for cross-cultural empathy and understanding.
Now that's what I call a life well-lived.
The world seems like a completely different and unrecognizable place than when he left this orbit 2 years ago. It seems like the time to which he belonged is long gone. Now, he belongs to the ages.
I can't help but wish we could read the field notes from where he is now: the ultimate destination. The ultimate Parts Unknown. Since we can't, I will close with these fitting words from Anthony:
"It's been an adventure. We took some casualties over the years. Things got broken. Things got lost.
But I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Neither would we, Tony.
Neither would we.
This blog, and all blogs on this website © Bethany Abrahamson 2020 – InTheKnow Tarot+Numerology LLC. All rights reserved.