This eminently readable book explores the symbolic and psychological aspects of numbers. The author shows that numbers are far more than the symbols we use for counting, for they are founded on a deep psychic structure which underlie many of our thoughts and behaviours. Numbers also give shape and meaning to our socially constructed world. Enigma reads like a mystery novel as it traces the first appearance of number in Palaeolithic times through Eastern and European countries and Meso-America. And while the author does consider the mathematical properties of numbers, the book is aimed at the intelligent layperson with an interest in the more esoteric and psychological aspects of mathematical ideas. It will also have a strong appeal to those interested in popular science and in Jungian ideas. Each of the numbers, from zero to ten, is given its own chapter and there are also chapters on number symbolism in the Kabbalah, divination, music, religion and mythology. In The Enigma of Numbers, Lance Storm challenges our obsession for organising and quantifying our world with an absorbing expose? of the shadow side of quantity-number as quality. In Storm's hands, qualitative numbers are mysterious symbols, giving rise to puzzling patterns and uncanny coincidences. His journey takes us from Pythagoras, the ancient Greek mathematician and mystic, through philosophy, arcane religious symbolism and pre-science to the number archetype of the psychologist C G Jung, which grounds this work. Measured and authoritative, yet intriguing and always eminently readable, Storm's narrative amplifies the archetypal qualities of the numbers 1 to 10 and their manifestations in an assortment of fields-numerology, synchronicity, chaos theory and modern physics. This captivating journey reaches a crescendo in a beguiling stanza on archetypal number in music.
I was born in Tumby Bay, South Australia, on September 15, 1958. While still only a few months old, my family moved to Adelaide, South Australia, where I have lived ever since. As a teenager, I started working in the Public Service during which time I trained in photography, and later worked as a photographer for seven years. I then went freelance, but retired from the world of photography in 2004. My photographs have been published in newspaper, magazines, pamphlets, brochures, and books.
During the 1990s, I completed a BA (Hons.) and a PhD in psychology (2002). I received the Laurence T. Schneider Prize in Art History (1995), the D. Scott Rogo Award for Literature (2002), the Gertrude R. Schmeidler Award for work in parapsychology (2003), and the Frances P Bolton Fellowship (2007). I have published dozens of articles in prestigious journals such as Psychological Bulletin, the Journal of Parapsychology, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Journal of Gambling Studies, and the Jungian journal Quadrant.
I also edited and contributed to three books: Parapsychology in the 21st Century (2005), and The Survival of Human Consciousness (2006), both published by McFarland & Company, Inc., and Synchronicity: Multiple Perspectives on Meaningful Coincidence (Pari Publishing, 2008). I recently published a nonfiction book called The Enigma of Numbers (2008) with Pari Publishing.
I am current editor of the Australian Journal of Parapsychology, and a member of the Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research, Inc. In 2006, I launched two online courses in parapsychology for the AIPR's website: www.aiprinc.org/index.asp.
Besides my parapsychological career interests, my other academic interests include the psychology of motivation, emotion, perception, and personality.
My other interests include reading, film studies, bushwalking and travel. As a keen traveller, I have seen much of Australia, and have spent time in the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Bali, Hong Kong, Singapore, Portugal, and Ukraine. I recently finished writing a semi-autobiographical novel about my five-week sojourn in Ukraine.
