One of the reasons you simply can’t resist making New Year’s Resolutions is because you’re feeling a very real, very profound shift in energy from one year to the next. By the numbers, it’s undeniable. In numerology, the Universal Year is like the landscape or terrain you’re driving through all year long and is calculated by adding the numbers of the current year together.  You can think of it as the state or country you’re driving through on your yearly “road trip. ” A Universal Year means that everyone on the planet will be feeling the energy related to a particular number during the entire year.

You calculate the Universal Year by simply adding the numbers in the current year (in this case, 2018) together like this:

2018 = 2 + 0 + 1 + 8 = 11

11 is a Master number

Then reduce again:

1 + 1 = 2

Some numerologist’s never reduce the Master numbers and so this would be an 11 Universal Year.

Other numerologist’s indicate the Master numbers by writing it this way:

11/2

All of us begin feeling this energy starting January 1, 2018 and it’ll end on December 31, 2018.

What Do You Need To Know About The 11/2 Universal Year?

In numerology, Master numbers are repeating numbers.  The most well know is the 11—yet the 22 and 33 are also Master numbers that come up in people’s numerology charts either as one of their “core” numbers in the chart or as the guiding energy during a specific cycle or transit.  The power of the Master numbers resides in its inherent polarity.  With the 11, the repeated number 1 can be considered male or masculine energy (doubled) adding to the number 2, which can be considered female or feminine energy.  Therefore this energetic matrix holds immeasurable power with the potential of the convergence of the most optimal qualities of the blending of masculine and feminine energy.   

Just realize that the Master number brings with it an intensity that’s undeniable.   It’s generally observed that the Master numbers bring a higher spiritual purpose, no matter how you might define that.  The Master numbers carry a higher frequency and vibratory influence.  Energetically speaking, they’re always pushing you.  So in practical terms, the year 2018 is a year where the energy supporting and guiding all of us is rather intense.  This means that we’re going to feel high-strung mixed with a certain level of anxiety.  We’re going to feel a constant push and pull to be more and do better, often to the point of distraction.  You might also notice that you have higher expectations for yourself, even when others can’t see that those feelings are going on inside of you.  Everyone will be getting the internal call to step it up this year.

So what does that mean for you on a practical level?  It means that we’re here to “master” the elements presented to us within the frequency, vibration, and “theme” presented by the Master 11.  It means that our strengths will be bolstered and yet we’ll also be faced with more significant challenges.  The bottom line:  It’s not easy!  Master numbers not only demand that we step up and take the lead in life, they also make conflicting demands on us. The Master Numbers are innately in conflict with themselves. Let me explain.

Let’s look at the Master number 11 as an example.  The 11 is a double one—all about the self, creativity, initiation, independence, innovation, and self-confidence.  Yet the foundational energy for the 11 is the 2, which is all about others, partnership, group dynamics, being supportive, and behind the scenes.  So can you see how we can feel conflicted and potentially confused when dealing with the energy presented by the 11?  Working with Master numbers is a marathon, not a sprint.  This year in particular, we must train, be flexible, pace ourselves, and invest in the right equipment. 

We’re also being schooled in developing and acting with humility.  The Master numbers always bring certain heightened levels of ego to the game.  Therefore we’ll be on the fast track to learning how to level and soften the ego without sublimating our superior gifts. We must connect with a sincere and deep sense of humility before we can manifest and harness the power of the Master number.  As his Holiness Pope Francis said in his TedTalk (2017):  “.  .  .  Please allow me to say it loudly and clearly.  The more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly.  If you don’t, your power will ruin you and it will ruin the other.”  Another expression of the Master number mission can turn into feelings of overwhelm resulting in not stepping up and stepping into the higher-level calling.

With this said, get ready for a year of spiritual illumination!  The most important concept to grasp is that the Master number 11 is the spiritual messenger.  The Master numbers carry a higher frequency, vibration, and spiritual purpose.  Energetically speaking, they’re always pushing us into a higher form of self-realization and self-actualization. A Master number demands expansion and evolution, yet expansion and evolution most often take place within—or in response to—severe or intensified circumstances. The key is to understand what the foundational energy of the 2 brings to our year and then to see what the Master 11 adds to the mix.

The 11 is a double 1—all about the self, creativity, initiation, independence, innovation, and self-confidence.  We just experienced a 1 Universal Year in 2017—an intense year of rebirth, new beginnings, and initiation.  Yet the foundational energy for the 11 is the 2—all about love, relating to others, partnership, patience, and being supportive.  So can you see how—if we’re all feeling the energy of the 11 this year—we might feel somewhat conflicted most of the time? The core energy of the year resides in the number 2.  Without the Master 11, the 2 Universal Year is a slower and patience-building year.  Its energy offers slow downs, delays, and some frustrations along the way.  It’s a year to slow the pace and instead place a focus on others rather than so directly on ourselves—the number 2 Universal Year focuses on love, emotions, and relationships.  

We’ve all just endured a three-year transition cycle (the Universal Years 8-9-1) and 2018 is supposedly a moment of rest—a time to regroup and focus on love and relationships.  It’s a great year for getting to know ourselves better and to tap into our authentic emotional lives.  It’s a time where we will have heightened emotions and also a heightened intuitive sense.  We just have to stop running and losing ourselves in “busyness” long enough to notice it, develop it, nurture it, and take it in.  The vibe of the number 2 is diplomatic, mediative, loving, and emotionally attuned.  Its optimal expression is patience, fair-mindedness, diplomacy, service, loving and being lovable.  

The overall mission for all of us during this 11/2 Universal Year is to clarify the limits of our responsibility and learn to work in cooperation with harmony, balance, and mutual respect.  Yet the Master numbers present us with conflicting agendas.  Understand that “Master” means “Teacher.”  And the Master numbers prod all of us to “master” our lives in ways that are perhaps more elevated.  When you work with a Master number, it’s as though you’re enrolled in a school for the gifted.  And just to complicate matters, the energy of 2018 encourages—on top of the mission outlined by the number 2—us to use our creativity, intuition, and healing abilities for the benefit of humanity as a whole.  The double 1 is all about leadership and confidence—the 2 is all about harmony and love.  So you see how this year might offer up some strange and conflicting experiences across the board. If you’re astrologically inclined, you might deepen your connection with the number 11 by its association with the Chiron figure.  We could nickname 2018 “The Year Of The Wounded Healer.” Its energy offers deep and profound healing at a core level.  Yet this “healing” might not be apparent from the outside.  It’s often an internal healing—a shift in perspective resulting in a reconfiguration of our core sense of reality and our place within it.

How To Harness The Power of the 11/2 Universal Year

Hurry up . . . and wait.  2018 can continue to be a year of action, yet underneath it there will be delays, stoppages, and weird detours.  Both determination and patience are requirements—a delicate balance of action and allowing.  It’s almost like the urgency when applying for a new job or starting a business.  We’ll need a plan, proper financing, and the tenacity to go with the flow of creation—which is rarely (if ever) a linear path.  Remember that even when things are super-busy we will still be met with unexpected stoppages, slow-downs, and delays if not downright re-routing.  It’s a time to think on our feet and trust in some sense of timing and overall agenda.

Make it a double.   Get ready for intensity across the board.  The double 1’s offer double the pleasure and double the challenges related to the number 1.  This year continues to push all of us to step into our power, to find our sense of individuation, and to exert healthy independence.  Yet the foundational energy is softer, more fluid, and all about connecting and integrating with others.  So it’s certainly set up as a delicate balance, to be sure.  Yet just knowing that the year offers a “teeter-totter” effect can provide us with ways to create optimal results for ourselves.  When we can really dive into our intuitive sense of when to push for results (the energy of the 1) and then back off and wait (the energy of the 2), magical things can transpire.  They just won’t transpire in a way that fits into your planner.

Getting to know you.  While the world will continue buzzing around us at breakneck speed, the underlying energy resides in connecting within relationships.  This is a time where all of us will be searching and cultivating our “tribe”—the folks we truly want to have around.  If the statement “you are reflective of the five people you spend the most time with” holds true, then this is the year to cherry-pick those five people.  It takes time and intention to divest from certain people who drain us or bog us down.  This is the time to create a new or “upgraded” support system of people who inspire and support us in being the best version of ourselves. And this doesn’t happen overnight.  This is a year of restructuring on a macrocosmic and microcosmic level.  During this time, we will be met with opportunities to dig deeply into ourselves and come to terms with who we really are—and to define it, develop it, and own it.  And then the energy of the double pioneering 1 pushes us to lead and take some risks.

Love.  Love.  Love.  Love vs. Fear has become a pressing theme.  An 11/2 Universal Year highlights and intensifies this theme.  Now more than ever the notion of love is being expanded upon and redefined.  Inclusive or exclusion?  Us or them?  Care for humanity or “us first?”  The 2 is heart energy and 2018 will challenge all of us to determine for ourselves what that means for the world at large and for each of us individually.

Challenges with the 11/2 Universal Year

Crisis, anyone?  If you were hoping for easy street in 2018, well . . . sorry.  With the 11/2, it’s all about experiencing intensely challenging circumstances and coming out the other side stronger, more spiritually evolved, and ready to help others. Illumination comes by experiencing darkness and opting for the light.  2018 will have many of us on our knees.  It won’t be easy or in any way comfortable—yet it’s profoundly deep and gratifying to move through crisis and remain standing.  Collectively we’re learning to understand that the “butterfly effect” we have on people (and virtually everything) is immeasurable.

Under pressure.  Anytime we experience a Master number within a cycle we’ll experience a heightened sense of anxiety. If we can understand this at the get-go, we can be kinder to ourselves and also extend a certain level of space to others throughout the year.  Remember that everyone is feeling this—not just you.  If you’re feeling edgy, chances are so are other people.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed, chances are so are other people.  If you’re feeling enraged, chances are so are other people.  It’s a pressure-cooker this year and so we’ll all benefit with we allow some wiggle room—for ourselves and for others across the board.  Remember that the number 2 is the teacher of patience and diplomacy.  The cruel joke about the number 2 is that its power is also its biggest challenge.  The number 2 teaches love, patience, and diplomacy and yet what must transpire for these important lessons to be learned?  That’s right, conflict.  Therefore when we’re experiencing a cycle guided by the number 2, we’ll find ourselves in more situations that require healthy emotional detachment and rational discernment.  This is a year where we’ll all be asked to back off and gain some distance from our own staunch viewpoints and attempt to see all sides of the equation in order to formulate win-win scenarios rather than win-lose outcomes.  

Overall the 11 Universal Year brings a spotlight to the world in the realms love, diplomacy, leadership, and individuality.  It’s not necessarily an easy brew and yet its power is electrifying.  The year brings opportunities for some visionary ideas and ideals to begin to take shape.  It’s earmarked for all of us to take a deep look at how we love and how we want to be loved.  This is a perfect time for the cleansing of some deeply etched and outdated belief systems to be examined for what they are and for there to be a “group” decision to retire the destructive norms and begin to replace them with upgraded paradigms that lift all of us in the world into a more harmonious state of being.  This will transpire on every level—politically, environmentally, and in every other way—particularly in our day-to-day relationships and activities.