Spiritual Health

The Angel Number 4 Is Basically Your Ancestors Giving You a Supportive Hug

Photo by: Getty Images / Westend61
When you take a holistic approach to your health, it should ideally include physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual components. In the realm of spiritual wellness and health, you’d find things like astrology and numerology—which serve as introspection tools and, spiritual health experts say, can be ways to receive messages from the cosmos and our ancestors, so long as we know how to interpret them. Whether or not you consider yourself as practicing spirituality, it’s likely that you’ve heard the term angel numbers and wondered what they are. And, of course, there isn’t a single angel number that is better than another—just like there’s no “best” zodiac sign—but there are some that may garner more attention. Like, the angel number 4, which signifies safety and security.

Before we get into the nitty gritty of what, exactly, the angel number 4 means, let’s do a quick recap of what angel numbers are in general. First and most importantly, they’re a sequence of repeating numbers, like 1144, or a sequence of numbers in order, like 4321, that you observe while you’re going about your life. But they’re also representative of something much bigger, spiritually speaking—at least if you’re open to them and know where to look.

Read on for a definition of angel numbers in general, what the angel number 4 means, specifically, and a couple of places where you might want to be open to spotting angel numbers.

What are angel numbers?

“Angel numbers are more than just a simple number sequence,” says Jasmine Wolfe, a numerologist, astrologer, and tarot reader based in California. “They are a message from a loved one who's passed, a spirit guide, the Universe, or whatever you align your spiritual beliefs to.”

Whether you believe in ancestors, angels in a traditional sense, or psychic messages, if you want to ascertain the message angel numbers have to offer, it’s key to note that you can’t do so without looking within, says Wolfe. For that reason, Wolfe adds, the key when it comes to decoding angel numbers is trusting yourself and your intuition. “I always tell people, ‘If it feels like a sign, it is one.’" (Read: pretty much every time you see a recurring number, you should take that as a sign.)

Now that you know how to receive messages from the spiritual realm in the form of angel numbers, you can more easily do so when you see the angel number 4.

What does the angel number 4 mean?

According to Wolfe, when you see the angel number 4, you should take it as a note from your ancestors that you are safe, supported, and stable.

“Think of four walls in a room or four legs on a chair,” Wolfe says. “[Four] is the number of support and stability, so it's about rooting down and taking care of yourself and your life.” One way to do that, Wolfe adds, is to take the message from the angel number four and use it as a guide to the “four different areas of stability: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.” (Sound familiar?) This practice will help you make sure that you’re taking care of all aspects of your health and that you get back on the right track when you’re not.

For instance, if you check the clock and see it’s 4:44 or are walking down the block and see a building with the street number 444, you might want to ask yourself whether or not you’re getting enough movement (walking a mile a day can make a big difference); how you’re feeling emotionally (are you happy, sad, tired? What’s making you feel that way and what can you do about it?); if you’re keeping up with your mental health practices (which might be journaling or meditating); and how you’re taking care of your spiritual health (journaling and meditation can be helpful here too). Because of the ostensible million things you might be doing at a given time, it’s possible you’re not always 100 percent in tune with yourself, your spirit, or your body, which is why you stand to benefit from being open to cosmic signs like angel numbers.

And, because angel numbers are primarily ways to receive messages from your loved ones who’ve moved on, any time you see a repetition of the angel number 4—like the number 44 or the time 4:44—Wolfe says “it is a message for us to receive. It is a message from someone or somewhere else.” As its name suggests, there’s something otherworldly about seeing an angel number, but what does that cosmic note mean, exactly? What is the message of the angel number 4?

“Any time you see repeating fours, it is a message letting you know that in this moment you are fully supported and safe,” says Wolfe, adding that you’d want to be particularly open to this message if you’re “going skydiving, quitting your job, or on a day that simply feels a bit more grey than the day before.”

Wolfe says that, in terms of numerology, the number four delineates something different than its angel number counterpart. “While the number 4 in a numerology reading might prompt us to take care of our own stability, angel number 4 is a message from the universe that we are safe.”

Where to look for angel numbers

Sometimes, we can’t find what we’re looking for unless we know where to look. That’s why it could be helpful to know some places you can be looking for these angel numbers, aka signs from the universe, your ancestors, or whomever might be trying to communicate with you. The ones you might’ve thought of are when you look at a calendar (just think of 11/11 and the luck that’s said to signify), when you check the time, and when you’re pulling up at an address.

You might also find the angel number 4 as you’re reading a book (like realizing you’re on the 44th page), when you’re paying for your chai latte at the coffee shop and your total is $4.44, or in phone numbers that have repeated sequences of the digit.

All of that said, is there a reason why we might be seeing the angel number 4 more frequently than any others?

“We might be sent the angel number 444 because we are on the precipice of taking a leap of faith in our life and someone from the other side is trying to let us know that it is safe for us to do so,” Wolfe adds. Considering that this article has a sequence of 4 at least a dozen times, consider this your sign from the universe that you’re safe and supported.

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