Drayer, Ruth (Ruth Abrams Drayer)

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Drayer, Ruth (Ruth Abrams Drayer)

PERSONAL:

Born in Washington, DC; children: four. Education: Attended Wilson Teacher's College, University of Santa Monica, and the University of Texas; studied numerology with Dr. Juno Jordan.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Las Cruces, NM. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer and numerologist. Numerologist, 1978—. Las Cruces Community College, Las Cruces, NM, instructor. Owner and manager of a publishing company. Served as numerologist for the State of Karnatika, India. Frequent guest on television and radio programs. Has had numerous one-woman shows and art exhibitions. Facilitator at conferences in the United States.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Award of Excellence, Healing Power of Art Competition; Rural Entrepreneur of the Year Award nomination; Annual Author Award nomination, Friends of the Branigan Memorial Library, 2005.

WRITINGS:

Numerology: The Power in Numbers: A Right & Left Brain Approach, Jewels of Light Publishing (Mesilla, NM), 1994, 3rd edition, 2002, published as Numerology: The Power in Numbers, Square One, 2003.

Wayfarers: The Spiritual Journey of Nicholas & Helena Roerich, Bluwaters Press (Deming, NM), 2003, revised edition published as Nicholas & Helena Roerich: The Spiritual Journey of Two Great Artists and Peacemakers, Quest Books (Wheaton, IL), 2005.

Cocreator of CybernumbersPro, a numerology computer software program. Coproducer of video on the life of Nicholas and Helena Roerich.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author, artist, and life coach Ruth Drayer is a longtime student and practitioner of numerology, an ancient occult art that explores how numbers influence the personality and daily life. Drayer has a private practice in which she offers counseling based on the principles of numerology. She has also led conferences on the subject. Her dedication and skills were recognized when she was appointed the official numerologist of Karnatika, India. Drayer frequently lectures on numerology and related topics, and teaches at Las Cruces Community College.

In Numerology: The Power in Numbers, Drayer introduces the subject, offering a history and sample psychological profiles based upon a person's name and birth date. In a review posted at ForeWord, Alicia Graybill praised Drayer's "clear, charming voice that manages to instruct while entertaining." Graybill concluded of Drayer: "The argument of nature over nurture is given a strong boost with the work that she has done here." Library Journal contributor Marija Sanderling called Numerology a "gem of a book for both beginners and intermediate students."

Drayer is a devotee of the spiritual and Theosophical teachings of Nicholas and Helena Roerich, a husband-and-wife duo of mystics, peace activists, and early social reformers who fled Russia in 1920. In her biography of the pair, Wayfarers: The Spiritual Journey of Nicholas & Helena Roerich (also published as Nicholas & Helena Roerich: The Spiritual Journey of Two Great Artists and Peacemakers), Drayer recounts the lives, activities, teachings, and accomplishments of the Roerichs. She describes their wide-ranging travels through India, Tibet, Mongolia, and elsewhere, as they promoted world peace and spiritual development. She tells how Helena Roerich founded a school of mysticism, Agni Yoga, which was banned in her homeland of Russia until the Gorbachev era. Meanwhile, her Agni Yoga teachings were translated into many languages and spread across the world. Drayer describes Nicholas's career as an artist and the pair's firm belief in the power of the arts to create positive change and peace on a global scale. She also looks at darker periods in the Roerichs' lives, including a suspicion of espionage that the couple endured in the 1930s. Library Journal contributor Graham Christian called Drayer's biography "a valuable illumination of a little-known chapter in religious history."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, April 1, 2003, Marija Sanderling, review of Numerology: The Power in Numbers, p. 115; March 1, 2004, review of Wayfarers: The Spiritual Journey of Nicholas & Helena Roerich, p. 96; May 1, 2006, Graham Christian, review of Nicholas & Helena Roerich: The Spiritual Journey of Two Great Artists and Peacemakers, p. 90.