About

Grabovoi Cheat Codes or Universe Cheat Codes refers to a pseudoscientific theory which implies that vocalizing or writing down certain number sequences will result in various benefits such as material wealth, beauty or increase entrepreneurship abilities manifesting in a person's life, similar to how cheat codes function in video games. Created by Soviet-Russian pseudoscientist and convicted con artist Grigory Grabovoi in the 1990s, the practice gained viral popularity on TikTok in March 2021, particularly among users interested in manifestation, reality shifting and other pseudoscientific topics.

Origin

In 1999, Soviet-Russian pseudoscientist and convicted con artist Grigory Grabovoi published his numerological book, titled Restoration of the Human Organism Through Concentration on Numbers.^[1][2] In the 272-page book, Grabovoi lists sequences of seven-, eight- and nine-digit numbers that, when hummed or read aloud or silently in a certain manner, could supposedly cure various illnesses, including cancers.

In 2003 and 2004, Grabovoi published Number Series for Psychological Normalization^[3] and Numbers for Successful Business^[4] that contained similar number sequences for personal wealth, entrepreneurship, leadership skills, self-esteem, etc. The books, as well as a number of sequels, were later translated into English and other languages and distributed through Grabovoi's personal website and online retailers.

Additionally, videos in Russian and English containing some of the numerical sequences were posted to YouTube^[5][6][7] on Grabovoi's personal channel and on other channels (shown below, left and right).

Spread

Starting in 2015, Brazilian motivational speaker Diego Araújo started promoting Grabovoi's numerical sequences in his content on YouTube,^[8] Facebook^[9] and Instagram, claiming that they could help achieve various personal benefits by using Grabovoi's sequences, accruing moderate audience by mid-2019. For example, a June 1st, 2019, post on Araújo's Instagram^[10] channel received over 20,000 views (shown below, left).

Starting in late 2019, belief in Grabovoi's numerical sequences received further spread on Instagram, particularly among Turkish users. For example, a March 7th, 2020, post^[11] by user grabovoiteacher_rabiaalga received over 12,000 likes in one year (shown below, right). A July 5th post^[12] by user grabovoiteacher_deryaozturk received over 7,000 likes.

Grabovoi sequences maintained popularity in early 2021, mainly among Turkish users on Instagram.^[13]

On March 13th, 2021, TikTok^[14] user meghorwood posted a video in which she claimed that after using a Grabovoi's sequence related to money she had two instances of people giving her money in one week. In the video, meghorwood referred to the sequence as "universe cheat code," mentioning that she saw the name used before. The TikTok received over 1.6 million views in two months (shown below, right). On March 14th, meghorwood posted^[15] a follow-up video in which she described the way she used the sequence and answered user questions (shown below, right).

Starting on March 19th, TikToker^[16][17] graceswain made a series of videos about Grabovoi's numerical sequences, with one video gaining over two million views and another video gaining over one million views in one month (shown below, left and right).

Following graceswain's posts, Grabovoi's numerical sequences, referred to as "universe cheat codes" or "real-life cheat codes" by using the analogy with video game cheat codes, gained viral popularity on TikTok, particularly among users interested in manifestation, reality shifting and other pseudoscientific topics.

On May 4th, Twitter^[18] user @christapeterso made a tweet about the trend that received over 4,300 retweets and 65,600 likes in one day. On May 5th, VICE^[19] and TJ^[20] posted articles about the TikTok trend.

Related Memes

Reality Shifting

Reality Shifting, also referred to as Dimensional Jumping, refers to a practice in which one purposefully imagines themself as part of another plane of reality in a meditative state akin to a lucid dream. In 2020, the practice grew popular after it trended on TikTok, where many users claimed to be reality shifting into Hogwarts, the fictional school from the Harry Potter universe.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References