Math !
Lots of Math ! The sort that makes you want to chew your limbs off or reach for your pair of 'peril sensitive' sunglasses.
Using a Numerology hybrid to uncover your Tarot Birth Cards is fascinating (and produces some amazing results, going by the few test runs we've done via Twitter). So, it's perhaps worth sacrificing a limb or two.
Before we start, a few kind words from peeps who have trialled the Tarot Birth Cards system:
Talk with Tarot really hit the nail on the head with my birth cards. Definitely all resonated. Very cool way to explain me and the energy that surrounds.
MAMA.77 (Tarot and oracle Energy Reader)
I hope you decide to give this a try because there is plenty to learn and understand about yourself, about your life, and about the life lessons you can learn to make life easier if you open yourself to it. I definitely recommend!
Anastashia (Insightful tarot card reader and nature lover)
Twitter/Instagram: @tarotwithana
Anastashia has provided an insightful review of her Birth Cards.
Now ... the Math is interesting (honestly!), but it's not for everyone. So if you want to skip all the How's, Why's, and Math skip to here or use the quick skip index below:
Quick Skip Index
Why Numerology?
Primarily because I like the reducibility and preciseness. At some level everything is reducible to math (well energy at least, and how else are you going to describe energy but by reference to math?).
It's a good question though.* I have some substantive 'issues' with some of the concepts within (Western/modern) Numerology. (*Think that may have been a self-compliment)
My single biggest issue is, "Why use Base10?"
Sure, Base10 (the numbers 0-9) is easy because we have 10 fingers, and have 'invented' single digits that only go up to 10. But, it's not a natural base and there is no special reason for using it. Indeed, if we had foreseen the rise of computers we would probably be counting in Base8.
When it comes to Numerology Base10 seems, at times, very counter intuitive; 12 months, 4 seasons, a solar year (Sexagesimal). When it comes to merging Numerology with Tarot well, my issues increased "10-fold" (Sorry, couldn't resist the bad joke).
There are other systems of counting. For example:
Binary - All those 1 & 0's used by our AI and less intelligent computer friends.
Hexadecimal (Base16) - A compact version of binary.
Vigesimal (Base20) - Used by Mayans, Aztecs, and very possibly NZ Maori. The Gettysburg Address makes use of vigesimal counting in the phrase "Four score and 7 years ago". Four score equals 4 x 20 so four score and 7 years ago is (4 x 20)+7, or 87.
Sexagesimal (Base60) - Used by Sumerians and Babylonians. Bases of circular co-ordinates (Degree, Minutes, Seconds), and in the measurement of time. Forms the basis of many astrological calculations.
The 'reason' given for using Base10 for Numerology is often stated with regard to the special properties associated with the number 9. These properties include:
all the (combined) digits less than 9 add up to 9.
9 plus any digit returns that digit
a more complicated calculation regarding the division of a circle.
...and several others (which I'll provide a link to below)
But these reasons are based on a mathematical misunderstanding. 9 does not have inherent special properties. Rather, 9 has these properties because it is the highest number in Base10. If we counted in Base8 then the number 7 would have the special properties. The properties belong to the highest number in a chosen base not to a specific number. Let's try a few examples:
All the (combined) digits less than 9 add up to 9.
1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 = 36 = 9. Neat, it works. But let's try Base8 (numbers 0-7)
1+2+3+4+5+6 = 25 = 7 also neat (25 is the answer in Base8; refer Bases* below)
Base16 (trickier) is 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+A+B+C+D+E+F = 78= F (Amazing!)
This particular rule only works when the base is even. But, as shown in the 9, 7, & F examples (or for any odd number), the (combined) digits less than the [chosen base-1] add up to the [chosen base-1].
In Base10, 9 plus any other digit returns that digit.
9 + 7 = 16 = (1+6) or 7 : 9 + 4 = 13 = (1+3) or 4. That's cool. But not special.
In Base16 the highest number ('F') + any other digit returns that digit.
F + 7 = 16 = (1+6) or 7. F + 4 = 13 = (1+3) or 4, and F+F = 1E = (1+E) or F.
If you want more proof (shudder) there's a long blog on the math here : https://www.r-bloggers.com/2015/10/debunking-magical-9s-numerology-or-numerical-illiteracy/
So, while I think the concepts in Numerology are useful using an arbitrary Base10 system isn't. In Tarot, as you know, the highest Major Arcana card is XXI The World so it would make sense to do any calculations in Base22 (and, in doing so, The World becomes our magical card, with all the properties usually associated with 9 in traditional Numerology).
XXI The World and Base22 Math
Right, time to bring out the calculators
If you want to discover your Tarot Birth Cards the first thing we have to do is convert a birth date into Base22 (let's call it Tarotesimal)
I've selected two dates, for individuals who were complete polar opposites, to demonstrate the process:
Mother Teresa (26/August/1910)
Adolf Hitler (20/April/1889).
Step 1: Standard Day/Month isn't going to work. (It's an artefact of several different systems and simply does not work for these types of calculations). We want to know the ordinal day of the year (a number between 1 and 365 that represents the cycle around the sun). So, for Mother Teresa, it's the number of days in the months Jan, Feb, Mar, etc. up to, but not including, August. Plus the date in August (26th). So that's (31+28+31+30+31+30+31)+26 = 238
Fortunately, there are numerous online calculators for doing this. Math avoided.
Mother Teresa : 28th/Aug equals day 238 ordinal : 238 / 1910
Adolf Hitler. : 20th/Apr equals day 11o ordinal. : 110 / 1889
Now we need to convert those numbers to Tarotesimal. Given we don't have any numbers greater than 9 we will have to use stand-ins, and our counting system will look like this: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L, followed by 10 (That is 'One, Zero' not Ten). Conversion to Base22 involves dividing by the Base (22) then finding the remainder.
So, using Mother Teresa's example, we take the Ordinal Day (238) then divide by the Base (22) 238 / 22 = 10. The result is 10 with a remainder of 18. 10 in Tarotesimal is 'A' and 18 is 'I' so Ordinal 238 equals Tarotesimal AI
Fortunately, again, there are calculators to do this :) Have a look at: https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/base-converter.html
Mother Teresa : 238 / 1910 in Tarotesimal is AI / 3KI
Adolf Hitler. : 110 / 1889 in Tarotesimal is 50 / 3JJ
Now, (the Numerology bit) simply [sic] add the digits in each tarotesimal date (staying in Base22).
There's a calculator here : https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/math/base-calculator.html
Mother Teresa : 1 + I + 3 + K + I = 33 = 3 + 3 = 6
Adolf Hitler. : 5 + 0 + 3 + J + J = 22 = 2 + 2 = 4
The final number represents a card in the Major Arcana
Mother Teresa : 6 Lovers
Adolf Hitler : 4 Emperor
You then need to repeat the same process in a higher base to get the refiner from the minor suits. But, that's for another time (when your limbs have grown back). Let's move on to interesting stuff and the nature of Archetypes and refiners.
But first;
Just tell me the cards!
If you skipped ahead, or just didn't get the base calculations, don't despair!
I'm currently writing a spreadsheet to do all the nasty stuff and I'll make that freely available in the (hopefully) near future.
You can hunt me down in Twitter and ask nicely and I'll likely do them for you if I'm not too busy.
Right, back to it.
Archetypes and Refiners
The Tarot Birth Cards (TBC) are represented by two cards:
an Archetype (from the major arcana)
a Refiner (from the minor suits)
The archetype should be considered a neutral card. That is, it contains everything that is positive/shadow but does not necessarily, in itself, infer any of these traits. An individual with the Emperor archetype embodies every aspect of that archetype, but how it manifests is dependent upon many other factors (and particularly the Refiner card.)
Another way to think of a neutral archetype is as a virtue. Now I am not suggesting that virtues and archetypes are synonymous; just that there are considerable similarities and it is, perhaps, easier to understand how a virtue can be neutral.
A virtue expresses a middle (neutral) point that exists between the vices of deficiency and excess. A couple of examples:
Courage is a neutral virtue. Wonderful to have when in balance but, where it is lacking (deficiency) we see cowardliness and where there is an excess we see rashness.
Moderation is a neutral virtue. Wonderful to have when in balance but, where it is lacking (deficiency) we see insensibility and where there is an excess we see over-indulgence.
It is fairly easy to see parallels between the virtues above and the archetypes that might be associated with Strength (Courage) and Temperance (Moderation). I don't want to delve too deeply into the meanings of archetypes here (it takes an entire blog for each card, and I've only done the first six so far!).
If we imagine the chosen 'Archetype TBC' sitting in the centre of a square grid then reaching above and below that card are all the neutral ways that the archetype might manifest. In the case of Strength we might have:
Inner Strength
Moral Courage
Physical Courage
Emotional Strength
..and probably a lot more. Now imagine that on each side of the card we have all the potential vices (excesses to the right, deficiencies to the left). In the case of Moral Courage a 'deficiency' might be amorality and an 'excess' some form of dogmatism. These are all on a scale so, as you can imagine, while having a singular theme an archetype has massive scope.
The minor card of the pair (the Refiner) demonstrates the triggers and variations, and is the central clue to understanding how the archetype might manifest. If the Seven of Swords was to be the Strength Refiner then there would likely be deficiency and the need to work hard to develop the willpower to overcome these tendencies. If it was the Ten of Cups as Refiner then the emotional strength would be accentuated (though with the risk that it might drift towards excess).
I'm oversimplifying; there are always numerous factors (and other cards) that help us solve the puzzle. However, I hope this gives an initial idea on deciphering the TBC Archetypes.
Our Polar Opposites (examples)
Mother Teresa: Lovers + Six of Wands
I've laid the cards sideways to emphasise the neutrality. They hold the upright and reversed meanings and either can manifest.
I've given my interpretation of The Lovers as an archetype in some depth where I suggest the central concept is 'To act out of love (a covenant) for unity (completion)'. Given the (neutral) positive encouragement in the Six of Wands we see Mother Teresa, who acted out of love for the sick and poverty stricken. She accomplished many amazing things during her lifetime of humanitarian efforts in advocating for the poor and helpless. But, everyone has a shadow and the (upright) 'success, victory, winning' attributes may have contributed to a blindspot where the love of the ideal, and accomplishments in a grand scheme blinded Mother Teresa to the plight of specific individuals.
The importance of TBCs, and in recognising your archetype, is that it allows you to find balance through recognising the dangers presented by the extremes of excess and deficiency.
Adolf Hitler : The Emperor + Queen of Swords
I've let my natural biases shine through in selecting The Light Seer's Tarot for Mother Teresa and Tarot Z for Hitler... but there we have it :)
Guess it's fairly easy to see how the reversed association of the Queen of Swords "Overly-emotional, easily influenced, bitchy, cold-hearted" (from Biddytarot.com) combined with the intellect and reasoning of the Emperor could bring out the very worst of this archetype. Without balance and control... well, history! The very worst of the Emperor Archetype; dictatorship.
But wait...
As I noted earlier, the pair of cards provides the first clues but there are several more cards in a TBC layout:
The Archetype and Refiner (as we've discussed above)
The energies in play at time of birth (a minor card calculated from your tarotesimal ordinal day of birth and a major (calculated from the tarotesimal year).
The current personal year card (calculated from ordinal day and current year)
Three cards representing the energies in play right now (these are progressions from the initial Tarot Birth Cards)
Thank you Anastashia
Anastashia has very kindly given lengthy feedback of her TBC. This includes everything except 'energies in play at time of birth' as I was/am still working on the tricky math!
A Review:
Hey everyone! If you are thinking about getting your birth cards from Talk with Tarot, here is my experience to show you how it can help make sense of what your life has been about and how you can work around the things that you were oblivious to before. Let us jump right in.
For cards that represent the life influences in my case, I got Wheel of Fortune and 7 of Swords. This made me realize something: I have been a hard worker all my life but I was never a strategist (and the strategist is basically what the 7 of Swords represents). This means things were taking a lot from me and I was not getting enough results. But only recently I started to see what I was doing wrong, and I realized that I cannot just work hard and expect results. So over time, I started being selective with where and how I invested my time, energy and efforts. Of course I still relapse into that worker-bee spirit from time to time but I keep reminding myself to stop overexerting my resources and to embody the fox spirit instead. I notice now how this change is bringing in the rewards (represented by Wheel of Fortune) which I have been waiting for. That is how these two cards have been influencing me every step of the way. I am being taught to prioritize working smart over working hard because life is short and there is only so much we can invest in foolishly misdirecting our energy. From what I understand, this will continue to be the lesson throughout my life journey. The sooner I learn, the better.
For the card which represents this year, I got Devil. Of course it had to show up for 2021! Like the preceding 2 years, this has been a difficult year for many of us (myself included). It was not just about the pandemic and its repercussions, it was also about me learning to deal with toxic patterns of others as well as of my own. Quite frankly, the year is almost up but I am still fighting the same demons I was up against at the start of the year. Of course, it was not all bad but the overall theme which I observed goes perfectly with the Devil card. Hopefully, the next year will take a more positive turn but for now, I will need to escape those negative cycles.
Lastly, I got King of Pentacles, 2 of Swords and 7 of Swords for the cards representing the current influences in my life. See that 7 of Swords creeping up again? Yep, that's what I thought too; it is not going to leave me alone no matter which area of my life I am dealing with. In general, King of Pentacles represents finances, career, practical success and a sense of independence in the society. That is exactly the theme for me at present. I require all those things the King of Pentacles has (and honestly, who doesn't?) but I am not yet in a position to start being that person and I am stuck in the early decision-making stages (and this is where 2 of Swords comes in, which represents the dormant stages). As much as I would like to be my own person, I am not ready for that yet because I have yet to learn a little more strategy, a little more cunning and a little more of the ways of the world. As I write this, I realize how unreasonable and impatient I am being these days, especially when it comes to leveling up my practical position in this world.
You can imagine me giggling at the length of my review on the awesome birth cards I got from Talk with Tarot. But with all that said, I hope you decide to give this a try because there is plenty to learn and understand about yourself, about your life, and about the life lessons you can learn to make life easier if you open yourself to it. I definitely recommend! –
Anastashia (Insightful tarot card reader and nature lover)
Twitter/Instagram: @tarotwithana
Thanks :)
As the Talk With Tarot project, and Tarot Birth Cards spreadsheet/app grow there will be more (along of course with my ongoing dive into the archetypes).
Hope you will be back,
Dr.T
Notes:
On number bases
A 'base' is 1 more than the number we count to before adding '1' to the left and starting the sequence again. So, in decimal (Base10) we count from 0 to 9, then add 1 to the left and start again (10 through 19).
In 'Base2' (the language of computers) we count from 0-1, then add 1 to the left, so the length of the number grows very fast! 0,1 (add 1 to left) 10,11 then 100,101,110,111...
Where the base is greater than Base10 we don't have sufficient numbers and, instead, use letters to represent the missing digits. In Base16 (Hexadecimal) we count from 0 to F, then add 1 to the left so the number 10 which we tend to associate with ten is actually F+1 (The equivalent of 16 in Base10).
For Tarotesimal (using Base22) we will use 0 through L for counting. Thus, a number such as 3KI is the equivalent of (3*22^2) + (20*22) + I8 in Base10 (or 1910)
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