In the ancient practice of numerology, a person's birth chart consists of four basic numbers. Three are drawn from the name given at birth and one from the birth date. Numerologists analyze these numbers to discover clues about the individual's character, destiny, and life cycles. A personal chart reading similar to those performed by professionals can be done by simply calculating these four numbers and checking the capsule descriptions on the following pages. Although people are the usual subjects, the process can be applied to anything that has a name and date of birth or origin; your cat, a business, a nation or even an idea.
The first step in this intriguing exercise is to translate the name into its numerical equivalent, using the number letter conversion table shown above. Each letter is assigned a single digit number based on its sequential place in the alphabet. The letters A through I are numbers one through nine, with the remaining letters reduced to one of those through simple addition. For example J as the tenth letter reduces to a one (10=1+0=1) and U as the twenty first letter reduces to a three (21=2+1=3).
The three birth name numbers are determined by adding the numerical values of three different set of letters in the name, first all the vowels that occur; then, all the consonants and finally, the total of all the letters. The numerical total of the vowels a,e,i,and u -- in the name is called the Soul Number. This is thought to reflect the person's true inner self, encompassing ambitions and motivations, judgment and attitudes, and feelings. The total of the consonants, on the other hand, produces the Outer Personality Number, which relates to physical appearance, health and the impression the person makes on others through dress and behavior. The total of the entire birth name is know as the Path of Destiny Number, it indicates the sum of the individual's capabilities and achievements and how he or she will affect others. The path of Destiny Number also influences the course a person will take to attain career goals -- whether the career involves raising a family or running a corporation -- and describes the types of people who will be encountered along the way.
Although a persons name may change over the course of a lifetime, the birth date is constant. And it is the sum of numbers in this date that produces the fourth and most important number in a numerology chart -- The Life Lesson Number. This number reveals the lesson and truths a person is meant to learn during his lifetime, it signals the essential purpose of his existence. The Life Lesson Number is obtained by writing the birth date in numbers and totaling them until they reduce to a single digit, if your birth date is November 4. 1947 -- making sure to use the full year, not the abbreviation '47-- and then adding the digits until they reduce to a none (1+1+4+1+9+4+7=27=2+7=9).
The birth date number is also the key to interpreting what numerologists call "personal year cycles", a set of reigning patterns and influences such as assertiveness, harmony, security, resignation, and the like. These patterns are said to be set in motion on the day a person is born and continue in nine-years cycles for as long as he or she lives. The personal year cycle explains where energy would be focused during any given twelve month period, a kind of psychic homework assignment for the year. A simple method of determining the current personal year cycle is to go back to the person's last birthday and add the number in that date, as demonstrated above. The patterns associated with this number will prevail from that birthday up to the next birthday, and then the cycle will move forward one number. At the end of year nine in the cycle, the person begins again with year one. Whatever Life Lesson Number is determined on the day of birth, that number is repeated in the person's ninth year, and every nine years thereafter. For this reason the birth year and the ages of 9,18,27,36,45,54 and so on are important years -- periods when events occur that underscore the major theme of a person's life and remind him again of the lessons he is here to learn.
Once the four numbers in a personal birth chart are determined, the final step is to look up their interpretations. Each of the numerical descriptions on the following pages begins with the number's supposed essence, followed by its influence as a personal number in one of the four categories. If you are examining your Soul Number, for example, the definition describes your inner nature. If it is your Outer Personality Number, the description represents how others see you. If you are looking up your Path of Destiny Number the influence applies to your career course. And if it is your Life Lesson Number, the definition suggest the lesson you need to learn. And finally the personal year cycle describes the prevailing pattern of events and attitudes for any year -- past -- present -- or future.
WHEN you have calculated your own number, click on that number below see the information about that number:
