Tarot Diaries // Tarot Birth Cards & Life Path Numbers

If you haven't noticed, there's been a lot of woo woo around these parts! Especially over on my instagram.  Tarot & oracle cards have quickly become my go to way to align myself and focus on my highest good. (oh and working with my Chakras! The Connected Chakras Affirmation deck is available here!)  There are a ton of ways to work with Tarot cards beyond choosing a spread, asking a questions, and reading or interpreting them.  For example, choose a specific card that appeals to you - like the 7 of Swords - and bring the meaning into your life.  Study it, work with it, journal with it....and then in the next week or month, choose another!  Today, though, I want to share with you Tarot Birth cards and why I love working with mine!

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Tarot can reveal to you a lot about yourself.  I've said before that to me Tarot is not a predictive tool but rather a reflective tool.  Tarot reveals to us what we may not be seeing in our current situations.  Working with your Tarot Birth card can reveal a lot about who you are and where your path might be in life.  Coming back to these guys when you're feeling down, confused, and misaligned will help you remember your purpose & nudge you back on the right track!

What is a Life Path Number?

Your life path number is determined by adding the month + the day + the year of your birth.  For example:

March 29, 1978

Month : March is the third month, so 0 + 3 = 3

Day : 2 + 9 = 11, then continue to add the numbers until there is a single digit. 1 + 1= 2

Year : 1 + 9 + 7 + 8 + 25, continue to add the numbers until there is a single digit. 2 + 5 = 7

Life Path Number : 3 + 2 + 7 = 12, continue to add the numbers until there is a single digit. 1 +2 = 3

This persons Life Path Number is 3!

Each number has an assigned meaning based on numerology.  Each number can give an individual an idea of their life purpose as well as any challenges, obstacles, opportunities, and habits that may appear in the their life.  These numbers are reduced to single digits, though there are resources that list Life Path numbers as including both 11 & 22 as master numbers (this also comes into play with your Tarot Birth Card).  My favorite resource for reading more about your Life Path Number is Astro Style because of how in depth, but clear the outline of each number is.  I also love that the site shows you what alignment with your number looks like and what being out of alignment looks like!

Now that you have your Life Path Number you can translate this into your Tarot Birth Card.

What is a Tarot Birth Card?

Your Tarot Birth Card is three things - firstly it is the card of your Life Path Number, secondly is is the card of the numbers that create your Life Path Number, and finally it is only pulled from the 21 Major Arcana cards of the standard 78 card deck.  Most often the Fool is excluded..though I have see that used as 22 in some cases.  So from the individual in the example above has the Life Path Number of 3.  This means their Tarot Birth Card is the Empress, the third card in the Majors, but also the Hanged Man, the twelfth card of the Majors.  This is because 3 = 1 + 2, so 12.

So, your Tarot Birth Cards can also be a way to help you discover your purpose in life.  They can reveal the combination of archetypes that will be prevalent in your life.  Another thing to mention is that in the persons example above, the first birth card for this individual is 12, and the second card is 3.  Some find this unimportant but if you'd like to sort it as the primary theme and then the secondary theme, this will help.  So if the sum of your birthday reduces down to a single digit first, that number is your primary birth card.  Then the numbers that make up that number is your secondary card.  Hope that makes sense!

Working with Tarot Birth Cards & Life Path Numbers

My life path number is 7, which is the Chariot & the Tower.  The Tower scares the crap out of me and when I realized this was part of my Tarot Birth Card combo....it all sort of made sense.  This also goes a long with my Zodiac signs too, but that is another post!  I first learned about Tarot Birth Cards from the Biddy Tarot Podcast (part 1 & part 2) and found this article about the card pairings on one of my favorite Tarot blogs, Labyrinthos.  I also tend to use my personal Tarot associations as I work with my birth cards.

Working with your Tarot Birth Cards & Life Path Numbers can be personal to you but journaling can be a great way to connect with your numbers:

Start & Keep a Journal

Designate a place to keep all your information, reflections, and realization when it comes to your numbers.  Start off with the basic info you have about your number & your cards and build upon that foundation as time goes buy.  Use this as a place to reflect on how these numbers are showing up in your life.  Journal about how you feel aligned or out of alignment with these numbers.  Keep track of all the times you feel you're on your path & all the times you're off.  You can even journal about how you may feel this is bullshit too!  But chances are if you're journaling about it....you're at least a little bit open to it.

Gather Your Cards

Pull out your Tarot Birth Cards from the Major Arcana and pull out all of the cards from the 4 suits that match the single digit number.  So, I'd pull out the Tower & the Chariot as well as all of the sevens.  Keep these cards, or images of these cards, in your journal in order to have physical reminder of what each card looks like.  It might even be helpful to find the cards in multiple decks as the imagery of one deck may speak to you more than the imagery of another.  My two favorite decks to work with are the After Tarot & The Wild Unknown.  The imagery between the two is vastly different but comparing two decks like this can bring information forward that you may not identify in one deck by itslef.  Begin to work through & journal about the meaning of that number in each of the suits.  You can get started by reading more about connecting with the Tarot Card meanings here & downloading the study guide in the same post.

Implement What you've Learned

The most significant way to become aligned with your Life Path Number & your Tarot Birth Cards is to release what isn't serving you in order to get in line with your highest good.  If anything, these numbers give us a reason to be a better person.  These numbers allow us to strive to be our best selves.  It may be helpful to set intentions that will help align you with your path at the New Moon in order to form new habits.  Working with the moon & moving with the lunar cycle has really helped me discover more about myself!

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The whole point of these numbers is to be our best selves.  Here's the thing, there are some people out there who have no problem living their best life without things like Tarot cards, mediation, essential oils, and crystals.  But for me all of those things are physical reminders of the person I'd like to be.  They help me to switch into the mindset I'd like to be in.  And that is why I find things like this important.  We all want to live the best life we can, I just want to share with you reflective ways we can do that!

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If you'd like to learn more about working with the lunar cycles, consider signing up for the newsletter!  You'll get lunar advice every new & full moon as well as other important 516 info through out the month.  I'd love to have you join the creative community over in the Five Sixteenths | Live Creative group too.  There you'll find creative inspiration, resources, & lunar guidance to express your authentic self!  Can't wait to see you there.

If you'd like to read more about Tarot & my Tarot Journey, find all the posts here.

xoxo, Moe

Tarot Diaries // Weekly Planning with the Tarot

Each week I do a weekly reading for myself to understand the theme and energies I may work with in the next week.  While I don't believe that the Tarot is a predictive tool, this spread does help me understand what to plan for in the next week and what I should be working towards for my higher good.  To me, Tarot is a self development tool.  It is a tool that helps us align our selves with the things we must do & be in this life in order to live our best life.

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Doing a weekly spread lets me know what may be at play so I can plan my week accordingly.  I do a lot with my blog, YouTube channel, and my day job so anticipating what energies may be at play or what my focus may be during the week allows me to plan.  For example - I'll see what I need to focus on in the next week.  The cards I use here are the After Tarot, the Sacred Wild Soul Soul Searching Deck, and the Spirit De La Lune Deck.  I also use these positive affirmation cards for my mantra for the week.

In the spread above, the beginning of the week will be about reinvesting.  So I should do some work to get things done - reinvest in business, work, etc as demonstrated by the suit of pentacles.  I take this as working on my blog, YouTube, etc because that's always a big focus of mine.  Then the middle of the week I should slow down and focus on relationships.  Put the business things away and focus on friendships, partnerships, working with others to build strong bonds.  Maybe I should be more open when it comes how I interact with others and how they interact with me.  At the end of the week - today, when there is the New Moon - I should focus on myself, focus on my intuition.  Dedicate time to this relationship and this balance.  That is what the two is about after all.  And finally, this weekend I should be looking for truth, finding what is fair and balanced.  Be open to changing what I'm doing to achieve this balance.

As you can see none of that is really predictive as we move through the week.  It is what I should work on or focus on during the days of the week.  These positions can be further enhanced by my daily pull too.  Here's a breakdown of each position.

card 1

Theme for the week

For this position I usually draw a Tarot card as well as two oracle cards.  I use the Soul Searching Oracle and the Spirit de la Lune deck to discover the main theme of the week ahead.  This is the thing that everything will come back to this week.  Perhaps it is what you should do or what you should let others do, none the less it is the over arching subject that will work through the coming week.

card 2

Beginning of the week

This card, like the next 3 cards, has a pretty obvious position here.  The expectant energy or theme of the beginning of the week. For me this card goes from Monday to Tuesday but if you're starting your week differently this can apply to the first two days of your week.

card 3

Middle of the week

Again, pretty obvious.  Since this is the pinnacle of the week this energy is important.  It may play into the energy of the next card as you finish out your week.

card 4

End of the week

This position is for the end of the 5 day week.  I use this spread because I'd like to know what energies are at play through my work week with a different card for the weekend.

card 5

Weekend

For this position, the card draw represents the energy or theme of the weekend - Friday night, Saturday, & Sunday.  For me, my work week ends on Friday at 4pm....but I go on for the next few days working on my blog, YouTube, etc so this card lets me know how productive I may be those days.  Seeing the energy helps me prepare my to do list.

card 6

Lesson to be learned/Outcome

After working through all of these cards for the week, this position is the outcome.  What will you learn working towards the main theme of the week?  I often reflect on this card at the end of the week to incorporate this reading with the daily pull I do.  This card represents what you will learn this week but it also helps you anticipate how to learn this through the week.

Tarot isn't a fortune telling tool for me, even though this reading seems predictive.  It is more of how can I be the best this week?  It helps me see what themes may show up this week and how I can emulate and prepare for the energies of the week.  I incorporate my daily pull with this reading as well.  How can my daily pull work with the energy at that time of the week?

I log my weekly readings & my daily pulls (plus new moon, full moon, and monthly spreads) in my Moon Planner.  I love this guy because there's a lunar calendar and each week has a blank page perfect for these weekly readings.  This planner has a ton of resources if you work with the lunar cycles - and even if you don't, it's pretty dope as a Tarot journal anyway!!

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I hope you pick up a deck of Tarot cards and use them as a self development tooL.  I really want you to be able to use these guys easily so I've put together this Tarot study guide as a reference.  It will help you break down the deck into manageable chunks to help you create your own personal, and intuitive connections to the cards.  Pick it up here.  And if you want a peak into my little sacred space, you can see a little bit of it in this post.

xoxo, Moe