The
Extras: Numerology
By
Tabitha Chamberlain
Let me preface this article by stating that this is NOT an area of interest for me. I’m not going to be strong in this particular area. Unfortunately with it not being an area of interest, I can’t give you all of the different opportunities that you can use numerology to help you in your tarot readings.
What I can do is give you the basics to help you grasp what the numbers can do for you. It’s up to you to figure out if you want to work with this Extra or if you’re like me and decide it isn’t a huge area of interest for you.
With
numerology being as old as it is, there are several different types
of systems that you can use. There is some crossover between these
systems, but the numerology for Taroting is a tad different. You may
want to spend time getting a solid grasp on the Tarot Numerology
aspect so not to confuse yourself.
How
and what can learning Numerology do to help with your Tarot
readings?
Part
of the theory of Numerology in Tarot is to help you understand the
base meaning of the number. This allows you to always have a start
point to figure out what the card means. IE: If one means new
beginnings than obviously Aces (Ones) mean new beginnings of that
particular suit.
Pretty
straightforward way to help when you’re just starting off in the
confusing world of Tarot. After a while we do start to move away from
this basic logic as we get more comfortable with reading Tarot. So
how does Numerology still apply to the world of Extras?
As with the amount of Elements that is important in a reading so is the amount of a particular value/number in a reading. I am sure we have all had a reading where it is all one value be it number or Court. This is another way that Numerology comes into play with Tarot reading. When you have 4 threes showing in a reading the universe is probably trying to get you to pay attention to something important there.
Another way to add Numerology to a reading is by adding up the card values throughout the entire spread to give you a quintessential value of the reading. I’ll come back to this one after I give you a list of numbers and their basic TAROT meaning:
1-New beginnings or Opportunities
2-Balance, Duality, Crossroads/Choices
3-Full Expression of the suit, Achievement
4-Structure, Stability, Stagnation
5-Instability, Conflict, Loss, Opportunity for Change
6-Communication, Problem-Solving, Cooperation
7-Reflection, Assessment, Motives
8-Movement, Action, Change, Power
9-Fruition, Attainment
10-Completion, End of a Cycle
Some choose to add in zero in the base numbers due to the Fool; others view the Fool as 22. This again is going to come down to you making a personal choice of what you believe to be the most accurate representation of the Fool and Numerology.
In the first example, using the basic combination of suit and Numerology, let's take a random card. Say the 8 of Swords (yes I intentionally picked a hard one). For me, Swords are the element of air and conflict or troubles. Numerology - Eight says this is movement or power. Wait, what? How does that work?
Because
of this being the suit of Swords, we are having troubles and
conflicts. Generally what is our biggest problems with troubles?
Moving forward. Thus the 8 of Swords becomes an inability to
move or lack of power to make things change for us.
The second example is where I'm not going to be of much help, combining the amount of numeral or Court cards. As I suck at such things I use the book Tarot Companion By Tracy Porter. Yup, I'm admitting that I cheat when it comes to Numerology. The book goes into details of how many of each numeral cards mean in a reading from one to four of the same card. It's a great deal of help for those of us that struggle with numerology.
The
third example though I can be of some help, as I do actually use this
method with almost every Tarot reading I do. Why should you get
a quintessential value of your readings? This will give you a general
view of the reading. Just a very basic idea or theme of the reading.
So
what do you do? Take the number or value and add them together, until
it equals a number between 1-22 (22 is the Fool, as you can't
add numbers to get zero).Obviously the minors are going to be their
face value, along with the Majors(again Fool can either be
zero or 22). What gets a little fuzzy is when it comes to the Court.
I personally don't assign any value to these and leave them as zero.
Some however assign them numeral value: Page=11, Knight=12, Queen=13,
and King=14.
Example:
7 of Wands/2 of Wands/6 Lovers
7+2+6=15.
If I actually asked a question this would imply the theme for this reading is either temptation or my own desires, maybe even a little self-centered or narcissistic?
This is a quick easy way to help you shake loss a little more information from any reading you do.
I hope that this is remotely helpful in some way, and will admit that having no interesting in Numerology that writing this has been a struggle for me. I wish you luck on your own journey into numerology if you choose to travel this road. More power to you!