The Story of Your Life According to Numerology
You’re probably at least a little familiar with astrology and how understanding your own birth chart can unlock an endless exploration of self discovery, but did you know that your numerology chart can do the same thing?
Numerology often harkens its beginnings to Pythagoras’s mystery school, but I doubt they were doing what we do today. It is true however that Pythagoras believed that numbers were more than just tools for computation and so he taught of the magick of numbers to his disciples. He believed that numbers themselves were a particular language that the universe uses, something that can be witnessed in the Fibonacci sequence as well as musical notes.
So in the 2,000+ years since his lifetime we’ve continued to work with numbers as more than a scientific tool, but a mystical one as well. There are numerous schools of numerology to look into, but today we’re studying life path numbers as described by the (modern) pythagorean method.
What is a Life Path Number
The placements we work with in numerology are very aptly named so, in short, your life path number tells you about the path you are destined to walk in this lifetime. It’s important to remember when we’re learning about any metaphysical topic that nothing is a hard and fast truth, all of it functions on a spectrum.
So if someone’s life path number suggests that they love being in relationships and falling in love they might be someone who loves to date, but they also might fall on the other end of the spectrum and be totally turned off from mating rituals. You might be asking yourself, well how can this be true that people can be such polar opposites with the same life path number? The nugget of truth that unites these two people would be that love and relationships are at the forefront of their life experience, so the person who is not into dating still thinks about it often, talks about it, and it exists as a focal point of their life experience. It wouldn’t be that they’re totally ambivalent to dating, more so that they either love it or hate it.
How to Calculate Your Life Path Number
Explaining numerology can be a tricky thing to do, but the calculation for life path numbers is pretty easy. In truth, the only math you need to be able to do in order to be a numerologist is simple addition. So, in order to find the life path number you’ll be adding together all the numbers in your birth date-month, day and year- but there are a couple of ways to do this.
This method is called adding across and all you have to do is add all the numbers one by one. You’ll most likely get a double digit number when you do this, so just add together those two numbers and you’ll get your life path number like so:
The other method is called adding down. So here you add all the numbers within a number together. You can see step one in the graphic below that we add the month, day and year numbers together first. If some of those numbers are double digits add them into one another again until you have reduced to a single digit. When you’re left with three single digit numbers, add those three numbers together. Once again it’s pretty likely that you might have a double digit number, so add those together to get the single digit life path number.
Note: there are some double digit numbers that all numerologist like and those are 11, 22 and 33 (sometimes 44) (well, if you’re asking me I like all the repeating numbers so 55, 66, 77, 88 and 99 are all special in my book). These are called master numbers and they have a special meaning all on their own. So for methods 1 and 2, if your final number is 11, 22 or 33 you don’t have to add them together to reduce to the base number.
The last version is the one I use and it’s gonna blow your mind… I like double digits! This is a method I learned from Faith Javane and Dusty Bunker in their book Numerology and the Divine Triangle (which always sounds like a euphemism for vagina to me, but it’s a super cool geometric pattern that can tell you about the different phases of your life). So here we keep the year in parenthesis, meaning that you’ll add together those 4 numbers first. Don't worry if you get a double digit here, remember we like double digits in this formula! So now you should have 3 sets of numbers to add together, simply add them into one another and see what you get. You will most likely get a double digit number which is fine, but we still want to know what the single digit number would be, so add the number you get from the last equation sequence and then write it out as double digit number/single digit number.
I like using this method because not all base numbers-what we call the single digits, 1-9, in numerology-are the same, so the double digit original product can shed some light on how exactly the base number expresses itself in your life and numerology chart. Don’t worry, this is a bit more advanced so if I’ve gone over your head with the past few sentences, I’m sure you’re not alone.
No matter what method you use you’re always going to get the same base number. We’re not dividing, multiplying or subtracting, so you don’t have to worry about getting a different number with a different method.
What Does This Mean For You?
So now you’ve got your life path number so… what does it mean?
1: You’re meant to learn about yourself and develop your own unique personality. You’re not meant to do things the way others do them because you’re here to pave the way for others to follow you! But watch out, there is a tendency to be a lone wolf or even a recluse with this life path number, but you’re not meant to isolate yourself in the pursuit of individuality.
2: Your role in life is to learn, observe, and trust yourself fully. This is a deeply intuitive number so you’re more sensitive than most of your peers. Your greatest strength lies in your ability to read the room and know things that others simply don't. Be cautious of living your life on the outskirts, observing instead of participating. Your intuitive powers are meant to help you not hinder you.
3: Your purpose in life is to grow and learn and always be searching for more! Life is about living and that’s what you’re here to do. You are succeeding when you are socializing, creating, and fully immersing yourself in the multitudes of human existence. Because of your insatiable hunt for more you run the risk of never feeling satisfied, feeling like nothing is ever enough, feeling like contentment is just out of reach, but life is not about an end goal, life is about being present .
4: It’s important for you to feel safe and secure in the world. Your purpose in life revolves around creating more stability for yourself. You value honesty, structure and hardwork. Your downfall looks like staying in your comfort zone and refusing to take a leap of faith into the unknown. There are some variables in life you cannot control, but if you can find safety within yourself you will never have to worry.
5: This is the number of change and pleasure, so you’re not meant to stay rooted in one way of life for too long. The thing about change is that it tends to feel like chaos at first but it ultimately leaves us with more freedom in the end, and this is where you thrive in life. You are an adventurer and a thrill seeker, always jumping at the opportunity to try something new. You do need to pay attention to your relationships though because there is a tendency to look for drama where there is none.
6: You are a caregiver and you feel your best when you are in service to others. You believe that life is best shared with others and the love created between two people is what keeps you going. People whose life path number is 6 tend to bring balance and harmony to others, so they make excellent friends and partners. However, you will need to learn how to set boundaries in this lifetime to avoid burnout because you’re no good to anyone if you’re pouring from an empty cup!
7: You are someone who questions everything and is always searching for more answers to the many mysteries of life (though it usually leaves you with more questions). A 7 life path number person tends to either be very spiritual and/or highly intelligent in the sciences-both are tools which seek to unravel the mystery of life. It’s important to stay curious and open because sometimes this life path number can do the opposite and breed a very closed off mind.
8: this is the number of energy and cycles. Things like power, money and karma fall under the rule of the number 8. You may be called to follow a path of great success and achievement in this lifetime, or you may be called into the mystical arts. What connects those two ends of this number is the understanding that you can manipulate the energetic forces around you in order to bring forth the very things you desire. There is a possibility that you may go through a period of your life feeling quite powerless, this is the beginning of the journey to reclaim your power.
9: you’re always searching for more; more experiences and more knowledge. You have a philosophical mind and consider yourself a student of your own inner workings as much as of the world. Your role in this lifetime is a humanitarian one, you will not be happy unless you’ve made a positive impact on the world. You should be cautious of the pessimism that can sometimes overtake a life path . The world will not be fixed in a day, nor entirely by yourself, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying.
11: as a master number, this life path number asks more of you and offers you more in return. You are meant to be a leader and teacher in this lifetime, but the knowledge needed to show up in those roles is gained through life experience. You will be faced with certain trials and tribulations in order to teach you specific lessons in this life. That’s not to say that any trauma you face is your destiny, but there will be battles you are faced with that you are destined to overcome and grow wiser through that experience. Read the description for the life path number 2, because sometimes your life may pull you more so into that energy.
22: this is the number of the master builder. You are here to create something solid to stand upon, but it’s not simply about creating a solid foundation in this life for you and you alone to use. The number 22 is about creating something that will uplift others and outlive you. This could look like creating a community outreach program, launching a product that changes the way things are normally done, or writing books about the important lessons you’ve learned in this life. It is possible that you might relate more to the life path number 4 at this point at certain points in your life.
33: this is the number of the master healer. These are people who will not only learn to heal their own complex wounds in this life, but will be able to turn around and share their healing gifts with the world. It’s likely that you’ll go through a period of your life which is consumed in pain or heartache, so the more magickal and uplifting resonances of this number might feel far off and distant to you, read for life path number 6 to get some insight on how to move through it.