Tarot Birth Card by Date of Birth

How to calculate your birth cards

The method was described by the American Tarot readers Angeles Arrien and Mary K. Greer. It takes a minute to work out by hand.

• Add up your birth month, day and year as ordinary numbers. For 14 February 1988: 2 + 14 + 1988 = 2004.
• Add up the digits of the sum: 2 + 0 + 0 + 4 = 6. If the result is more than 22, add the digits again.
• The first number of 22 or less is the personality card. Here it is 6, the Lovers.
• Reduce it to a single digit — that is the soul card. The number 6 is already a single digit, so the personality and soul coincide: the formula is 6/6.

If the digit sum is a two-digit number, you get two different cards. For example, 8 + 19 + 1963 = 1990, 1 + 9 + 9 + 0 = 19 — the Sun; 1 + 9 = 10 — the Wheel of Fortune; 1 + 0 = 1 — the Magician. This is the rare 19/10/1 triad. In this method the number 22 is the Fool, and its soul is the Emperor (2 + 2 = 4).

The card numbers follow the Rider–Waite deck: 8 is Strength, 11 is Justice. In the Marseille deck and in the Destiny Matrix these two cards are the other way round.

Nine constellations

All the cards that reduce to the same digit form a constellation. It sets the overall theme of your life, and the cards within it show how that theme unfolds.

The cards of a constellation that became neither personality nor soul are hidden teachers. For the formula 13/4 the hidden teacher is the Fool, for 6/6 the Devil, for 10/1 the Sun. The formulas 14/5, 15/6, 16/7, 17/8, 18/9 and 19/10/1 have no hidden teacher: all the cards of the constellation are already taken.

What each card means

The personality card is how you show up in the world: your actions, your manner, what others see in you, and your main lessons in outer life.

The soul card is your deeper task and purpose, which stays with you all your life. It is always one of the first nine cards.

The hidden teacher is the card through which life teaches you what you would not have chosen yourself. Its lessons come through circumstances, people and crises. Mary Greer also calls it the hidden factor.

The shadow is the flip side of the personality card: what happens when its energy is suppressed or runs over the edge. The calculator describes the shadow of each of your cards.

Year chart

The year card is calculated the same way, except that instead of your birth year you take the year you are asking about: birth month + birth day + that year. For 14 February and the year 2026: 2 + 14 + 2026 = 2042, 2 + 0 + 4 + 2 = 8 — Strength.

The year card shows the theme and lessons of the year. Years when the year card matches your personality, soul or hidden teacher card are especially significant: the themes of your formula come to the fore. According to Greer, the year runs from one birthday to the next.

Year cards follow one another: each year the sum grows by one, so the calculator also shows the cards of the coming years. A similar yearly rhythm in numerology is described by the Personal Year.

The personal arcanum in the Russian tradition

Russian-speaking readers widely use a simpler calculation. The personal arcanum is your day of birth: if you were born between the 1st and the 22nd, the arcanum number equals the day; between the 23rd and the 31st, subtract 22 from the day. If you were born on the 29th, your arcanum is 7, the Chariot.

The arcanum of destiny is the sum of all the digits of your date of birth; if it is more than 22, subtract 22. For 14.02.1988: 1 + 4 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 9 + 8 + 8 = 33, 33 − 22 = 11.

The numbering here is the Marseille one, as in the Destiny Matrix: 8 is Justice, 11 is Strength, 22 is the Fool. That is why the 11 in the example is Strength. In the matrix the day number is reduced differently, by adding its digits: 29 → 11. Readings of all the matrix arcana are on the 22 arcana page.

Where the method comes from

Birth cards emerged in the American Tarot school of the 1980s. Angeles Arrien described them in “The Tarot Handbook”, based on the Thoth deck, and Mary K. Greer in “Tarot for Your Self” and “Who Are You in the Tarot?”, where she introduced constellations, the hidden teacher and the year card.

This is not an ancient tradition but a modern method of self-discovery. It does not predict events: birth cards describe tendencies, lessons and resources. Detailed meanings of every card are in the list of 78 cards.

Frequently asked questions

Which arcanum matters more — the personality card or the soul card?

Both. The personality card describes how you show up and what you learn in outer life; the soul card describes the deeper task that stays with you whatever happens. When the two coincide, the energy of that one card is especially strong.

Why doesn’t my arcanum by day of birth match my personality card?

These are two different methods. The Russian personal arcanum uses only the day of birth, while Greer’s personality card uses the whole date. They answer different questions: your natural character and the path of your personality. The calculator shows both and explains each card.

On what day does the year card begin?

According to Mary Greer, from your birthday until the next one. Many readers keep it simpler and count from 1 January. If your birthday falls late in the year, try both readings and see which one describes your experience more accurately.

What if I get a “difficult” card — Death, the Tower or the Devil?

Birth cards do not predict events. Death as your personality card speaks of a gift for change, the Tower of a capacity for breakthrough, the Devil of a strong energy of desire. A difficult card shows where you have more power and where you need more awareness.

Related in This Section

• Card of the Day
• Three-Card Spread
• Celtic Cross
• 78 cards
• Destiny Matrix