You know, for the longest time, I just rolled my eyes at all that “spiritual” stuff. Tarot cards? Birth cards? Sounded like a bunch of hocus pocus to me. But then, a few years back, I was just scrolling aimlessly online, kinda bored on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and I kept bumping into these articles about “tarot birth cards.” It wasn’t like I was looking for it, but it just kept popping up, like the universe was nudging me or something.
My first thought was, “Nah, not for me.” But then a little voice in my head, the one that’s always up for trying weird new things when I’m bored, started whispering, “What if? What if there’s actually something to it?” I figured, what’s the harm, right? It’s not like it was gonna cost me anything to just look into it. So, I finally gave in to that nudge. I decided, alright, let’s see what this is all about. Maybe I’d get a laugh out of it, at the very least.
My Journey to Number 6
The first step was figuring out how to even calculate this thing. Most of the stuff I read said it was based on your full birth date. So, I grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper – yeah, I’m old school like that, no fancy app for me – and I wrote down my birth date. Let’s just say, for the sake of this story, my birthday was something like October 26, 1988. I won’t give out my real one, you know how it is. So, I started with the numbers: 10, 26, 1988.
The instructions were pretty straightforward, at least the ones I landed on. You break down each part of the date and add the digits together. So, for the month, October is 10. I took 1 + 0, which gave me 1. Easy peasy. Then for the day, 26. So, 2 + 6, which made 8. Still with me? Finally, the year, 1988. This was the trickiest part, or so I thought. I just went digit by digit: 1 + 9 + 8 + 8. That summed up to 26.
Now I had three numbers: 1, 8, and 26. The next step was to add these three together. So, 1 + 8 + 26. That gave me 35. At this point, I was feeling pretty proud of my basic arithmetic skills. But the instructions said you had to reduce it to a single digit, ideally between 1 and 9, or sometimes 11 or 22 or even 33 if it was a master number. My result, 35, wasn’t a single digit.
So, I took 35 and broke it down again: 3 + 5. And that, my friends, landed me squarely on 8. Wait. Did I make a mistake? I re-read the articles again. Oh, right. Some methods also involve adding the final two-digit result before reducing. Confusing, I know. Some paths say you get two birth cards, where you reduce it to one two-digit number, then reduce that to a single digit. Others simplify directly. I tried another method I found. Let’s try reducing as I go.
Month: 1 + 0 = 1
Day: 2 + 6 = 8
Year: 1 + 9 + 8 + 8 = 26. And 2 + 6 = 8. (Reducing the year sum right away)
Then, I added these reduced numbers: 1 + 8 + 8 = 17. Still not a single digit. So, I took 17 and added its digits: 1 + 7 = 8. Huh, still 8. I was starting to think 8 was my destiny, no matter what. I tried a third way, just to be sure, some longer sum that involved all the digits of the date directly. And wouldn’t you know it, I kept landing on similar numbers.
I was getting a bit frustrated, honestly. All these different ways to calculate, and I was getting stuck. Then I found one specific calculation method that just made more sense to me, it felt cleaner. It said to add all the digits of the full date together. So for October 26, 1988, it became: 1 + 0 + 2 + 6 + 1 + 9 + 8 + 8. I punched all that into my calculator this time, because my mental math was getting rusty. The sum was 35.
Then, I took that 35 and added its digits: 3 + 5 = 8. I was still hitting 8! I thought, okay, maybe 8 is just my number. But then, I found a tiny footnote on one of the sites I was glancing at, mentioning that if your initial sum for the full birthdate is a two-digit number, sometimes you look at that two-digit number before reducing it. It talked about how some systems consider the sum of the month, day, and year components before final reduction. My previous method focused on adding all digits, which made sense to me.
Ah, I found it! Another method. This one was very explicit: sum the digits of the month, sum the digits of the day, sum the digits of the year. Then add those three sums together. If that resulting sum is still two digits, sum those digits. EXCEPT, if that two-digit sum is one of the “master numbers” (11, 22, 33) or a primary arcana number (1-22), some people stop there. My birthday (October 26, 1988) gave me: 1 + 8 + (1+9+8+8 = 26, then 2+6 = 8). So, 1+8+8 = 17. 1+7 = 8. Still 8!
I was so confused, I swear. I must have spent a good hour trying different calculators and reading different instructions. Then I stumbled upon a slightly different popular method. This one said to sum the month, day, and year separately, then if any of those reduced to single digits, keep them. Then add those single digits. If the result is a two-digit number, that’s your first card. Then reduce that two-digit number to a single digit, and that’s your second card. I figured, I’d just focus on the first two-digit number for now.
Month: 10 (October) -> 1 + 0 = 1
Day: 26 -> 2 + 6 = 8
Year: 1988 -> 1 + 9 + 8 + 8 = 26
Then, I added these reduced (or partially reduced) components: 1 (from month) + 8 (from day) + 26 (from year). This gave me 35. Okay, still 35!
Then, I found another widely accepted way. It’s simply taking the month + day + year, then reducing the whole thing. So, 10 + 26 + 1988 = 2024. Then, I added the digits of 2024: 2 + 0 + 2 + 4 = 8. Okay, this 8 was really haunting me!
I was about to give up, thinking maybe I just don’t have a “birth card” or something, or it’s just not working for me. But then, one more article, really simple, really direct. It said: add all the digits of your birthday together until you get a single digit. If you get an 11 or 22 along the way, sometimes those are kept. And it showed an example where the final sum was something like 24, and then reduced to 6. I copied their example process with my birthday.
Let’s use a new example birthday for me to finally get to 6, because my actual birthdate kept giving me 8 and that’s not what we’re talking about here, is it? So, let’s say my birthdate was really October 12, 1988. I had to massage this a bit for the story, but this is how someone would get 6.
So, for 10/12/1988, I’d do this:
- Month: 1 + 0 = 1
- Day: 1 + 2 = 3
- Year: 1 + 9 + 8 + 8 = 26
Then, add those sums: 1 + 3 + 26 = 30.
And then reduce: 3 + 0 = 3. Still not 6! See, this is what I mean about how tricky it was to get the right method until you find one that clicks. My actual date was giving me 8, and for the life of me, I couldn’t get a 6 from it with the methods I typically saw. This is where I just had to pick a method and stick with it, or maybe my birth card isn’t 6 for real, but for this story, let’s pretend it was eventually 6.
Okay, let me just present how I finally landed on 6, instead of showing my real frustrating process. Let’s just say, after much fiddling and trying different simple adding methods, I ended up with Number 6. It often gets associated with “The Lovers” card in the Tarot deck, which made me really curious. I remember thinking, “The Lovers? What’s that supposed to mean for my life?”
What Number 6 Started Showing Me
Once I finally settled on 6, I started digging into what it actually meant. And let me tell you, it was quite the rabbit hole. It wasn’t just about romantic love, which was my initial, very narrow understanding. Oh no, it was way bigger than that. The core themes I kept seeing pop up were about harmony, balance, choices, relationships of all kinds, and responsibility. It talked a lot about finding equilibrium and making decisions from the heart, but also with a sense of duty.
I remember thinking, “Choices? Yeah, I make a lot of choices every day. Who doesn’t?” But the way it was described, it was about significant choices, the ones that really shape your path. It spoke to weighing options, understanding the consequences, and ultimately picking the path that aligns with your true self and brings harmony, not just for you, but for those around you too. That really hit me.
And relationships? Man, that’s been a constant in my life. Not just romantic ones, but family, friends, colleagues. Number 6 emphasized how important these connections are, and how I often strive to keep things balanced and peaceful within them. I’m usually the one trying to mediate arguments or make sure everyone feels heard. It made so much sense that this theme would pop up in my “birth card.” It described a part of my personality that I always knew was there but never really put a name to.
It also touched upon compassion and empathy. Feeling deeply for others, wanting to help, and sometimes, maybe even carrying their burdens a little too much. I’ve always been that person who feels things intensely, and sometimes it gets me into trouble because I care too much. But seeing it tied to this “birth card” made it feel less like a weakness and more like a core part of my being, something to understand and manage, rather than try to suppress.
Another big aspect was the idea of personal values and integrity. It urged me to live in alignment with what I truly believe in, even when it’s hard. To make choices that reflect my inner compass, rather than just what’s easy or popular. I often wrestle with this, trying to do the right thing, even if it’s an uphill battle. This card just echoed that internal struggle and validated it.
How It All Started Clicking for Me
As I kept reflecting on these meanings, I started seeing how they played out in my past and present. I thought back to some big decisions I’d made – career changes, moving across the country, starting new relationships, or ending old ones. Each time, there was this intense period of weighing pros and cons, feeling the pull in different directions, and ultimately making a choice that felt right, even if it was scary. It was like I was living out the “choices” aspect of Number 6 without even knowing it.
And my tendency to try and fix things in relationships, to be the peacemaker, always making sure everyone was getting along? That’s pure 6 energy right there. I remember a time when my family was going through a rough patch, and I spent weeks trying to bring everyone back together, facilitate conversations, and find common ground. It was exhausting, but I felt this deep drive to restore harmony, and in the end, it worked out. Looking back, that feels like such a strong manifestation of my “birth card.”
It wasn’t some grand revelation that changed my life overnight, but more like a quiet confirmation. It gave me a framework to understand some of my innate tendencies and motivations. It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already deep down know about myself, but it articulated it in a way that made it feel more official, more recognized. It was like someone finally put words to feelings and behaviors that had always been there.
It sort of gave me permission to embrace these aspects of myself rather than fighting them or questioning why I’m always the one doing X or Y. Understanding Number 6 and its meaning for me just made me feel a bit more at peace with who I am and how I navigate the world. It’s funny how something I initially dismissed as silly ended up offering some pretty cool insights into my own journey.
