I don’t typically read Tarot everyday, but I was recently inspired to try this method after reading about how to calculate your Personality, Soul and Year cards in Mary K Greer’s book Who Are You In The Tarot?
This exercise involves numbers and math – but don’t let that turn you off – this new daily Tarot practice has me excitedly reaching for my cards each morning!
Daily Tarot Practice: Calculate Your Tarot Card of the Day
1. Take today’s date and add up all the numbers. For example, the day I’m writing this is Sept 21, 2024.
09 + 21 + 2+0+2+4 = 38
If you get a number that’s higher than 22, further reduce that number by adding the two numbers together. In my case, my number would be 38 (3 + 8)= 11
2. Now, take that number and find the major arcana card with that number. In my case, it’s Justice. Fuck, I hate that card!
If you get number 22, its The Fool.
This is your Tarot Card of the Day! It gives you an overall idea of the general weather or energy of the day and the type of stuff you might encounter. It could represent a person that you’ll interact with today, or an event or experience you might have.
3. What do you think this card is telling you about the day ahead? Jot down a few ideas in your Tarot journal.
Personally, I think Justice is telling me that I may encounter a serious (but highly intelligent) person and that I’ll need to use my good judgement today when it comes to time management and prioritizing.
4. At the end of your day, have another look at this card. How does it reflect the day you had? How did this card show up for you?
Going Deeper: Incorporating Your Personality Card!
Your Personality Card reflects your personality traits, life mission, goals and values. It’s calculated by adding up all the numbers in your birth date. My Personality Card is The Emperor and while I’m not stubborn or controlling, I am fiercely independent, self employed and do things in my own weird way.
1. Find your Personality Card by adding up your birth date – the day, month and year – and find the Major Arcana card of that number.
For example, if you were born on October 7, 1987 (10 + 7 + 1+9+8+7) = 42
Since this number is higher than 22, we’ll further add it up (4 + 2 = 6)
Now, find the Major Arcana card of that number. In the example above, number 6 is The Lovers!
2. Find the card of the day by adding up the numbers in today’s date.
3. Place these two cards side by side. The card of the day tells you the general energy of today, while your Personality Card tells you how you’ll interact with this energy.
How do these cards interact? Feel free to journal about it in your Tarot Journal.
Going Even Deeper: Calculating Your Inner Card of the Day
Your Inner Card of the Day reflects the internal experiences, challenges and opportunities you’ll encounter today and it’s it’s calculated by adding your Personality Card to your Card of the Day.
1. Add your Personality Card (the numbers in your birth date added up) to your Card of the Day (the numbers in today’s date added up) and then find the Major Arcana card of that number. So in my case, my card of the day is Justice (11) and my Personality Card is The Emperor (4), that would be 11 + 4 = 15 (The Devil).
This is your Inner Card of the Day. Adding up the numbers of today’s date (to find your Day Card) gives you an idea of the general energy of today and how it might look on the outside, but adding your birth date to that number will give you a better sense of how you’ll internally experience your day.
So if my Inner Card of the Day is The Devil, I may feel tempted all day long to give into a craving, addiction or habit that’s a little bit bad for me.
Look at your Inner Card of the Day and ask:
♥ What does this card mean to you?
♥ What message does it have for you about your day ahead?
♥ How did this card show up for you today? (Ask this one at the end of your day)
Now you have 3 cards to contemplate: your Personality Card, the Card of the Day and then your Inner Card of the Day. But if that feels too complicated, just focus on either your Card of the Day or your Inner Card of the Day. You can make it as quick and simple or as complex as you want!
I’ve only just started playing around with this daily practice but I’ve found it very illuminating! The other day, my Inner Card of the Day was Strength. That day I had to give a pill to my foster cat and then get her in a carrier to go to the vet. I found myself just like this cat lady in Strength, gently coaxing and soothing my little lion as I tried (successfully!) to get her to cooperate.
TELL ME! What’s YOUR Inner Card of the Day today?
For 9/28/2024:
The Hermit (9) + The Hierophant (5) = Temperance (14)
The Hermit indicates that I may have lost my way and feel I cannot go on alone. The Hierophant represents understanding structure and authority. Interesting, because I am a traditionalist when it comes to The Tarot and prefer and connect with the RWS decks more so than any other. However, I do find myself stuck when it comes to actually “intuitively” learning to read and interpret the cards. Ah, Temperance. If I could only balance as she would like and fill my cups as evenly as possible. She follows the Hanged Man, who may be contemplative (and stuck!) and Death where I have recently suffered loss. For certain I do need to pause and rebalance.
A very interesting exercise, for certain.
I don’t have the referenced book, but will add it to my shopping list.
Thank you Kate!
Thank you so much, Terry, for trying this exercise out and sharing your results!!! ♥
Oh, how fun! Love your insight and the combinations of tarot card spreads. Thanks Kate!!
This is fun, and because the Majors are so universal you’ll always be able to discover a personal meaning in these readings. I’ve renamed your card titles slightly — my Daily Card is The Tower, my Self Card is The Chariot, and my Inner Card is The Hierophant = when I am in upheaval the way to move through is to find my own drive and agency… but to be on guard against conditioning and old patterns dictating my reactions.
I love how you re-named these! Sounds much easier to remember.
That’s fun!!! Personality -Hierophant, Daily- Chariot, Inner- Hanged Man, You story about giving you kitty a pill was funny
Thanks Debbie, for trying this one out! Glad you had fun with it 🙂
Interesting, I got The Chariot for my Day card and for my Personality card. And then Temperence for my Inner card.
Currently seeking a new job and also birthing a new beginning. As of now I’m thinking this is symbolizing my desire for this new beginning to be here now, to be here already. The Chariot gives me fast moving energy, and also motivation and action. Temperence as the inner card reminds me that these things don’t happen overnight.
This feels auspicious since you picked The Chariot as part of your weekly reading for this week! I’ll check in again at the end of the day.
Thanks for sharing this practice
Thanks for trying this out and sharing, Stephanie 🙂 Good luck with your job search and your new beginnings ♥
Loved this book. My personality is the Hierophant. I seek the truth behind the masks of others, and I tend to speak what I see as the truth, which sometimes doesn’t work well, lol. Today, 9/26/2024 – the energy will be a little chaotic with changes and shifts in direction (Tower), but with my Inner Card, the World, I will find a satisfying completion and joy in the truth found within the chaos. Should be an interesting day!
Thanks for sharing, Cher ♥ Glad you enjoyed that book, too!
I read the Hermit card as you shining a light on a new daily tarot practice.
My Personality card is the Empress. I can relate as I was a mum to 2 step boys at the tender age of 19 for 15 years. There has always been someone else’s children in my life as well as my own. I was also a teacher’s aide to a deaf aboriginal boy. I definitely feel that I have been a giver rather than a taker and worry more about everyone else instead of myself.
09 + 21 + 2024 = 38 . How did you get 38? When I add 09+ 21+2024 I get 2054. Then 2+0+5+4=11
I did too!!! I was wondering the same thing how did she get 38, thoigh the end result ened the same with 11 LOL
The end result is the same: 3 + 8 = 11, but it looks like addition was:
9 + 21 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 4
2024 you also count the numbers seperatetly
I think I can explain this, Meredith, but Kate may need to clarify based on her specific process from Mary Greer’s book. Normally, you need to treat each number as an individual…this means, for example, that you treat this year of 2024 as 2 + 0 + 2 + 4 = 8. So, in the example of the date Kate gave us of 09.21.2024 I would normally add all the numbers in the same way: 0 + 9 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 4 = 20. However, the process Kate has explained is a little different as she has treated the month and day numbers as whole numbers, while breaking the year down into individual numbers: 09 + 21 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 4 = 38. I’ve not seen this done before, but I assume Mary Greer explains her reasoning in her book.
I hope this helps.
This is totally what I did, although I don’t think it’s the correct way to do it. I’m pretty sure that in Mary’s book she says to add all the numbers individually.
If this is the case, then the total for Your Tarot Card of the Day should have been 20.
0 + 9 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 4 = 20 = Judgement. This would have changed your entire day? Peace, Love, Blessed Be. )O(
OMG, you’re right! I actually thought it wouldn’t matter how I added the numbers. Ah well. It doesn’t change the day but it does change my observations about the day.
Well that’s interesting, I got 38 when I naturally added up the numbers 1 by 1: 9 + 21 = 30 + 2+2+4 = 38 = 11.
Yeah, I’m realizing now that there’s different ways to add up the numbers, but in the end the result is the same.
I think I was adding 9 + 21 + 2+0+2+4 = 38
No matter how you add these numbers, you will always end up with 11 at the end (or 2 if you add that number together), so the way to add them doesn’t really matter, I guess.