The tenth card of the major arcana in the Tarot deck is the Wheel of Fortune, this card symbolises the material or non-material elements in our lives that come and go, round and round, whether good or bad. It is about ideas, thoughts, actions, plans, resources and even mistakes that may or may not
have been thought about, which create the ups and downs in our lives. Life tends to be cyclical and sometimes beyond our control, it is like life and death, for example, a cycle of our life may die or end, another turn of the wheel may bring back life or a new phase, returning back to a unity or a whole again. An example of this symbolism is that if the numbers from one to ten are added up we get a total of fifty-five. Then by adding the two fives together (5+ 5) the result is still ten, then by adding together the one and the nought (1+ 0) we return back to one. Therefore, the cycle always goes round and round from a beginning to an end and from an end to a beginning again. Similarly, the Tetrahedron, Pythagoras’ symbolic pyramid is based on the numbers one to four, when we add up the numbers from one to four we get a total of ten. The confusion at that time with the Tetrahedron must have been immense,
because it is a quadrilateral figure disguised in the shape of a pyramid. It is constructed of four levels and each level represents one of the four elements. The first level, base or number four, represents the Earth element, the second level or number three, represents the Water element, the third level or number two, represents the Air element, and the fourth level or number one,
represents the Fire element. The Tetrahedron stimulated thought and inspired the people of the ancient world, and still does today. The number ten is an important symbolism that can take us from an idea into a perfect whole. Whatever we are living and working towards is recognised at the number ten. It is the final show of whatever has been on our mind and in our thoughts for a period of time, whether it is positive or negative. This subconscious activity is very important to the study of the Tarot. It is about recognising the unseen obstacles we may have to contend with when chasing our hopes, dreams and ambitions. This way we can use the invisible forces to direct us down the correct path, instead of coming to a dead end. Ten is about recognising that a stage in our life has been completed and our aim has been realised. We may now be able to relax for a while until the next idea or concept comes into our head, and off we go again back on the cycle of the number ten.
Key Words
Positive: Ambitious, competitive, conviction, creative, energetic, executive skills, forceful, fond of company, independent, natural leader, practical, progressive, self-confident, strong, strong willpower, success-orientated.
Negative: Arrogant, demanding, dictating, dominating, egotistical, impatient, does not use opportunities, selfish, too proud, unstable.
The System of Numbers What’s in a Name?
A good deal of information about the character and life path can be predicted using numerology. It is also fascinating to discover what life path our personal year may take. But first we need a number system as follows:
The Alphabet System
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Fig 1
As we can see the A, J and S have the value of the number one, B, K and T have the value of number two, and so on. We can now connect the letters to the number and analyse what they mean, especially within a person’s name, as follows:
Full name:
J O H N E D W A R D S M I T H
1 6 8 5 5 4 5 1 9 4 1 4 9 2 8
Fig 2
Now we add up the numbers under each letter, thus:
1 + 6 + 8 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 5 + 1 + 9 + 4 + 1 + 4 + 9 + 2 + 8 = 72, then the seventy-two is reduced by adding the two numbers together, (7+ 2), giving the number nine. Therefore, this name has the characteristic of the number nine. However, even though this is going to be the strongest characteristic, this name has other strong distinguishing features because, if you notice, the name has three ones, fours and fives, which means there are equal strengths of other traits to this character. The other numbers are not strong enough because there are only one or two of them, which means that these numbers are the weakest and would need to be consciously controlled.
Example of the Name Characteristic:
With a number nine personality, any form of problem, obstacle, dilemma, difficulty or hardship are not in John’s vocabulary, because he is convinced that with a little work everything will sort itself out. Others may feel John’s attitude is rather cynical but they are likely to benefit through his ideas and energetic resourcefulness because John is exceptionally generous, which often leads to his kindness being taken advantage of.
The Life Number
Now let us say his date of birth is the 28th August 1968, we simply add up the
numbers of this date to give us the number of his possible direction in life. For example, 2 + 8 + 8 + 1 + 9 + 6 + 8 = 42, then we reduce this number by adding up the two numbers, (4 + 2), which gives us six. The number six is John’s life number. If the number totals more than nine then we can reduce it
again by adding up the two numbers. For example, if say the number is 12 then we reduce it by adding up the one and the two, (1 + 2), giving us three.
Interpretation of the Life Number
John’s life number is six therefore he must take on many responsibilities in life such as family and work. His true desire is to express love, and although John can be faithful, he can also be demanding, and will not stop searching until he has found his soul mate. John will probably surround himself with people he sees as the epitome of love, and you may not find anyone more thoughtful towards others. Therefore, if John does not allow his objectives to be swayed by others in whatever direction he plans to take, then he will succeed.
Personal Year Number
This is similar to the birth date number, except instead of the year of our birth we use the present or future year. For example, the 28th August 2009. As
before we simply add up the numbers of this date, therefore, 2 + 8 + 8 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 9 = 29. Then we reduce this number by adding together the two and the nine as before, (2 + 9), which gives us eleven. Now this number being more than nine needs to be reduced even further as mentioned earlier. Therefore, the eleven becomes (1+ 1), which gives us the year number of two.
Interpretation of the Personal Year Number
If John’s personal year number is two then he may need to work in tune with others and therefore, become aware of their needs as well as his own. John may have to be sensitive and tactful when handling other people, and may be called upon to assess situations concerning others because he may have to try and settle disagreements. Partnership matters will become important to John during this year, but it is also a year of personal creativity in which he may suddenly be prompted by creative inspiration that will urge him to be very productive, reliable and stable. When interpreting name numbers, life
numbers and personal year numbers refer to the section on Tarot and Numerology.