The Holidays, Families and Fa La La: Understanding your family by the numbers.

December 19, 2009
So, I take a deep breath and take the plunge into the world of Blog on this, the eve of Solstice and the eve of The WinterSmith's first serious snow creation of the season!Welcome Yule!
Going to "The Greenwood Tarot" I draw The Six of Wands,Harvest, which reads:"Time to reap the harvest of previously sown effort. A moment of acceptance of gifts and blessings that are a reward for generous and wise forethought". A good omen for this new beginning.
I have been reading Tarot since I was seventeen, having come into possession of my first deck, an Aquarian Tarot, on an art trip to NYC. A mysterious store, The Bell, Book and Candle on the Lower East Side...one half of the room filled with plastic Joseph's to bury in your backyard to promote real estate sales, Saint Candles of appropriate colors and other church related items and, on the other side of the red line painted down the center of the store, incense, wax candles of figures, charms, crystals and Tarot cards.
I started reading for friends at school with uncanny results and was definitely intrigued. In the process of studying comparative religion, philosophy,psychology and art, the interweaving of symbol and meaning and layers of connection drew me further and further into the Tarot's use and its study.
The interweaving of Numerology into my work came much later. Having just had twins and also a three year old, I left the corporate world to stay home with them. I took up teaching Tarot as a way of augmenting our income. During one of these classes, I had a student whose day job was as an accountant. One day she came in and remarked that, though she couldn't get the hang of reading, she noticed number patterns repeating and wondered what that was all about. Now, the Tarot are numbered; the Major Arcana from 0 to 21 and the Minor Arcana, possessing four suits, each suit numbered from 1 (or Ace) through 10 (with attendant Page,Knight,Queen and King to round out the suits). So I began to watch the patterns myself and how they affected interpretation. My own inquiries brought me to discover a great book, "Numerology and The Divine Triangle" by Faith Javane and Dusty Bunker. It explored the interface of Numerology, Tarot and Astrology I couldn't put it down. And of course, it led to a deeper and deeper interest in that particular branch of my esoteric education. Soon, working with a client's numerology became a permanent part of my offering during a session.
One of the most interesting things to explore was and is the interface of family personalities and dynamics as seen in the numbers. Adding the insights of Holistic Counseling to the mix made the exploration of family number patterns all the more potent and I found that it was often helpful to explore this dynamic, especially when issues arose in relationships.
Since my belief is that the more we know(bring to consciousness) the more we can mindfully change a dynamic to the positive, sharing this information with a client is valuable indeed.
Numbers are fun to work with. But, as with all things, you need to have an open mind. Your Birth Energy can be found by adding your month, day and year in a column...adding the resulting number across and then distilling the number ot a single digit if it comes up as a double. Example: Born January 8,1950=1+8+1950=1959: then add 1+9+5+9=24=2+4=6...the Birth Energy is a #6.
Once you know someone's Birth Energy you can have a clue as to how they view the ir world and their place in it. it can also key you in as to how someone communicates, that is, how they want to be heard and how they express themselves.
So let's look at the numbers and their association with the Tarot:
#1/The Magician: Tendency to be somewhat self-centered, strong willed, egotistic, focused, detailed oriented, material oriented,forceful and because they are oftentimes very successful tend to tell you what you need to know (according to them).
#2/The High Priestess:Sensitive, highly intuitive, dreamy,picks up on things not said, reads gestures very well,can't really be nailed down
#3/ The Empress: The Eternal Mother, nurturing, can be smothering, needs to take care of everyone of any age. If this is a person's Birth Energy it is one of the markers that indicates this person has a past life connection with their mother.
#4/ The Emperor: The Patriarch,the King who can be kind and fatherly or the vengeful, "lay down the law" type of guy. If this is a person's Birth Energy it is one of the markers that indicates this person has a past life connection with their dad.
#5/ The Hierophant: Past Lives had been dedicated to the Divine and you can imagine this soul having been released from the monastery in this life...they can retain their reflective,quiet attitude, dedicating themselves to doing good works and expressing a deep Spirituality; on the other hand, it can be a life time of getting all the experiences that have been denied in those past lives and having a ball...money, love, toys!Introvert or extrovert this one always has opinions that are deep and thoughtful.
#6/The Lovers: Family oriented, the peace maker, they want everyone to be nice and harmony is the goal. They can be the "yes man" in an effort to keep the peace and as such, may never really tell you what they think.
#7/ The Chariot:Can indecisive and wavering when faced with too many options. Can change sides in an argument. Very lucky and carefree. May not try too hard,laissez-fare attitude.
#8/Strength: It's not surprising that this energy is ruled by Virgo. A little up-tight and very much "the school marm" with a little self righteousness thrown in for good measure. Neat, organized and tends to be habitual, doesn't like change. Considered and tends to think things through, so don't expect answers right away.
#9/ The Hermit: Just like it sounds, thoughtful, reflective, studious, "The Teacher", has a tendency to make pronouncements made from researching or studying a situation, gets the overview and tends to see how everything connects.
Obviously, this kind of analysis only scratches the surface, but it can be a fun "game" to play after the holiday dinner or during a holiday get together, it certainly can be an ice breaker and get some fun discussions going.How we experience ourselves and how others experience us is always a place of learning and exploration.
"There is nothing that has to be done--there is only someone to be."
Jaquelyn Small
www.TheHolisticTarot.com