Numerology Basics: The Core Numbers and the Nine-Year Cycle
By Vadim
Numerology basics in plain words: the core numbers, the nine-year Personal Year cycle, how to calculate your own number, and what each of the nine years means.
The Nine-Year Cycle
Where you are in the nine years, and what each year tends to bring.
Numerology Calculator
Find your Life Path and Personal Year numbers, with the working shown.
The core numerology numbers
Numerology numbers are single digits from 1 to 9, plus the master numbers 11, 22 and 33. You find each one by adding the digits of a date or a name down to a single digit. These are the ones to start with.
- Life Path number: worked out from your full birth date. Your Life Path number is usually read as the broad pattern in how you tend to move through life.
- Birthday number: the day of the month you were born, reduced to one digit (or kept as 11 or 22). It adds a smaller, finer note beside your Life Path. The numerology calculator shows both.
- Personal Year number: worked out from your birth month and day plus the year you choose. Your Personal Year number names the season of the nine-year cycle you are in, as a tendency and never a forecast.
- Master numbers: 11, 22 and 33 are kept as they are in the Life Path and birthday numbers instead of being reduced further. The Personal Year always reduces to a number from 1 to 9. See how master numbers work.
- Name numbers: the Expression, Soul Urge and Personality numbers come from the letters of your birth name. The calculators on this site work from dates only.
Each of these is a lens for reflection, not a verdict. The two calculators below show their working, so you can check any number yourself.
Calculate your numbers
Two small calculators that both run entirely in your browser. Enter a date, get your number, and see the exact working, not just the answer.
Free tool
Quick Life Path check
Enter your date of birth. Your month, day and year are each reduced on their own, then added together and reduced once more. This is the common method that keeps 11, 22 and 33 as master numbers instead of reducing them further.
No birth date is sent, stored, or logged anywhere. This runs in your browser only.
Free tool
Quick Personal Year check
Enter your birth month and day (your birth year is not part of this calculation; see why on the how-to guide), then pick a year to calculate for. Defaults to the current year; look ahead if you want.
No birth date is sent, stored, or logged anywhere. This runs in your browser only.
Want the birthday number, a karmic debt check and your Personal Month and Day as well? The full numerology calculator has them, with every step of the working shown.
Want the fuller picture? Start with the nine-year cycle overview.