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Tarot birth card

Tarot Birth Card Calculator

Your date of birth, reduced to the Major Arcana card that carries your life's theme. Some call it your birthday tarot card. Enter your date below and turn your card over.

Your date of birth
Day
Month
Year

Calculated right here in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent.

Face down, waiting for your date

How the tarot birth card is calculated

The method comes from tarot author Mary K. Greer's Tarot for Your Self (1984), later expanded in her Who Are You in the Tarot? (2011). Your date of birth is reduced to a single digit, and that digit is your main card in the Major Arcana; a two-digit number on the way adds an extra card that colours it. It takes a minute by hand, and the calculator above does exactly the same arithmetic.

Source: Mary K. Greer's books, listed on her website

More: the steps, pairs and constellations
  1. Step 1

    Write your birth date as three numbers

    The month, the day and the full four-digit year. 14 July 1990 becomes 7, 14 and 1990.

  2. Step 2

    Add them together

    Add them as ordinary numbers, not digit by digit: 7 + 14 + 1990 = 2011.

  3. Step 3

    Reduce until the total is 22 or less

    Add the digits of the total, and repeat while it is above 22: 2011 becomes 2 + 0 + 1 + 1 = 4, The Emperor. A total of exactly 22 is The Fool, card 0.

  4. Step 4

    Reduce to one digit: your main card

    If the number has two digits, add them once more. The digit you end on is your main card, and the two-digit number on the way is an extra card. A total of 13 is Death, and 1 + 3 = 4: The Emperor is the main card, and Death colours it.

The worked example

Born on 14 July 1990

  1. 7 + 14 + 1990 = 2011
  2. 2 + 0 + 1 + 1 = 4
The Emperor, card IV

Single cards, pairs and the one triad

Most people have a single birth card: about six dates in ten give one, counting births from 1950 to 2005. About a third add one more card, and a few add two. The extra cards are not separate answers but nuances of one theme, and all of them belong to a family of cards that share the same root number.

  • A single card

    When your total reduces straight to one digit, a single card from The High Priestess (2) to The Hermit (9) holds your theme on its own. Its lesson is direct: this is the thread that runs through your life.

  • A pair

    A total from 10 to 22 gives two cards. The single-digit card is your main card; the two-digit card shows how that theme tends to play out at work and with people. Read the main card first, then the other as a nuance of it.

  • The triad

    Only one total gives three cards: 19. The Sun reduces to 10, the Wheel of Fortune, which reduces to 1, the Magician: the Magician is the main card, and the other two colour it. It is the rarest result, a theme of radiance, timing and self-made purpose.

The nine constellations

Every Major Arcana card belongs to one of nine families, grouped by the single digit it reduces to. Your main card and any extra cards always sit in the same one.

Show all nine constellations

  • The constellation of One

    The Magician, the Wheel of Fortune and the Sun share one current: will and self-creation. Together they ask you to act with skill, move with the timing of your life, and shine as yourself.

  • The constellation of Two

    The High Priestess, Justice and Judgement share a theme of inner truth. Your cards work together as a quiet knowing that becomes a clear choice, and a sense of calling that grows out of both.

  • The constellation of Three

    The Empress, the Hanged Man and the World share a theme of creation. Your cards describe growth that comes through letting go, and creative work that feels complete when it is shared.

  • The constellation of Four

    The Emperor, Death and the Fool share a theme of structure and renewal. Together your cards ask you to build carefully, release what has served its time, and begin again without fear.

  • The constellation of Five

    The Hierophant and Temperance share a theme of meaning. Your cards pair the wish to understand with the art of balance: learning what matters, then living it in measured, patient ways.

  • The constellation of Six

    The Lovers and the Devil share a theme of choice and desire. Together your cards ask what you are truly drawn to, and whether it sets you free, so that love and attachment stay honest.

  • The constellation of Seven

    The Chariot and the Tower share a theme of momentum. Your cards pair drive with breakthrough: when you move with purpose, what no longer fits falls away and clears the road ahead.

  • The constellation of Eight

    Strength and the Star share a theme of resilience. Your cards pair gentle courage with steady hope, a combination that heals, restores and keeps faith through difficult seasons.

  • The constellation of Nine

    The Hermit and the Moon share a theme of inner wisdom. Your cards describe a seeker who learns in solitude and trusts intuition to find a way through what cannot yet be seen.

A birth card is a lens for reflection, not a verdict. It does not predict what will happen to you; it offers a theme you can hold up against your own life and see what it shows.

Birth card questions

The short answers, before you go deeper.

A tarot birth card is the Major Arcana card that corresponds to your date of birth. It is read as a life theme, a lesson or gift that stays with you rather than something that changes from day to day, and it is often used as a starting point for getting to know the Major Arcana personally.

Add your birth month, day and full year as numbers, then add the digits of the total until one digit is left: that is your main card. A two-digit number on the way (10 to 22) is an extra card, and 22 means The Fool. For 14 July 1990: 7 + 14 + 1990 = 2011, and 2 + 0 + 1 + 1 = 4, The Emperor.

You have one main birth card. When the total is a two-digit number (10 to 22), some methods keep reducing it and also show one or two additional cards from the intermediate sums (for 19, the Wheel of Fortune and the Magician). These are nuances of the same theme, not a second birth card: read them as a note on the main one.

Birth cards are counted in more than one way. Taromi uses Mary K. Greer's method: the month, day and year are added as whole numbers, then the digits of the total. Some sites add every digit of the date one by one, and because of carries the result sometimes differs; others use only the day of birth, or add the letters of your name. Each method can give a different card. None of them is a mistake: compare only cards counted the same way.

Yes, as an extra card. A total of exactly 22 is read as The Fool, card 0, and 2 + 2 = 4, so The Emperor is the main card and The Fool colours it.

No. Your birth card uses your full birth date and never changes. A year card uses your birthday with the current year instead of your birth year, so it changes every year and describes the theme of that year rather than of your life.

No. Taromi treats the birth card as a mirror for reflection, not a forecast. It names a theme worth noticing; what you make of it is up to you. If a question is on your mind, a reading with the cards is a good next step.

Yes. Birth card, birth tarot card and birthday tarot card are names for the same idea: the Major Arcana card or cards worked out from your full date of birth. Whichever name you know it by, the calculation on this page gives the same result.

Your birth card comes from your date of birth alone, and here it is interpreted as a theme for your whole life rather than an answer for today. For a question that is on your mind now, ask the cards in a reading, and keep your birth card in the background as context.