Working out a life path number — 11 and 22 are not added down
updated · 5 min read
A life path number is found by adding up the digits of a date of birth. It needs no tools and no tables, which makes it about the easiest of all methods to try.
There is exactly one place where you stop partway. Add straight through without knowing it and you end up with a different number from the right one.
The basic move is adding until one digit remains
Reduce the year, the month and the day each to one digit, add those together, then reduce the total once more. Here it is for 23 July 1990.
- Add the year (1+9+9+0 = 19 → 1+9 = 10 → 1+0 = 1)
- Add the month (7 stays as 7)
- Add the day (2+3 = 5)
- Add the three together (1+7+5 = 13)
- Reduce to one digit (1+3 = 4) → the life path number is 4
Reducing year, month and day separately before adding them is the widely used sequence. This service calculates in this order.
| Number | Keyword |
|---|---|
| 1 | Going first |
| 2 | Bridging the gap |
| 3 | Bringing it out |
| 4 | Laying the foundation |
| 5 | Looking for change |
| 6 | Holding someone up |
| 7 | Going deep alone |
| 8 | Moving the real world |
| 9 | Letting go and handing on |
When 11, 22 or 33 appears, stop there
If the running total reaches 11, 22 or 33, you add no further. These three are the master numbers, and the usual practice is not to reduce them to a single digit.
For 15 August 1979, the year gives 8, the month 8 and the day 6, totalling 22. Turning that into 2+2 = 4 would erase the master number.
Some schools do reduce 11 to 2, 22 to 4 and 33 to 6. It is less a question of which is correct than of which approach you take, and mixing schools partway means the result never settles. This service keeps consistently to not reducing.
What gets overlooked is the intermediate stage
Stopping at a master number applies not only to the final total. While reducing the year, the month or the day, if 11, 22 or 33 appears you stop there too.
Take 9 February 1984. The year gives 1+9+8+4 = 22, and it stops there. The month is 2 and the day 9, so the total is 22+2+9 = 33. That is a master number too, and 33 is the answer as it stands.
Had the 22 been reduced to 4 at the year stage, the total would be 4+2+9 = 15, and then 1+5 = 6. The readings for 33 and for 6 are quite different. Where you stop decides the result.
Master numbers are not common
All three master numbers come from a limited set of dates. Here are examples that actually produce them.
| Date of birth | Year | Month | Day | Life path number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1980 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 15 August 1979 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 22 |
| 9 February 1984 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 33 |
Notice that in the last row the year column still reads 22. Having stopped partway, that figure is carried straight into the total.
This service gives the number weight because the result lands on a single figure. That makes it something you can set against the numbers of the tarot cards, the five elements of the Four Pillars and the stroke counts of a name, which is how tendencies common to several methods get picked up.
Note: the person asking questions in this article is fictional. This is not a record of a real consultation.
Common questions
- Can I use a calendar other than the Gregorian one?
- Use the Gregorian year. Numerology counts on that basis from the start, and substituting another era system gives a different number. This service calculates on the Gregorian year.
- Does a life path number change over a lifetime?
- It does not. It is fixed by the date of birth and stays the same for life. There are separate ways of reading the fortune of a particular period, but the life path number itself does not move.
- Another site gave me a different number. Which is right?
- The difference comes from whether master numbers are reduced. There are schools that keep 11, 22 and 33 as they are and schools that take them down to one digit. Neither is an error.