Tarot birth card calculator your personality and soul cards
Birth cards are tarot cards you keep for life, worked out from the digits of your birth date. There are two: the personality card, the side of you people see, and the soul card, what lies underneath. Choose your birth date and they are calculated on the spot.
How birth cards are calculated
Add your birth month, day and year. If the total is over 22, add its digits. The first number of 22 or less is your personality card. If that number is 10 or more, add its digits again to get a single digit: that is your soul card.
Birth dateJune 8, 1976
Month + day + year6 + 8 + 1976 = 1990
Add the digits1 + 9 + 9 + 0 = 19
Once more1 + 9 = 10, 1 + 0 = 1
This person's personality card is 19, the Sun, and their soul card is 1, the Magician. The 10 in between, Wheel of Fortune, is sometimes read as a hidden card that links the two.
If the digits add up to 22, there is no card 22, so the Fool (0) becomes the personality card and the soul card is 2 + 2 = 4, the Emperor. This is the method made popular by tarot author Mary K. Greer.
Personality card and soul card
Your personality card is the character other people see and the themes that surface in your life. It shows most in how you work and how you deal with people.
Your soul card is the core you were born with: the values you fall back on when you are unsure or facing a big choice. When both cards are the same, the outer and inner self line up, and people say such a life has fewer doubts.
The year card: the theme of a year
Add this year instead of your birth year and you get the year card, the theme of that year. It changes every year and anchors a reading of the year ahead. The calculator above shows this year's card too. For a full reading built on it, see your year ahead reading.
Cards that depend on when you were born
Because of how the sums work, the personality card you can get depends on when you were born. With real birth dates the Magician (1) is never a personality card: the digits always fall to 22 or less at 10 or 19, and the calculation stops there. The Magician appears instead as the soul card for Wheel of Fortune and Sun people.
The Devil (15), the Tower (16), the Star (17) and the Moon (18) are almost never personality cards for people now in their twenties to forties. The Star belongs to people born in the 1960s or earlier and the Moon to the 1970s or earlier, while the Devil and the Tower also appear for children born from the 2010s on.
Using your birth cards in a reading
Every topic on this site uses your birth cards as the foundation of the reading. If the Emperor comes up in a career reading and your birth card is also the Emperor, your natural leadership is exactly what the moment asks for. When the drawn card is unlike your birth card, the moment is asking for a strength you do not usually lead with.
The pairing of two people's birth cards is used in tarot compatibility.
The nine groups that share a soul card
Cards that share a soul card form a group. People in the same group can look different on the outside and still hold similar values at the root.
The Magician group (1, 10, 19)
People with the power to start things at their root. Their personality card is Wheel of Fortune or the Sun, and their soul card is always the Magician.
The High Priestess group (2, 11, 20)
A quiet sense of judgment at the core. Justice and Judgement people, too, trust their intuition inside, like the High Priestess.
The Empress group (3, 12, 21)
People fulfilled by nurturing. In Hanged Man people it shows as devotion, in World people as the power to complete things.
The Emperor group (4, 13, 0)
People who build their own ground. In Death people it shows as the resolve to close a chapter, in Fool people as a free fresh start.
The Hierophant group (5, 14)
People who connect others and create harmony. Temperance people use the Hierophant's gift for trust as calm go-betweens.
The Lovers group (6, 15)
People honest about what draws their heart. In Devil people that passion becomes a powerful pull.
The Chariot group (7, 16)
People driven to move forward. Tower people use that drive to break old things down and clear a path.
The Strength group (8, 17)
People with a supple strength. In Star people it shows as the persistence to keep hoping.
The Hermit group (9, 18)
People who look for answers within. In Moon people it comes out as rich imagination and intuition.
What each personality card says about you
The tendencies of each personality card. Open any card name for its full meaning.
The Fool（0）
Hates being tied down and acts the moment an idea strikes. The lightness of someone unafraid to fail, quick to feel at home anywhere new.
The Magician（1）
Never a personality card, but as a soul card it gives the power to start things with your own hands.
The High Priestess（2）
Quiet and observant. Listens closely and, when it matters, says exactly the right thing.
The Empress（3）
Caring, a natural at helping people and things grow, with a feel for beauty and good food.
The Emperor（4）
Strongly responsible, the one who holds the group together, with the persistence to finish what they commit to.
The Hierophant（5）
Sincere and often the one people come to for advice. Values promises and rules and suits a teaching role.
The Lovers（6）
Treasures connections and follows the heart. People gather around their open, sociable warmth.
The Chariot（7）
Goes straight for the goal. Competitive, and at their best when things are hard.
Strength（8）
Calm and patient, with room to accept others. Puts people at ease.
The Hermit（9）
Digs deep into their own thinking. Values time alone and excels in a specialist field.
Wheel of Fortune（10）
Enjoys a life full of change. Has a good instinct for chances and is lucky with people.
Justice（11）
Values fairness and dislikes anything unprincipled. Others rely on their cool judgment.
The Hanged Man（12）
Can put themselves second for others, and sees things from angles others miss.
Death（13）
Has the resolve to close a chapter. Reborn at each turning point, stronger every time.
Temperance（14）
A balanced go-between who connects people from different sides and keeps the peace.
The Devil（15）
Passionate, with a strong drive toward what they want and a magnetism that draws people in.
The Tower（16）
Breaks old molds to make a new path, with a boldness that surprises people.
The Star（17）
Holds on to ideals and lifts others with words of hope.
The Moon（18）
Sensitive and imaginative, quick to feel the shifts in other people's moods.
The Sun（19）
Bright and open, with a presence that lights up a room and shares its joy.
Judgement（20）
Can start over as many times as it takes, with the power to restart stalled things and the strength to decide.
The World（21）
Brings things to completion. Looks out at the wider world and pulls people together.
Birth card questions
Do birth cards ever change?
No. They come from your birth date, so your personality and soul cards stay the same for life. The year card is the one that changes every year.
My soul card and personality card are the same.
When the digits reduce straight to a single number, both cards are the same. Your outer and inner selves line up.
Other sites calculate it differently.
There are several methods. Sumifuda Tarot adds month, day and year and then the digits of the total.