In numerology, your Life Path number is one of the most important numbers in your numerological birth chart. Some numerologists even consider it the most important one.
What is a Life Path Number?
Your Life Path number represents the path you are destined to follow. This number provides you with a generic description of the lifestyle you may have and the type of life you may live in this birth, including the good, the bad, and the ugly experiences, along with the lessons you are meant to learn. It is the path that your soul has chosen to walk in this lifetime, which is based on your actions in a past life or several past lives (if you believe in the concept of karma and reincarnation). Now, when you follow the path of your soul, then this number (or the energetic vibration behind this number) can help you develop yourself, improve the overall quality of your life, and achieve your desires and goals through others successfully, provided that you learn how to align yourself with its energetic vibrations. So, if, for example, you are a Life Path 8 (ruled by Saturn), then now you are here to learn the lessons, improve yourself, and seize the opportunities that correspond with the energies of this number and thus the behavioral qualities pertaining to the planet Saturn.
Your Life Path number also describes who you are and how you behave from the outside. It describes how others may perceive and view you. It reveals your unique characteristics, behavioral traits, strengths, weaknesses/areas of development, capabilities, and possibilities in life. So, if you want to understand why you were born, why you are here, and where you should go, then this number could give you some clues to work with, and a direction pertaining to the path you should follow in order to complete and fulfill your life’s purpose or destiny. In Chaldean or Indian numerology, the Life Path number is better known as the Destiny number. Now, your Life Path number can also reveal your livelihood and how you would make a living in this lifetime. But to get a stronger sense of your career direction, job, and profession, it is very important that you look at your other core numbers as well, especially your Birthday number.
Although your Life Path number can help you discover a lot about your human makeup, however, it is just one aspect of yourself. Similar to your ascendant or sun sign in astrology, which is also one side of who you truly are. In a way, you can say that Life Path numbers in numerology are like zodiac signs in astrology, whether that is your Sun, Moon, or Rising sign. Through this number, you can really see how each of us carries a different energy and is therefore unique in his or her own way.
NICE TO KNOW: When you pay close attention, you may find that in the first half of your life, especially until your early thirties, your Life Path number will strongly influence your day-to-day decision-making, lifestyle, career, etc. And from your mid-thirties onwards, you may find that the energies of your Birthday number will have an even bigger influence on your life, to help you navigate your life’s path in a more conscious manner. However, you cannot rule out one without the other. You need both to help you understand your soul’s path.
How do you calculate your Life Path Number?
Your Life Path number is the sum of all your numbers that make up your date of birth. You simply add up all the numbers and reduce it to a single digit between 1 and 9. However, there are a few exceptions. When the sum of your calculations ends up with the double digits 11, 22, or 33, you do not reduce it to a single digit. That is because, in numerology, the numbers 11, 22, and 33 are considered extra special and therefore called Master Numbers.
Here’s how you can calculate your Life Path number:
Day of birth + Month of birth + Year of Birth = Life Path Number
Example date of birth: 25 March 1982
2 + 5 + 3 + 1 + 9 + 8 + 2 = 30
3 + 0 = 3
This means that a person born on 25 March 1982 is a Life Path number 3.
There is also another way to calculate your Life Path number.
Day of birth (25) 2 + 5 = 7
March (3) 3 (because it’s the 3rd month),
Year (1982) 1 + 9 + 8 + 2 = 20, then 2 + 0 = 2
Now add up 7 + 3 + 2 = 12, then 1 + 2 = 3
The reason for the second (adding across) method is because in between the calculations for each day, month and year, you could find a Karmic debt number. To learn about Karmic numbers, click here.
Before you jump straight to the description of your Life Path number, I’d like to share one last thing. Please keep in mind that although two people may have the same Life Path number, it doesn’t mean they have the same talents and characteristics. Just like there are two sides to every story, there are two sides to every Life Path as well. For example, not all 5’s are non-committal, self-indulgent risk-takers, and not all 7’s are socially awkward loners with narcissistic tendencies.
Remember: You are more than just your Life Path number! To gain a clearer, in-depth perspective about yourself, talents, potential, purpose, behavior, and personality traits, it is important that you delve into your other core numbers as well. Just see your numerological DNA as a multiple-layered rainbow surprise cake; you need more than just flour, just to create this kind of cake. So don’t draw any conclusion based on just one number.
To learn more about the other important personal numbers in numerology, besides your Life Path, click here.
To learn more about Birthday numbers, click here.
Now, click on the images below to read my take on each Life Path Number.
“We all have different faces, characters and names. If God wanted us to be all same, He would have done it. Not to respect the differences, to accuse the others for our faults is not to respect God.”
~ Shams Tabrizi