Theresa Cheung – The Element Encyclopedia of Birthdays (страница 8)
Sagittarius
(November 22 to December 21)
The ninth sign of the Zodiac is a fire sign ruled by Jupiter. The symbol for Sagittarius is the archer. Those born under Sagittarius tend to be unconventional and idealistic, and open minded would be a good word to describe them. They can be visionary and spiritually minded but they can also be reckless and ruthless.
Capricorn
(December 22 to January 19)
The tenth sign of the Zodiac is an earth sign ruled by Saturn. The symbol for Capricorn is the goat. Capricorn natives are often persistent and cautious, and steady would be a good word to describe them. They can be self-disciplined, stable and warm hearted but they can also be inflexible and mean at times.
Aquarius
(January 20 to February 18)
The eleventh sign of the Zodiac is an air sign ruled by Saturn and Uranus. The symbol of Aquarius is the water carrier. Aquarians are often idealistic, intellectual and unconventional, and a good word to describe them would be independent. They can be generous and altruistic but can also be unpredictable and emotionally detached.
Pisces
(February 19 to March 20)
The twelfth sign of the Zodiac is a water sign ruled by the planets Jupiter and Neptune. The symbol for Pisces is two fish. Pisceans can be intuitive and creative, and imaginative would be a good word to describe them. They can also be highly spiritual but they can also be dreamy, impractical and impressionable at times.
A brief introduction to numerology
Numerology assigns characteristics to the cosmic combinations of the digits 1 to 9, suggesting traits and weaknesses for every day of the year. It is based on the concept that the universe is mathematically constructed and the vibrational energy of people, places and things can be expressed through numbers. By reducing birth dates and names to numbers a person’s personality and destiny can, allegedly, be determined.
Although numerology probably has its origins in ancient Babylonia and among the early Hebrews, and many different numerology systems have been used in different parts of the world, numerology is most often associated with the fifth-century BC Greek mathematician and philosopher, Pythagoras. Pythagoras believed that there were mathematical connections between the gods, men and numbers that could be codified and if certain number patterns appeared they could be used to predict the fate of a person. According to Pythagoras, numbers were the source of energy in the world and the numbers 1 to 9 represent the nine stages of life. He is quoted as having said, "The world is built upon the power of numbers."
In numerology all numbers are reduced to a number between 1 and 9 and each number is also associated with a letter of the alphabet. Any larger number than 9 can be reduced to a single digit by adding all the digits together; for example, the number 123 becomes 1 = 2 = 3 = 6. The qualities of 123 are therefore equivalent to the symbolic number 6. Using the single digits as a guide, the patterns of different dates and a person’s name can be analyzed to define character and predict the future. Briefly, the numbers 1 to 9 represent:
1 Independent, creative, ambitious, extrovert
Downside: can be selfish with tunnel vision
2 Sensitive, domestic, imaginative, musical
Downside: can be timid and gullible
3 Scientific, powerful, knowledgeable, multi-talented
Downside: can be superficial and hedonistic
4 Practical, stable, honest, trustworthy
Downside: can be stubborn and overly serious
5 Energetic, sensual, daring, flirtatious
Downside: can find it hard to commit
6 Perfectionist, creative, artistic, compassionate
Downside: can be supersensitive and overemotional
7 Intellectual, philosophical, imaginative, intuitive
Downside: can be impractical and secretive
8 Practical, just, trustworthy, powerful
Downside: can be opinionated, impatient and intolerant
9 Spiritual, humanitarian, visionary and healer
Downside: can be self-serving, possessive and volatile
What astrology does through stars and Sun signs, numerology does through numbers. Like astrology, numerology is a symbolic system and one of the many tools we can use to understand ourselves and our life purpose better. Just as astrologers believe no one sign is better than another, numerologists believe no number is better or worse than any other. All the numbers have potential as well as a downside. The downside simply suggests challenges associated with this number; if these challenges can be faced and overcome, they can be a source of incredible strength.
In this book we will focus particularly on the qualitative interpretations of numbers in relation to a person’s date of birth. In numerology, your date of birth is thought to have a permanent influence on your life. Although you grow older and may change your name, your birth date number (for example, if you were born April 17 your birth date number is 1 + 7 = 8) always remains constant.
A brief introduction to Tarot
Your birth sign and your birth date number are also associated with specific Tarot cards.
Although the true origins of Tarot cards are unknown and may date back to ancient Egypt, the Tarot cards that we know today were created in Italy during the fifteenth century. The Tarot deck consists of seventy-eight cards in total, comprising the twenty-two major arcana cards which the nineteenth-century French occultist Eliphas Levi saw as having symbolic links to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the fifty-six minor arcana cards which are divided into four suits: wands, representing the element of fire; swords, the element of air; cups, the element of water; and pentacles, the element of earth. Many versions of the Tarot deck are in use today but most are based on the Rider—Waite deck designed by Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith in 1910.
Although each minor arcana card has a divinatory meaning, the major arcana cards are of greater significance in this book because they represent both archetypal symbols and the quest for self-knowledge. Their meanings are briefly summarized below:
The Fool: represents the divine child, one who is completely trusting of God. The Fool is beginning a journey and has no idea where it will lead, but is peaceful and content, and is living from his heart.
The Magician: represents creative power and having many options. Called the Magus in other Tarot decks, the Magician has access to all four elements of the Tarot to manifest the divine work he has come to earth to achieve.
The High Priestess: represents the psychic self, intuition, dreams and developing one’s inner spiritual intuition.
The Empress: represents the ability to adapt and flow according to the needs of the moment.
The Emperor: is the balance to the Empress and represents work, money, grounding, and the ability to fully manifest on the material plane.
The Hierophant: a symbol of one’s own inner spiritual authority, also known as your Higher Self. It’s also a compilation of the previous four cards, synthesizing these initial stages of spiritual growth on a new level.
The Lovers: represent the awareness of opposites, the relationship between opposites, and the ability to balance what appear to be different aspects of the self.
The Chariot: represents an alignment of your personal will with the divine will, and the transformation of the personal self toward a more planetary consciousness.
Justice: represents a karmic rebalancing process, so what has been out of harmony within your consciousness will be brought into a proper relationship with God’s love.
The Hermit: represents a time when the soul must learn to walk alone through darkness, guided by God and the inner light of spirit.
The Wheel of Fortune: represents a time of awakening to the awareness of one’s own destiny and soul purpose.
Strength: represents the integration between the higher and lower self. This card is sometimes interpreted as the learning process of seeing yourself as capable of having what you want.
The Hanged Man: this card represents a deep spiritual surrender where all is given to God. The process of surrender turns the soul "upside down," so that life and God can be experienced from a new perspective.
Death: represents a letting-go process related to old emotional patterns, especially in relationships.
Temperance: a card of integration, transformation and alchemy, representing the transformation of opposites into a new element.
The Devil: represents the awareness of one’s own negativity and darkness, and can also represent an encounter with negative energies.
The Tower: represents the shattering of illusion and the shattering of an old structure, which can be either a personality structure or a physical one.
The Star: represents divine spiritual healing and an opening to the higher dimension of light. This was made possible through the previous lessons which released the soul from illusion.