Numerology and Tarot

Okay, this is a new concept/practice for me.  I've seen that a lot of people use numerology to help give depth to readings.  The only numerology I really could recall was the kind that became popular when I was a kid, when you'd calculate the assigned numbers to each letter in your first name, and see what kind of person you were supposed to be.  It always seemed like silly nonsense.

But since it seems like a widely used and respected practice with Tarot, I wanted to explore it.  Last night I calculated the personality/soul/shadow cards for my entire family (husband and kids, mother/step-father, siblings) and was kind of blown away by how perfect it all was.  When I saw the constellations for my mom and step-dad I actually laughed out loud, because it explained exactly the ways in which they mesh, and the ways in which they clash.

So that is something that would be interesting to use in the future.

Image from Creative Commons

Also, it seems that depending on those constellations, if one of those cards appears in a spread for someone, it may carry extra meaning.  So that's something to consider.

Additionally, I like the idea of counting the quantity of "numbers" that appear in a spread (how many 6s, how many 2s, etc) to help give an extra sense of the overall underflow of a situation.  That makes sense to me.  I already pay attention to the quantity of suits/elements present in a spread to help understand how that impacts a situation, or environment, but adding numbers adds an extra dimension.  And, yes.... still working on elemental dignities.  At this point I feel like it's easiest for me to make sense of in a 3-card spread, which is how it usually appears in websites.  I really have no clue as to how to use them in something big, like a Celtic Cross.  So - work in progress!