AUTHOR’S NOTE: Welcome to geek world! Here is an oddball notion that may appeal to the numerologically-inclined tarotist. It aligns with my earlier exploration of the “numerical essence” concept but with a couple of twists. For context, see my previous posts on that subject and the “quintessence” calculation.
When discussing the particulars of telepathic research in his book Supernormal, parapsychologist Dean Radin mentions using a numerological convention to select cognitive targets for one of his “psi” experiments. The idea was to guarantee randomness and thereby eliminate potential manipulation of the results. In his own words, he directed his subjects to:
“. . . think of any number, at random, from 1 to 10, then multiply that number by 9. If the resulting number is two digits add the digits together and then subtract 5. (You [i.e. the reader] should try this too, to see what happens.)”
The act of summing the digits of a compound number to produce a single integer is a key step in the esoteric tarot practice known as “Theosophical reduction.” Its purpose is to generate a numerical aggregate (always a single trump card) from the series of cards in a spread by totaling their face values and consolidating the digits as needed. (In French cartomancy this is the “quintessence” – the fifth expression or distillation of a four-card tirage en croix.) Similarly, the number 9 is of great importance in the reductive process of “casting out nines” or subtracting as many increments of nine as necessary from a multi-digit number to attain a single digit.* Finally, the multiplication step is similar to the mathematical operation performed by Tarot de Marseille author Paul Marteau that I described in a previous essay, “Numerological Counterparts by Multiplication” (linked below).
The new wrinkles here are: 1) multiplying the number derived from the first numerological synthesis by 9 and once again reducing the outcome to a composite value if necessary; and 2) subtracting the number 5 from the result of the the second iteration. From an interpretive standpoint, I can see this final decrement by 5 as “rescuing” the second trump card by liberating it from the scrupulous, hidebound conformity of the Hierophant. As a non-religious iconoclast and life-long establishment critic I’ve always disliked the priesthood, so good riddance! Another benefit is that it enables receiving zero or “five-minus-five” (the Fool) as the summary “essence” of the reading, or even a negative number that can be construed as a reversed trump card, with all that entails.
This routine comes across as being more difficult than it proves to be in practice. There are four steps:
- Perform the numerical step-down calculation for the cards in the original spread to come up with a number from 1 to 9 by Theosophical reduction or from 10 to 21 by “casting out nines.”
- Multiply that number by 9.
- Reduce the result once again to a value that falls within 1 to 9 or 10 to 21 depending on the method used.
- Subtract 5 from the second calculation. The associated trump card will be the “diminished” essence card.
Although 9 is a significant number in numerological reasoning as a kind of “universal solvent,” Radin gives no justification for the decrease by 5. Beyond the fact that it is a disruptive number in Hermetic Qabalism, I like my own rationale for scrubbing the sanctimonious Hierophant from the script: “Dump that chump!” But we could select any other trump card from the Magician to the Hermit and remove that quality from the equation, biasing the outcome for the purpose of experimentation (consider it a “controlled variable” that shifts the focus of the advice).
By way of example, suppose the initial “essence” calculation gives us “1” by Theosophical reduction. We would normally take the Magician as our essence card. When we multiply 1 by 9 we come up with “9,” the Hermit, with no need to reduce further. If we then subtract 5, we land on the Emperor. By banishing the ethical constraints of the Hierophant (the clerical arm of patriarchal governance), what was at first a state of contemplative isolation in the Hermit becomes an authoritarian quest for power in the Emperor (dominion’s “law-and-order” branch), making for a very different outlook on the situation. Depending on the context of the question or topic of interest, one might be more desirable than the other, but certainly there will be no spiritual counterbalance for any autocratic overreach by the secular Emperor assuming the Hermit has “passed the baton” and gone back to his cave.
As Radin suggests (but with a different goal in mind), you as an adventurous tarot reader should try this too and see what happens. It might even enable trading the Hanged Man, Death, the Devil or the Tower for something more salutary in the way of a roll-up card (but not the Moon since18 becomes 13 [Death] by subtracting 5, so there is no relief to be found in that direction).
*Note that with casting out nines, in the first reduction we don’t have to diminish the sum all the way to a single digit but can stop at the first or second two-digit number below 22. This will not affect performance of the multiplication and secondary reduction steps, and it should yield the same essence card when fully reduced. (In the example it could have been either 19, the Sun, or 10, the Wheel of Fortune, with a mathematical product of 189 in the first instance and 90 in the second, both reducing to “9,” the Hermit, and to “4,” the Emperor, after subtracting 5.
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