Signology adds every digit of your birth date, as Jean Simpson's book does, then the digits of the total until one digit is left, showing any 11, 22 or 33 on the way as a master number. Sites that reduce the month, day and year first can skip the master number, so 11 here may be 2 there.
How Signology works it out
- Signology writes out every digit of your birth date: month, day and all four digits of the year. October to December count as 1 + 0, 1 + 1 and 1 + 2.
- It adds all the digits, then adds the digits of the total until one digit is left.
- If 11, 22 or 33 appears on the way, Signology shows it as your master number and notes the digit it reduces to.
A worked example
For June 26, 1968, Signology adds 6 + 2 + 6 + 1 + 9 + 6 + 8 to get 38, then reduces it: 38 → 11 → 2. A site that reduces the month, day and year first works out 6 + 8 + 6 = 20 → 2, with no master number.
Why another site may show something different
Another common method reduces the month, the day and the year to one digit each, then adds those three. The final digit always matches, but the master number can disappear.
For people born from 1966 to 1991, the two methods differ on about 15 in 100 birthdays. Signology shows a master number for about 1 in 5 people, the reduce-first method for about 1 in 10. Some sites never reduce 11, 22 or 33, so Signology shows the master number and its digit together.
Check it yourself
Add every digit of your birth date, then the digits of the total until one digit is left, noting any 11, 22 or 33. For a reduce-first site, reduce the month, day and year first. Jean Simpson's Numerology: A Beginner's Guide to the Power of Numbers shows the all-digits method.
What tradition links with it
Numerologists read the life path as a theme you return to across a lifetime, from the pioneer's 1 to the humanitarian's 9, and a master number as a stronger form of its digit. One small step this week: read your number's description and note one line that matches how you actually spend your days.
Get a free reading that shows your life path, digit by digit.
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Sources checked on October 4, 2026.