Arcana compatibility calculator

How arcana compatibility works

Arcana compatibility compares two people through tarot numerology. Each of you has an arcana number, a Major Arcana card worked out from your birth date. Add the two together and you get a third card, the couple card. It doesn't describe either of you. It describes what happens between you: the mood of the relationship, what you build together, and the lesson that keeps coming up.

The calculator also looks at the element of each person's card (Fire, Water, Air or Earth). Elements show how your styles meet day to day: whether you speed each other up, calm each other down or rub each other the wrong way.

How to calculate your couple card

1. Find each person's arcana number. Add all eight digits of the birth date. If the total is above 22, add its digits again.
2. Add the two arcana numbers together. If the total is above 22, add its digits. That's your couple card. A result of 22 is the Fool.
3. Compare your elements. Look up the element of each person's card in the table further down.

Worked example. One person was born on March 15, 1990: 0 + 3 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 9 + 9 + 0 = 28, and 2 + 8 = 10, the Wheel of Fortune. The other was born on August 2, 1988: 0 + 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 9 + 8 + 8 = 36, and 3 + 6 = 9, the Hermit. Together, 10 + 9 = 19, the Sun. The Wheel is Fire and the Hermit is Earth, a contrasting pair. Read together: a warm, optimistic bond between a restless person and a reflective one, who will need to agree on a shared pace.

The full method, with every formula on the site, is on the methodology page.

All 20 couple cards and how common they are

Only 20 of the 22 cards can be a couple card (the Magician and the High Priestess never come up). The share column shows how often each card appears across everyone born from 1940 to 2010.

Some couple cards look alarming at first: Death, the Devil, the Tower, the Moon. None of them means a relationship is doomed. In tarot these cards describe intensity and change, and they are among the most common couple cards, so plenty of long, happy couples have them. The useful question for any couple card is not "is this good?" but "what does this ask us to do?"

How to read your couple card

Start with the couple card's theme, then ask three questions:

• What are we good at together? The Empress (3) might point to a home full of comfort and creativity; the Chariot (7) to a couple that gets things done.
• What's the tension? Every card has a shadow. The Emperor (4) can tip into control; the Moon (18) into misunderstandings and things left unsaid.
• What is the relationship asking of us? Temperance (14) asks for patience and compromise; Judgement (20) for frank conversations about what you both want.

Then compare the couple card with your own two cards. If it looks nothing like either of you, the relationship is likely to stretch you both. If it echoes one person's card, that person's style tends to set the tone.

Three more example couples

• July 28, 1992 and November 5, 1994. The first date adds to 38, then 11, Justice (Air). The second adds to 30, then 3, the Empress (Earth). Together 11 + 3 = 14, Temperance. A fair-minded thinker and a warm homemaker, whose bond works through steady give and take.
• April 4, 1991 and September 17, 1993. 28 becomes 10, the Wheel of Fortune (Fire), and 39 becomes 12, the Hanged Man (Water). Together 10 + 12 = 22, the Fool. A couple who keep starting new chapters together, as long as someone checks the map.
• May 19, 1988 and February 27, 1989. 41 becomes 5, the Hierophant (Earth), and 38 becomes 11, Justice (Air). Together 5 + 11 = 16, the Tower. Two principled people, both sure they're right, in a relationship that shakes up old assumptions.

Tarot elements and compatibility

Every Major Arcana card belongs to one of the four elements. Each card sits in one of these groups:

• Same element: you recognize each other fast and share strengths, but you can also share blind spots. Two Fire cards may burn bright and burn out.
• Complementary (Fire with Air, Water with Earth): each feeds the other. Air gives Fire ideas to run with; Earth gives Water a safe place to land.
• Contrasting (any other mix): more friction, more growth. Fire with Water can steam or soothe; Air with Earth can feel like dreamer meets realist. These pairs work best when each person values what the other brings.

Friends, family and business partners

The couple card works for any two people who spend a lot of time together. For friends, read it as the tone of the friendship: a Sun friendship is easy and fun, a Hermit friendship is the one you call for a long talk when something is wrong. For a parent and child, the card often shows what the relationship teaches both of you. For business partners, read the career section of the card's meaning: the Emperor and the Chariot suit a company built on structure and drive, the Empress suits creative work.

What arcana compatibility can and can't tell you

A couple card is a conversation starter, not a verdict. No number can tell you whether a relationship will last. What it can do is give you a shared language: "we're having a Tower week" is easier to say than explaining what feels shaky. Use it to notice your patterns as a pair and to talk about them.

Want more detail? The destiny matrix compatibility calculator builds a full couple chart from both birth dates, and the life path compatibility calculator compares you through numerology.