The portrait zone in the destiny matrix: how to read your day-of-birth arcana

What the portrait zone is in the destiny matrix

In the destiny matrix the portrait of the personality is point A, the left corner of the personal (diagonal) square. The day of birth goes here, and the whole calculation starts from it: the other corners are filled in clockwise. The same point is called the personality point, the business card of the character, the social portrait, and in one book simply the energy of the personality.

The portrait is the mask through which a person shows up in the world. It shapes the first impression when you meet someone and tells others what you are like. Mask does not mean fake here: it is the face you turn to people, and it can play a positive or a negative character in the game of life, depending on whether the energy is in its plus or its minus.

The other side of point A is the set of traits, strong and difficult, that a person arrives with and keeps all life. This is the brightest personal energy in the chart, compared to an engine that drives everything else and seen as leading the other energies. The energies of the matrix do not change during life; what changes is how a person lives them.

That gives the portrait its practical meaning: it is a resource. In hard times you look for the hint in the plus description of your point A arcana. As a rule this energy comes in its plus, but you can lean on it fully only while it shows up positively.

How to find your portrait number and the two points beside it

Point A sits in the far-left circle of the chart, on the horizontal earth line, which runs from it through the centre to point C, the year of birth. Between the corner and the centre lie two small inner points: a2 right next to the corner and a1 closer to the centre. You can only work them out after the centre, so first you find all four corners of the personal square.

1. Write down your day of birth. If it is 22 or less, that is A. If it is 23 to 31, add the digits: 23 → 5, 25 → 7, 29 → 11, 30 → 3, 31 → 4.
2. Find the other corners: B is the month, C is the sum of the digits of the year reduced to 22 or less, D = A + B + C.
3. Work out the centre: E = A + B + C + D, reducing any number above 22 by adding its digits.
4. Find the point next to the centre: a1 = A + E, with the same reduction rule.
5. Find the point next to the corner: a2 = A + a1.
6. Read the three from the big circle towards the centre: A, then a2, then a1. Write the centre E and the month B beside them, because the portrait is read together with both.

The portrait in its plus and in its minus

Every arcana in point A carries both a plus and a minus. The plus is what people value in you from the first meeting and the resource you can return to in any crisis. The minus is the same energy lived through its shadow: the Hierophant lectures instead of teaching, the Lovers depend on other people's opinions, the Wheel of Fortune slides into passivity and waits for others to move first.

While the portrait is in its minus, its potential is limited for now and a person cuts themselves off from their own resource. To judge the state, look at the area the point covers: how do other people see you, and does your usual support still work when things get hard?

Two observations help. The brighter the light side of an arcana, the harder its shadow. And neighbouring arcana are linked: the Empress can slip into the Emperor and back, Temperance into the Devil and back. So the minus of a portrait sometimes looks like traits of the neighbouring number.

A minus is not a verdict. In the logic of the method there is no growth into the plus without the minus. Nothing is fated: any energy can be brought into its plus, but change comes gradually.

The portrait and the centre: the mask and the comfort zone

The centre of the matrix, point E, is the sum of the four corners of the personal square, called the comfort zone and the centre of personal strength. It is what the soul strives for all life, consciously or not, and the energy through which a person deals with society. The portrait covers the first impression and the qualities you came with; the centre covers where you feel at ease and how society reads your character and type of personality.

The two points are linked by arithmetic as well. The inner point a1 is the sum of A and E, so the energy of the portrait and the energy of the centre meet in it. Further along the earth line the Anahata (heart) point is counted from it: E + a1. In this way the portrait reaches the centre through one point in between.

When the centre is in its plus, a person draws energy from it. In its minus they lose their inner core and balance, and it becomes hard to win recognition, reach a high income and get on with people. So the two are read side by side: A is what you came with and how you look to others, E is what pulls you and where you recharge.

The portrait and the month of birth

Point B, the month of birth, sits in the top corner. It is the link with the higher forces, the guardian angel, inspiration and talents, and it is considered the most positive energy in the chart. Some authors tie character only to the day and the month. Another book disagrees: all three energies of the date shape character, and so do the programs that appear in the chart.

A simple way to tell them apart: A is your own support and how you look to others; B is what supports and guides you, what inspires you or drags you down. In a hard moment you look for the hint in the plus of the day and for inspiration in the plus of the month.

A + B gives the top-left corner of the family square, where the father's line starts: the talent through the father's line, given in its plus. On the age scale this point stands for 10 years and point A for birth, age 0, so the portrait is the first energy a person lives through.

Horizontally, point A forms the earth line with point C: A + C. This is the earthly part of the personal purpose, and it describes material life: home, body, money, health and having children.

Worked example: the portrait for 23.06.1992

Point A. The day, 23, is above 22, so A = 2 + 3 = 5, the Hierophant. This is the portrait: a person of rules and traditions, a good speaker and logical thinker who loves to learn and pass knowledge on, with family and raising children at the heart of life. This is how people see them at first meeting and what they lean on in hard times. Five has no separate description for men and women, so it reads the same for both.

The minus of the portrait. The Hierophant in its minus does not teach but lectures, accepts only its own point of view, will not compromise and boxes itself in with its own logic. The first question for this date is how others perceive the person: as a mentor people come to for advice, or as someone who imposes rules.

The centre and the inner points. B = 6, C = 21, D = 5 + 6 + 21 = 32 → 5, centre E = 5 + 6 + 21 + 5 = 37 → 10, the Wheel of Fortune. The point next to the centre is a1 = 5 + 10 = 15, the Devil. The point next to the corner is a2 = 5 + 15 = 20, Judgement. From the big circle the three read 5, 20, 15.

The portrait and the comfort zone. On the outside this person is a Hierophant with rules and knowledge, but they feel at ease in the Wheel of Fortune, when life runs in a lucky flow. In point a1 these two energies meet and give the Devil, 15. Further along the earth line, E + a1 = 10 + 15 = 25 → 7, the Chariot, is the Anahata point.

The parent and child channel. A five in point A speaks of a family where the child was lectured and tied firmly to rules. Judgement in a2 sets forgiveness of parents, children and relatives as the task of these relationships. The Devil in a1 shows where mistakes are likely: harsh criticism for imperfections, manipulation, jealousy. In the general reading of a three-point key: what is happening is 5, why is 15, what it leads to is 20.

The month and time. B = 6, the Lovers: inspiration and support come through love and relationships. A + B = 5 + 6 = 11, Strength, is the top-left corner of the family square and the energy of age 10; the five itself stands at age 0. The earth line is 5 + 21 = 26 → 8. On the health map the physical column repeats the portrait: Sahasrara 5, Ajna 20, Vishuddha 15.

Repeats. The five stands both in point A and in the bottom corner D, and the karmic tail reads 15-20-5, the same numbers as the three points at the day of birth. This mirror means one energy is both the support and the main work, and the lessons of the Hierophant, Judgement and the Devil come double, as does the resource once they are worked through. So here the minus of the portrait comes first: teach by example, stay flexible and accept that your opinion is not the only right one.

The two points beside the day of birth: a2 and a1

The three points A, a2 and a1 are read from the big circle towards the centre and have two roles. The first is the parent and child channel, counted as hidden karma. Point A shows why the soul came to these particular parents and describes the relationship with them. The point next to the corner, a2, is the task of these relationships; one book links it to your own children and to the main task. The point next to the centre, a1, shows the mistakes that can happen with parents and children, and in the same book the relationship with grandchildren.

The tasks of the channel are read from the minus traits of its energies. In the logic of the method, childhood lessons not learned and resentments not let go come back with your own children, only now you are the parent who presses. So the day of birth works in two ways: in its plus as mask and resource, through its minus as the first energy of parent and child karma. The guide to ancestral lines covers this channel in detail.

The second role is a general way to read any key of three energies. The first energy, in the big circle, answers “what is happening?”, the point you get by adding the corner to the centre, a1, answers “why?”, and the remaining one, a2, answers “what does it lead to?”. You start with the minuses and gradually move to what the plus will bring.

What to do when the day-of-birth energy is in its minus

The aim is not to get rid of your day-of-birth arcana but to live it in harmony, turning its shadow side into something constructive. The books suggest this order.

If the energy is not brought into its plus, a person is left without their own resource. But nobody stays in the plus all the time: the state shifts with thoughts, actions, stress and meetings with people.

• Read the plus description of your arcana in point A and write down the qualities you recognise in yourself: that is where you look for a hint in a hard situation.
• Mark the minus traits that have already shown up, and for each one find the opposite plus trait in the description.
• Score from 1 to 10 how fully you live the plus of your portrait right now, and choose one concrete action.
• Look at the neighbouring arcana: part of the minus may turn out to be traits of the next number.
• Check the centre and the a2 and a1 points. If there is a minus there too, work through them together with the portrait.
• Use the practices of the method: a meditation on your code, prayers, affirmations and mantras for the 22 codes. One book also suggests reading your code's message nine times at bedtime, 22 sessions in all, to move the energy into its plus.

The portrait in a man and in a woman

The formula for point A is the same for everyone, and for most arcana the books give one description for both sexes. They note differences where an energy is itself seen as masculine or feminine: the Empress (3) is a purely feminine energy, the Emperor (4) a purely masculine one.

A three in a woman's day of birth gives attractive looks, care for her appearance, a strong sense of social and family status and a knack for drawing strong, caring men; in its minus, bossiness, control over loved ones and children, capriciousness. A man with a three is drawn to female company and home life, understands women well and is usually close to his mother; in its minus, too much softness and hiding from responsibility under a woman's wing. He is advised to raise this energy to masculine qualities and take responsibility without giving up his sensitivity.

A four in a man's day of birth describes a reliable, caring father and husband who does well in his career and business; his risk is control and tyranny. A woman with a four often has to take on men's duties. She is advised to lean consciously on the softer three, or else weak men end up beside her.

For the Lovers (6) in the minus, men tend to play the womaniser and women to fixate on their looks. All other arcana are read the same way for a man and a woman.

Common mistakes when reading the portrait

Most mistakes come from the sums or from reading point A apart from the chart.

• Taking the day of birth without reducing it: point A never holds a number above 22.
• Mixing up a1 and a2: first you count the point next to the centre (A + E), then from it the point next to the corner (A + a1).
• Treating the mask as a lie. The portrait is the real face you show people, not a pretence.
• Reading only the plus or only the minus: every point has both sides, and the state changes.
• Judging the whole chart by point A alone: the portrait is read with the centre, the month and the points beside it.
• Expecting the portrait to change: the energies of the matrix stay the same all life; what changes is how you live them.

Day-of-birth arcana: the portrait for all 22 energies

Below is a short description of each of the 22 arcana in point A. Find yours by your day of birth, reduced to 22 or less, and open the arcana page to read its plus, its minus and its meaning in the other points.