Your Personal Year cycle runs parallel with the calendar year, from January through December. It alternates in chronological order from 1 through 9 before starting over, each number lasting for exactly one year.
Your Essence cycle is derived from the letters in your name and lasts from birthday to birthday. Essence cycles can run from one year to eighteen years or anything in between. They do not run in chronological order, but rather jump from any one number to another.
You can have an Essence cycle of 7 for the next three years, then switch to a 3 Essence for six years, then a 1 for one year, and so forth, as they track the letters in your name.
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THERE IS A MORE IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE CYCLES
Personal Years feel external, while Essence cycles are internal. Understanding this is crucial and greatly influences the way a chart is read. The Personal Year is affected largely by the changing circumstances around you: events that happen to you, people coming into your life, and so forth. Although Personal Years have a big impact on you as an individual, that impact is caused almost exclusively by what happens outside of you.
Essence cycles work the opposite way; they affect how you feel, your state of mind, your attitude, your sense of optimism or pessimism, your ambition or lack of it, etc. In other words, while the Personal Year cycles work from the outside in, the Essence cycles work from the inside out.
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THIS IS WHERE DUALITIES COME IN
The orderly rhythm of Personal Years, like the bass in a musical piece, carries the more complex and varied composition of your Essence cycles. The sound they make together is what matters. This is where you want to find harmony. Dualities describe the effect of the two cycles at play - how they interact, and how that interaction alters their influence in subtle and not so subtle ways. This helps you find the balance and synchronization you need to get the most out your present cycle(s).
For example, if you are in a 1 Personal Year and your Essence is 7, your Duality is 1 and 7. The 1’s need to push forward ambitiously is greatly tempered by the withdrawn, slow but deliberate influence of the 7. But if your Essence cycle changes to an 8 on your birthday, say in May of the same year, your Duality becomes 1 and 8 – a completely different forecast. Now the driven energy of your 1 Personal Year is supported and enhanced by an almost equally driven and goal-oriented 8. The influence of your 1 Personal Year changes from being restrained by the 7 to being empowered by the 8. The same Personal Year, yet two completely different influences.
The importance of the Dualities can’t be overestimated, which is why I spent the better part of a year adding Dualities to the yearly forecast. You can view sample Dualities and how they are used in your forecast..
There are eighty-one Dualities, beginning with a 1 Personal Year and 1 Essence, then 1 Personal Year and 2 Essence, and so on, up to a 9 Personal Year during a 9 Essence.
Dualities are the most telling of any aspect in your progressive chart. You can have two or three Dualities during any 12-month period. See the chart below.
From Numerology Questions - a Dear Hans column:
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Monica asks if the fact she has conflicting cycles in her chart is the reason she had such a challenging early part of life.
Dear Hans,
My name is Monica ... and I was born on 10/.... I have found myself with an extremely challenging life since child hood and I am not sure why. There does not seem to be much reason for it in the numerology reading I got from your site.
It does seem that my expression number and personality number are both 13/4. I was wondering what implications this has for me. Will my life start to get better or even successful at any point?
Monica
Hello Monica,
There are definitely some issues with your chart, as there are some dualities, but the Karmic 13/4 is not the problem. All that means, is that you will have an active, productive life. It does, however, frustrate you due to the slow and sometimes apparently unbalanced ratio of effort and reward, and your mental and emotional need to be always active.
The reasons your life has been less than smooth and easy since childhood, is mostly due to the conflicting long-term cycles. Your Period cycles are always 1. There are three of them, each spanning about 30 years, and all three are ruled by the 1. That by itself is not an obstacle. Quite the opposite. What it means is that, from the day you were born, you have been on a fast track to gaining independence and personal empowerment. You have found yourself over and over again, in situations where you had to rely on your own skills and strength to make it to the next face.
Your four Pinnacle cycles, on the other hand, are 2, 2, 4, and another 2. Your First Pinnacle lasts until age 33, and is a 2. The Second Pinnacle is another 2 and lasts from 33 through 42. Your Third Pinnacle cycle is a 4, and lasts from 42 through 51. When Your Fourth Pinnacle cycle, in place until you leave this body, comes into play it is another 2.
Again, by themselves, the number 2 Pinnacles are not a problem. The trouble is that they run parallel with their immediate opposite, the 1 Period cycles.
The 2 is all about cooperation, tact, diplomacy, feminine resilience, manipulation, gentleness, and so forth. The exact opposite of the masculine, confrontational 1.
Think of it this way. One part of you, the part that guides the path of your personal evolution, toward maturity and beyond, is driven by a warrior-like, masculine force, a formidable fighting power. One that is not afraid to butt heads, take the lead, and force issues.
The other part, the one that delivers what can best be described as motivation and opportunities, is controlled by the gentle force of feminine power, love, care, empathy, etc.
There is a conflict between those two energies, and your job is to become comfortable with both, find a balance, and use them to your advantage. This is easier said than done, and most people with conflicting cycles need time to learn how to do this. The first cycle is always the hardest, as you are young, inexperienced, and not yet able to see the larger picture. Everything is direct and immediate, and life is all about responding, often impulsively.
There are other aspects in your chart that will help you with that. The high number of 3s in your chart, helps you not only to communicate, but to clarify things for yourself. They also bring a deep sense of optimism to the table, even if you don't always feel that way. You tend to see the light at the end of the tunnel quicker than most of us.
The 13/4, although a Karmic Debt number (or perhaps because it is a Karmic number) will help you keep up the effort, pushing forward, and keeping your eye on the ball.
Monica, I can tell you that the strain these two cycles put on each other significantly decreases over time, as you learn, with every trial and error, to make those cycles support each other, as opposed to push against each other.
And here is the good news: Once you reach that stage, they become powerful assets. No more intimidating and prevailing force than the combined energies of male and female, masculine and feminine, Yang and Yin.
This process is gradual, but certain moments stand out. Around age 33/34, your faith and confidence in yourself jumps, a prerequisite to balancing those cycles. Age 42 is your breakthrough year. After that, it is relatively smooth sailing.
I know, that seems like ages from now, but remember, the process is gradual. You will see improvements every year.
Hans Decoz
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