1

Life Path is a modern label. Balliett in 1905 wrote of the birth-path, Walton in 1914 of the Birth Number and Cheasley in 1916 of the Path of Life, all for a sum built from month, day and year. Cheasley's sample date, August 28, 1891, lands on 1: the month is 8, the day and the year each come down to 1, and 8 + 1 + 1 = 10, which makes 1.

Cheasley titled this number Creation and tied it to self-reliance and the faculties of a pioneer. Balliett saw a nature able to create and govern, on one condition: it first had to overcome itself. Walton praised its boldness and then called it petulant and self-centered, with a narrow field of view. Sepharial's three words from 1911 belong to a separate scheme and lean toward appetite.

Modern popular books keep the pioneer and attach a pair of cautions, stubbornness and trouble accepting help. Everyone born on a given date shares this figure, so it describes a type at best. A small test is to recall the last time someone offered to help and what happened to the offer.