Our methods

How our readings work

A clear account of what Whisper calculates, what it draws, and where we simplify.

Inventory 1.1 · Reviewed October 23, 2026

Daily voices derive themes from dates and, where supported, birth details. Some use calendar or astronomical calculations; others are explicitly Whisper’s symbolic adaptations.

Interactive rituals make a new random draw or cast, then save it. Their card, stone, and stalk gestures reveal that result. These are different experiences, even when they share a name.

The fifteen Daily voices

Open a method to see its inputs, calculation, and present limits. The same inputs and reading date give the same underlying Daily signals within a calculation version; wording can vary.

Western AstrologyAstronomical calculation with a date-only fallback

Inputs: Birth date and reading date; birth time, timezone, and coordinates when available.
How it works: Uses tropical signs. With a resolved birth instant, Astronomy Engine calculates natal Sun and Moon; location enables the Ascendant. Daily themes compare natal signs with the reading date’s Sun sign.
Current scope: Date-only readings use calendar Sun-sign boundaries and omit unresolved Moon or Rising points. Daily comparisons use sign, element, and modality relationships, rather than a complete transit chart or degree-based aspects.
Implementation version: western_v3western_astronomy_2.1.19_v1

NumerologyDate calculation

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Life Path reduces the sum of all birth-date digits. Personal Year reduces birth month + birth day + the reading year’s digit sum; Personal Month adds the reading month, and Personal Day adds the reading day. Reduction preserves 11, 22, and 33.
Current scope: This is the digit-sum convention implemented in Whisper; other schools reduce date components differently. This Daily reading does not calculate name-based numbers. A reveal animation does not change the calculated number.
Implementation version: numerology_v1

BaZi (Four Pillars)Calendar calculation

Inputs: Birth date and reading date; local birth time and timezone when known.
How it works: Uses lunar-typescript for year, month, day, and optional hour pillars. Resolved birth instants use the Shanghai calendar clock for exact solar-term year/month boundaries; day and hour pillars follow local civil time. Daily themes compare the natal Day Master with the reading day’s stem.
Current scope: Unknown time uses noon for calendar evaluation and omits the hour pillar. Missing timezone leaves boundary approximations. Day rollover is civil midnight, with no true-solar-time correction. Daily interpretation groups the Ten Gods into five relationships; it does not provide full strength analysis, useful gods, or luck cycles.
Implementation version: bazi_calendar_v3_lunar_1.8.6

Zi Wei Dou ShuWhisper date-based symbolic theme

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Stable date hashes select natal and daily symbolic anchors from fourteen major stars. Whisper compares their positions in its ordered star list.
Current scope: The current Daily voice is a symbolic adaptation. It does not construct the traditional twelve-palace natal chart or calculate flying stars and four transformations. Separate natal-chart code does not make this Daily voice a full chart reading.
Implementation version: ziwei_v1

Vedic AstrologyAstronomical positions with an approximate Lahiri ayanamsa

Inputs: Birth date and reading date; local birth time, timezone, and location when available.
How it works: Shares Astronomy Engine Sun and Moon positions with standalone Nakshatra. A J2000 Lahiri anchor, IAU 2006 precession, and nutation correction give approximate sidereal positions for lunar mansion, pada, Mahadasha, daily tithi, yoga, and Tara relationships.
Current scope: Supported birth years are 1900–2100. This is an explicitly approximate ayanamsa, not Swiss Ephemeris. Missing time uses local noon; missing timezone uses UTC unless it can be inferred from coordinates. Unknown birth time can change the birth mansion, pada, and dasha, and omits Lagna. Small astronomical differences can change labels near boundaries. This is not a complete Jyotish consultation.
Implementation version: vedic_v2sidereal_astronomy_lahiri_v1

NakshatraShared sidereal lunar positions and ninefold Tara cycle

Inputs: Birth date and reading date; the same optional birth time, timezone, and location as Vedic.
How it works: Uses the same Moon longitude and twenty-seven mansion boundaries as Vedic. Birth and daily mansions are compared through the ninefold Tara cycle. The old fixed-date average lunar cycle and seven-phase interpretation are no longer used.
Current scope: Shares the approximate Lahiri ayanamsa and 1900–2100 birth-year range described above. Unknown time uses local noon, so its mansion can change during the birth date. Japanese names are a display crosswalk, not a separate Shukuyo calendar or compatibility engine.
Implementation version: nakshatra_v2sidereal_astronomy_lahiri_v1

TarotWhisper date-based symbolic theme

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Maps the birth-date Life Path to a Major Arcana anchor and selects the daily card through a stable birth-date/reading-date hash from twenty-two Major Arcana.
Current scope: This Daily card is a repeatable date assignment, not a shuffled draw. It has no Minor Arcana or reversed cards. The interactive Tarot ritual below uses a separate random selection.
Implementation version: tarot_v1

Nine Star KiSimplified calendar cycle

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Calculates a birth-year star using a February 4 boundary, a birth-month star using the sixth as each month’s boundary, and a daily star by counting backward from star 3 on January 1, 2024. Relationships use five-element categories.
Current scope: Fixed boundaries approximate solar terms. The daily sequence does not implement a complete seasonal yin/yang switching calendar, directional charts, or travel-date selection.
Implementation version: nine_star_v2

Chinese ZodiacSimplified stem-and-branch cycle

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Assigns birth-year stems and branches, treating January births as the previous year. Daily stems and branches advance from a fixed January 1, 2024 reference, with selected branch relationship categories.
Current scope: The January-only adjustment does not calculate the actual Lunar New Year date. This is a simplified zodiac comparison, separate from the BaZi calendar engine.
Implementation version: chinese_z_v2

Norse RunesWhisper date-based symbolic theme

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Stable date hashes assign birth and daily symbols from the twenty-four Elder Futhark runes. Whisper’s thematic groups supply the relationship.
Current scope: Birth-rune assignments and thematic comparisons are Whisper adaptations, not a historical casting procedure. This Daily voice has no reversed or blank rune. The interactive ritual below uses a separate random draw.
Implementation version: runes_v2

I ChingWhisper date-based symbolic theme

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Date hashes assign birth and daily hexagram themes from the sixty-four hexagrams in King Wen order.
Current scope: This Daily voice does not cast six lines or produce changing lines. The interactive yarrow-inspired ritual below is a separate method.
Implementation version: iching_v1

Mayan TzolkinClassic 260-day calendar correlation

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Converts dates to Julian day numbers using GMT correlation 584283, with 4 Ajaw as the epoch phase. Maps the repeating 260-day cycle to twenty day names and thirteen number coefficients. December 21, 2012 resolves to 4 Ahau (Ajaw).
Current scope: Uses one stated correlation and classic sign ordering, not the modern Dreamspell system. Symbolic readings are Whisper interpretations; this does not reproduce every living Maya tradition or a complete calendrical consultation. The Aztec voice retains its separately documented legacy mapping.
Implementation version: mayan_v2

Aztec TonalpohualliSymbolic overlay on a shared 260-day cycle

Inputs: Birth date and reading date.
How it works: Reuses the same 260-day index as Whisper’s Mayan voice, with Aztec day names and corresponding symbolic themes.
Current scope: This is not an independently reconstructed or historically verified Aztec calendar correlation. The shared date reference is an implementation simplification.
Implementation version: aztec_v1

Celtic TreesModern tree-calendar interpretation

Inputs: Birth month/day and reading month/day.
How it works: Uses thirteen tree-calendar date ranges, then compares tree, element, adjacency, and seasonal themes.
Current scope: This is a modern tree-calendar interpretation associated with Robert Graves, rather than a verified ancient Celtic birth-chart system.
Implementation version: celtic_v1

Indian NumerologySimplified planetary numerology

Inputs: Birth date and reading month/day.
How it works: Driver reduces the birth day to 1–9; Conductor reduces all birth-date digits to 1–9. Personal Day reduces Conductor + reading month + reading day. Numbers map to planetary associations and a fixed friendship table.
Current scope: This Cheiro-style adaptation does not preserve master numbers and does not add the reading year to Personal Day. It is distinct from Whisper’s Numerology voice and does not cover every Indian numerology school.
Implementation version: indian_num_v1

The interactive rituals

Tarot, Runes, and I Ching are currently available. Reopening a saved ritual keeps its original result; an animation or a follow-up question does not draw again.

TarotOne random card

Inputs: A new daily ritual; birth details are not used to choose the card.
How it works: The server selects uniformly from twenty-two Major Arcana using cryptographic randomness. The chosen card and its authored reflection are saved.
Current scope: Upright Major Arcana only; no seventy-eight-card deck, reversals, or multi-card spread. Choosing a face-down card starts the draw; its screen position does not determine the result.
Implementation version: daily_tarot_v1

RunesOne random Elder Futhark rune

Inputs: A new daily ritual; birth details are not used to choose the rune.
How it works: The server selects uniformly from twenty-four Elder Futhark runes using cryptographic randomness, then saves the rune and its authored basic reading.
Current scope: A modern single-rune reflective draw, without a blank rune, reversals, or a multi-stone layout. The six stones are an invitation to draw; screen position and the flip animation do not change the selection. This path does not yet store a dedicated method-version field.
Implementation version: Unversioned method · documented in this inventory as of October 23, 2026.

I ChingSimplified yarrow-inspired six-line cast

Inputs: A new daily ritual; birth details are not used to cast the lines.
How it works: The server samples six lines with weights 6/7/8/9 = 1/5/7/3 out of 16. Lines build from bottom to top; 6 and 9 change. The cast resolves to a King Wen hexagram and, only when lines change, a relating hexagram.
Current scope: The stalk-dividing interaction reveals an already saved cast. It samples yarrow-method probabilities rather than simulating the full historical stalk-counting procedure. Hexagram reflections and changing-line positional prompts are original prose, not translations of classical judgments or individual line texts.
Implementation version: iching_yarrow_v1

The symbols and the words

Calculations and random draws determine the underlying symbols. AI does not select the card, rune, or six-line cast.

Daily messages can use AI to turn calculated signals into a personal reflection. The three rituals’ basic readings use authored text without a new AI call. Premium’s Ask Whisper uses AI to relate a saved reading to your question and conversation.

Interpretations are Whisper’s reflective writing, rather than a claim that every tradition or practitioner uses the same meanings. Readings are for reflection and entertainment. See our Terms of Use.

Versions and updates

This inventory describes the implementation reviewed on the date above. Version labels identify calculation paths, not levels of certainty. Different traditions and schools can produce different results.

When we revise a method, we will update its scope and record the change here. Calculation changes and changes to interpretive wording are tracked separately. Saved ritual snapshots retain their original results and text; they are not silently recast.

October 23, 2026 · Inventory 1.1
New Daily results use input-scoped caches, shared astronomical Vedic/Nakshatra lunar positions with an explicitly approximate Lahiri ayanamsa and ninefold Tara, and the corrected classic Tzolkin epoch phase. Existing saved ritual and purchased report snapshots are not recast or regenerated.
October 23, 2026 · Inventory 1.0
First published implementation inventory: fifteen Daily voices and three interactive rituals. Records existing calculation identifiers and current limitations; this documentation release does not change a calculation or redraw saved rituals.