Name: The Handmaid
Italian Name: Donna di Servizio
Playing Card: 8♦*
Polarity when Upright: Positive
Core Meanings: Money coming in | Offer, Gift | Evolution | Work, Career | Elevation, Nobility, Politeness | A woman from work | Trip
Polarity when Reversed: Negative
Reversed Core Meanings: Money going out | Things not received or taken away | Low value, cheapness, not trustworthy | Altercations, Gossips

Card Description: a well-dressed young woman is about to climb a flight of stairs after having been to the market for some errands.

Suit and Number: The eights in the Sibilla are cards of balance and the reaching of it. In the Eight of Diamonds we have the idea of balance of money, money coming (upright followed by positive cards) and going (reversed, or upright followed by negative cards). It also represents progess toward a better station in life, one that conforms better to the querent’s idea of success.

UPRIGHT 8♦

General: this card has a plethora a meanings and can be overwhelming. In the main it is connected to money, things that are offered or given, and to work. It is also a card of important psychological import, and it can be a face card representing a woman (traditionally with dark hair and/or from another city).

Love and Relationships: when it represents a woman, it does not represent a partner or someone the querent is involved with romantically. Relationships represented by this card tend to be peaceful and solid. They evolve toward a better state or equilibrium. Where there might be strife, this card brings peace. It signifies people who are trustworthy and dependable. It shows people who help the querent, or, more materialistically, who make the querent a gift (or to whom the querent makes a gift).

Work and Money: the Eight of Diamonds can be a secondary significator for the querent’s work life (the primary being the King of Diamonds). It is also the card that tells us where money comes from and where it’s headed. Mostly it shows money coming, but it is connected to the flow of cash in general, so pay attention, because, as the image shows, it is also the card of shopping and expenses. It represents employment, usually under someone else. The career of the querent, in career readings, usually evolves for the better and promotions are possible. It can represent a woman wearing a uniform.

Other: the Handmaid is a card that can signify a visit. It also shows a transition from one phase to another, usually for the better. Psychologically and in character readings, it shows nobility and high-mindedness, but with less favorable cards it can signify being dependent from other people and having inferiority complexes. The card is connected to cities other than the querent’s.

Important Combinations:
8♦ + K♠ = money from the authority
8♦ + 5♠ = end of a difficult phase in life
8♦ + 10♣ + 7♠ = it can be money down the drain due to carelessness
8♦ + 3♦ = a gift, a precious offer
8♦ + A♠R = money coming in repeatedly | it can show two jobs, especially if another job card is present such as the K♦ | working hard but to good effect

REVERSED 8♦R

General: a negative card that shows money going out, things taken from or not granted to the querent, and disagreements.

Love and Relationships: relationships are usually trashy and with people of no real worth. This card represents the bum or the slut your parents warned you not to date. It is the card of squabbles, often useless and just due to being stupid. Often it heralds difficulties with neighbors or family members. There is the definite possibility of being cheated on (or, as not every querent is a saint, of cheating) usually for no serious reason (the person doesn’t suddenly fall deeply in love with another).

Work and Money: money tends to slip through the querent’s hands for whatever reason, either because he is not good at managing it or because he is forced to spend it. Career-wise it shows very low positions at best, not being paid at all at worst, and it is usually not the querent’s dream job.

Other: gossip and slander are other meanings of the card. Psychologically, the reversed Eight of Diamonds is a card of pettiness, silliness in the worst sense, and of being a lowlife individual.

Important Combinations:
8♦R + K♠ = loans or help not granted by the authority | tax season rolls by
8♦R + Q♥U/R or J♥U/R = cheap slutty character (the same is true to an extent of all face cards)
8♥R + 3♦ = a cheap trinket
2♥ + 8♦R = litigiousness at home
J♦R + 8♦R = gossip, slander (also with the Q♠)

Other combinations: Vera Sibilla | Examples of Combinations – The Eights

* in some recent versions, the card is swapped with the 3♦, the Gift card. This is a recent innovation which, I believe, was probably due to a printing error. The change does not hamper readings, but I have chosen to follow the traditional order