The eights in cartomancy with playing cards represent people, consciousness/conscience and the concept of time. They show how we relate to other people and how we interact with them. In studying other systems of cartomancy, I’ve been struck by how similar my approach to the Eights is to the hedgewytchery system. Look it up for a comparison. I also find them quite similar to the eights of the Sibilla.

The Eight of Hearts is the card of cheerfulness. It represents optimism, satisfaction, good outcomes and the gathering of people to celebrate, public holidays, etc. It represents things done with a positive intent in mind, positive thinking in general, honesty, choosing the high road. It is also a flirtatious card and it is connected with watery places, possibly because in Italy people tend to turn flirtatious during the summer months while tanning on the beach (this card is somewhat similar to the Hope card in the Vera Sibilla). Broadly, it symbolizes peace. It is connected with relatives and with people taking an interest in the querent, as well as to the clergy.

The Eight of Clubs is representative of working people, the “common folk”, although more specifically it relates to the peasantry, and by extension it signifies work. There are other cards that can signify employment (Three, Seven, Eight of Diamonds, for instance) but in the case of the Eight of Clubs, work is seen as how people who don’t have the luxury of wasting the day sitting on their hands or soapboxing on Twitter spend their time. The card is connected to the fields and to the countryside. It is also the card of things done according to a plan or knowing full well what their consequences are, for better or worse.

The Eight of Diamonds is the card of business. It’s all things that bring in money or we invest money in. Because this card signifies where money comes from and where it is headed (compare to the Eight of Diamonds in the Sibilla), and because for most people money comes from working, this is another possible work card. It represents financial markets, banks and the bourgeoisie, as well as the city as an environment (usually not the querent’s city, though). The card represents investments, savings, transactions etc. depending on where it falls. It shows concerns with money and can imply aridity or ulterior motives, or, more neutrally, thinking about yourself and about your “business”.

The Eight of Spades is the card of tears. It represents the falling through of plans and the shattering of hopes and desperation in general. But this is also a card of negative thoughts, and of things done with the intent to hurt. Ill-will and malice are indicated. It can represent difficulties with other people, interpersonal trouble. It also has a connection with groups of spade-like people, such as armies, juries, medical teams, adjudicating boards, committees and all those situations where there are people who have the querent by the balls (in war it would represent a siege). The card is connected to isolated places in general.