The Vera Sibilla tradition is steeped in combinations that are handed down in specific order. These combinations are important, but to understand them, you need to keep in mind that, in the olden days, at least in Italy, you would simply sit in front of the fortune teller and he or she would tell you your general future, sometimes covering your whole life. In this context, the traditional combinations are highly effective. Divination is not about numbers, but if I had to put a number to it, I would say that, in a questionless reading, classic combos are around 70 – 80% accurate.

Combinations are also an extremely valid learning tool, as you let your brain wrap itself around the deck and its language, just as it’s useful when you are very little and your parents teach you specific turns of phrases that tend to have always the same meaning. Over the years, however, you learn to create variations on the theme and you develop a more plastic language that is also more adaptable to all circumstances.

Let’s take this recent reading example. A friend of ours told his parents that he won’t be able to visit for Christmas (they live in Scheswig-Holstein, in Northern Germany, while we live in Rheinland-Pfalz, in the South-West). His mother sounded cheerful on the telephone, but he asked how she had taken the news. These cards came up:

If you were to interpret these cards according to traditional combinations, you would say something to the effect of: you need to stay away from your mother (Person card reversed next to the Three of Hearts reversed) because she is a scheming bitch (Seven of Hearts reversed)

But let us take a deeper look at the cards. The Balcony card, when upright, represents the arrival of someone or something. When reversed, often it shows waiting in vain. This implies that the mother was expecting her son to visit.

Next to the mother we have the Scholar reversed. In addition to plotting and scheming, this card also shows plans that don’t come to fruition, so we can say she was planning the Christmas together. But there is more. It is also the card of illusion and a sense of futility and sterility. To choose the appropriate meaning, let us look at the central card, the Queen of Hearts reversed.

The mother could have safely come up as the Queen of Diamonds, the Wife or Married Woman. It is crucial to understand, though, that the Queen of Diamonds is essentially attached to her roles in life, rather than to feelings. This doesn’t mean she is evil or a bad mother, only that she fulfills her role primarily because it’s her role.

The Queen of Hearts, the Girlfriend, on the other hand, is essentially a loving person, one who follows her heart and who has love to give. Coming up reversed, she finds herself frustrated in this aspect.

Knowing this, let us go back to the Scholar. In this case, it must represent futility as well all the other stuff. She feels sterile and futile as a mother.

We also need to consider that we have three out of three Heart cards, all three reversed. This shows that clearly she longs for a connection she doesn’t have. Probably not the most stable person, emotionally speaking, but not the dangerous, scheming woman that you would see in the cards according to usual combinations.

MQS