This is not the first time that I compare divination to language. Divination systems *are* a form of language. Each has its own vocabulary, its syntax and its grammar. However, there is more to languages than just these three things (and possibly more, if you are a linguist)

Languages don’t exist in a vacuum. They are spoken concretely by concrete individuals. Each individual has his or her character, quirks, idiosyncrasies, which hugely influence the way they speak.

The Vera Sibilla is notorious for its chatty nature. She is like that old aunt with no sense of personal space who spends the afternoon drinking coffee with her neighbors and spilling tea on others without much in the way of connecting themes. Playing cards, on the other hands, tend to be more sober and to the point. In a way, I find they are easier to interpret, exactly because they are more predictable. Tarot, I find, is also more to the point, although it is more complex in other respects.

Here is an example of the same question asked by the same querent, but answered with the Sibilla first and with playing cards second.

The querent is a young man in his mid-20s we got to know at a friend’s house. He asked if he would find a job.

Important note: this reading started as a three card reading. I had to keep adding cards because, as is often the case, the Sibilla kept giving me quirky details instead of the answer. The first three cards did not contain the answer (if I had tried to answer based on the first three cards, it would have been a no, and I would have been wrong.)

As in a recent reading I posted, the spread stards with the reversed Balcony. This time it’s followed by the reversed Falsehood card and by the reversed Peacock. The first three cards hint at the fact that is awaiting an improvement of his career (reversed Falsehood) that is not coming (reversed Balcony). The reversed Peacock shows both the struggle (it is a card of great obstacles) and the fact that he may be taking things very personally whenever something goes wrong.

Then we have the reversed significator and the reversed Love card. This means two things: firstly, that he is gay (which he confirmed on the spot) and secondly, the reversed Love card flaking the significator together with the reversed Peacock confirms my first intuition that he does take things too personally, maybe as though he were expecting employers to huddle together around him and woo him.

Since it is followed by the Merchant, which is the significator for the querent’s job, it shows again that he has emotional troubles connected with his career. Fortunately, it is followed by the reversed Ten of Clubs, which shows a favorable chance. But this card only shows a chance, not that it will be taken, so I asked the querent to pull two additional cards, and this shows that he will receive a good offer (Present of Jewels) of a part-time job (Happiness).

On to the playing card spread

This one also started out as a three card reading. And it remained one. Change, Union, Part-time job. There will be a change which will lead to a part-time position.

You may say that since we had already answered the question with the Sibilla, playing cards didn’t need to add much. Maybe, but the Sibilla’s chattiness is indeed more pronounced than that of playing cards.

MQS