Living at the intersection of occultism, fiction and philosophy, I travel the planes at a moderately quick pace. I read, I do magic, I cook for hubby. Confused by the number of things I talk about? Good, confusion is a nice thing ;)
In my enthusiasm, I twirled the gun so quickly it flew off my hand and a laser shot hit my wristwatch. I retrieved it gingerly. The doors opened, and I finally met my commissioner.
I consider myself unprincipled. You pay me, you get results. But before me was something not merely alien, but inhuman. “Welcome, Mr. Long,” it said through countless foetid mouths, stretching scaly arms toward the gun. Chink. Chink. My eyes fell on the dozens of wristwatches that were heaping on the floor.
I pointed the gun toward myself. Shortly after, thousands of Mr. Longs left the spaceship.
It’s not just about love. Playing cards (and any other oracle) can be used to identify people, find lost objects and animals and many other things. Unfortunately, this type of reading is extremely complex, and I have a less than stellar track record in this regard (as opposed to the lady who taught me, who was sort of known for finding lost rings and describing thieves)
The reason for the difficulty is that the world’s complexity is almost endless, and we only have a limited number of cards at our disposal, so that there is always a need for combining card meanings in new and clever ways to signify everything. One of the subjects I want to touch on in a next article on the philosophy of divination is exactly the fact that the limits of our imaginations can also be the limits of our ability to make predictions.
Furthermore, the language of the cards is otherworldly, at least as far as making predictions is concerned, so that the oracle will not necessarily answer the question in a linear form that is readily understood. This is why my error rate by people descriptions and by finding lost items tends to be higher than in other readings. Sometimes I can’t so much as make sense of one of the cards, let alone the whole composition.
There is, however, a reading I want to share because of how clear the cards were, which makes this a good case study. A woman had lost her bracelet and, after looking for it everywhere, was beginning to suspect her niece of stealing it, possibly as a game. Here’s the spread:
Playing Card Divination, A Reading about Theft
There is one woman in the spread. She is next to the Ace of Clubs. This is extremely important. The Ace of Clubs represents initiative, and if you ask whether someone will or won’t do something, if their significator comes up next to the Ace of Clubs (or the Five of Clubs, representing action, or, sometimes, even the Two of Clubs, which means taking steps) it shows the person will do it.
In this case, though, we are talking about theft. So this woman took the initiative, i.e., she stole the bracelet. She is next to the Eight of Clubs, which represents work. So this is not the querent’s niece, but a coworker or superior.
Note, though, that she comes up as the Queen of Diamonds, not as the Queen of Spades, so there is no inherent ‘evil’ about her. Furthermore, we have the Three of Diamonds next to the Eight of Clubs. The Three of Diamonds represents all activities that are done part-time. Metaphorically, therefore, the woman is not a ‘full-time’ thief, i.e., she doesn’t have the habit of stealing. She probably just seized the moment to have something that caught her fancy. The Ten of Hearts closing the spread shows the possibility of a happy ending.
To be more sure, I asked the querent to pick another card for the Queen of Diamonds, and she chose the Four of Clubs. So this is a woman the querent speaks to habitually. Furthermore, even though the Queen is a Diamonds, and should technically be very fair, she is surrounded by Clubs, which represent a dark complexion and/or hair (but not as dark as Spades)
Well, some days after the reading the querent’s coworker, a woman of dark complexion and hair, came forward to her, wracked with guilt, and gave her back the bracelet, which the querent had left on her desktop unattended. The woman said she didn’t know what had possessed her to steal the item.
Enneagram Type Three, sometimes called the Achiever, belongs to the Heart triad. People of this type are dynamic, goal-oriented, driven to excel and stand out. Threes are often very aware of what it takes to have success in a certain field, social situation or career path, and they often do all they can to meet whatever idea of success is implied in these contexts. Because of this intense drive, Threes tend to have problems with competitiveness, as well as with authenticity, as they are used to putting their true self and their true feelings on the back burner while they strive their utmost to comply with expectations and to sell an image of themselves as winners.
Enneagram Type Three
Enneatype Three Grows: Move to Six
Threes are the ‘sellers’ of the Enneagram. While in the presence of an average to unhealthy Three, perceptive people tend to constantly have the feeling that the person is trying to sell them something. This something can vary based on the context of the interaction, but deep down, what Threes are trying to sell is their successful, socially acceptable image of winners.
As they learn that their worth as individuals cannot be measured purely on the basis of performance, Threes may at first find themselves in a bit of a crisis, as they are not used to giving weight to much else. However, as they become more centered, they learn to become more accepting of their true feelings and identity, to see others as companions rather than as competitors and to value honesty above presentation.
In doing so, Threes move toward Enneatype Six. Sixes are inherently companionable, they tend to form strong connections based on trust and they put great emphasis on truthfulness and doing away with double meanings and sophistication. This is because Sixes want to know how things really are, so as to be able to trust them.
In their move to Six, Threes often find meaning in the forging of meaningful connections and in striving together toward common goals, while the need to emerge is transmuted into the desire to uplift others together with oneself.
Honesty, the Virtue of Enneagram Type Three
Enneatype Three Under Stress: Move to Nine
The kind of drive that Enneagram Type Three tends to inject into everything they do is rarely matched by any other type. Threes have a sense of mission in them, as it were: they are the chosen ones to be the best, the prettiest, the most admirable, the most intelligent, the most wealthy, the most creative, the most spiritual, etc. (which of these it is largely depends on their upbringing, familial context and personal values and beliefs)
In their most lucid moments, Threes also have a keen awareness of all that they are sacrificing in their bid to excel and outshine everyone else. What they know they are sacrificing is their authenticity, their inner well-being, their emotional needs. There is often a lurking feeling that all is in vain, because even if they manage to succeed in whatever field they choose (or is chosen for them) their inner self is not truly part of it, having been swept under the rug for later.
This often brings a sense to unease, as though a part of the Three were aware of their commitment to a mere facade with little substance. This may cause them to break down or have identity crises on occasion. And this is even when they succeed.
When they don’t succeed, Threes may try to switch horses and find something else to excel at. If they don’t find it, they may become apathetic and lethargic, like unhealthy Nines. Aware that nothing matters and that all avenues for social acceptance have been destroyed, they may retreat into themselves and simply let the world and life move about them without engaging in them, knowing that they have sacrificed their well-being for something that brought nothing.
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.
Vera Sibilla reading on 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
Playing cards reading example on job
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.
I have been a member of BOTA in the past, before delving deeper into traditional occultism. I always kind of liked their tarot deck, so to relax I started painting a digital version of it. Once the whole set is done I’m going to have it printed. A friend of mine recommended to me that I take to doodling or coloring scrap books as an aid to creativity, and I must say it does work.
Note: according to Paul Foster Case, the blade of the Sword should be deep yellow, in good old Golden Dawn tradition, but I can’t stand that, especially since in the Magician card the sword is colored in steel gray
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:
Vera Sibilla Oracle Card Reading Example
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.
The Xandal’uc slaves marched onto the Magna. The spaceship departed. Ten days in, the captain spotted pirates. “It’s our lucky day. More slaves!”
But clearly pirates were the lesser problem. The Hyperleeches they were fighting were more worrisome. “We must join forces,” the pirates told the captain from the bluish, buzzing screen. “We don’t have enough manpower.” “Of course you do.” So the slaves were freed, the Hyperleeches vanquished.
“Now help us with the Xandal’uc,” said the captain. “Sorry, that’s too much to ask of free men,” the pirates laughed, leaving. The slaves approached the captain. They were not amused.
I find this short little spread interesting, because it is a good introduction to how playing cards can communicate with us. Often, especially at the beginning, we tend to expect cards to fall into a specific order that represents the whole situation like a movie. And, indeed, sometimes this is what happens (I have a nice Tarot spread coming on this.)
At other times, though, the cards take another approach and use our words ‘against’ us, as it were. Here’s the reading. I have been on a waiting list to receive a certain instruction book on some esoteric doctrines by someone. Yesterday I asked the cards the following question: “Will he do as he says?”
To answer the question, I pulled three cards, which were:
4♣ – K♥ – 10♦
Anyone can see that the spread is broadly positive, but the interesting thing is how the cards respond in the affirmative. The Four of Clubs is the card of words, and represents everything that we do to express what is inside of ourselves. The King of Hearts and the Ten of Diamonds, though, in addition to representing a rich protector, can also be part of larger combinations showing nobility or great wealth.
Therefore, what the cards are saying is “what he says, his words, are the words of a nobleman,” which means that they are truthful. This answers my question “Will he do as he says?” perfectly. The answer is also a broad judgement on the person’s character: he is, generally speaking, a nobleman at heart.
