Locating the court cards within the querent’s life is probably one of the hardest tasks of a card reader. The Suit of the court card in question can help, of course. A Heart shows someone with a close connection, a Club is an official partner, a Diamond has a more distant connection or is unknown, a Spade tends to either be unknown, a stranger or an enemy.
However, far more revealing than the suit of the card are the suits surrounding it. Let us start simple. Suppose you have a Heart figure (Queen or King) surrounded by Spades. Hearts are usually positive, but IF the question is about a family member, the fact that it shows up as a Heart does not matter much: Hearts simply show consanguinity. However, if the question is about a friend, then their showing up as a Heart is in itself positive, as it shows core positive feelings. The fact that the figure is surrounded by Spades can indicate obstacles or a fight with the person.
As a very vague and general rule of thumb, the suit of the person shows their core, while the cards surrounding them show either their role or their current (or immediate future) way of relating to us. If the friend had shown up as a Diamond, it would have been worse, as then there would be no good feelings left and any fight might cause the end of the friendship.
In general, being surrounded by Hearts indicates good feelings, Clubs show either a solid relationship or a static one (it depends on the cards and the context), Diamonds show a transactional attitude for better or worse or, more rarely, one based on intellectual pursuits, while Spades show enmity. It is easy to predict, for instance, that a Heart figure surrounded by Diamonds shows the positive side of transactions (they may help us financially, for instance), while a Spade card surrounded by Diamonds may show the person will damage us financially.
Here is an example. A person asked if they could trust someone as a business partner:
5♥ – K♠ – 4♥
Regardless of the specific meanings of the cards, we have a Spade court card surrounded by Hearts. The Hearts show that the person is not trying to scam the querent. However, the fact that the person shows up as a Spade indicates that he is at his core a difficult person to get along with and this may cause difficulties along the way. Let us suppose that there had been Diamonds instead of Hearts. In this case the warning would have been more substantial: he may not be a scammer, but he is rather cutthroat and will only look after his profit. If there had been Clubs, the partnership would have probably ended up stranded due to differences of opinion, while Spades would have shown a dangerous individual.
Court cards are scary, because they don’t seem to have a logical meaning, or at least not a prominent one. Instead, they represent people, and this can be inconvenient, because people exist in the real world and need to be described more or less accurately for the reading to be useful. This can be very difficult.
Queens and Kings are more likely to represent people and less likely to represent concepts, although on occasion they might. The K♣ and Q♣ are the two querent cards, and only in the rarest occasion do they stand for anything other than that.
A general rule of cartomancy (not just with playing cards) is that action happens in the spread. Who is not in the spread does not act. This can take on a variety of meanings, but most commonly what it means is that, for instance, if the querent doesn’t show up, they are relatively passive, and it is going to be harder for them to change the situation.
A natural corollary to this is the fact that if a person does show up in the spread, they influence the situation directly. Example: a female querent once asked me if she would find a job. The cards were:
10♠ – Q♥ – 7♥
The querent is not represented in the spread. This doesn’t mean that she wasn’t actively looking for a job (she was). It just means that her looking for one won’t solve the problem. Instead, out of nowhere (10♠) a woman will provide the solution in an unexpected way. What happened was that an aunt who lived far from home and didn’t even know the niece was looking for a job phoned and she happened to mention that there was an opening in the company she worked at that she needed to fill. Once she discovered the niece was looking for a job she helped her get the job.
Another example. A friend of mine once asked if the relationship that had just ended would resume (he had been left)
K♣ – 5♣ – A♦
An accumulation of Clubs is not good when asking about reconciliations. Here, the querent’s significator is shown acting (Five of Clubs) to start something new (Ace of Diamonds.) A week later he met a new girl and he (successfully) went after her. Here, despite the question, it is clear that the previous girl is completely out of the picture and cannot influence the events, so much so that later on she tried to reconnect with him (obviously, when she noticed that he was taken) but the spread showed that he was the one wielding power within the situation and was committed to the new.
Wen Wang Gua is such a fun oracle. It is rather cerebral in its functioning, not unlike horary astrology, but it is incredibly accurate. In fact, I think the I Ching (in its Wen Wang Gua or Plum Blossom forms) is to Chinese Astrology what horary astrology is to Western astrology. There are some limitations to the analogy, but it is a good one, as far as it goes.
Some days ago, I asked the I Ching when it would rain, just for kicks. Being the end of August, some rain wouldn’t be bad.
Subject: Here Object: the Weather Focus: Parents line (represents rain, because it is life-giving)
“When will it rain?” answered with Wen Wang Gua (I Ching). Software used: Four Pillars & Feng Shui
Parents hold the Object line with Shen (Monkey, metal.) It also holds the Month branch, therefore not only is it vibrant: it is also useful. But it doesn’t move. Furthermore, the Subject, Wealth Snake, moves to restrict it, and while it is untimely at the Month branch, it is supported by being at the Day branch which is also Snake (although Metal is born at Snake). The Day Branch holds the Parents up in a combination. It is a very uncertain picture, and indeed we’ve been having a very changeable weather, with clouds and sun, but not rain. It is complicated by the fact that this is a six-combination Hexagram, which doesn’t favor change.
But the situation should change on Goat day, that is, in two days, when the Goat Wei clashes the void Ox line from void to compact to drain away the restricting Snake energy and generate the Parents line. It is more likely to rain in Wei or Shen hours (1pm-5pm). However it probably won’t last very long as the resulting Hexagram is an all-clash.
(Note: these are my notes on the reading taken on the day of the reading)
Flashforward to two days later
I asked again. This time the question was if it would rain that day
“Will it rain today?” answered with Wen Wang Gua (I Ching) Software used: Four Pillars & Feng Shui
The Hexagram is still. Technically this would mean that there are no changes, but this is not necessarily the case, as change can happen in many ways. For instance, in this case we have the Parents line still represented by the Monkey Shen at Subject and, again, at the Month Branch, while the Object is void, which usually is said to indicate unpredictable weather. Voids prelude to change. In this case, Goat at the Day Branch clashes the Ox from void to compact to generate the Monkey. It will probably rain in Goat or Monkey hours.
Result: it rained in Monkey hour, at 15:30, but it lasted less than an hour, as predicted by the six clash Gua. I’m wondering if there is something I was missing that would have allowed me to narrow down the hour to just Monkey and not Goat in the prediction.
In playing card divination, a lot of emphasis is given to the two colors and the four suits. The two aspects must not be separated from one another as they give us valuable information. However, since the two colors are a binary distinction without much refinement, they tend to describe general trends that can be easily overruled by other considerations. It’s best to leave them out unless they strike you.
In general, red cards indicate life and movement, but an excess of red can show instability. On the other hand, black cards show inertia and slowness, but when there’s too many of them they create obstruction. A good mix of red and black shows a balanced situation. This is especially true if we are describing a situation rather than predicting an outcome. For instance, I remember once doing a reading for a friend on the beach. She had just met a new guy. The spread was:
2♥ – 7♥ – 8♥ – J♥ – 3♥
Obviously, this spread consists only of Hearts and it is only red. This is consistent with the newness of the relationship, but it also shows us that there is nothing except some infatuation going on. The cards don’t predict a breakup, but they show that the relationship won’t last after the initial excitement has gone. We would need some black cards to anchor the red ones. We don’t even need to interpret the single cards, although we could. This is a fun summertime romance. Let’s leave it at that. Result: they broke up in winter.
Here is another example. A woman was asking if there would be reconciliation with her husband.
3♣ – 2♠ – 4♣ – 6♣ – 5♣
The Three of Clubs is the marriage and the Two of Spades is the argument. My question to the querent was how long ago the breakup had happened. She said it had been less than a week. The cards are obviously predominantly Clubs and all black. Therefore, they show that inertia will prevail. They don’t show reconciliation proper. They simply show that the breakup wasn’t really a break so much as an argument. The situation is unsatisfactory, and there is no love, but the cards show that it will go on.
Now, suppose that the same question had been asked by the same person and that she had gotten the same cards, but this time the breakup had happened three months ago. There is no reconciliation in the cards, and a new status quo has set in, which will tend to preserve itself (black color)
Red and black
Let us now analyze the suits. Suits tend to reinforce their particular meaning: Spades bring sorrow and blockage, Hearts feelings and joy, Clubs work and toil, Diamonds money and energy. In the first example, we only have Hearts, which shows feelings. It would be helpful to get Clubs, because Clubs show effort, and we all know that true love is a full time job. In fact, in a larger spread, it would even be nice to see some Spades in the past position, together with positive cards showing that the couple has gone through a lot and now has reached a point of stability.
In the second example, however, we have mostly Clubs. Here there is no fun left, and the situation goes on simply because it has been going on for a while, but it remains just drudgery.
Another important thing to take notice of is when a card that symbolizes either a person or a significator for a specific question shows up surrounded by cards of the same suit, or at least by cards that give us a coherent picture.
Here’s an example. A man asked about his relationship.
4♠ – Q♣ – 5♠ – 3♣ – K♦
The woman shows up as the Queen of Clubs, surrounded by two Spades. We don’t care about which Spades. The point is that she cannot move. She is impeded in some way. The reason is given by the Three of Clubs and the King of Diamonds: she is married.
Here is another example: a man asked if his new business venture would flourish.
K♣ – J♥ – 5♣ – 8♦ – 6♣
We don’t need to spend much time fiddle-farting with card meanings. The Eight of Diamonds, the card of business, is hemmed in by Clubs. No, the business will not flourish. It won’t go belly up, but at least for a very long time it will be just toil with little rewards. Yes, we could add that that Jack of Hearts shows he’s naive, but let’s not complicate things, for now. Sometimes the prediction is just obvious.
As I’m currently dabbling in Chinese philosophy and metaphysics, I have inevitably come into contact with an incredible system of reading the I Ching that I had never heard of. In the Western world, the I Ching (or Yi Jing) is mostly associated with tossing coins and reading passages in an old book.
However, a couple of other different systems of interpretation exist, including Mei Hua Yi Shu, or Plum Blossom, and my new favorite, Wen Wang Gua, or King Wen Oracle. Plum Blossom is essentially a form of Horary Astrology (another huge interest of mine.) You don’t really cast a hexagram: you deduce it from the time the question is asked (although there are other methods as well.)
Wen Wang Gua, on the other hand, is a mix of Horary and regular divination. Like horary, it takes into account the current astrological climate (using Chinese astrology in the form of Ba Zi, the eight characters or four pillars.) However, it also involves using coins or yarrow stalks to cast a Hexagram with a varying number of changing lines. The answer is not read in a book, but deduced almost mathematically by applying a set of interpretive rules.
I am by no means a master of anything in life, and even less of Wen Wang Gua, whose rules I still struggle to keep in mind (there’s way too many,) let alone apply coherently. However, I tried making a prediction today on a soccer match. Now, I couldn’t give a rat’s behind about soccer, and the match I chose to predict I picked at random from an online newspaper. I know nothing about the teams.
It was Frosinone versus Atalanta, two Italian teams. In order to predict a competition in Wen Wang Gua, we need to assign a Subject and an Object. In this case it doesn’t really matter which team is assigned to what, as long as this is done beforehand. I cannot go into the subtleties of the system. I will start talking about it once I’ve managed to get the basics down. This is my Hexagram (original plus resulting Hexagram) and my line of reasoning.
Subject: Atalanta Object: Frosinone Focus line: Officer (because it is a fight) although I’m doubtful that a Focus line was needed. After all, the objective of a match is to beat the opponent, not to win something else
Subject (Wu, Horse) is extremely weak, being jailed by the Month Branch and exhausted by the Day Branch. Furthermore, the line moves to become void. Object Zi controls Subject Wu (Water controls Fire.)
Object (Zi, Rat) is technically void, but because it is generated by a moving line, it is not. It is also generated by the Month Branch and forms two Water Triangles, one with the Officer and the Day Branch Dragon and one with the Wealth Dragon and the Month Branch Monkey. This strengthens it. Officer also moves to generate it. Line 6, the Dog, moves to attack it, but it is dispersed by a clash with the Day Branch.
However, the Hexagram is a six-clash gua, and the Body line Mao does not appear, which indicates uncertainty, so it cannot be a unilateral triumph. Furthermore, Subject seeks to control Officer, and while it is too weak to win (furthermore, Officer is at the Month Branch), still it shows that the losing team doesn’t go down without a fight, especially considsting the White Tiger at Subject. Subject also moves to become the Ox and attack the Object, although, again, the Ox is void, so it doesn’t accomplish much. Finally, the Object Zi is not especially strong in itself, although it is a good deal stronger than the opponent.
In short, a mixed picture where Object (Frosinone) should prevail but not triumph.
I cast the hexagram at around midday of the day of the match. The match started at 18.30. The result:
Sometimes people ask me, “What happens if I ask you a deceptive question?” to which the honest answer is, “I’ll be more likely to get the answer wrong” The underlying assumption is that I either pull answers out of my ass or I get them through some infallible magical process, so that either my getting the answer wrong is proof that divination is bogus or a querent’s deceptive behavior should have no bearing on my ability to answer.
Neither of these assumptions is true. Divination is a process of symbol-reading that equates the combinations of a given comprehensive set of symbols with certain states of being in the past, present or future.
A symbol is not some arbitrary squiggle. Keep in mind that symbolic means “that throws together”. It’s the opposite of diabolic, which means “that throws apart”. Our whole perception is symbolic, as we equate X with Y at every turn, linking various states of being together (“we throw them together”) in our perception. Car approaching means danger of becoming crayon smears on the asphalt. If our mind didn’t work symbolically it wouldn’t be able to link facts together, and we’d already be dead.
As I said somewhere else, if you show up at the doctor’s insisting your leg hurts even if it doesn’t, sooner or later you are going to get a diagnosis and a prescription. If the doctor touches you where it hurts but you say it doesn’t hurt, that also changes the diagnosis. The doctor is reading you and your behavior as symbols that he “throws together”, i.e., connects with certain predictions about the past, present or future. An honest and cooperative querent is as valuable as an honest and cooperative patient, except that patients understand this, querents sometimes don’t.
Detecting a querent’s lies is not impossible, just as it’s not impossible for a perceptive doctor to call a patient’s bluff, but it’s damn hard. It is especially hard with divination, because unlike a doctor visit, a divination will always give an outcome, that is, its symbols will always come up in a certain order. If a married querent asks you “will I get married?”, you are still going to have a spread of cards or a chart or some other set of symbols in front of you saying something.
In my (fortunately limited) experience with deceptive querents, the divination always contains the truth of the matter. In the example of the married querent, there should be indications of an existing marriage. Unfortunately, it is extremely easy to misread the symbols as meaning something else on the backdrop of what the querent said.
But a question is not deceptive just when the querent is maliciously trying to call you out as a fraud. Well-meaning querents can inadvertently frame their questions deceptively. Here’s an example.
Case Study
I’m currently gathering recommendations as a reader, in case I decide to offer paid readings from the blog in the future. I was reading for a young woman in her late thirties in exchange for her recommendation a couple of days ago. She asked me about her love life, but asked nothing specific.
We’ve talked about querents’ assumptions, but readers have assumptions, too. One of the typical assumptions of many readers is that if someone is getting a reading, the person must be a mess in need of major help, so readers tend to give a less favorable reading of any outcome. In this case, this assumption would have led me to make a mistake.
Here’s the spread that came out in response to the question (I know I haven’t talked about tarot on this blog yet, but I’ll explain my approach another time. Note that the querent has given me permission to talk about the reading)
A tarot reading about the querent’s love life Tarocchi di Layla, design by Elisa Scerrato
The cards of the cut were the Empress (the querent) and the Moon. The Moon can have a huge variety of meanings, from deception to silence to maternity to influence on people to many, many more. Mostly it is a bit of a red flag when it falls next to a significator. But the rest of the cards were wonderful.
Mqs: “You’re in a relationship, right?” Querent: “yes” Mqs: “it’s a longstanding one, though. Marriage?” (Hermit at the beginning showing slowness/long time, plus Sun and Justice showing a union of love) Querent: “yes!” Mqs: “It’s a good marriage. It has settled into its rhythms (Justice and Wheel) but there is still a great deal of love (Sun)” Querent: “yes, we love each other.” Mqs: “there is a clean, pure (Stars) energy (Devil) around this union (Justice above). You have different characters (Justice and Devil) but it doesn’t seem to matter, and any obstacle (Devil) is overcome (Chariot).” Querent: “it’s true” Mqs: “Is he older than you? (He’s represented by the Pope) Querent: ” Quite a bit” Mqs: “But he’s very dynamic (Juggler next to Pope)” Querent: “Definitely. He does a lot of sport.”
At this point I was a bit startled. The cards were wonderful. There didn’t seem to be any issue. This is relatively common when the querent doesn’t ask a very specific question (she only told me the topic). Still that Moon next to her bothered me. Why was it there? The cards didn’t point to any cheating or issue.
Mqs: “Are you somewhat taciturn?” Querent: “Yes, I tend to keep to myself.”
That was an explanation, but it still wasn’t satisfying. It was an odd thing for the cards to point out in the cut.
Mqs: “Are you dissatified?” (The Moon can mean sadness) Querent: “A bit” Mqs: “But not with your marriage” Querent: “No, I’m happy with my husband” Mqs: (looking at the Juggler next to the husband, which is the significator card for work) “Does he work?” Querent: “yes” Mqs: “do you work?” Querent: “I don’t” Mqs: “Are you dissatisfied that your husband works but you don’t?” Querent: “yes! I think that’s how I feel” Mqs: (laughing) “So the question is about work, not love”
Her face lit up with understanding, as if she hadn’t thought about it. “That’s right!” she said enthusiastically, “I wanna know about work!”
I think this interaction shows very well how, even if not meaning to, querents can veil one issue by wrapping a different topic around it. The querent in this case wasn’t trying to deceive me. Her subconscious mind simply used the topic of her love life to lead me to her real issue. This, by the way, is why it’s important to be able to have a frank conversation with querents.
Occasionally I get to do a reading that is worth discussing. This reading was done last November. A friend of ours, a mature woman, was worried that her son, 21, wasn’t going to find a job. The cards were:
“Will my son find a job?” Vera sibilla reading
The first card, the Merchant, is the theme card for the son’s work. It is reversed, showing the difficult moment. Immediately after comes the Fortune card, which technically should be a stroke of luck in the person’s destiny. Following is the Sighs card, which represents delay and waiting, in its main meanings. It also shows that the card the young woman is looking at is something the querent is worried about or is expecting. The Maiden, the Queen of Clubs, is usually a significator for a young woman. However, it also has the peculiar function of showing where the problem lies: it’s the card she is facing away from and pointing her finger at. Finally, there’s the Death card. Usually it’s not good to end a reading with the Death card, but in this case the reading was clear enough.
The young man will not find a job. The stroke of luck (Fortune) is not real, but merely something he is waiting for (Sighs). To paraphrase, he’s not looking for a job. This is the problem (Maiden) that leads to a dead end (Death). For several months, therefore, the boy won’t find a job, simply because he is passively hoping it will drop in his lap. In July of 2023 I got confirmation that he hasn’t yet found one. Of course, the cards are time-bound. At this point it would be good to do another reading. We shall see.
I’m currently translating an old manuscript on Geomancy from Italian into English and I wanted to seize the opportunity to give someone a reading. My husband proved to be the guinea pig I needed. He was about to enroll in a course at the local VHS (Volkshochschule, a network of continuing education institutes in Germany) and wanted to know if he would be happy with the course.
Will I be happy with the course I’m about to start?
The lord of the first is Conjunctio, which indicates mental flexibility and the ability to learn. The quesited is the lord of the ninth house, Fortuna Minor, which is outside help. It often indicates good opportunities that need to be seized.
Fortuna Minor moves to the twelfth house, perfecting the chart. This is a very good indication, as it shows contact between querent and quesited, in this case the transfering of knowledge/skill. The perfection happens by the ninth figure moving, showing that the course organizer(s) will do their best.
However, F. Minor also moves to the seventh house, from which it opposes the querent. Furthermore, Minor plus Conjunctio gives Amissio, Loss, which shows either waste of money or the inability/impossibility to learn everything.
Carcer is the Judge, which indicates that overall it’s a wash, especially since the Right Witness is Laetitia but the Left Witness is Tristitia, indicating a downward or negative trend. The Judge of the Judge (Judge + Lord of the First) is Via, which in general can be seen as something of little consequence, something that is there and then is gone.
The Way of the Points leads back to Amissio in the second house, it’s an investment that is not wholly justified.
Outcome: my husband was somewhat happy with the course, but his interest waned with every class, especially because he found that he disagreed with some of what the teacher was saying (that opposition) although the teacher was generally enthusiastic and helpful. He didn’t get buyer’s remorse. He was still happy he had done it, but he had hoped for way more, especially considering the price.
This spread can be used to tell a general fortune, but it is somewhat vague, meaning you will need to follow up with other spreads. It also tends not to go beyond one or two months. You simply shuffle and cut the cards and then deal them out into seven packs of three cards each. Each small pack has a correspondence. Pack 1: the querent (usually, but not invariably, the present moment) Pack 2: the house Pack 3: external influences Pack 4: work and money Pack 5: love life Pack 6: potential for trouble Pack 7: something unexpected
If a pack is not clear, shuffle the remaining cards and add two more
If you look up online, you will see that there are many different variations of this spread. This is how it was taught to me, but feel free to adopt the one that you find resonates better with you. I should also point out this is not a spread I use very often with other people, mostly I do it for myself every month or so to see what’s ahead. There are exceptions, or course.
Remember to lay out the cards as in the example and try to come up with your interpretation before reading mine
This is an old spread from some year backs. The first pack shows that I was coming out of a bout of depression. The 3♣R breaks negative cycles. Pack 2 shows a family gathering with the exchange of gifts. A couple of weeks later was my nephew’s first birthday. Pack 3 shows the arrival of negative communications from the authorities, possibly something to be paid or some money not granted. I hadn’t asked for money though. Around a month later I received communication that I needed to pay for the public broadcast network (even though I never watch it. Yay for unwanted public services) Pack 4 shows that a long spell of unemployment was coming to an end. I did find a job soon after. Pack 5 shows harmony in the relationship I’m in and talks about consolidating it. It was around the time we had started considering marriage. Pack 6 shows that althouth there may be difficulties, all will sort itself out, albeit with a delay Pack 7 shows the loss of correspondence. I actually ended up losing my phone (which can be signified by the Letter, considering that the Gift card was already in play). A tourist found it and I got it back (remember Pack 6)
This method is good for looking at a person in general, either the querent or someone the querent is interested in knowing about. The cards are shuffled and cut, and then dealt into five packs of three cards each, forming a cross.
The first one goes in the center, the second one to the left of it, the third one to the right, the fourth one above and the fifth one below. The center shows what hits the querent (or person) directly. It can signify the present or something that is important to them. Above shows the querent’s thoughts or hopes, or something they are aware of. Below it shows something that the querent doesn’t like or doesn’t know. To the left it shows something the querent leaves behind, to the right something the querent is approaching, usually in the near future (1-2 months).
If you want, you can also reshuffle the remaining cards and deal out another pack of three for the further future.
As usual, lay out the cards and strive to come up with your interpretation before reading mine
This was a general fortune for a woman Center: 4♥ + 7♠ + 2♠R Left: 9♥ + 10♥ + 6♣ Right: 5♠ + 7♣ + 5♥ Above: Q♠ + 10♦ + A♣R Below: A♥ + 8♥ + 5♦
The central pack is obvious. It shows a breakup, and a rather ugly one. When the 2♠ comes up reversed there is sometimes the possibility of a third party’s involvement. Looking at the above pack, we find confirmation: the querent knows that a woman destroyed her marriage. To the left we see that the marriage was going well, there was love, stability and common interests. Unfortunately, when the spread is negative, the fact that good cards come up in the past is not a good sign. The involvement of the rival, the Q♠, destroyed a good relationship. Below we see that communications (A♥) are negative (it comes up below) so there was a final argument without resolution (8♥) and it left a bitter feeling in the querent’s mouth (5♦). Looking forward to the right, it is clear that the querent will not patch things up with her husband (5♠) but she will find satisfaction in a new story (7♣ + 5♥)
