Tag Archives: cartomancy with playing cards

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards

What Do I Need to Hear Right Now? Example Reading

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Occasionally, people throw questions at you that clearly they’ve been trained to ask by other readers. One of these questions is “what do I need to hear right now?”

The question is tricky, because, strictly speaking, we never ‘need’ to hear anything. To suggest otherwise is to imply that the universe is some kind of paternalistic (or maternalistic) minister of welfare with a moral compass that somehow overlaps with that of modern coastal elites.

However, this is not to say that the question is unanswerable. The cards describe situations, and we can, using common sense, derive healthy tips for our querents from them. We can also make the following assumptions about the querent, when we hear something like this:

  1. The querent is not necessarily looking for a prediction.
  2. They are more or less lost and in need of some guidance.
  3. Even if they aren’t lost, they are missing something or something isn’t clicking into place in their life.
  4. (more rarely, they are missing nothing, but they still want to invite an element of supernatural guidance into their life. This still implies a level of dissatisfaction.)
  5. The answer they prefer is probably formulated in terms of ‘oracular advice’ similar to the one heroes get by the Gandalf figure of their story (for instance, in the theory of the monomyth)

Assumptions can be deadly, but we need to start somewhere. So here’s the spread I got when I got asked the “What do I need to hear right now?” question by a querent:

What do I need to know right now? Cartomancy with playing cards

To refresh people’s memory, the meaning of the positions is:

  1. Up: What’s on his/her mind
  2. Down: what the querent treads on (they don’t like, causes trouble)
  3. Left: leaving behind
  4. Right: going toward
  5. Center: in his/her heart
  6. To the side: for him/her

Since we have nothing to start our analysis from given the vague question, let’s take a quick note of something obvious: except the cards the querent is leaving behind, all other packs end with a Spade, signifying trouble (the cards she treads on end with a Heart, but the position itself is one of trouble).

The fact that the querent is leaving behind the only good thing in her life is not encouraging. These cards speak of a happy family. Clearly this is no longer the case, at least for her. And look at what’s on her mind! Double Spade! She is not in a good place mentally at the moment. She feels isolated and impeded at every turn.

There’s desire in her heart (the Nine of Hearts) but she cannot express it (Spade on the Four of Clubs, the card of words).

The two little fans regarding the future talk about various problems, both economic and marital, but we need not delve too deeply into them. As far as the cards below her are concerned, it turned out during the reading that her dad has lost much of his mobility and is in need of assistance.

Clearly, this is the spread of a frustrated, borderline depressed woman. it could be a very good jumping-off point for more spreads, each one analyzing the various situations going on in her life. But that is not the point. The querent doesn’t want to know about each of them separately (notice how the cards seem to talk about various themes in a very cursory manner). She wants to know what she needs to know at the moment.

So, what do we tell her? First, we remind her that life is made of ups and downs, and that she doesn’t need to despair; Second, in times of hardship she must not let go of the few things that she derives (or derived) joy from; Third, there is no shame in asking for help, including professional help, and she must not exaggerate with the self-abnegation, or she’ll run herself into the ground; Fourth, she must try to make space in her life for what she desires (hobbies, passions, etc.) no matter how little time she can dedicate to it, because it will keep her sane, and when the situation improves, she’ll be glad she has planted those seeds.

MQS

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Playing Cards, Spirituality and Psychology

The Ghost That Came Back (Example Reading)

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Certain topics are exceedingly rare, and they should remain so, because people otherwise tend to see the supernatural at play everywhere. Traditional divination takes these topics very seriously, which is why it rarely discusses them. In most systems, a vocabulary is given to describe most situations in life, including encounters with ghosts. We are, of course, free to disbelieve, but the cards can still talk about it.

A querent asked me if there was a ghost in her (very old) apartment complex. As I said when talking about curses and hexes, the answer is almost invariably no (although, to be fair, ghosts and other entities are far more common than competent witches). Here’s the spread (it started as a three card spread, I kept adding cards until I was satisfied).

A♠️ – Q♠️ – 2♠️ – K♥️ – 2♣️ – 4♣️ – 9♥️ – 5♠️ – 10♥️

I asked the querent an open question (to avoid influencing her), that is, I asked her to describe the ghost she thought she saw. She said she thought it was the spirit of an ugly, angry woman moving in the hallways of the building. This fits very well with the Queen of Spades and Two of Spades. The Ace of Spades, aside from indicating death, is also a card of great evil.

What about the rest of the spread? Usually the Heart court cards indicate either positive spirits (God, etc.) or religious people. I asked the querent if she was planning on contacting a priest, shaman or other such figure. She said she wasn’t really thinking about it, but another tenant was.

I said that it was a good idea. Look at the King’s action: he is taking steps (Two of Clubs) by uttering words (Four of Clubs) which are positive (Nine and Ten of Hearts). But what about the Five of Spades? My sense is that the presence will not be eradicated or banished for good, since the Five of Spades is a card of imprisonment, but it will be contained in some form (the two Hearts hemming in the Spade).

The interesting thing was that, according to the querent, the other tenant (who had been living in the building for much longer than the querent) told her that many years ago they had had a problem with the same presence and had managed to somehow exorcise it.

My view is that even this time the situation will not be remedied completely, but the situation should improve by calling in someone to perform a religious ritual.

MQS

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards, Reading Example

A Reading Gone Wrong

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Getting things wrong hurts, but is part of the human condition. In fact, I would argue that if a reader says they are infallible, that’s a good time to put as much distance between you and them as possible. An infallible reader is either so delusional that they block out all negative feedback from their reality or so dishonest that they’ll constantly be looking for the right bridge to sell you. Either way, they are best kept at a distance.

Still, there’s no denying that getting a reading wrong is disheartening because, as much as we should keep the ego out of the equation, the ego always seeps into it. I think it’s fair to share our failures as well as our triumphs. Here is a reading I got wrong relatively recently.

The querent was asking about her recent pregnancy.

Q♣️ – 7♣️ – J♥️ – 3♠️ – 2♥️

Accepting the question was my first mistake, as such issues are way too delicate. There is no situation where “you will miscarry” is an acceptable thing to say, and if we can’t be honest there is no point in giving a reading. Even if I had interpreted the cards correctly I would never have told the querent.

Thing is, though, that I wanted to give her good news, albeit subconsciously, and so I ended up interpreting a clearly negative spread positively. The querent falls first in the spread, and there is a card of obstacles between her and the child (the Jack of Hearts). The Three of Spades in questions of pregnancy often leads to loss, but I interpreted the Two of Hearts as the solution of the problems, while in fact it was merely saying that the loss would happen soon (it was knocking at the door). In hindsight, I probably should have added some cards.

I told the querent the pregnancy would go fine, though with minor problems which would be solved, but that she should always listen to the doctor. In reality, the cards point to a situation that not even doctors would be able to salvage (the doctors don’t show up in the spread).

Two things can be learned: first, never accept questions you are not really comfortable answering; second, always keep your desire to give a skewed answer in check. It is human nature to want other people to be happy (or sad, if we don’t like them) but this gets in the way of our objectivity.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post

Playing Cards That Indicate Loss

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After discussing the playing cards that indicate gain, let’s take a look at the ones that represent loss. Keep in mind that loss can be indicated by any card of gain that is poorly placed in the spread, i.e., when surrounded by difficult cards. For instance, the 7♦, normally a card of money, followed by most Spades or even some Clubs, would represent either loss of money or a sum of money being withheld.

Six of Clubs

The Six of Clubs is a card of difficulties, toil and fatigue. It is not inherently a card of monetary loss. However, it represents a stagnand situation which, applied to money, can imply either loss or lack of gain, and especially lack of compensation for one’s toil.

Seven of Clubs

The Seven of Clubs is, again, not directly connected to loss, but it does show problems in all levels, and as such it can indicate loss or lack of gain when together with Diamonds or when summoned for a money reading. Keep in mind, though, that Clubs are not tremendously nefarious, so while they can create unsatisfactory situations, that are unlikely to cause dramatic loss.

Six of Diamonds

The Six of Diamonds is a card of worry and preoccupation, usually over money matters (but not necessarily). In general it shows situations of all kinds that stand on a shaky foundation, living paycheck to paycheck, businesses that don’t take off, etc. Again, it is not a dramatic card, but it can signify money problems or even, in general, not gaining something.

Ace of Spades and Nine of Spades

All Spades can signal loss. However, the way each of them causes loss is different. I will just highlight some of the differences. The Ace of Spades is a seriously bad card, which is often involved of configurations indicating bankruptcy, poverty and failure all around. The Nine of Spades is equally bad, and when they come up together they often prevent success in accumulating money for very long periods of time.

Two of Spades and Three of Spades

Less dramatic than most Spades, the Two of Spades indicates small losses, situations that cause headaches from a financial standpoint. The Three can also indicate small losses, and can also be found in sequences indicating scams.

Four of Spades, Five of Spades and Six of Spades

Much more dramatic, the Four and Five of Spades indicate serious loss, projects going awry and being abandoned. They can often represent difficult circumstances, but with the appropriate cards they can point to the querent being at fault (missteps, etc). The Six of Spades represents financial situations characterized as ‘sick’, that is, unhealthy, structurally unsound and therefore destined to failure.

Seven of Spades and Eight of Spades

These cards, especially the Seven, can indicate accidental loss, that is, loss not due to negligence (however, always remember to take the context into account).

MQS

Card Combinations, Card Meanings, Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, I Ching / Yi Jing, Playing Cards, Reading Example

The Lost Coins (Example Reading)

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Readings about lost objects are hard. I am very much less than infallible in finding them. The reason is quite simple: most questions have a limited number of likely answers and an even more limited number of unlikely ones, so it is usually easier to make sense of the cards. “Yes he’ll marry you”, “No, he hates you”, “There doesn’t seem to be much tenderness left in the relationship, but with some effort you can keep it going a while.” There is, of course, some skill for finding nuances involved, and a good reader will add some details, but in general, the possible answers are relatively limited.

But a lost object can be anywhere, and we can either be very right or very wrong, with little space for “yes, but…” and “no, although…” Especially if we’ve never seen the place where the object was lost, it becomes hard to read the symbolism of the cards without reading our own fantasy into them. As far as I am concerned, much depends on how clear the cards decide to be with me. Since I have nothing to prove, I have no problem throwing my hands up and saying “Dunno” if that is my honest answer.

As we are moving all our stuff from the old house into the new one, plenty of things have gone momentarily missing, in the sense that I don’t know which of the dozens of boxes we’ve brought along they are in, and frankly I’m not too eager to start searching.

Except that I started itching to do some I Ching readings, and I couldn’t find my I Ching coins anymore. I did remember putting them somewhere where “I know I will find them”. The problem is that I have done the same with so many of my things in the last couple of months that the trick doesn’t work anymore. So I asked the cards for a pointer:

K♣ – 2♥ – 5♣

In general, what makes this reading relatively easy, compared to other lost item readings, is that it does not describe the place where the coins are, but rather their relationship to me. The King of Clubs is my significator. It is followed by a card, the Two of Hearts, which indicates ‘close to home’, but also ‘close’ in general. I know I cannot have left the coins in the neighborhood, which is naturally signified by the Two of Hearts, so I take it to mean ‘close’.

That Five of Clubs is interesting. In general it represents effort, but it is connected also with the body in general, understood as moving, acting ‘machine’, and also the hands. Close at hand, maybe? Or close to my body?

Either reading would have been correct. I found the coins in an internal pocket of my jacket where I usually don’t keep anything and don’t bother looking.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards

Playing Cards That Indicate Gain

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I’m doing it with the Sibilla, so it stands to reason that I should do it with playing cards too. As usual, this list is not meant to be complete. It is only intended to look at the cards as if through a cross-section based on a particular topic. In this case, gain.

Three of Hearts

In my playing card system, the Three of Hearts is a gift. It represents all things that we acquire easily. It is not, strictly speaking, a card of gain, but it can entail gain. For instance, if someone asked about their business, this card falling at the end of the spread would indicate improvements and therefore, within the context, additional wealth, that is, gain.

Five of Hearts

The Five of Hearts is the card of abundance. It is one of the cards that can indicate a very positive evolution and increase of wealth. As with the Three, the Five, being in the suit of Hearts, is not strictly about money, but it can promise positive situations in a reading about finances. Furthermore, next to money cards, it increases their import.

Nine of Hearts

Not much to say here. In many respects the Nine of Hearts is like the Three of Hearts, but much more powerful.

Ace of Clubs

The Ace of Clubs is a very strong card, which indicates power within the situation. If it falls next to the querent, it shows the querent actively obtaining something, having power over it. However, unlike in the suit of Hearts, the Club suit requires effort and action, and is therefore less rosy than the Three, Five or Nine of Hearts. The Ace of Clubs can also indicate a powerful vision that comes true in material terms.

Three of Clubs

The Three of Clubs is a card of union, and can represent a business affair. As such, it usually promises gain in material issues, but we must be careful in our analysis of the whole spread, as we all know a business deal can be disastrous when attended by Spades or less promising Club cards. By itself, the Three is mildly encouraging.

Ace of Diamonds

The Ace of Diamonds represents news in general, but it also represents gold and all things that have high value. It is a card of great riches and wealth when not impeded by other difficult cards.

Three of Diamonds

The Three of Diamonds is a money card. As such it is usually read as small gains, whether in a positive sense (as in a small inheritance or a small raise) or in a negative sense (as in having only little money). Furthermore, we must be careful to note whether the little money is being gained or spent. By itself the Three shows gain.

Four of Diamonds

The Four of Diamonds represents agreements and pacts. Being in the suit of Diamonds it is geared more toward material affairs and thus indicates contract, whether positive or negative will be shown by other cards.

Five of Diamonds

The Five of Diamonds indicates change, especially (though not exclusively) within the context of money matters. It can indicate money changing hands for better or worse.

Seven of Diamonds

This is like the Three of Diamonds, but it shows a larger amount. Furthermore, the Seven is more clearly indicative of gain over loss. It is a more inherently fortunate cards.

Nine of Diamonds

The Nine of Diamonds is strongly connected with the realization of plans, material projects and with social ascent. Increase in wealth may or may not be tied to it, though in our society it usually is. It represents strong satisfaction in money matters, and upward mobility with all the perks that are entailed.

Ten of Diamonds

The biggest money card in the game, the Ten of Diamonds indicates success all around. For entrepreneurs it shows the reaching of great goals, while for business owners it can represents advantageous situations that generate wealth and ease in terms of money. Note that gain can be intended also as a reduction in expenses, so if the question is something like “Will I manage to get my landlord toreduce my rent in the next contract?” that counts as gain.

MQS

Card Meanings, Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards

The Copyright Claim (Example Reading)

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This is a fun little reading I did some time ago for myself. I’ve waited enough to know with relative confidence that it was accurate. Basically, one day, about four or so months ago, I found a message in my folder by someone claiming I had appropriated their image without asking them for permission.

Since I only use stock photos from WP’s archives or pictures I have taken myself, I knew this could not be the case. Still, the person was threatening legal action against me, and I wanted to avoid issues, so I sent them an email asking what picture they were referring to, and saying that I could take the picture down although I highly doubted I was in the wrong.

I also pulled some cards from the playing card deck. This was the reading:

Q♠ – 2♣ – 3♥ – 10♠ – 9♥

Notice immediately the Queen of Spades. The person who sent me the email was a woman. If it had been a man, in the absence of mentions of a woman, I could have taken it to indicate some evil intent on his part. The fact that the woman is represented by a Spade does not necessarily indicate that she is trying to scam me or anything. It could very well be that she thought she was in the right and was angry (Spades) at me. The reality is that I have no real evidence from the spread about her true motives.

She is immediately followed by the Two of Clubs, which indicates a step taken, so obviously the angry woman took a step, or I wouldn’t have an email in my folder accusing me of breaking the copyright law.

Finally, note the Ten of Spades, a usually negative card, besieged by two of the most positive cards in the deck, the Three of Hearts and the Nine of Hearts. The Ten of Spades is the night, and it indicates everything that is dark, secret or obscure, but also all things that come out of nothing. The two positive cards surrounding it represent the positive solution of the problem. Therefore, the solution comes out of nothing, which, I reasoned, is the same as saying that the person writing me that email will, more or less, disappear into the night. Thus, I judged that little or nothing would come of the situation. So far I seem to be correct. The woman hasn’t answered my email. It may be that she realized she had made a mistake.

MQS

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards, Spirituality and Psychology

Is He An Atheist? (Card Reading Example)

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Traditional cartomancy, like all traditional divination systems, is full of tips on how to handle spiritual topics. The difference with contemporary psychobabble is that in traditional cartomancy we deal with a spirituality that is rooted in the earth and in everyday life rather than in Mind/Body/Spirit section poppycock. As I often remark, in such systems spirituality is seen as the logical next step for someone who is acquainted with real life, not as a consolation prize for someone who is trying to avoid it.

The querent asked if her boyfriend believes in “a superior being”, by which I assume she meant God (“being” is probably a more reassuring term compared to “bearded guy holding a lightning bolt”). She places great importance on the topic, but he seems to avoid talking about it. This is a playing card reading. In the next days I will also post a Vera Sibilla reading done on a similar question by a different person some time ago.

A♥ – 8♣ – 9♣ – K♥ – 7♣

Seeing this, I asked the querent to draw three more cards to open the reading on the Ace of Hearts, which yielded the 2♠, the 2♣ and the 6♣.

The first thing I noticed was the complete absence of Spades (except in opening the spread, but that’s a very weak Spade). This generally bodes well for spirituality. However, there is also a majority of Clubs, which indicate struggles and difficulties. There is no need to interpret the spread card by card. The spread indicates a slow or difficult relation with the divine. Belief is not denied, but it is rendered heavy, problematic.

The first card is the Ace of Hearts, which can indicate “inner” issues, but because the first card in a spread can also represent the cause of a situation described by the following cards, I ventured to interpret it as issues relating to the home causing the querent’s boyfriend to falter in his faith. The three additional cards with which I opened the spread on the Ace of Hearts reinforced my idea that there must have been a difficult atmosphere at home surrounding the topic.

What about the King of Hearts? Is it the dad? Well, no. Traditionally, in spiritual readings the King of Hearts is God himself (just like in the Sibilla): he is the lord (King) of your inner life (Hearts). Surrounded by all those Clubs, the God-side of the boyfriend’s life suffers, is stifled. Yet it is there, since the King of Hearts comes up and is not surrounded by Spades.

I asked the querent to give another three cards to open the spread on the King of Hearts. These were the 10♠, the 4♣ and the 10♥. At night (Ten of Spades) he speaks (Four of Clubs) spiritually/finding consolation (Ten of Hearts). He prays to God at night.

MQS

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards, Spirituality and Psychology

On Death (Example Reading)

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Of the many subjects that have been banished to the realm of shadows in contemporary divination, none have become more unspeakable than death. Under no circumstances should we be reminded of our mortality and finitude, largely because these are all things that fly in the face of the “you can be whatever you want” ideology that many diviners now espouse. Divination proves that no, we can’t be whatever we want. Certain patterns of our life are laid out for us and there is precious little we can do about them except, maybe, work on our ability to accept them.

Obviously, as diviners we wield a certain degree of power over our querents, and as such we ought not to abuse it to terrorize them. I don’t usually talk about death unless the question is specifically about it or unless the context somehow allows for such a discussion. But I am also no moralist lecturing the querent on what they should be asking. In this case I was asked by a woman about her father’s wellbeing after being diagnosed with a serious illness. I told her I would not diagnose anything, but I would merely look at the general flow of his life.

2♥ – Q♥ – Q♠ – K♠
10♠ – K♣ – 9♠
8♠ – Q♦
10♥

I said it largely to comfort her, but the cards have their own language that cannot be overruled by any consideration. The pyramid can largely be summarized in one word: “funeral“. There isn’t much to discuss or interpret. Look at that group of people cards: these are not specific individuals. They are just meant to indicate many people together.

Then we have the Nine of Spades, Eight of Spades and Ten of Speads interspersed. These show great evil, tears, darkness. You get the picture. In the context of this question, many people together for something tear-related is called a funeral. So there is going to be a funeral: the father won’t survive.

Due to the Two of Hearts, I thought this was going to be within two weeks (not the funeral, but the death). It ended up being almost a month (timing is always tricky). In general, I think the cards meant “soon”.

But what about the Ten of Hearts at the end? Shouldn’t it nullify the evil meaning of the other cards? Usually it does, but the Ten of Hearts also represents Heaven or paradise. In the context of readings about this sort of issues it indicates that death comes as a release from the sufferings of life. As such, as weird and unfathomable as this sounds to us in the realm of the living, the spread is positive: it ended well because it ended in death. As a matter of fact, I have been told that the father was serene and peaceful till the end.

Why Predict Death? Philosophical and Practical Implications

I hope I haven’t put off anyone with this post, but the fact is that death is possibly the most salient event in life, so it makes sense that divination should be able to address it. The readings I do about this sort of issues are very rare, and I generally warn the person that I am fallible and have been and will be wrong again.

Other readers may choose to avoid such questions altogether. This is a legitimate choice, as no one should be forced to read about topics they feel uncomfortable about. However, it is also important to recognize that such questions are legitimate and that there is nothing inherently dark about them. It all depends about the context and about the attitude of the diviner (and of the querent, of course).

One may ask what the point is of divining about death and other such topics, since the querent cannot do much about it. In reality, there is plenty of non-morbid reasons to want to know about it: one may wish to set their affairs in order, or simply get a head start in getting closure. In pre-modern Western astrology, as well as in Chinese astrology, the prediction of the native’s death, or at least of whether they had enough life force in them to lead a relatively long life, was one of the first things the astrologer looked for. This is obvious: you can’t predict fame to someone for next year if they’ll be gone tomorrow.

Most importantly, a sober and serviceable approach to such topics has the ability to make us appreciate life from the point of view of the eternal, from the recognition that many things escape our control and we are truly actors in a cosmic play.

MQS

astrology, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, I Ching / Yi Jing, Occultism and Esoterism, Tarot, Uncategorized, Vera Sibilla

The Spiritual Aim of Divination

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I had a short but interesting conversation with a visitor of this site. He quite liked many of my articles but was somewhat perplexed by my iconoclastic attitude toward the spiritual side of divination. I think this is a good time to clarify my views further, since the reason I am so scathing is not that I hate spiritual work, but that I take it seriously.

First off, let us distinguish inspired divination from technical divination. Inspired divination is the downloading of information, as it were, from a spirit, a deity, an inner contact or some such. This depends wholly on either the inborn talent or the level of initiation of the diviner.

Technical divination works for the same reason that stones fall: because that’s how things are. One learns it the same way one learns math: they must be predisposed to it and must put in the work. Of course, one can mix the two types of divination, but they are essentially different.

Either type can be used to obtain concrete information. Either type can be used to fool yourself or others (but especially yourself). The difference is that inspired divination, especially as a consequence of initiation, has the perk that the diviner must have somewhat balanced themselves out of many of the delusions typical of the spiritual community at large. Technical divination may be just as hard for other reasons, but the counters used in the prediction are available to everyone.

From here come the hordes of tarot readers and astrologers that (believe they) are using divination for spiritual aims, or inner work, when in fact they are sinking more and more into Delululand, as most of the time they aren’t really speaking to gods or angels or ancestors but rather to their own ego (have you ever heard any tarot reader or astrologer that uses this approach say something that goes against their convictions? How come their gods or ancestors always have their same values, their same political bias, their same preferences?)

The preconception here is that divination, in order to be spiritual, must be about spiritual topics. This is as a result of two widespread phenomena: 1) most people in our society see spirituality as something separate from concrete life, something that takes place in a bubble of white light 2) most people who become interested in divination are initially interested in concrete answers, but finding that getting these is hard and not immediately rewarding, they reframe divination as ‘not really to know the future but to improve yourself’. This is at the heart of the deadly divination/fortune-telling distinction that plagues our art.

In reality, divination is an inherently spiritual practice: 1) by the mere fact of working it deflates the modern ego 2) by its ability to pinpoint how the future is likely to pan out it puts a stop to the marketable but untrue ‘you are the master of your own destiny’ nonsense 3) by showing how the intricacies of real life can be mirrored in a microcosmic mirror it teaches the diviner to rise above himself and his preconceptions and adopt a more universal standpoint 4) by proving that some things are fated it teaches the practitioner to have compassion for themselves and others and to reevaluate their priorities.

Once again, a geographic analogy could help. A traditional diviner who seeks to understand life is like one using a map of a territory to find his way around. By studying it closely the traveler can eventually form a good understanding of the land he is in. A (pseudo)spiritual approach to divination though is like that same traveler painting the map with a uniform white paint because, at the end of the day, everything is one divine unity. That may very well be, but now the traveler is lost without the map and can only sink deeper in his preconceptions in trying to picture the route.

MQS