Divination systems are like languages. We’ve seen in the previous post how true this is. But it is even truer when we consider that whatever you learn from a book or a blog post is actually a standardized version of the language of the cards.

Now, standard language is an abstraction. Nobody speaks it. Shakespeare spellt the same word in two or three different ways over the course of the same play. The same goes for older writers in most languages. Standard language is an invention of the modern nation state, just like statistics. In order to exert clearer clontrol over their often large territory, the intellectual class of the various nations came up with rigid rules which are more or less helpful, but they are just that–made up rules that capture a measure of truth, but leave other things out.

Language is a more fluid phenomenon.
But you will find that no real person on the street actually speaks standard English or Italian or German, unless they are “highly educated”, which just means that they have absorbed more rules. I do noy mean to disparage rules. I’m merely observing that language is a living thing, which lives through the mouths of those who speak it. Therefore it is always a rather individual phenomenon: everyone has their dialect, their accent, their pet words, their filler words, those expressions that they constantly use because their grandma used them even though even other natives don’t use it, those expressions that mean something to the people in their hometown but something wholly different in a different region, etc.

The same is true for divination systems, especially complex ones like cards. You need to find your language with the cards. This can only be done by using them for yourself and even more for others. Studying meanings and combinations is useful to make up for the fact that you are not a “native speaker” (nobody is) and traditional meanings are usually passed down for the good reason that they are often valid. I have tried to make the traditional meanings as palatable as possible by creating a numerology to make sense of it (which I will revise as better ideas arise). But you can’t let yourself be drowned in rules, or you’ll never speak the language of the cards fluently. I’m still discovering my own language as it is a life-long endeavor.

To help you, I’m going to post some interpretations of some card spreads in the future, so that you may see how I do it. Take it as a jumping off point, not as something to slavishly adhere to. 

We’ve seen that the cards are generally read from left to right. Often, the last card in a row can change the meaning of the row itself completely. Sometimes, instead, it’s the card in the middle that changes the reading (when I say in the middle I don’t necessarily mean exactly in the middle, just not first or last). At other times, finally, a card can have a different meaning when it falls first.
Note: when I say the beginning or end of a sequence, this may or may not be the beginning or end of a row of cards: a sequence is a number of cards forming a coherent picture of a situation present, past or future. A single row can have more than one sequence.

Following are some examples.

The 2♥, the House, has the power to consolidate the meaning of the cards preceding it, so if the preceding cards show a well-defined situation for better or worse and the 2♥ comes up without any specific reason, it can mean that the situation is destined to consolidate itself in the direction signified by those cards.

The 4♥ coming up in the middle of a sequence and having no specific meaning can highlight the querent’s emotional involvement in the situation. This is also true when it’s reversed, in which case it’s negative involvement. The 4♥ coming up at the beginning or a sequence and having no specific connection to the rest of the reading can signify that the events shown are what the querent is attracting to himself or herself.

The 6♥R, coming up as the first card of a line and having no immediate obvious meaning can signify that the situation represented by the cards following it will happen unexpectedly and will be completely new. Coming up in the middle of a sequence and having no specific meaning it can highlight the duration of the situation into the future.
The 8♥ coming at the end of a row of cards or of a sequence shows that things will go as the querent hopes. If the cards preceding it are negative, it shows that there will be cause for hope nonetheless. If it comes up reversed, it shows situations going up in smoke.

The 10♥ coming up in the middle of positive or negative cards highlights their duration over time.

The 2♣ coming up at the end of a sequence shows divine intervention, protection, liberation from hardships.

The 3♣ coming up after difficult cards shows a change of direction in the querent’s life, usually for the better.

The 3♣R coming up in the middle of a sequence and followed by positive cards show the end of negative cycles and the end of hardships in general.

The 5♣ coming up at the end or a sequence shows a stroke of luck that will change the querent’s life in the field asked about.

The 6♣ coming up at the beginning of a sequence without apparent reason shows very quick events.

The 7♣ ending a negative sequence signifies a light at the end of the tunnel, especially when followed by positive cards.

The 8♣R coming up in the middle of a sequence without reason can signify things not going as the querent expects, for better or ill.

The A♦ coming up without reason at the beginning of a sequence can show dynamic change, new impulses, etc.

The 3♦R (the Gift) coming up at the end of a difficult sequence signifies the slow resolution of hardships. This is also true when it comes in the middle, but then you need to pay attention to the cards afterward.

The 4♦R coming up at the end of a negative sequence shows relief and positivity.

The 8♦ (the Handmaid) coming up for no reason at the beginning of a sequence can show that the sequence represents a new phase or evolution in the querent’s life. Coming up for no reason at the end, it shows that the querent evolves away toward a new phase.

The 10♦ coming up at the end of a sequence which seems promising steals the positivity away (but be careful, if it is a long, extremely positive sequence, the Thief alone is not strong enough to negate it). The 10♦R coming up at the end or toward the end of a negative sequence shows that there is nothing left to do. It’s over.

The J♦ coming up at the beginning of a series for no reason announces quick developments.

The A♠R coming up in the middle of a sequence and followed by positive cards shows the end of sorrow.

The 2♠U/R coming up at the end of a negative sequence shows the waning of the matter, more or less sharply depending on whether the card is upright or reversed.

The 4♠R coming up in the middle of a sequence and followed by positive cards shows the end of a period of standstill and blockage. Followed by negative cards shows the beginning or duration of the standstill.

The 5♠ coming up in the middle of a sequence and followed by positive cards shows a difficult but positive change. If followed by negative cards, it’s difficult and negative.

The 8♠R coming up in the middle of a sequence and followed by positive cards shows the end of a period of crisis.

The 9♠R coming up in the middle of a sequence and followed by positive cards signifies liberation and unblocking. Followed by negative cards it signifies the beginning of blockage.

In general, the flow of the reading goes from left to right. For instance, let’s take the following situation: A♥ + K♦ + 6♠ + 7♣R. Here we might assume that there is, or there has been, a job interview (A♥ + K♥) followed by trepidation and waiting (6♠), but the waiting leads to nothing (7♣R).

However, if we reverse the spread as 7♣R + 6♠ + K♦ + A♥, then we have the opposite scenario: a situation where the querent for a long time is worried about their lack of realization is ended by a job interview (in this case we don’t know whether the interview will go well or not, but at least it’s something).

Notice how the placement of certain cards is relatively irrelevant: whether it’s K♦ + A♥ or A♥ + K♦, it is still likely to signify a job interview. This is because the two cards build a meaningful unit together. They strengthen each other. However, it is not irrelevant whether the negative cards come up before or after. In general, the placement of the cards is relevant in two situations: when the cards have different polarity; and when the cards describe situations that come logically one from the other. For instance, if the cards point to a birth and then to a pregnancy, it’s very different than if they describe a pregnancy followed by a birth. In the first case you end up with two babies, in the second with just one.

Another important point is whether the cards predict or they describe. This is a subtle thing to detect, and is not easy to see at first. Often, the cards describe a situation or state of affairs when you have cards showing the relationship between two face cards or between a face card and a certain field of life (e.g. love 4♥, marriage A♣, job K♦, etc). Also, they tend to describe more when there are strongly psychological cards. In this case, the flow of the reading is as if halted: the cards don’t come one after the other temporally, but at most logically.

The cards tend to predict specific happenings when there are strong cards showing action or, when you use longer spreads, when there has been a clear description of a situation in the first part, and then they move on to show how that situation will evolve. In part you also need to develop your intuition and your language with the cards. In these cases, the flow of the reading is relevant.

Sometimes (quite often) the description is nestled within the prediction. That is, the cards predict something and describe it. In this case, whether a card comes after the others may or may not be relevant. Example: granny kicks the bucket and leaves you some money.

Suppose it shows up like this: 2♠R + 5♠ + 3♠R + 5♥ + 7♥ + 6♥ + 6♣. In this case, it is relevant that the cards showing granny’s passing (2♠R, 5♠, 3♠R) come out before the others, because it is quite logical that death precedes the opening of the will. The 5♥ is the card of family and inheritance, the 7♥, in this case, is the lawyer and 6♥ + 6♣ shows the gaining of money. Again, it is relevant that the combination showing the inheritance comes up after the one showing death. But within these combinations, the position of the cards is relatively irrelevant. You could take the cards that go from 5♥ to 6♣, shuffle them around and it wouldn’t change much. Similarly, in the first combination, you could place granny (2♠R) somewhere else, maybe between the 5♠ and the 3♠R, and things wouldn’t change.

This is because the prediction includes descriptions.