Tag Archives: daily cards

Making Sense of Daily Readings

Daily readings are not my passion. Divination moves from the assumption that something is going to happen. But life is full of uneventful days, where time seems to stand still. Yet the oracle must necessarily tell us something, for the simple fact that we allow it to speak.

This is not to say that the cards (or other means) don’t mean anything, but often we need to tone down the interpretation to such a degree, or retrieve such inconsequential shades of meaning that, unless you are a god of divination, you aren’t going to be able to consistently predict much, and I am definitely not a god of divination.

On the other hand, daily readings can sometimes be easy to read into once the event has come to pass (see my recent example). Reading into the oracle always leaves us in danger of deluding ourselves. The question I always ask myself is: would I be able to see it if I didn’t know it? Often a vaguer prediction that is true to what we can see in the cards is preferable to a highly detailed account that simply regurgitates what we already know or what we have been fed.

Still, sometimes we can afford the luxury of reading-into after the fact, and daily readings can be one such instance, because at least we can learn something, if we are careful. In the example I posted about the pregnancy, the three cards, called at random to disclose a daily influence, could have meant a variety of different things, but news about a pregnancy is without a doubt one possible interpretation. Furthermore, sometimes if we know that something is bound to happen, we may gauge by the daily reading if it is likely to happen on a particular day, or if it is going to go well.

Another thing to consider is that limiting the timeframe is always somewhat arbitrary. Do you seriously think that if you ask the cards what is going to happen this week and in ten days something terrible or wonderful is bound to happen the cards are going to keep quiet about it? Just because you told them to keep it within the week?

Often, if you pull daily cards, a major event or major influence or vibe shift will start manifesting in the cards many days in advance. A romantic reunion happening next week may start manifesting with cards of love now, even if today or tomorrow aren’t especially romantic days.

What I personally prefer to do is occasionally pulling three cards for the day, while knowing that they may describe something happening further along the way. By occasionally I mean every two or three weeks, rarely every week. That way the cards are usually more meaningful than if I stress them every day on how the day is going to go. This doesn’t mean I’m going to be able to predict something, but the careful, tentative reading-into is going to be more certain and less based on wishful thinking.

MQS

Great News, I’m Pregnant!

No, not me–science hasn’t come that far. I picked three cards for the day around a week ago.

A daily reading reveals news about a pregnancy

In a daily reading, these cards could indicate just about anything, although the tone is positive and it is connected with good news for sure. But two days later a friend in our group announced she was pregnant. The Hope card is strongly connected with maternity and nourishment, and is often present when asking about pregnancies, and the Child card speaks for itself. Also note that daily readings can come true even in the following days.

MQS

A Clear Daily Sibilla Reading

Daily readings are not always very clear, for a couple of reasons. First, since we don’t live in an action movie, not every day is the setting of some memorable event. Second, the cards could sometimes bring up a minor situation that we barely pick up on. Third, I have personally found in my practice that torturing the cards for daily glimpses is not always a good idea, if done systematically, as sometimes it causes me to feel I’m losing my connection with the cards. That’s why I only draw three cards for the day every once in a while, when I feel inspired to.

Today was one such day, and it was very clear:

Daily vera sibilla reading

The cards talked about a communication reaching me, but that was the extent of my interpretation. I did not try to read further into it, because what is valid for a general reading is not always valid in a daily reading, where the interpretation needs to often be toned down.

If I were to interpret these cards for someone in a regular reading, I would tell them that their partner would communicate to them that they no longer have anything in common and it’s over. The Surprise, The Six of Clubs, represents, when upright, all situations that flourish easily, and therefore it shows compatibility, while, when reversed, it represents falling out of love due to growing apart.

Well, this is exactly what happened today. Only, not to me. I was the one who received the communication, but not from my husband. I received it from a friend who told me she and her partner were breaking off their relationship, because “they don’t even recognize each other anymore”

MQS

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Knight of Cups

(Note: this is a collection of the meanings attributed to the cards by some occultists in the past centuries. It does not reflect my own study or opinion of the cards. It is only meant as a quick comparative reference as I develop my own take.)

The Knight of Cups in the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck.

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is from the beginning of the last decanate of Aquarius to the end of the second decanate of Pisces, February 9 to March 10, under the rulerships of Venus, Jupiter, Neptune and the Moon.
Well Dignified: a man of graceful, somewhat indolent, personality; generous and enthusiastic, when he is really interested. Somewhat impressionable and psychic. Fond of home and probably puts all women more or less on a pedestal. Friendly to the Querent.
Ill Dignified: lazy, untruthful, likely to be effeminate and ‘catty’.
Brown hair, grey or brown eyes.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

Graceful, but not warlike; riding quietly, wearing a winged helmet, referring to those higher graces of the imagination which sometimes characterize this card. He too is a dreamer, but the images of the side of sense haunt him in his vision. Divinatory Meanings: Arrival, approach–sometimes that of a messenger; advances, proposition, demeanour, invitation, incitement. Reversed: Trickery, artifice, subtlety, swindling, duplicity, fraud.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

(Note: Crowley and the Golden Dawn made a mess with Knights and Kings)
The Prince of Cups represents the airy part of Water. On the one hand, elasticity, volatility, hydrostatic equilibrium; on the other hand, the catalytic faculty and the energy of steam. He rules from the 21st degree of Libra to the 20th degree of Scorpio.

He is a warrior partly clad in armour, which seems, however, rather a growth than a covering. His helmet is surmounted by an eagle, and his chariot, which resembles a shell, is also drawn by an eagle. His wings are tenuous, almost of gas.. This is a reference to his power of volatilization understood in the spiritual sense.

In his right hand he bears a Lotus flower, sacred to the element of Water, and in his left hand is a cup from which issues a serpent.

The third totem, the scorpion, is not shewn in the picture, for the putrefaction which it represents is an extremely secret process. Beneath his chariot is the calm and stagnant water of a lake upon which rain falls heavily.

The whole symbolism of this card is exceedingly complicated, for Scorpio is the most mysterious of the Signs, and the manifested portion of it symbolized by the eagle is in reality the least important part of his nature.

The moral characteristics of the person pictured in this card are subtlety, secret violence, and craft. He is intensely secret, an artist in all his ways. On the surface he appears calm and imperturbable, but this is a mask of the most intense passion. He is on the surface susceptible to external influences, but he accepts them only to transmute them to the advantage of his secret designs. He is thus completely without conscience in the ordinary sense of the word, and is therefore usually distrusted by his neighbours. They feel they do not, and can never, understand him. Thus he inspires unreasonable fear. He is in fact perfectly ruthless. He cares intensely for power, wisdom, and his own aims. He feels no responsibility to others, and although his abilities are so immense, he cannot be relied upon to work in harness.

In the Yi King, the airy part of Water is represented by the 61st hexagram, Kung Fu. This is one of the most important figures in the Yi: it “moves even pigs and fish, and leads to great good fortune”. Its dignities and correspondences are manifold and great; for it is also a “big Li”, the trigram of Sol formed by doubling the lines. By shape it suggests a boat, but also the geomantic figure of Cancer, Saturn in Capricornus.

This card is in consequence one of great power; Libra going over into Scorpio is of tremendous, active, critical energy and weight. To such people good will, sincerity, and right mating are the essentials of success; their danger is overweening ambition.
(From The Book of Thoth)

An AI generated illustration for the Knight of Cups

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A WINGED Kingly Figure with winged crown seated in a chariot drawn by an eagle. On the wheel is the symbol of a scorpion. The eagle is borne as a crest on his crown, cuirass and buskins. General attire like King of Wands. Beneath his chariot is the calm and stagnant water of a lake. His armour resembles feathers more than scales. He holds in one hand a lotus, and in the other a cup, charged with the sigil of his scale. A serpent issues from the cup, and has its head tending down to the waters of the lake.

He is subtle, violent, crafty and artistic; a fierce nature with calm exterior. Powerful for good or evil but more attracted by the evil
if allied with apparent Power or Wisdom.
If ill dignified, he is intensely evil and merciless.
He rules from 20 Degree Libra to 20 Degree Scorpio.
Air of Water

Etteilla

Arrival
Upright: This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Arrival, Coming, Approach, Landing, Welcoming, Entrance, Reapproachment. – Conformity. – Coming, Approximation. – Access. – Affluence. – Comparison.
Reversed: Deception, Scoundrelishness, Briccony, Deception, Artifice. – Fineness, Dexterity, Cunning, Fraud. – Subtlety, Irregularity. Nefariousness.

MQS

Daily Reading – When the Cards Describe More Than One Thing

A couple of days ago I wrote that a user had pointed out some of my links were broken. It took me a significant amount of time to correct the issue, so this was definitely a significant part of my day.

As I have probably already mentioned, sometimes I draw three cards for the day to see how it’s going. For that day I had:

J ♣ – 7♣ – 2♣

I forgot all about the reading until evening, but then it made sense: the help (the Jack) in taking steps (Two of Clubs) on an issue (Seven of Clubs).

Furthermore, it is not uncommon for daily readings to cover more than one happening in your life. That day I fell on the street (Seven of Clubs on Two of Clubs) and people helped me get up and gathering my groceries.

This may sound silly, but our life is made up of these little things, and the cards can reflect them. It is not always that clear, but sometimes it is possible to see the immediate connection between cards and life.

MQS

Daily Playing Card Reading and Tarot Reading Example

I don’t often use the cards to track day-to-day happenings, but sometimes, if I’m feeling inspired, I will draw three cards to see what’s going to happen the next day. Of course, daily readings are much harder to make sense of because they require you to tone down the language of the cards. Still, if something out of the ordinary is set to happen, the cards will capture it quite clearly.

A couple of days ago, I was alone at home as my husband had driven to his mom for a couple of days to help her. I couldn’t go as I had a deadline and couldn’t waste time traveling. Still, he was set to come back the following day.

I felt compelled to draw three cards for the following days. You can see them in the picture: these were the King of Hearts, the Three of Clubs and the Three of Spades.

Daily reading with playing cards, confirmed by the tarot

The King of Hearts and the Three of Clubs together usually indicate a married man. My husband, of course, is a married man, if you can believe it. But the Three of Spades usually represents a removal or at least problems intervening between two people. I didn’t think too much about it, and that was a mistake, because if I had been reading those same cards for someone else I would have certainly predicted that their partner wouldn’t come home.

It was only on the next day that I remembered the cards. Out of curiosity, I asked the Tarot if my husband would come back that day.

The cards of the cut show the Popess and the Stars, in this case probably his mother taking care of him. We then have Judgement and the Juggler / Magician, which among other things could indicate work-related communication. The Charriot, showing the journey, is then slowed down by Temperance and brought to a halt by the Hanged Man. After that, the Pope / Hierophant (my husband) and the Emperor (me) unite again.

Later that day my husband said that he had unexpectedly received some work-related task that he needed to take care of from his laptop that evening and wouldn’t be able to drive back home. He came back the next day (yesterday).

MQS