Tag Archives: Divination

Card Meanings, Fortune-telling, Numerology, Playing Cards

Playing Cards and Numerology – The Twos

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The Twos or Deuces in the playing card deck are often considered of low value, the reason being that they are the smallest number beside the Aces, which however have great symbolic value, and even great value in many games. In general, when taken alone, the Twos do not have tremendous power in changing the course of a reading, but of course they gain it by connecting to other cards.

All Twos are connected to the idea of movement in some form or another.

The Two of Hearts was taught to me as the card of the “Door Knockers”. Just as the Ace is the home, the Two is what is coming to the home. Broadly speaking, it shows things happening in a short timeframe. The general idea is that of imminent arrival. Being the card of arrival and visits, it signifies the shortening of distances and a principle of reconciliation when appropriate (but other cards must be present). Having a connection with expectation, it can show the arrival of a child if with other cards (note how this card is similar to the Three of Hearts in the Vera Sibilla).

The Two of Clubs does not signal arrival, where the querent is passively waiting for something. It shows the taking of steps. Literally, this is the card of walking and of moving, usually a short distance, visiting instead of being visited. It shows going out (as befits the Club suit) and being active in a matter. Figuratively, it can signify the idea of putting things into motion and getting your ducks in a row.

The Two of Diamonds heralds letters. It is the card of messages and all that is written: invitations, post, emails, etc. Nowadays, though, the card covers telephone calls as well. Figuratively, the card is connected with the movement of ideas, the elaboration of the thoughts and with all that has to do with evolving your perspective. It’s movement, but of the mind.

The Two of Spades is the opposite of the Two of Hearts. It’s the card of anger and of all those feelings that create fractures and distance. It can signify a separation and movement away from something or someone. Broadly, the card means annoyances and small difficulties that frustrate the querent, obnoxious things coming your way. If drowned in a sea of positive cards, the Two of Spades simply heralds delays and small difficulties. It is not a tragic card. It does show frustrations and differences of opinion.

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

Playing Cards and Numerology – The Aces

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One word of caution: back when I was taught to read playing cards, I was simply given their meanings. Just like for the Sibilla, there were no number meanings. The numerology was something I came up with to make sense of the meanings, remember them better and further expand upon them. You are free to come up with different associations, or even to disregard numerology entirely.

Aces in playing cards are connected to beginnings, obviously, but also to how and where things begin based on the associations of the suit.

In the suit of Hearts, the Ace is famously the House card. This is because our emotional sphere begins at home. The walls of the house protect us from what is outside. Thus, the Ace of Hearts represents the idea of inside. The house is the core of our individuality, where our roots are (it can also signify our origins, and the idea of origins, source, spring, well in general). It is also connected with positive beginnings or the beginning of positive things.

In the suit of Clubs, beginnings are interpreted differently. Here things begin objectively, they take root concretely out there in the world and not just inside of us, hence the Ace of Clubs’ connection with outside buildings and the idea of “outside” in general. More broadly, the Ace of Clubs is a card of production, commitment, activity, vigor and willpower. It also signifies signing papers, which is how documents become objectively valid.

In the suit of Diamonds, the beginning is seen in more absolute terms. This is the card of things starting out, of new things and, because the suit is connected to information and impulses, to news. It is also the card of all things that are first or of the highest value, such as diamonds, jewels, gold, a capital city, the sun, etc. The card can herald changes of phase, usually positive, and it is great for starting new ventures.

The suit of Spades is negative, so the beginning turns into an ending. Thus, this is almost universally the Death card. It heralds change, but painful change, change which is seen as the ending of something rather than the beginning of something else. It’s connected to all things that confine us. On a broader level it can even signify a country’s borders because that’s where the country ends. It is the card of cuts and knives. Broadly, this is the card of bad things beginning or of bad beginnings. It is also connected to all things that are last or of least value, and to where things end or end up.

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

Playing Cards | The Four Suits

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The two colors divide into four suits, two for each color.

Red splits into Hearts, which represent emotions and easy triumph, and Diamonds, which represent energy and the reward for positive action taken. Of the two, Hearts are generally more positive.

Black splits into Clubs, which represent effort and toil and the need to act, and Spades, which represent serious trouble. Of the two, Spades are more negative.

At a glance it is clear that Hearts tend to be antithetical to Spades, while Clubs and Diamonds complement each other.

Hearts signify love, family, emotion, religion, art, philosophy, nourishment, miracles, celebrations, gifts. They give freely (out of the goodness of their heart, you may say). They are connected to the home environment, and by analogy to the inner side of the individual. They are also connected to warm climates and the sea and all bodies of water. They are also erratic and lazy. They are associated with the clergy and with nobility.

Spades are the opposite. Whereas Hearts give freely, Spades take away easily. They represent obstacles, enmity, obstructions to the querent’s desires, restriction, punishment and all things that are either bad for the querent (sickness) or are neutral to positive but cause pain or are associated with it(medicine, the legal system, the state). In a word, all those things that create a rigid armor of rules and punishments that keep the individual from getting what he wants. They are associated with cold climates and the mountain, and with hostile environments in general. They are connected with the army and with the state as a means of threatening the citizens.

Hearts are Spades cannot be reconciled. They represent two opposite modes of existence: pure bliss and pure pain, heaven and hell. When only Hearts and Spades litter the reading, you have either miracles or tragedies, depending on which one prevails.

Clubs and Diamonds are the conciliation of the pure redness of Hearts and the pure blackness of Spades. They represent toil and rewards. Toil implies difficulties and the need for action (but also the possibility of action), while rewards imply some action, or they wouldn’t be rewards, but gifts (Hearts).

Clubs are associated with action, physical activity, the physical body, and with the world “out there”, as opposed to the inner reality of the Hearts. They symbolize vegetation and growth, both in plants and in humans, and they stand for the countryside and for the peasantry or with the common folk, those who need to work to get by. They also are a symbol of other people outside of the querent’s family, as an extension of the idea of “out there”. Usually, Clubs are friends or more distant relatives. Clubs are different from Spades because the latter often signify obstacles that are either impossible or very hard to plough through, while Clubs put the accent on action, and therefore on the turning of something from an obstacle into a resource. If Spades are a wall that confines the querent, Clubs are a steep slope to climb.

Diamonds show the rewards reaped from the toil of the Clubs. They signify money, energy (because money can be transformed into anything that money buys, just like energy can be transformed into anything that is made of energy). They also signify the mind and progress, inventions, etc. They are associated with the city and with merchants and the bourgeoisie. They differ from Hearts, the other red suit, because although they are still connected with some sort of inner side of the querent, it is more practical and aimed at achieving the goods of this world. It is inventiveness rather than contemplation, science rather than philosophy or religion.

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

Divination with Playing Cards – Red and Black

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Before we start talking about the four suits, it’s obvious that, as card readers, we cannot not consider the two colors present in modern playing card decks. Most systems of cartomancy, as far as I know, consider them. Some believe that a majority of red is good and a majority of black is bad. Others answer yes or no questions by the preponderance of colors. You need to find your own language, but I must confess that this yes-no thing has not worked reliably for me, although I know it does for other readers (such as J David Arcuri, whose work I highly recommend).

The way I see it, and the way that I have been taught, red suits tend to be “light”, moveable (Hearts) and moving (Diamonds), volatile, life-giving, cheerful and showy. They tend to shine in a reading, and the things they symbolize tend to shine more obviously: a promotion, a great love, etc. These are all things that make us feel good immediately. They please us, mostly. They are also very unstable. A love reading with only hearts, in my experience, is not good. Hearts don’t put effort into anything, meaning that all can turn out to be a flash in the pan. The answer may be good immediately, but you can already see troubled skies ahead.

Black suits tend to be “heavy”, struggling (Clubs) or suffering (Spades). They are limiting, oppositional, dour, serious, private, toiling, strict, but also stabilizing and disciplined. They give nothing for free, if anything at all. They are very firm, and a reading with too many black cards will tend to show either immobility or lots and lots of struggle and effort for very paltry results. However, they tend to give roots to positive situations, making them last longer.

Ask any couple that has lasted a long time. There have been hard times. There have been fights and misunderstandings and moments when all seemed lost. Those are the spades and clubs of the relationships. Having survived those phases makes the relationship much more stable, it gives the two people involved a keener awareness of how to steer the ship of marriage. It also implies a willingness to commit and to work out issues, to compromise, to leave one’s comfort zone behind once the initial emotional lubricant of pure bliss is over.

I’m not trying to say black suits are pleasant. I’m merely pointing out that we don’t exist just on some childish level of awareness of pleasure and pain. Life is more complex, and divination reflects life. There are pains that are necessary and pleasures that are harmful or distracting. This is reflected in the interplay of the suits and colors of the reading.

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

Divination with Playing Cards | Master Post

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Here I’ll gather the links to my articles on cartomancy with playing cards.

A quick summary. Like and subscribe to my YT channel to support my work

Playing Cards – Cartomancy with 52 Cards

Card Descriptions

Cards By Concept

Card Interpretation

Cartomancy with 32 Cards

A recap of the meanings of the Piquet / Skat deck, based on the second method

My Articles on Divination with Playing Cards

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

Reading Regular Playing Cards – Card Titles

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This is a short summary of the meanings I assign to regular playing cards. In time, I will add individual pages for each of the cards. It’s how they’ve been taught to me. I am aware that there are many other methods. Feel free to patch together a system that works for you. Note that these are only the “names” of the cards in the system I use. More meanings can be derived by interpreting the title figuratively.

HEARTS

A♥ = The Home
2♥ = Near the home (The door knockers)
3♥ = A gift
4♥ = A reunion
5♥ = Abundance
6♥ = Adjustment
7♥ = A Surprise
8♥ = Cheerfulness
9♥ = Triumph
10♥ = Happiness
J♥ = A child
Q♥ = A loved woman
K♥ = A loved man

CLUBS

A♣ = A Commitment
2♣ = Steps
3♣ = A Union
4♣ = Talks
5♣ = Effort
6♣ = Tiredness
7♣ = Difficulties
8♣ = Work
9♣ = Far away
10♣ = Travel
J♣ = Friendship
Q♣ = The female Querent
K♣ = The male Querent

DIAMONDS

A♦ = News
2♦ = A Letter
3♦ = Money
4♦ = Agreement
5♦ = Change
6♦ = Worry
7♦ = Gain
8♦ = Business
9♦ = Advancement
10♦ = Success
J♦ = A Messenger
Q♦ = A Lady
K♦ = A Gentleman

SPADES

A♠ = Death
2♠ = Anger
3♠ = Intrigue
4♠ = Blockage
5♠ = Imprisonment
6♠ = Sickness (The wards of a hospital)
7♠ = Misfortune
8♠ = Tears
9♠ = Privation
10♠ = A Secret
J♠ = Enmity
Q♠ = Falsehood
K♠ = Authority

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Fortune-telling, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Vera Sibilla | Twenty Five Card Spread

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A last spread I wanted to cover with you, another one that can be used for general readings, is the twenty five card spread. This is similar to the twenty one card spread, but instead of seven packs of three, you use five packs of five cards.

Pack 1: The Querent
Pack 2: The Home
Pack 3: Work
Pack 4: Love
Pack 5: What you don’t expect

This method also has a short time frame, rarely beyond three months. As usual, lay out the cards and see what your interpretations are before reading mine.

Example with the twenty-five card method

This was a general fortune for a friend, more than two years ago.

Pack 1: 2♥R + 5♦ + 6♦ + 3♠ + 3♣
Pack 2: Q♦R + 4♥ + 4♠ + K♥R + A♣R
Pack 3: 3♥ + 4♣R + 9♥ + 6♣ + 6♥
Pack 4: 9♠ + 10♥ + A♠R + 2♦ + 10♣R
Pack 5: K♠R + Q♠R + 5♥R + 4♦R + 2♣

Pack one tells of a difficult situation at home, which makes the querent sad and makes her want to leave. Since the 3♣ is a card of movement, it is probably going to happen (it did)

Pack two tells of tensions in the family between two married relatives (turned out it was the aunt and uncle who lived on the second floor of the querent’s home). Their love is sick and the situation will likely lead to a divorce (A♣R)

Pack three shows that there is an upcoming recommendation or help. The querent’s interests will be fostered on the job and her finances will improve.

Pack four shows a long period of solitude. The A♠ is reversed, which makes it mildly negative together with the 9♠, as they sandwich the 10♥. However, in reference to the following cards, which are positive, the A♠R shows the end of sorrow. Probably thanks to meeting someone online. This doesn’t tell us about their story, only that she will start dating.

Pack five shows the unmasking of a negative relative, a woman who will give the querent’s family much grief and be unjust. All will be well though in the end. It turned out that a distant cousin was trying to claim the will of a common relative for herself. I don’t know the details, but she was stopped.

Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling

On Querent / Reader Dynamics

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When someone other than a friend sits at the table to have a reading with you, they are going to come in with their own expectations of what a card reading is or isn’t. Actually, your friends have expectations too, but they are also more likely to be good sports and forgiving. When someone wants a more or less professional reading (whether you get paid or not) they are going to be pissed if what you provide isn’t what they expect.

Some querents lie to you, either to prove you wrong or to put you to the test. The cards can detect this, but it is obviously easier to conduct a reading with a well-meaning querent, especially because it’s easy to misread the cards on the background of what your querent tells you. It’s like going to the doctor insisting your leg hurts even if it doesn’t. Sooner or later you are going to have something prescribed for it regardless of whether it’s good for you.

Some querents lie to themselves, and this makes matters even harder, because the cards have a way of being brutal. When I notice that the querent has decided in advance what truth they want to see in the cards, my rule of thumb is to drop hints. While the great benefit of divination is that it affords us a dispassionate bird-eye-view on our life, it is not the reader’s job to yank the querent kicking and screaming out of their delusion, especially because we, as readers, can be deluded too.

Some readers will sit across from you, cross their arms and wait to be astounded. Sometimes they don’t even do it out of spite–they genuinely think that’s how you behave during a divination session. While it is possible to give a reading in this situation, I always prefer for there to be an exchange, especially because I have better things to do with my time.

So, let me reassure you that it is within your rights to torture your querent for all the information you need and to ask them for feedback at every turn of the reading. This is not called fishing for information, it’s called saying “ouch” when the doctor touches you where it hurts.

It is your right to demand that the person sitting in front of you respects you and keeps an open mind. Your mileage may vary, but my rule of thumb is, if you antagonize me, you can read your own cards.

It is your right to say “I don’t know” if you don’t know and “I’m not sure, but…” if you are not sure, but…

It is your right to refuse to answer any question you don’t feel like answering, for whatever reason. Just be kind and tactful in refusing, as sometimes questions are asked out of despair.

It is NOT your right to demand that the querent hangs off your every word and accepts everything unquestioningly like a divine revelation. A healthy dose of skepticism is natural and to be expected in sane individuals. It is not true that the cards will only work if the querent believes in them. I don’t believe in many of the predictions I make, both for myself and for others. What is true is that if the querent unnerves the reader with his skepticism, the reading may be less than optimal (see the paragraph on antagonistic questioners). If the querent starts off with “I don’t really believe in this stuff” you can say “me neither, let’s see what happens”. Even if the reading goes south, I swear you won’t find your face on national television with the title “Fortune-teller gets it wrong”.

Finally, let me say that the measure of a good reading is not whether the querent instantly believes what you read “resonates” with them. Sometimes you are reading along and everything seems to be going smoothly and then when you ask for feedback you get a big fat nope. At other times the querent leaves scowling at you like you’re worse than an amoeba, but then when you hear from them again they are delighted. I find that the easiest way for me to give a reading is just to surrender control over it: it will go as it must.

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Fortune-telling, Reading Example, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Vera Sibilla | Twenty One Card Spread

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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

Example of 21 card spread
Pack 1: 5♦ + 9♠ + 3♣R
Pack 2: 9♣ + 8♣ + 3♦
Pack 3: J♦ + 8♦R + K♠R
Pack 4: 10♥ + 4♠ + 7♣
Pack 5: 5♥ + A♥ + 2♥
Pack 6: 9♦ + 5♣R + 2♣
Pack 7: 10♣ + 2♦ + 10♦

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)

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Fortune-telling, Reading Example, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Vera Sibilla | The Pyramid Spread

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Another spread that can be used is that of the reversed pyramid. It is rather intuitive and not especially complicated. The base of the pyramid can be any number of cards, usually 4, 5, 6 or 7. I usually limit myself to 4 or 5. You can allot the first row to the past, the second to the present and the subsequent ones to the future, or you can just see what comes up. Usually, this spread is good for exploring topics (“tell me about my love life”) before using a row of cards to answer more specific questions. It can also be used without a question. The tip of the pyramid, i.e., the last three cards, is usually read together, but be flexible.
If you have questions about a particular row of cards, you can still either fan out the deck and choose three cards at random to clarify it, or shuffle the deck and draw three cards from the top. Either way, don’t abuse clarification cards. Sometimes we understand something perfectly well. We are just not willing to accept it. What follows are two examples, one with a 10 card pyramid and one with a 15 card one. Lay out the cards and follow along. Strive to come up with your interpretation before reading mine.

Example of 10 card pyramid


The querent asked if his marriage, which was hitting the rocks, was salvageable. The cards were
A♦R + Q♥R + A♠ + 8♠
7♠ + 3♣ + 2♥R
10♥R + 2♠
7♦

The first row speaks quite obviously of the discovery of some form of negative behavior on the part of the woman, which led to sorrow, strife and jealousy. She was probably cheating on him, which he confirmed.
The second row shows either the immediate past or immediate future, usually. There is an abrupt move away from a house he doesn’t like anymore.
The third row shows that there won’t be a continuation of the marriage and that the situation is waning. The spread ends with the Child, which shows new situations, a new life, a new love story. A few days after the reading, the querent left the house after an argument and they divorced some time later. He is now with a different woman.

Example of a 15 card pyramid

A querent asked a general fortune. Here were the cards:
Q♦ + 2♥R + K♥ + 5♦ + Q♣R
2♦ + K♠ + 8♣ + 4♦
J♥ + 9♥ + 6♣R
A♥ + 10♥
4♥

The first line clearly speaks of family matters. There’s a married couple in the family, probably her parents, who make life difficult for her. They likely don’t get along together (they are connected by the reversed House card). The mother is probably more at fault than the father. All this creates sadness and melancholy in the querent, showing up as the Q♣ reversed, which emphasizes her sense of helplessness.
The second row speaks of some communication or document concerning a legal or bureaucratic practice that will arrive. The thing will resolve itself (8♣) but it won’t be very satisfactory (4♦). What ended up happening was that quite soon after the reading (the second line shows the present or near future) the querent received her tax return documents, which showed all was in order but she would receive less money in deductions than she expected.
The following line shows that the girl will enter a rough patch with her boyfriend due to growing apart with him and not finding common interests (6♣R). However, the following lines show that they will talk at length (A♥ + 10♥) and will rekindle their relationship.

Note: due to formatting, it looks like the cards are laid out in a right triangle. In reality it is an inverted pyramid. It doesn’t really change anything, but I thought I’d let you know.