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

Cartomancy with Playing Cards | Eight of Spades

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In cartomancy with playing cards, the Eight of Spades (8♠) is a card of tears.

Eight Spades (black), from the Playing Cards series (N84) for Duke brand cigarettes by W. Duke, Sons & Co. is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

All eights in cartomancy represent groups of people. They also represents the querent’s conscience and state of mind. In the suit of Spades, of course, this means a negative state of mind. However, this negativity can be interprered in two ways: as tears and depression or as evil intents. Usually it’s the former, but with specific cards, or in answering specific questions about someone’s intentions, the Eight of Spades can signify the will to hurt or do evil things.

The Eight of Spades also represents groups of spade-like people. This includes armies, juries, adjudicating boards, commissions, committees, medical teams, the mafia, a cult or secret society, etc.

In general, the Eight of Spades is a card of desperation. It represents the falling through of plans and hopes. It’s negative nature is reflected also in the fact that it indicates lonely, isolated places and difficult environments. It is also connected with trouble with other people. Thus, in love, it often shows arguments, misunderstandings or even the attempt of one of the partners to dominate the other. Single people tend to remain so under this card’s influence.

In work-related questions the Eight of Spades brings tears. It is also a card of difficult work environments, mobbing etc. If the querent is looking for a job they are unlikely to find one. In money matters it symbolizes debts.

Psychologically the card is connected either to depression, disenchantment or very dark thoughts, either toward oneself or another.

Some Combinations:

8♠ – 8♣ – 5♠ = mobbing at work
8♠ – 6♦ = debts
8♠ – 3♥ – 10♠ = an occult group (if J♠ instead of 3♥, a criminal organization)
K♣ – 8♠ – Q♣ = a toxic relationship
4♣ – 8♠ = gossip, words meant to hurt

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

Playing Cards and Numerology – The Eights

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The eights in cartomancy with playing cards represent people, consciousness/conscience and the concept of time. They show how we relate to other people and how we interact with them. In studying other systems of cartomancy, I’ve been struck by how similar my approach to the Eights is to the hedgewytchery system. Look it up for a comparison. I also find them quite similar to the eights of the Sibilla.

The Eight of Hearts is the card of cheerfulness. It represents optimism, satisfaction, good outcomes and the gathering of people to celebrate, public holidays, etc. It represents things done with a positive intent in mind, positive thinking in general, honesty, choosing the high road. It is also a flirtatious card and it is connected with watery places, possibly because in Italy people tend to turn flirtatious during the summer months while tanning on the beach (this card is somewhat similar to the Hope card in the Vera Sibilla). Broadly, it symbolizes peace. It is connected with relatives and with people taking an interest in the querent, as well as to the clergy.

The Eight of Clubs is representative of working people, the “common folk”, although more specifically it relates to the peasantry, and by extension it signifies work. There are other cards that can signify employment (Three, Seven, Eight of Diamonds, for instance) but in the case of the Eight of Clubs, work is seen as how people who don’t have the luxury of wasting the day sitting on their hands or soapboxing on Twitter spend their time. The card is connected to the fields and to the countryside. It is also the card of things done according to a plan or knowing full well what their consequences are, for better or worse.

The Eight of Diamonds is the card of business. It’s all things that bring in money or we invest money in. Because this card signifies where money comes from and where it is headed (compare to the Eight of Diamonds in the Sibilla), and because for most people money comes from working, this is another possible work card. It represents financial markets, banks and the bourgeoisie, as well as the city as an environment (usually not the querent’s city, though). The card represents investments, savings, transactions etc. depending on where it falls. It shows concerns with money and can imply aridity or ulterior motives, or, more neutrally, thinking about yourself and about your “business”.

The Eight of Spades is the card of tears. It represents the falling through of plans and the shattering of hopes and desperation in general. But this is also a card of negative thoughts, and of things done with the intent to hurt. Ill-will and malice are indicated. It can represent difficulties with other people, interpersonal trouble. It also has a connection with groups of spade-like people, such as armies, juries, medical teams, adjudicating boards, committees and all those situations where there are people who have the querent by the balls (in war it would represent a siege). The card is connected to isolated places in general.

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

Vera Sibilla | Eight of Spades – Desperation and Jealousy (Disperato per Gelosia)

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Name: Desperation and Jealousy
Italian Name: Disperato per Gelosia*
Playing Card: 8♠
Polarity when Upright: Negative
Core Meanings: Desperation, Crisis, Hopes falling through | Jealousy, Envy, Possessiveness | Loss | Ill-will, Toxicity
Polarity when Reversed: Negative
Reversed Core Meanings: Egotism | Pride | Imbalanced Character | Disruption, Accident | Imbalanced behavior

Card Description: a man leans against a rock as he is about do something from which there is no return. He seems to have r eached a point of no return.

Suit and Number: all eights have to do with balance. In the Suit of Spades, which is negative, this translates as a crisis of a state of affairs, loss of balance, scraping the bottom, etc. All other eights show the realization of hopes, the creation (or re-creation) of a balanced state of affairs and good perspectives. Here we have the opposite: life stands still on the brink of destruction, all balance lost (notice how the man leans on a rock for support).

UPRIGHT 8♠

General: one of the most NSFW cards in the deck, especially in our world pampered by trigger warnings. It is also one of the most mysterious and ominous-looking. It signifies what it says on the tin: hopelessness, desperation, a crisis, loss and jealousy. It shows all those situations where you find yourself face to face with the ugly truth that sometimes life is shit even if we call it fertilizer.

Love and Relationships: often this card represents jealousy. If it comes up alone, it is lousy, normal jealousy, nothing to get too worked up about. However the Eight of Spades also covers morbid jealousy, envy and all toxic environments where ill will prevails. Thus it is also a significator for gossip and slander. Relationships will devolve into a situation of crisis and hang on the brink of dissolution.

Work and Money: debts, loss and money troubles all around all form the core meaning of this card. Investments are likely to prove disastrous and if the querent is hoping to receive money for whatever reason, he won’t. Anything that is hoped for falls through as a rule, unless cards such as Fortune and the Peacock follow, in which case the hope will be realized when the person had given up on it.

Other: psychologically it represents a very dark period of dejection and loss of hope. It shows the inability to envision a bright future, and living in a state of inner crisis. Spiritually it shows loss of faith and esoterically it points to oppression by evil energies. It goes without saying that the Eight of Spades is connected to self-harm and its extreme forms, if with the appropriate cards.

Important Combinations:
6♥U/R + 8♠ = financial crisis
A♣ + 8♠ = a marriage in a critical moment
8♠ + Q♠ and/or J♠ + 9♦ = ill will from a group of people, mobbing if at work
4♥ + 8♠ = Jealousy
6♦U/R + 8♠ + A♠ + 9♦ = very dark thoughts toward oneself

REVERSED 8♠R

General: Also negative. It can have a similar meaning to the upright counterpart. It also shows accidents, disruptive events (think of the man actually firing the gun) and serious character flaws. Only when the reversed Eight of Spades is followed by positive cards it can signify the end of a crisis.

Love and Relationships: it is one of the cards that can show a breakup. It also represents people you’d be advised to stay away from, because they know no limit in their actions and will go to any length to get what they want, selfish and possibly unhinged, depending on the gravity of the other cards. Groups of people are also likely to harbor ill will toward the querent.

Work and Money: It still brings trouble, crisis and disruption. It can also signifiy that the person cannot be trusted to manage their own money or to make good on their promises.

Other: The reversed Jealousy card is connected with accidents. It is also a card of deep immaturity on a psychological level, showing someone who is proud, selfish and arrogant and thinks only about themselves. It signifies a loose cannon. Because it shows lack of restraint, it is associated eith excesses of all kind and it can point to an unbalanced aura due to a hex.

Important Combinations:
8♠R + 4♦ = traditionally, an accident that leaves you paralyzed in a chair, but two cards are not enough | being completely out of your mind
8♠R + 3♣ + 7♠ = an accident
8♠R + 2♣R = serious character flaws
8♠R + 4♦ + 3♠R + Q♠ = a hex sent by a woman (if J♠ a man)
8♠R + 5♦ = being whiny and capricious

Other combinations: Vera Sibilla | Examples of Combinations – The Eights

* literally “Desperate due to Jealousy”, it has been shortened to just “Jealousy” in some modern decks, but clearly the image represents more than just jealousy. I believe the inventor of the deck was trying to fit two different strands of meanings into one card, that connected to jealousy and that connected to desperation and crisis which is typical of the Eight of Spades in various traditions of divination.

Card Combinations, Cartomancy, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Vera Sibilla | Examples of Combinations – The Eights

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In this article you will find some examples of combinations using the Vera Sibilla. Most of these combinations are handed down by tradition. Studying and decoding combinations is a very good way to improve your cartomantic vocabulary, but bear in mind that the exact meaning of a combination depends on many other factors, such as the context of the question and the other cards in the spread, so I would encourage you to keep an open mind. As a rule, you will find that if you do not pose a question and these combinations come up, they will mean what the tradition says they mean 3 times out of 5. Also, keep in mind that it’s useless to try to combine every card with every other card beforehand so that no surprises will ever come up in a spread, just as it is useless to try to combine every word in a dictionary with every other to study a language. That time is best spent actually practicing.

NOTE:
R = Reversed
U/R = Upright or Reversed (doesn’t matter)
* = This combination has to come up in this specific order
3♦ = The Gift (Omaggio)
8♦ = The Handmaid (Donna di Servizio)
C = Cuori (Hearts)
F = Fiori (Clubs)
Q = Quadri (Diamonds)
P = Picche (Spades)

Eight of Hearts (8♥) – Hope (Speranza)

8♥ + A♥ or 9♣ = a meeting by the water (with the A♥, among many other possibilities, it would represent prayers, that is, words -A♥- of faith -8♥- or simply a meeting or talk going well)
8♥ + 3♥ = a long distance, possibly abroad | the arrival of something you hope for
8♥ + 4♥ = realization of romantic hopes, but often a love that was born as a flirt (if it were 9♥ instead, it would be better, showing success in love)
8♥ + 6♥ = an investment (because the 8♥ rules liquids and therefore liquid assets, and because investments are something that you hope will bear fruit, something your hopes hinge on; if also 6♣, the investment flourishes, if it’s reversed, then it is lost, but if it is reversed and followed by positive cards it may show that it won’t be great but you’ll not lose everything)
10♣ or 9♦ + 8♥ + 6♥ + 5♣ = a risky investment that pays off


8♥ + 6♥ + 7♦R + 6♣ = an investment that grows slowly
8♥ + 3♣ = can be a boat, among many other interpretations
8♥ + 3♣ + 9♣ = a trip to the beach
8♥ + 6♣ = if you loaned money, you’ll get it back
8♥ + 10♣ = a flirt, a dalliance


A♦ + 8♥ + 10♠R = a private hope you don’t talk about and keep secret
8♥ + 2♦ = a hoped for message | a sacred text
8♥ + 7♦ = it’s a symbol of maternity and breastfeeding | can be a childhood dream or wishing for a baby, among many possible interpretations
8♥ + 9♦ = a foolish hope or unforeseen setbacks marring the realization of the hope
8♥ + 5♠ = hope that will not be realized


2♠ + 8♥ = an old hope
8♥ + K♠ = among other meanings, this combination represents religion | also a priest
Negative cards + 8♥* = things clearing up or starting to look up. It’s a symbol of protection. However much may be taken from you, you’ll come out of it with a glimmer of hope
Positive cards + 8♥* = realization
8♥ + negative cards = the hope or wish is denied
Person + 8♥* = the hope belongs to the person
8♥ + Person* = the hope centers around that person

A♥ or 8♣ + 8♥R = a meeting, talk, reconciliation going up in smoke
8♥R + 6♥ + A♠ or 5♦ = an old disappointment that has left us scarred
7♥ + 8♥R = traditionally, the possibility of a contract going up in smoke
2♦ + 8♥R = a message that won’t arrive or whose content will leave you without hope | in the appropriate context, a book with anti-spiritual or dark contents


5♦ + 8♥R = disappointment bordering on depression
6♦R + 8♥R = depression | atheism (also with 6♦U)
8♥R + K♠R + 9♦ = a cult (3♠R may be present to show rituals but also negative groups)
10♣ + 8♥R = things going up in smoke due to carelessness | can mean promiscuity

Eight of Clubs (8♣) – Reunion (Riunione)

3♥ + 4♥ + 8♣ = the most classical combination of reconciliation
6♥ + 8♣ = positive financial evolution or meetings | getting back your money if you loaned it
10♥ + 8♣ * = a reconciliation that will require persistence
A♣ + 8♣ = can be a partnership (4♣ may be present, K♠ too)
6♣ + 8♣ = unexpected reconciliation or meeting or appointment


8♣ + 10♣ = traditionally, a reconciliation that is only momentary, not lasting (usually, the same old problems will resurface) | this is valid for other topics as well
A♦ + 8♣ + 10♠R = meeting in secret, a secret meeting place
2♦ + 8♣ = invitation to a meeting
K♦ + 8♣ = working two jobs | getting along with your colleagues
4♠ + 8♣ = healing


7♠ + 6♠R + 8♣ = constantly fighting and then getting back together | can also mean that a clarification will bring improvement or reconciliation
A♥ + K♠ + 8♣ = winning a trial. In general, it’s positive for any official situation

3♥U/R + 8♣R = you won’t get back together
5♥U/R + 8♣R = not getting along with your relatives
10♥ + 8♣R = trying hard to get back together but not succeeding
A♣U/R + 8♣R + 2♥U/R = an ill-assorted couple
8♣R + 8♥R or 4♠ or 5♦ or Q♣R= depression, feeling very down
K♦ + 8♣R = interpersonal problems at work
8♣R + 2♠R = inability to get along, to find common ground

Eight of Diamonds (8♦) – Handmaid (Donna di Servizio)

A♣ + 8♦ = traditionally, the dowry, but unless you’re reading for the royal family it will usually mean something else, like a job offer or a contract with good prospects
8♦ + K♦ = can be a (female) colleague from work | evolution of your career or a job offer | it can also mean an expansion of an activity | for a business person, it would be the money coming from the clients
8♦ + 2♠ = traditionally, a visit
8♦ + 5♠ = traditionally, getting out of a difficult period or a period of mourning
8♦ + Person = someone with high morals or values or standards (or money)

8♦ + J♣ = colleagues (if K♣ instead, a man and a woman occupying different positions, he might be the boss)
8♦ + 10♠ = can be a woman in uniform
8♦ + K♠ = usually a loan or money given by the authority
8♦ + 7♦ = baby sitter | a new job or evolution toward new things
8♦ + 10♣ = little value or unexpected expenses

8♦R + K♠ = taxes, money owed to the government or other institution, money not received from the government
8♦R + 4♥ = one who is unreliable in love (could be cheating as well)
8♦R + 10♠ = could be a fine, among other things
8♦R + Q♣ = frivolous young woman (in general, beware of people with the 8♦R next to them)


8♦R + 6♥R = money going out (+8♠, lots of it)
8♦R + 2♥ = petty arguments in the family or among neighbors
8♦R + J♦R = gossip
8♦R + Q♠ = petty, vindictive woman, usually with a sharp tongue (with Q♣ she would be a rather cheap girl)
10♥R + 8♦R = can be one whose anger is easily roused by silly things (basically every court show defendant or plaintiff)

Eight of Spades (8♠) – Desperation and Jealousy (Disperato per Gelosia)

A♥ + 8♠ = critical moment in your close relationships | expressing criticism, disapproval, group of people that is negative for the querent
6♥ + 8♠ = critical moment in the finances
6♥R + 8♠ = heavy losses | can mean possessiveness
8♠ + 4♥ = jealousy or envy in love | crisis in love
8♥R + 8♠ = tears, depression, hopes falling through


K♥U/R + 3♥R + 8♠ = jealous and dangerous husband or man (with Q♦, dangerous wife)
A♣ + 8♠ = marriage crisis | can be a jealous partner (even a business partner)
2♣R + 4♦ + 8♠ = among other interpretations, evil eye
7♣R + 8♠ = loss of status or certainties in life
8♠ + A♠ + 10♠ = jealousy and violence


8♠ + 10♠R = ill will you don’t know about
6♦ + 8♠ = projects falling through | one who is jealous or envious, ill will in general
K♦ + 8♠ = critical moment at work
K♦ + 8♠ + Q♠ and or J♠ = mobbing
8♠ + 5♠R = great inner pain, with other cards it might show certain types of mental illness
6♠ + 8♠ = tormented hopes falling through | one who just can’t let go and is in a crisis as a result

8♠R + 4♦ = traditionally, leg paralysis (but two cards are not enough. Here the 4♦ is the wheelchair while the 8♠ is the legs) | a skewed sense of reality and of self
2♣R + 8♠R = extreme arrogance, feeling like you are owed the world
8♠R + 7♠ = picking fights | an accident | a volatile temperament, a loose cannon
8♠R + 9♦ = also someone to stay well away from


8♠R + 5♦ = the woe is me type
8♠R + 7♦ = being infantile and capricious | a small accident
10♣ + 8♠R = utter carelessness in your behavior, usually motivated by an inflated ego | carelessness causing an accident
8♠R + 8♥ + 10♣ = getting into flirtatious situations to prove something to yourself

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Everyday Oracle, Numerology, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Vera Sibilla and Numerology – The Eights

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The Eights in the Vera Sibilla are a natural continuation of the sevens. They represent the concept of balance and evolution toward balance. If you look at the number 8, you’ll see that it’s made up of two loops, which represent the inside or inner world and the outside or outer world. One of the two loops is represented by the “intention” set forth by the number seven, while the other loop represents whether or not that intention finds actual expression in reality.

The Eights in the Vera Sibilla: The Eight of Hearts (Hope), The Eight of Clubs (Reunion), The Eight of Diamonds (Handmaid) and the Eight of Spades (Jealousy)

The Eight of Hearts, Hope, is connected with the realization of one’s expectations and dreams. At its best, this card shows things going as hoped, at its worst, when it ends a negative sequence, the Eight of Hearts promises us that all will be well anyway and things will evolve in a positive direction.

The two “loops” that make up the number eight are, in this case, in perfect balance: inner and outer are as one. As such, aside from showing the realization of hopes, this is the card that represents clairvoyant abilities, dreams and faith as a whole, as these are manifestations of the concrete reality of our inner world.

The Eight of Spades, Consumed with Jealousy, is by far the most interesting card in the deck. In the Italian title, the word “Disperato” actually means “desperate”, not consumed. Desperation is the opposite of Hope. And, indeed, the two images convey opposite ideas.

Let’s look at the two cards. On one hand, a young woman is gazing confidently in the distance. She is poised and dignified, and there is a sense of peace, of perspective, of having a future in front of us that is clear and peaceful. Her titties out to the wind don’t exactly scream insecurity, if I may add. The connection of this card with the element of water can also be interpreted as things flowing smoothly and calmly, which is itself an extension of the eight-ish idea of balance, understood as our inner wishes flowing out and permeating reality.

On the other hand we have one of the most disturbing images in the history of cartomancy: a guy who has lost all sense of perspective and all hope for the future, whose life has stopped flowing smoothly and who finds himself at a desperate turning point, and he’s about to possibly end his own life. Not someone you’d ask to look after the kids while you are out shopping.

This is the card of crisis, of the world closing in on you, of oppression and lack of positive ways out of this impasse (at least, unless other cards show otherwise). This card behaves as a landmine that our hopes and desires step onto while on the way toward realization. Here, the two loops of the number eight are imbalanced with one another. This imbalance can also be understood not just as unfulfilled hope or crisis, but also as negative hope, hence the card’s connection with envy, slander etc.

In between Spades and Hearts we have the Eight of Clubs, the Reunion and the Eight of Diamonds, the Handmaid, which represent evolution toward balance in two opposite senses. The Eight of Clubs is the card of the positive evolution toward a good conclusion, but it implies either a previous upset or a previous distance.

This is the card that can show winning a court case, which implies the upset of having gone through a trial, it’s the card of the date or meeting, which implies being apart (otherwise we wouldn’t be able to meet), it’s the card of reconciliation, which implies break-up, it’s the card of healing, which implies illness, it’s the card of getting back the money you’ve lent, which implies a previous parting with your money. In general, this card represents an evolution leading us back to a previous balance that has been interrupted, and a positive offsetting of the situation as a whole.

The Eight of Diamonds, The Handmaid, is also a card of evolution, but one that doesn’t necessarily lead us back: it’s an evolution that leads us forward toward a new equilibrium (or lack thereof). It is said that this card, when it falls in the spread without any specific reason, heralds new phases in life, and we must always look where the young woman is going.

The staircase she’s climbing is a symbol for improvement, expansion, growth. As such, this is one of the cards representing nobility, refinement, good manners and climbing up the social ladder. The evolution here is therefore not intended as a re-establishment of a former positive situation as the Reunion (Re-union) often implies, but rather as a building on what is already there to reach a new equilibrium. Note that the handmaid is also the card of offers and money, things and situations being given to us: the new equilibrium or balance may be coming toward us from the outside.