MQS
The Fives of the Vera Sibilla
Tag Archives: Malinconia
Vera Sibilla | Five of Diamonds – Melancholy (Malinconia)
Name: Melancholy
Italian Name: Malinconia
Playing Card: 5♦
Polarity when Upright: Negative
Core Meanings: Sadness, but of a passing kind | A misstep, instability
Polarity when Reversed: Negative
Reversed Core Meanings: Deeper disappointment | Debts, Difficult financial situation
Card Description: A young woman sighing dejectedly by the tombs of her dead pet.
Suit and Number: Fives have to do with transition, and Diamonds are a mixed suit. The Five of Diamonds represents transitory difficulties and sadness and some instability.
UPRIGHT 5♦
General: Negative but not tragic. In general, it points to disappointments of a passing nature. Heavy or difficult periods are indicated, but also described as not anchored in the querent’s destiny. The card also has some connection with the past, because it represents happiness lost.
Love and Relationships: the situation is at the very least not satisfactory. If the querent is single, they are unlikey to find someone in the near future, but the card also says that the situation will pass. When it describes a couple’s life, it shows it to be unfulfilling and kind of meh. There is probably some unvoiced issue, or the people involved seem to have lost the glowing admiration they once had for their partner. It can represent pining for a lost love or loved one if the other cards are consistent.
Work and Money: money is probably tight and the situation is not the best. It can also represent a financial situation where the person reaps the poor results of previous negative actions, and even when upright, if surrounded by negative cards, it can point to debts. Career-wise the Five of Diamonds is a card of lack of fulfillment, possibly due to being in the wrong field, or more simply due to bad pay or lack of security.
Other: psychologically some depression is indicated, but not a heavy one. It represents those situations where you just feel like giving up on things and life doesn’t feel very exciting anymore. Spiritually the same is indicated. It can also show up in readings for those people who pick up new spiritual fads and then discover that they are not as shiny after a couple of weeks.
Important Combinations:
6♥ + 5♦ = dissatisfaction with your finances or due to something that happened in the past
7♦U/R + 9♠ + 5♠ + 5♦ = sadness due to a past miscarriage (with K♣ or K♠, abortion)
5♦ + 9♠ = some depression
A♦ + 5♦ = in a couple it can represent lack of satisfaction under the sheets
10♣ + 5♦ = regret over having behaved irresponsibly
REVERSED 5♦R
General: More negative than when upright, the card tends to show disappointments of a more lasting nature. It still has a connection to the past, often showing pigeons coming home to roost or past issues coming out of the woodwork.
Love and Relationships: again, dissatisfaction is shown. For singles, it is very likely that they are still very much suffering due to a past breakup. For couples, disagreements are foretold, and depending on the other cards even divorce, that is, the legal disagreement par excellence. Sometimes the Melancholy card reversed signifies that it is starting to be too late to fix a relationship.
Work and Money: because of its connection with the past and with deeper trouble, the reversed Five of Diamonds can signify debts. More generally, it shows a difficult situation, impoverishment and unemployment or a very badly paid job, sometimes even one where you are paid little and off the books.
Other: there is a general sense of “lateness” to this card, as though a situation were now beyond repair, at least in its current form. Usually it’s best for the querent to start over with a clean slate where possible. The card is connected with lawsuits and litigations where appropriate.
Important Combinations:
6♥U/R + 5♦R = debts, bad finances
5♦R + 8♠ + 10♦R or 7♠R = utter financial ruin
5♦R + K♦ = a bad or stressful job (if K♦R likely one where you are exploited)
5♦R + K♠R = a bad lawsuit
5♦R + A♠R + 8♦R + 10♥ = repaying a debt
Other Combinations: Vera Sibilla | Examples of Combinations – The Fives
Vera Sibilla | Examples of Combinations – The Fives
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)
Five of Hearts (5♥) – Happiness (Allegrezza al Cuore)
A♥ + 5♥ = an engagement proposal | a job interview that goes well
5♥ + 2♥ = the house of relatives
5♥ + 6♥ = can be a down payment
5♥ + 8♣ = reconciliation among relatives or a second engagement after the first one didn’t work out | Can mean meeting at a party
5♥ + 9♣ = an engagement party
2♦ + 5♥ = announcement of engagement | a booking
5♥ + 5♦ = dissatisfaction between boyfriend and girlfriend or among relatives
5♥ + 7♦ = traditional combination for petting and sweat talk
5♥ + 7♦R = traditionally, an engagement that is leading nowhere due to an unwillingness to take the next step | it can mean having second thoughts about any kind of commitment
5♥ + 4♠R = also an engagement that doesn’t seem to lead to the next step
5♥ + 7♠ = engagement broken off
5♥ + Person = usually a relative (but in specific contexts, someone who is engaged or not sentimentally free)
5♥ + Person + 5♠ + 7♥ + cards of money or wealth = an inheritance from a dead relative
A♥ + 5♥R = a meeting or talk or discussion that doesn’t reach its goal
5♥R + 2♥ = unstable family relationships
5♥R + 4♦ or 10♦ or 10♠U/R = cheating and lies
5♥R + K♦ = unstable relationships among colleagues
5♥R + 2♠R = incompatibility among relatives, possibly due to lies and a negative behavior
5♥R + 3♠ = a very unsupportive (extended) family (the querent is left alone)
5♥R + Person = a relative to keep at arm’s length
Five of Clubs (5♣) – Fortune (Fortuna)
5♣ + 6♥ = good luck in money matters
5♣ + 10♥ = lasting good luck
5♣ + A♣ = a fortunate marriage or contract
5♣ + 6♣ + 7♣ = the traditional combination of great good fortune
5♣ + 2♦ = it can be a winning ticket
5♣ + 3♦ = a lucky charm, among other possible interpretations | A combination of wealth
5♣ + 5♦ = it can be a lucky situation that the querent is dissatisfied with because it doesn’t match their preconceptions of what luck is
5♣R + 3♣R = a positive transformation that will happen over a longish period
5♣R + 7♦R = the 7♦R delays the 5♣R even more
5♣R + 4♠ = the illness will be overcome over time (+6♠R, with ups and downs)
5♣R + 10♠U/R = the good luck will be delayed and the querent will need to fight
Five of Diamonds (5♦) – Melancholy (Malinconia)
4♥ + 7♠ + 5♦ = a traditional combination showing disappointment over a breakup (if also 5♠, a definitive breakup, but if +2♦ + 8♣, there will be reconciliation)
9♥ or 4♥ + 5♦ = dissatisfaction in one’s love life (if it’s 9♥, an added nuance might be that one doesn’t feel completely connected to the partner)
5♦ + 10♥ = the 10♥ stabilizes the disappointment of the 5♦, which in itself would be transitory
6♥ + 5♦* = an open wound from the past | dissatisfaction with one’s economic situation (in this case the order is not important)
2♣R + 5♦ = a brat who plays the victim or always feels like one (the 8♠R might be present or replace the 2♣R)
7♣ + K♦ + 10♦ + 5♦ = disappointment over a lost promotion (if it were the 6♣ instead, over a lost pay raise)
10♣ + 7♦ + 9♠ + 5♦ = disappointment over finding out you’re pregnant (10♣ shows it wasn’t planned)
7♦ + 9♠ + 7♠ + 5♦ = sadness due to a miscarriage
9♦ + 5♦* = a traditional combination signaling the possibility of an ambush (but only with a specific question or with other cards) | sadness due to interpersonal contrasts
A♠R + 10♥ + 7♦ + 5♦ = some baby blues might be the issue (if also 9♠, it becomes full blown depression)
5♠ + 5♦ = a change that causes sadness, generally
5♦ + 6♠R = mood swings
5♦ + 9♠ = depression (+4♠, it becomes serious and shouldn’t be underestimated)
5♦R + 6♥U/R = debts
5♦R + K♠U/R = legal issues
K♦U/R + 5♦R = can be a stressful job (usually a poorly paid one) or work-related stress, a burn-out
5♦R + A♠R + positive cards = working hard to pay off debts
5♦R + 8♠ + 5♠ + 9♦ + 10♥R = suicide for debts (the 10♥R represents the person’s will turned against itself, that is, violence against oneself)
5♦R + 2♣ = end of a situation of debt or of economic hardships
Five of Spades (5♠) – Death (Morte)
7♥ + 5♠ = it can mean a contract you shouldn’t sign | the end of a contract
7♥ + 5♠ + 6♣ = can be a life insurance | an inheritance
5♠ + 2♣R + 4♦ = can be a negative aura about the person, attracting them negative situations (if also 3♠R and/or 10♠R it’s more clearly due to a hex)
5♠ + 2♣ or 5♣ = traditionally, a change in the querent’s destiny that may even look like a bad thing at first, but will prove beneficial
5♠ + 6♣ = traditionally, the end of a difficult period
10♣ + 5♠ (+7♠) = recklessness with heavy consequences
10♣R + 5♠ = wasting a precious chance
5♠ + 3♦ = can be an object you should’t buy (look around for why, normally it’s becaue it’s a bauble or a fake)
Q♠ or J♠ + 6♦R + 5♠ = a nefarious plan
5♠ + 7♦* = a rebirth, a totally new period
5♠ + 8♦ = traditionally, also the end of a negative period
J♦R + 5♠ = traditionally a telegram announcing death, but look for other cards, otherwise it might be some other type of ending | if you’ve ordered something by post, you can forget about it
2♠ + 5♠ = the natural end of anything, meaning that whatever it is, it hasn’t been cut short (can be a love that ends because it has run its course, for instance)
5♠ + 3♠R + 7♠ = death (if 4♠, due to illness)
5♠ + 7♠ = no, forget it | definitive breakup or disruption. This combination is the polar opposite of the 2♣ + 5♣ combination
Card + 5♠ = you can forget whatever it is that the card means whether for better or ill
Negative cards + 5♠ + Positive cards = a difficult but positive transition
Positive cards + 5♠ + Negative cards = a difficult and negative transition
9♥R + 5♠R = mortified by someone’s lack of faithfulness or dependability or by one’s lack of success in love
7♣R + 5♠R = profound humiliation
5♠R + A♦R = being mortified by a revelation
5♠R + 6♦U/R = can be deep dejection
5♠R + 3♠ = one who is entirely alone, possibly unable to interact with people
5♠R + positive cards = endurance, the ability to withstand difficulties
Vera Sibilla and Numerology – The Fives
When we hit number Five we discover that here we have one of the most positive cards in the deck, Fortune, and one of the worst, Death. The keyword here is transition, or change, i.e. the end of something and the beginning of something else.
The Five of Hearts, Happiness in the Heart, is the card of engagement, which is the transition between being single and being married. In the context of career, this usually means a temporary job or a trial period. More in general, however, this is the card of the “step toward stability”. It shows events put in motion toward a quick and promising resolution. Once this card is activated, unless other negative cards follow, it leads you rather effortlessly to your mark. It is also the card of relatives, which form a sphere of transition between your close family members, i.e. your most private sphere, and an outside world full of unknown people.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Five of Spades, Death, obviously shows a different kind of transition. While the Five of Hearts evokes the jollity and mirth of a family gathering, the Death card marches to a much gloomier rhythm. The former shows the quick, flowing motion of the dance of life, the latter shows the same motion coming to an end as its vital force dries up. This is the card of endings. Yes, when something ends, something else begins, but this isn’t saying much: when I die, I stop existing as a live person and begin to exist as a corpse, but that’s hardly reassuring!
In most scenarios, we want this card out of our spreads, unless it’s about inheritance, retiring (i.e. “killing” your career) or conjuring low spiritual energies. However, this card also has an important function when it divides the spread into two halves. In that case, it means that there is going to be a definite and irrevocable transition from one phase of life to the next. Whether this transition is going to be good or bad will be shown by the cards following it.
Between the two polar opposites we have the Five of Clubs, Fortune, and the Five of Diamonds, Melancholy. Fortune is one of the best cards in the deck, though not as good as the Two of Clubs. It marries the keyword associated to the number 5 to the lucky connotations of the suit of Clubs. Hence the classical meaning associated to this card of undeserved success.
Undeserved doesn’t mean that you are nasty and your success is proof that there is no just God holding the world together. It means that, whatever your personal merit might be, the Universe has decided to supplement it with a stroke of luck. You may need to hold your hand out, but it’s not your merit that pennies are raining down from heaven today.
Finally, we need to deal with the most mixed of the Suits in the Vera Sibilla, that of Diamonds. The compromise, here, seems to be that of passing (transitory) disappointment. While it is definitely not a good card, by itself the Five of Diamonds is not catastrophic, and it shows a sense of sadness or dissatisfaction that will eventually end.
By analogy, it represents all those situations that have left us wounded: we have survived them, the wound will heal, but for now it’s there and it itches. While the Five of Hearts is the “step toward stability”, if followed by mixed to negative cards, Melancholy can be the “step toward instability”.
