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Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Geomancy, I Ching / Yi Jing, Occultism and Esoterism, Philosophy, Sibilla della Zingara, Spirituality and Psychology, Tarot, Vera Sibilla

Divination and Intellectual Honesty

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When I was a teen, I remember stumbling upon Aristotle’s definition of the “educated mind” as being able to hold a thought without accepting it, and I remember thinking how silly and basic the definition was. The older I get, the more I find myself agreeing with him, as I see fewer and fewer people capable of doing it (the fact that Aristotle never actually wrote the sentence is a whole ‘nother can of worms)

A lot of people don’t have an educated mind per the definition above. One would like to think that tarot readers, astrologers and the like would not be like a lot of people, seeing how much the word “wisdom” gets thrown around in their circles. But one would be wrong. Leave it to the “spiritual community” to be among the most ideological and stiff. And, consequently, not among the brightest. If there is a group of people I don’t trust to be capable of holding any thought except the ones they agree with, that’s these people.

I believe I already talked a little about this, but one of the most memorable examples I can think of is the 2016 US election, when every tarot reader on youtube and their mom were busy predicting Trump would lose the election disgracefully, poop his pants, writhe on the floor, throw a tantrum and retreat into the hell that spawned him while Hillary Clinton swung her throbbing, veiny, 25 inch hard-on at the glass ceiling. While I am slightly exaggerating, this was pretty much the tone. (interestingly, those same readers routinely claim that the tarot is not for fortune-telling)

One such reader went as far as channeling Trump’s character. I do not remember the exact spread, nor most of the cards, but two things stuck with me: first, no egregiously bad card showed up, and second, the King of Cups featured prominently in the spread. She interpreted the card as Trump being a violent man prey to his base emotions and instincts. I took a quick look at some of that reader’s other videos, only to discover that she never, ever interpreted the King of Cups this way. In fact, she always interpreted it as the significator of a good man who takes care of the querent.

This is a good time to point out that I am fiercely apolitical, so this is not about politics. All ideologies are, as far as I am concerned, clouds over the mind’s clarity. I’m not saying everyone needs to think like me. Everyone has their delusion of choice, and everyone (including me) has their way of slanting reality in one direction or the other, whether politically, spiritually or philosophically (or even scientifically, for that matter). In fact, slanting reality is probably needed in order to filter information that might be useful to us.

Yet divination should be something else. What that reader did was merely using the cards as a mirror of her own (perfectly legitimate) bias. This is fine, and can even be useful at times–if you are aware that you are doing it. Even that would not be actual divination, but at least it wouldn’t be a waste of time.

I already discussed that divination is really a process of deification, that is, the process of allowing the dispassionate, bird-eye view clarity of the divine into one’s limited, subjective world by letting new information in. In other words, true divination is the opposite of retreating into one’s bubble: it’s the bursting of the bubble.

This, in turn, requires a certain readiness to accept the information we get (which is why it is always best to get someone you don’t know to read your cards.) Divination without intellectual honesty is just a crutch for one’s ego, and that’s how it is currently being used by the vast majority of diviners.

Unfortunately, intellectual honesty won’t make you many friends. Back in 2016 I had arguments with more tarot readers than I care to remember and was routinely labeled a dangerous extremist just because I called into question the usefulness of this type of reading (back then I still tried to entertain fruitful conversations with people). But occultism, in all its branches, is a narrow path.

Two lessons from all this: 1) if you are reading for yourself and the cards (or chart, or dice, or whatever) seem to confirm what you already think or wish, apply a bucketful of salt to the reading; 2) invest some money into a simple handbook of logic, or at least expand your knowledge of logical fallacies. This will repay you many times over, regardless of what branch of sorcery you practice.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – Knight of Coins or Pentacles

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(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 Pentacles from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is from the beginning of the third decanate of Leo to the end of the second decanate of Virgo, August 13 to September 12. This period is under the rulership of Mars, Mercury and Saturn. Meanings: Well-Dignified: ability to use actions effectively; good mind, able to see through the veils of sense experience to their true import. In specific divination, a man younger than the King and though intelligent, somewhat matter-of-fact; not original or imaginative; good at carrying out any plan calling for intelligent action on the physical plane.
Ill-Dignified: avaricious, mean, jealous, somewhat violent and cruel. Dark brown hair and dark eyes.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

He rides a slow, enduring, heavy horse, to which his own aspect corresponds. He exhibits his symbol, but does not look therein. Divinatory Meanings: Utility, serviceableness, interest, responsibility, rectitude-all on the normal and external plane. Reversed: inertia, idleness, repose of that kind, stagnation; also placidity, discouragement, carelessness.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

(Note: Crowley and the Golden Dawn make a mess with the Kings and Knights)
The Prince of Disks represents the airy part of Earth, indicating the florescence and fructification of that element. He rules from the 21st degree of Aries to the 20th degree of Taurus.

The figure of this Prince is meditative. He is the element of Earth become intelligible. Clothed in light armour, his helmet is crowned with the head of a bull; and his chariot is drawn by an ox, this animal being peculiarly sacred to the Element of Earth. In his left hand he holds his disk, which is an orb resembling a globe, marked with mathematical symbols as if to imply the planning involved in agriculture. In his right hand he bears an orbed sceptre surmounted by a cross, a symbol of the Great Work accomplished; for it is his function to bring forth from the material of the element that vegetation which is the sustenance of the Spirit itself.

The character denoted by this card is that of great energy brought to bear upon the most solid of practical matters. He is energetic and enduring, a capable manager, a steadfast and per severing worker. He is competent, ingenious, thoughtful, cautious, ‘trustworthy, imperturbable; he constantly seeks new uses for common things, and adapts his circumstances to his purposes in a slow, steady, well-thought out plan.

He is lacking almost entirely in emotion. He is somewhat in sensitive, and may appear dull, but he is not; it so appears because he makes no effort to understand ideas which are beyond his scope. He may often appear stupid, and is inclined to be resentful of more spiritual types. He is slow to anger, but, if driven, becomes implacable. It is not very practicable to distinguish between the good and evil dignities in this card; one can merely say that, in case of his being ill-dignified, both the quality and quantity of his characteristics are somewhat degraded. The reaction of others to him will depend almost entirely upon their own temperaments.

In the Yi King, the airy part of Earth is represented by the 53rd hexagram, Kien. The commentary concerns the flight of wild geese, “gradually approaching the shore”, then “the large rocks”, then “advanced to the dry plains-the trees-the high ~ finally, to “the large heights”. It thus symbolizes slow, steady emancipation from repressive conditions.

The description is even happier than that given by the Qabalah, although in every way congruous with it. Practical considerations are never absent from Chinese thought, even at its most abstruse and metaphysical. The fundamental heresy of the Black Lodge is con tempt for “the world, the flesh, and the devil”, all which are essential to the plan of the Universe; it is cardinal to the Great Work for the Adept so to order affairs that “even the evil germs of Matter shall alike become useful and good”.

The error of Christian Mystics on this point has been responsible for more cruelty, misery, and collective insanity than all others put together; its poison can be traced even in the teaching of Freud, who assumed that the Unconscious was “the devil”, whereas in fact it is the instinct which expresses, beneath a veil, the inherent Point-of-View of each, and, properly understood, is the key to Initiation, and a hint of what seed may blossom and fructify as the “Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel”. For “Every man and every woman is a star”.

But no doubt the judgment of the Adepts Exempt (for it is they who determine, under the guidance of the Masters of the Temple, all such details of doctrine) in respect of this card has been influenced by its transition from Aries to Taurus. It is too often forgotten that Taurus is the House of Venus, and that Luna is exalted therein. The new doctrine set forth in this present Essay makes the primary colour of Earth not black, but green; it insists that every Disk is a living and revolving symbol. The central thesis of the Book of the Law asserts the Perfection of the Universe. In its pantheistic conception all possibilities are equal in value; each and every Point-Event is “a play of Nuit”, as it is written in the Book of Wisdom or Folly, “Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt. But whose availeth in this, let him be the chief of all!” Liber Al. 1. 22. Or, yet more comprehensively and simply: “Every number is infinite; there is no difference.” Ib I.4.
(From The Book of Thoth)

Weirdly adorable AI generated illustration for the Knight of Coins

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A WINGED Kingly Figure seated in a chariot drawn by a bull. He bears as a crest the symbol of the head of the winged bull. Beneath the chariot is land, with many flowers. In the one hand he bears an orb of gold held downwards, and in the other a sceptre surmounted by an orb and cross.

Increase of matter. Increases good or evil, solidifies; practically applies things. Steady; reliable. If ill dignified he is selfish, animal and material: stupid. In either case slow to anger, but furious if roused.
Rules from 20 Degree Aries to 20 Degree Taurus.
Air of Earth

Etteilla

Utility
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Useful, Advantageous, Gainful, Profitable, Interesting. – Interesting, Important, Necessary, Obligatory.
Reversed. Peace, Tranquility, Rest, Sleep, Apathy, Inertia, Rest, Inactivity, Unemployment. – Leisure, Pastime. – Recreation, Carefreeness, Indifference, Indolence, Laziness, Poltrony, Numbness, Discouragement, Annihilation.

MQS

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

Vera Sibilla – My Friend’s Misadventures

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It is well-known that the Sibilla is damn chatty, sometimes too much. Every deck can veer off topic if it needs to, but the Sibilla has a penchant for it, whereas, for instance, regular playing cards are usually easier to keep on a leash. Still, I believe what I’m about to show would have popped up with any other deck, since the cards usually warn us of unexpected happenings, whether positive or negative. This is a spread we did for a friend of mine in January. He wanted to know about his love life.

Vera Sibilla Reading, my friend’s misadventure

The thing that immediately struck me is that the cards clearly were not talking about my friend’s love life. Instead, judging by the first line, they were depicting something difficult that was going to happen. I must confess I was not capable of organizing my garbled thoughts into a coherent prediction back then, even though looking at it now it seems obvious. I believe a part of me knew what the cards were talking about but didn’t want to give the news to my friend. I knew the cards were talking about danger at the hand of some people, and that a man would help him. I told him so much, but of course this was too vague to be of help.

Here is what happened around a month later, as told by the cards. While out of his house (Journey) he was attacked (Widower reversed. I made a mistake in reenacting the spread) by a small gang of criminals (Enemy, Fools). Fortunately (Levity reversed) a man saw the whole thing, chased off the strangers and helped my friend (Friend reversed, Fortune reversed). My friend sprained his ankle badly, I’m guessing this is why the Fortune card is reversed, showing delayed fortune, but is otherwise unharmed, except the anxiety (Sighs).

I think part of the problem of reading for friends is that, because you don’t want them to come to any harm, your mind tends to censor you a bit. Still, an interesting case study, and a story that could have ended much worse.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Knight of Wands

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(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 Wands in the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

Astrologically the Knight of Wands includes the time period from the third decanate of Scorpio through the second decanate of Sagittarius, November 12 to December 11, representing, as we have seen, the combined influences of the Moon in Scorpio and of Jupiter and Mars in Sagittarius. In Divination we find the more specific meanings of each Key, but always remember that as advanced B.O.T.A. members, treading the Path of Return, you must use this art with discretion. It is best not to give querents for your help too specific instruction. Try to act as an emissary for the Hierophant and give them the principles behind their problems as they are unveiled to you by the sequence of Keys. Leave it to those you are helping to apply universal principles to specific problems in their lives.
Well Dignified: an active, generous, impetuous, quickmoving man, younger than the King of Wands. He is secretive, probably interested in the occult, somewhat psychic and mysterious. He is friendly to the querent and may bring him news relating to his enterprises.
Ill Dignified: e vil-minded, false, cruel, bigoted, brutal young man (or situation), dangerous or unfriendly to the querent1 s affairs. This card
sometimes signifies departure or change of residence.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A.E. Waite

He is shewn as if upon a journey, armed with a short wand, and although mailed is not on a warlike errand. He is passing mounds or pyramids. The motion of the horse is a key to the character of its rider, and suggests the precipitate mood, or things connected therewith. Divinatory Meanings: Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man, friendly. Change of residence. Reversed: Rupture, division, interruption, discord.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

AI-generated illustration for the Knight of Wands

Aleister Crowley

(note that Crowley and the Golden Dawn made a mess with the knights and kings)
The Prince of Wands represents the airy part of Fire, with its faculty of expanding and volatilising. He rules from the 21st degree of Cancer to the 20th degree of Leo. He is a warrior in complete armour of scale mail, but his arms are bare on account of his vigour and activity. He wears a rayed crown surmounted by a lion’s head winged, and from this crown depends a curtain of flame. On his breast is the sigil of To Mega Therion. In his left hand he bears the Phoenix wand of the Second Adept in the Ritual of 5○=6□ of R.R. at A.C.), the wand of Power and Energy, while with his other arm he reins the lion which draws his chariot, the chariot which is fortified by a wheel radiating flame. He rides upon a sea of flames, both waved and salient.

The moral qualities appropriate to this figure are swiftness and strength. But he is sometimes inclined to act on impulse; sometimes easily led by external influences; sometimes, especially in trifles, a prey to indecision. He is often violent, especially in the expression of an opinion, but he does not necessarily hold the opinion about which he is so emphatic. He states a vigorous proposition for the sake of stating it. He is in fact very slow to make up his mind thoroughly on any subject, but always sees both sides of every question. He is essentially just, but always feels that justice is not to be attained in the intellectual world.

His character is intensely noble and generous. He may be an extravagant boaster, while slyly laughing both at the object of his boast and at himself for making it. He is romantic, especially in matters of history and tradition, to the point of folly, and may engineer “stunts” or play elaborate practical jokes. He might select some inoffensive nobody, and pursue him for years with every weapon of ridicule) as Swift tormented the unhappy Partridge, all without the least animus, ready to give the shirt off his back, should his victim be in need. His sense of humour is omnivorous, and may make him a mysterious figure, dreaded without reason by people who actually know nothing about him but his name-as a symbol of Terror.

This is due to the influence of the last decan of Cancer upon this card. One of his greatest faults is pride; meanness and pettiness of any kind he holds in infinite scorn. His courage is fanatically strong, and his endurance indefatigable. He is always fighting against odds, and always wins in the long-the very long-run. This is principally due to his enormous capacity for work, which he exercises for its own sake, “without lust of result”; perhaps his haughty contempt for the world at large-which however coexists with profound and ecstatic respect for “every man and every woman” as “a star”-is responsible for this.

When this card is badly dignified, the character degenerates. Each of the qualities mentioned above is found in its antithesis. There is great cruelty in him, partly sadistic and partly due to callousness arising from indifference-and, in a sense, laziness! So too he may be intolerant, prejudiced and idle-principally because it saves trouble. He may furthermore be an empty boaster and a great coward.

In the YI King, the airy part of Fire is represented by the 42nd Hexagram, Yi, which signifies addition, increase. Full of virtue, and confident therein, he contemplates work of stupendous scope, often with the idea expressed in line 5: “with sincere heart seeking to benefit all below”. In this he may achieve immense success. But this course is fraught with commensurate danger. “We see one to whose in crease none will contribute, while many will seek to assail him. He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart”. (line 6) This peril avoided, there come “parties adding to the store of its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells whose oracles cannot be opposed-Let the King employ them in presenting his offerings to God….” (line 2).
(From The Book of Thoth)
Note: Crowley clearly sees himself in this card, which is why he depicts the Prince as the adorable occult prankster he saw himself as.

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A KINGLY Figure with a golden, winged crown, seated on a chariot. He has large white wings. One wheel of his chariot is shewn. He wears corslet and buskins of scale armour decorated with a winged lion’s head, which symbol also surmounts his crown. His chariot is drawn by a lion. His arms are bare, save for the shoulder-pieces of the corslet, and he bears a torch or fire-wand, somewhat similar to that of the Zelator Adeptus Minor. Beneath the chariot are flames, some waved, some salient.
Swift, strong, hasty; rather violent, yet just and generous; noble and scorning meanness.
If ill dignified — cruel, intolerant, prejudiced and ill natured.

Etteilla

Departure
Upright: This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Departure, Displacement, Removal, Absence, Abandonment, Change, Escape, Desertion, Transmigration, Emigration. – Transposition, Translocation, Transplantation, Transmutation, Evasion.
Reversed: Disunion, Disagreement, Rupture, Dissension, Division, Competition, Separation, Partition. – Faction, Party. – Complaint, Altercation. – Cut, Fracture, Discontinuity, Interruption.

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Knight of Cups

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(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

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

Sibilla Reading – Why Is He Acting Strange?

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Sometimes the cards speak like directors of a theater piece, ordering characters around in a way that makes almost intuitive sense and gives a visual representation of the issue. This is not always the case (some readings are super hard to decipher) but when it is it becomes almost impossible to doubt that divination truly works.

Here’s an example. A friend of my husband asked me why her boyfriend was acting strange. These were the cards (the reading started out as a three card reading, but I kept adding cards until I was satisfied):

Vera Sibilla Reading: Why is he acting strange

Look how the characters seem to relate to one another like characters in a play. We have Juliette, the Queen of Hearts. Behind her is the Five of Diamonds, Melancholy. She is dissatisfied. Then we have the Jack of Hearts, Romeo. Between them is a card. This can either represent an action or a state of affairs. Because the Melancholy card describes a state of affair, it seems more likely that the reversed Ace of Hearts also represent their current state of affairs, one of miscommunication, instability and a general sense of incompleteness.

Following is the Queen of Clubs. This can be another character, but sometimes she acts as a “pointer”: wherever she points her finger is where the problem lies. In this case, because she is reversed, she points to her right (otherwise it would be to her left). Then we have the card of secrets (the Soldier, reversed) and that of homosexuality (the Love card, reversed) and a male figure. The answer is obvious.

A couple of months after the reading a gay friend of hers saw her boyfriend on an app, who then came out as bi, validating the spread. This is not the first time I’ve encountered this kind of issue. I may even have posted a spread about it before (I can’t remember).

One of my dreams is of writing a book about divination, not explaining any particular kind of divination, but exploring divination as a topic, its foundations and its place in the world. And this kind of spreads has me convinced that life is a drama, and divination is a tool capable of unveiling the script.

MQS

Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Playing Cards, Reading Example

A Deceptive Pregnancy Spread (Card Reading Example)

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This spread is proof that we always need to have good communication with the querent, because sometimes readings are deceptive.

Sometimes spreads don’t answer the question at hand. This happens in two cases: when something more important is going on (or about to happen) in the querent’s life or when the cards want to give us details about the question that we haven’t asked for. This latter case requires great care, especially if the question is of a delicate nature.

A woman asked me if she will get pregnant. This is the spread (this is a rather old reading):

A pregnancy question answered with playing card divination

You’d probably think (and you’d be right) that my first instinct was to say “no” due to the horrible mesh of Spades following the Jack of Hearts, which is the child card.

However, something didn’t sit right with me about this spread. I wasn’t at all convinced the spread was answering the question directly. The reason is that the cards Ace of Spades, Nine of Spades and Ten of Spades can show bereavement, and bereavement can only happen if there *is* a child.

The King of Spades could be a doctor performing an abortion, but this isn’t confirmed by any other card (e.g. the Six of Spades). In this case, the King of Spades seems to be more like a priest celebrating a funeral.

I asked the querent if she already had a child, and she said that she unfortunately had a miscarriage in the recent past when the pregnancy was already relatively advanced.

So the cards were not saying that she wouldn’t have a child: they were merely reflecting a recent trauma. With that in mind, I interrupted the reading, telling her the cards were telling her to take time for herself. This was an excuse, of course: I could have done another reading, but I didn’t want to risk having to predict another miscarriage.

Fortunately, today the woman is the happy mother of two twins.

MQS