Vendredi: Cartomancy Tricks

When you are learning a new skill, whether it be riding a bike without training wheels or driving an 18 gear semi, it’s good to have a few at-a-glance tricks to help you master the subtle stuff more quickly.  Reading cards is the same way.  It can be pretty daunting to try to get a feel for the querent, open your psychic centers, remember which spread to use and keep the meanings of the cards in the front of your mind through the entire process.  No wonder so many experienced practitioners recommend a hot beverage and a bite to eat after a reading; you do need to recharge.

There are a couple of relatively consistent rules that you can check for in a spread before you begin to delve into the individual meanings of each card.  These will often give you a clear idea of what your querent is asking about as far as the reading is concerned.  While nothing with regard to divination is ever set in stone, these points are a great compass for a reading, particularly when you are just starting out.

If you see many of an individual suit in a spread, the following will probably hold true about the reading:

Clubs: Change

Hearts: Love, generosity

Spades: Strife

Diamonds: Political or financial action

By many, I was taught that you should have at least one third of any suit turn up in a reading (no matter how few cards are laid out) for the general conditions above to hold true.

On the other hand, a number of any given types of cards can also point to a trend in a reading.  By types I mean number or face cards and you should see at least three of the same type pop up before thinking about the following correspondences:

Aces: power and attainment

Twos: reorganization and assembly (usually of living condition or goals)

Threes: perseverance through trouble

Fours: calm determination

Fives: conflicts coming to a head with resolution on the horizon

Sixes: satisfactions and rewards

Sevens: uncertain arrangements (may involve personal, professional or spiritual issues)

Eights: travel, change

Nines: increased involvement (in any area of the querent’s life, not just relationships)

Tens: major business/professional activity

Jacks: fresh ideas and/or rapid movement

Queens: influential friends

Kings: contacts with power (people, business, government, etc.)

Since “many” of the same type of card means more than three, the general rule is that these indications do not apply for quick readings.  Pay attention, however, if you get three of the same type of card in a three-card spread.  That is a powerful indication indeed.

Thus, after 57 posts, Cartomancy Friday is put to bed.  I hope you’ve at least enjoyed it.  Now on to the next thing, as they say. 

Header: La Marchande d’Illusion by Claude Verlinde via Old Paint ~ this painting, whose title translates roughly to The Delusion Vendor, stands as an excellent lesson to both reader and querent alike

Vendredi: Divinatory Spread

The so called Celtic Cross is one of the most recognizable divinatory spreads in the Tarot pantheon.  It has been discussed in hundreds of books and all over the Internet to a point where it is almost exclusively thought of as a “Tarot spread”.  All that said, the Celtic Cross is a wonderful spread for cartomancy with any type of cards.

Using the above chart (from Tarot Meaning Info), let us go through the meanings of each card’s position:

Number 1 “This Covers”: this presents the general atmosphere that surrounds the question asked and the influences at work around it.

Number 2 “This Crosses”: this shows what the opposing forces may be for good or ill.  (Just as an aside, in Tarot this card is always read right side up and never reversed.)

Number 3 “This is Beneath”: here is the basis of the querent’s question or the matter at hand; something that has already become part of the person’s experience.

Number 4 “This is Behind”: this gives an idea of the influence that is just passing away.

Number 5 “This Crowns”: represents something that may happen in the future.

Number 6 “This is Ahead”: presents things that will come to pass in the near future; more often than not these are mundane as opposed to profound e.g. a meeting, an offer, a purchase, etc.

Number 7 “What the Querent Feels”: these feelings are most often the negative or hesitant emotions the querent has about their question.

Number 8 “Family Opinion”: represents the querent’s environment and the opinions and influences of their family and friends about the matter at hand.

Number 9 “Hopes”: the querent’s positive feelings about their question; their hopes and ideals.

Number 10 “Final Outcome”: this card, when combined with all the others, should answer the question.

Note that, if the question is not sufficiently addressed in the last card you are well within your parameters to draw another card for further clarification.  Vendredi heureux ~

Vendredi: Divinatory Spread

Now that we have wrapped up the Suit of Spades it is once again time to look at a divinatory spread.  Practicing divination on yourself will give you a chance to learn the meanings of the cards in a leisurely and rewarding way.  This spread, sometimes called the Gypsy Method, can be done very simply at first.  As the student becomes more proficient, cards can be added to achieve in depth readings making it ideal for everyone from beginner to adept.

Never skip the usual preliminaries of chatting with the querent and asking them to cut the cards.  That done, lay out seven cards in a fan shape starting on your right and moving left.  Each card represents an influence in the querent’s life with regard to the question they bring to the table.  Reading from right to left, the influences are as follows:

The present psychic state of the querent.

Their present home life.

The question at hand.

The querent’s expectations.

The issues they do not expect or have not thought of.

The immediate future.

The long term results.

This spread is one of my favorites because it allows for a free flow exchange of information between the reader and the querent.  You, as the reader, can look at the big picture first and then begin to pick the issue apart with input from the querent.  The only time I would not use this spread is when I am dealing with an agitated or hostile individual.  In such cases discussion and interaction are not called for by any means; quick answers with a quick reading are your best option.

To go more in depth with this reading, add two or even three cards to each of the seven points on the fan.  This gives you and the querent not only more to discuss but it allows you as the reader to be more specific at each point in the reading as well as with the over all outcome.  Have fun with it; you may be surprised at the insights you uncover.  Vendredi heureux ~

Header: La Reussite (The Issue) by Joseph Caraud c 1894

Vendredi: Divinatory Spread

Now that you have both the Suits of Clubs and Hearts under your belt, I thought it might be nice to try something a little different in divinatory spreads.  I learned this one Angeles Arrien, PhD’s The Tarot Handbook.  The book, originally published by Tarcher/Putnam, is a great workbook for beginning and intermediate Tarot work, but the spreads can easily apply to cartomancy of any kind.

Arrien calls this the “Self-Esteem Spread” and given that her field of study is cultural anthropology that comes as no surprise.  Really, you can call it whatever you like but it is a nice form of meditation on self that allows you to use the cards you have already studied.  Don’t get too hung up on the “names” of the card positions as laid out here (I have modified them a little).  Just flow with the reading and allow yourself to double check any card meanings that you aren’t sure of.  Reading your own fortune is always the best way to learn.

To basically repeat from our last divinatory spread in January, remove the Suits of Clubs and Hearts from your deck and shuffle them.  Now cut the cards into three stacks using your left hand and moving right to left while concentrating on your question or concern.  Pick them up the same way and deal five cards, again moving right to left.

Lay out six cards in a linear pattern, each below the one before it, starting at the top.  Sit back for a moment and look at the cards before you.  The reading of each card individually should look something like this:

The top card gives insight into your ability to set boundaries for yourself.  The second card deals with your flexibility in situations from relaxed to stressful.  The third card speaks to how open you are to personal relationships.  Card four indicates your ability to stick to your goals and/or stay on track.  Card five is about your communication skills.  The bottom card has something to say about your overall feelings about yourself.

Read the cards individually, looking for insights that you may not consciously have thought about before.  Once you are clear on the individual meanings, either take what the cards have to offer or consider spending a little time in meditation.  Try focusing on the areas that you and the cards have both identified as needing a little work.  You can repeat the spread as often as you like – without obsessing, of course – to help you on your path of self-discovery.

If all that is a little too New Age for you (the book was originally published in 1987), use the spread just to become familiar with divinatory meanings, head back to our last divinatory spread post or – better than all that – make up a spread of your own!  Next Friday we’ll begin the Suit of Spades.  Vendredi heureux ~

Header: The Fortune Teller by Nicholaos Gysis

Vendredi: Divinatory Spread

Last Friday we completed our review of the divinatory meanings for the Suit of Clubs. As promised, and as the pattern went when I was taught cartomancy, its time to learn a divinatory spread so that you can start to use the Suit of Clubs for divination and add in new cards as we go.

This is a quick spread that can be used to determine the efficacy of a project, the outlook for the day or answer simple questions. Since only five cards are dealt, you will have no problem getting an answer using only one Suit.

Remove the Suit of Clubs from your deck and shuffle them. Now cut the cards into three stacks using your left hand and moving right to left while concentrating on your question or concern. Pick them up the same way and deal five cards, again moving right to left.

The first two cards dealt will be the one on the far right and the one next to it. They represent your past. Read them as a group, taking into account the effect the cards have on each other. Once you are comfortable about the clarity of meaning for these two cards, move on to the next one.

The middle card will be the third card you dealt. This represents the present, what is happening now, and it is the key to the question. Read it as a stand alone, then move on and come back to how it influences the whole as your summary of the reading.

The next and finally two cards, the fourth and fifth ones dealt, will be on the left. They represent the future. Like the first two, they should be read as a team with focus on how their meanings relate to one another.

When you feel you understand each component separately, past, present and future, sit back and take them in as a whole. The combination should give you a solid answer to your question.

Not quite clear on one or all of the messages you see before you? Don’t hesitate to start the whole process over again. Especially when you are learning, more practice is always good and until you develop some confidence in your own divinatory abilities – and those of the cards – you may need to review the same inquiry more than once. Make time for this and take it. In a few short weeks you’ll be recognizing patterns and intuiting answers with remarkable capability.

Now go practice; next week we’ll begin the Suit of Hearts. Bon Vendredi ~

Header: Fortune Telling by Aleksei Venetsianov c 1842