Divination with playing cards

skytwig

Tauni..... interesting.... so you don't use Tarot cards?

I find this fascinating because I played with playing cards almost obsessively as a child.... I LOVED them..... I would make up games and, now that i look back, I think i was working out spreads..... I was trying to satisfy some inner urging i had to do something 'more' with the cards....

Today, I suspect i was a Gypsy in another life...... all through childhood, every Halloween, I HAd to be a gypsy.... again, it was an inner urging that simply had to happen....

So, I am curious..... how did these cards 'call' you? Did you have an inner feeling, similar to what I describe? Your relationship with these cards sounds delicious! :)
 

zorya

Tauni said:
The readings are more detailed somehow, but I don't exactly know why--except that I may rely more on my intuition and less on the cards.

that's exactly how i feel about it. there are no pictures getting in the way. it leaves for much more open interpretations in my opinion; more room for intuition to speak.

i also use numerology for cartomancy. for the suits, i give them similar meaning as to the tarot equivalent with the exeption of the hearts. i find that looking at hearts rather than cups tends to tilt my readings in the direction of 'love', but as 75% (more or less) of readings for others tend to be about love and romance anyway, that may be a good thing!
 

Logiatrix

Originally posted by skytwig
Tauni..... interesting.... so you don't use Tarot cards?
LOL, yes, skytwig, I LOVE tarot cards.
However, I tend not to stick with any one tarot deck.
Tarot decks are more a catalyst for further study on whatever theme or style they depict for me, so I tend to bounce around.
My playing cards, however, are a consistent divinatory tool in my life.

...I find this fascinating because I played with playing cards almost obsessively as a child.... I LOVED them..... I would make up games and, now that i look back, I think i was working out spreads..... I was trying to satisfy some inner urging i had to do something 'more' with the cards....
Today, I suspect i was a Gypsy in another life...... all through childhood, every Halloween, I HAd to be a gypsy.... again, it was an inner urging that simply had to happen....

Actually, my paternal grandmother claims we have a Gypsy heritage. Hmmm...
I'm more inclined to believe that my own interest is rooted in my mother's side of the family: a Native Mexican Indian grandmother who was known for having the "gift."
The family favored a Spanish deck without the eights and nines.
My abuelita gave my mother lessons in reading the cards, but I was the one who actually picked it up, just by watching and mimicking Gramma.

So, I am curious..... how did these cards 'call' you? Did you have an inner feeling, similar to what I describe? Your relationship with these cards sounds delicious! :)
I believe that this "call" you speak of is continually proven to be evident with most of us here on Aeclectic...or in any realm where people are drawn to such spiritual pursuits, don't you?
It's a powerful inner drive to make something manifest in ones life--"Learn to read tarot," "Make your own set of runes," "Study the Qabala"--whatever it is, this force drives you to acquire this higher spiritual tool.
Anyway, that is indeed what drew me to my cards.
Your childhood memories, indeed, sound very much like mine...
:)
 

skytwig

zorya.... do you use the cards more than Tarot?

What do you think of cards like the Marseilles?
 

Umbrae

I use cards with illustrated pips. I use cards with unillustrated pips. And I use playing cards.

If you want to learn to read playing cards by reading books, you will find there are about nine different sets of ‘meanings’. They are dissimilar.

Of course you can transfer tarot minors over to the playing cards…

Or you can just lay them out and depend on what happens inside your head – or any combination of the above…

But if you want to be a reader – you owe it to yourself to teach yourself to read playing cards.
 

Logiatrix

Ditto, Umbrae!

Umbrae said:
...But if you want to be a reader – you owe it to yourself to teach yourself to read playing cards.
I completely agree.
Ultimately, my playing cards have helped me to understand the minor arcana like nothing else has.
I didn't truly "get" the pips, or especially the court cards, until I started to get serious about learning to read playing cards.
I finally sat down and methodically focused on one card at a time.
I literally meditated on each card, contemplating its tarot meaning, its numerological placement, its elemental representation...and whatever else came up.
Through these meditations, I was able to give each card a keyword, which I wrote on the cards as I completed each meditation.
Very practically speaking, I was only able to do this because I wasn't afraid to write on an inexpensive deck of playing cards.
I figured I would use the deck like "training wheels," then put it aside when I learned what I needed to know.
But it hasn't worked out that way--I am still strangely attached to that little poker deck, probably because of the time I invested in it.
It remains one of my main tools for divination, and continues to make me a better tarot reader.
:)
 

Umbrae

I was talking with someone in ‘Live AT Chat’, and it dawned on me…I used to read tarot and read tarot and read tarot – and quite frankly I sucked for years.

When I started reading regular cards in bars, I got over my ‘reading jitters’. You see, folks didn’t look at it as though I was reading tarot – and I used to use the line, “This is something I’m playing with” or “I’m just learning this.”

People have expectations of a tarot reader. But they have few expectations about ‘card readers’.

Also, because I wasn’t ‘boxed in’ by accepted meanings, I learned to ‘listen’ to the cards, as opposed to forcing my ‘meanings’ onto the cards.

When I was tending bar, it was a great way to entertain guests, and raise the amount in tips.

And when I’d pull out my tarot deck – I found I was a much better reader….
 

Logiatrix

Hey, Umbrae...

Umbrae said:
I use cards with illustrated pips. I use cards with unillustrated pips. And I use playing cards....
Do you use a particular deck, set aside specifically for divination, or do you read any available playing card deck?
:)
 

Umbrae

I can read with any regular deck.

But US Games System sells these 1865 reproductions that are wonderful to read with…
 

Lee

Umbrae said:
But US Games System sells these 1865 reproductions that are wonderful to read with…
Hey Umbrae, do you happen to know the title, or any way we could look these up?

Thanks --
Lee