Trying to make heads or tails of Hedgewytchery...Is another method clearer?

Hi,

I've found this system for reading playing cards online called "Hedgewytchery" and I'm wondering how good is it (how accurate) for giving readings? I've noticed that several of the card meanings are different from what I know from other card reading methods. I also see that each card has a myriad of meanings and I'm wondering, beside association with other cards, how a specific meaning is attributed. I'm also a little confused about how the Seeker would appear in the cards.

I'm just wondering, should I/how should I proceed with studying Hedgewytchery? Or is there another system that is more true, more precise? I've been told that the Hedgewytchery system may've originated from a few other sources-- Chita St. Lawrence's method(s) and those of Leo Martello's and Regina Russell's? Any opinions as to how good those sources are?

I'm sorry for all the questions--I'm most at home with other divinatory systems, I just thought I'd have a go at picking this up to maybe help compliment a couple of the other methods.

I'd really appreciate any help or advice you might be able to spare.

Thanks so much,
goosie

I've also been trying to learn to read with regular playing cards for a while now, and I started with the Hedgewytchery site. I think I've gravitated towards using a combination of Kapherus/Art of Cartomancy and Regina Russell, though.

Kapherus ran the Art of Cartomancy forum for a long while, and now has all of his information up on his blog. He learned traditional meanings from his grandmother, and then has supplemented his knowledge over the years with other sources like RR and Martello. Here is the main Playing Card page, and all of the detailed information on cards, suits, or techniques is available in the links running down the right sidebar. It's a great resource, and I like that he's someone using the method in real time. He reads PCs on his blog, and often answers questions from readers.

I ordered Regina Russell's book a little while back, and it's very detailed, and will be a great supplement to Kaph's method. She can get just as specific in her combinations as the Hedgewytchery method, if you're interested in precision like that (which I am), and it's supposedly very accurate.

With all of the methods, I think that the very specific meanings of card combinations comes from both creative melding of the various card associations and then from experience over time. Sometimes, too, even the card associations can seem like a mystery. Kaph once made a comment (any errors are due to my memory!) about how he was confused as to why RR attributed disparate things like stairs and hair to the 3s, but then said that since the 3s are about manifestation from the 2s, and can be for growing things, well, hair grows, and stairs "grow" as you go up them. So I've tried to learn to think in this way about the cards.

The Martello book is said to be a good one, but it's out of print and outrageously expensive used. I think you should save your money at this point. You can put together an excellent system with Kapherus and Regina Russell.

great resources Kalliope, Welcome to AT goosie!

Thank you Kalliope and AJ for writing!

Kapherus makes sense! What he says actually jibes with everything I know from other methods, so, thankfully it's building upon something instead of giving myself headaches trying to make Hedgewytchery mesh I'm going to check out the RR book, too, and pick it up as soon as I can and hit the used bookstores for Martello.

This is such a nice site! Do you think there's any way it would be o.k., once I get underway a little, to ask people to let me read maybe 3 cards for them so that I can get practical experience learning these ways? (I wouldn't want to offend.)

Thank you both, again, so much! I'm going to start studying now

goosie

Hi goosie,

I've tried in the past to master the Hedgewytchery system, but failed. I managed to memorize all the meanings but then found that I was unable to look at a spread and synthesize the disparate meanings into a reading.

If you're finding difficulties with the myriad meanings of Hedgewytchery, then my guess would be that you would not enjoy the Regina Russell book. RR's approach is basically of the same sort as Hedgewytchery, except less organized, so that it's even harder to discern a connecting thread between the meanings.

As kalliope points out, there are connecting threads in RR, and I've read posts by Kapherus convincingly laying that out, but I still feel that Hedgewytchery is more organized and the connections easier to spot.

The idea of a playing card system that allows for very specific meanings like objects, professions, etc. is very appealling, but after my Hedgewytchery experience, I find myself drawn to simpler systems which are easier to learn and easier to read with. On his site Kapherus mentions Louise Woods's book, "Reading Your Future in the Cards," and that's the one I'm working with now. It's an extremely user-friendly book, and one that can be mastered without having to take a year off to devote yourself to it full-time. It's long out of print but you can find it for sale from online used book vendors without too much difficulty (I found it online for only a few dollars).

Good luck!

-- Lee

Thank you, Lee for the tip about "Reading your future in the cards." That's the one I'll start with. I've been reading up on Kapherus' system and was thinking of offering a couple free readings as practice just getting used to his system of reading suits and number basics (much more interesting than just sitting down trying to connect abstract ideas, lol) It seems like an intuitively sensible system, it builds on things I'm familiar with, which is nice. But it'll be really nice to see how the two systems could compliment one another.

Hedgewytchery has the benefit of a rhyming architecture for remembering things, but there just isn't enough there, for me, to build the conversation of a reading upon. So I agree with you entirely there.

I'm really looking forward to the Louise Wood book, Lee.

Thanks ever so much!

Hello! I do not use Hedgewytchery, but I have studied it thoroughly. I believe the combinations given are quite clear. However, I can understand that difficulties may appear. If you have any questions about specific card-combos, I will be more than glad to help you.

Regarding the "querent" card, it is a free option. The H-method utilizes the significance of colours. You can pick your querent depending on whether he/she is blond (Diamonds), black-haired (Spades) etc.
The suits however, may not always signify the physical appearence of the court cart, but a personal trait (ambitious, hard-worker, negative) or a specific background (divorced, widow etc.).

Personally, I use two methods with playing cards:
1.one that I was taught when I was a kid
2. regina russell's method (beats anything else regarding the combinations and details)

It's up to you, which one to choose. But, honestly, save your money and simply buy Regina's book. It is difficult to understand at the beginning, but you will never need anything else. I have all the books on cartomancy (french, italian, russian, greek, english, german, spanish). If you want to use a full deck of 52 cards (no jokers) just study her method. You will be more than amazed!

One other suggestion: The Message by Deborah Leigh, still in print and available from Amazon. It's a longer book than the Louise Woods one, because there's a lot of self-help material in it which may or may not be to your liking, but the card meanings are the simplest of any discussed in this read, basically a single concept for each card, which makes learning the meanings and doing readings a much easier process. I quite like her system. Also, she makes more of an effort than most others to structure her book as a course rather than simply presenting meanings and spreads. She has a forum on Ning where she participates in discussions about her system.

Hedgewytchery's system offer some nice advices but is far from being accurate when it comes to pips