Playing cards for readings?

themagicwand

Just out of interest here - has anyone ever used standard playing cards to do readings with?

The 4 suits of playing cards are equatable to the 4 suits of tarot, ie Swords = Spades, Cups = Hearts, Wands = Clubs, Pentacles = Diamonds. And obviously with playing cards we lose the knight, the jack being the page.

It is my understanding that up until a couple of decades or so ago, real Romany readers in Europe tended to favour playing cards to tarot. This was so they could easily be passed off in less tolerant times as being merely a plaything, something the children played with, etc. rather than the devil's work that the tarot were often seen as.

In the east end of London, spiritual home of the tea leaf readers, the old ladies used to use playing cards for readings also. Tarot cards have not always been as available as they are in this day and age.

I heard one delightful story of a lady who used playing cards all her life to fortune tell for friends and family. Many years ago in the UK there used to be a brand of cigarette called No. 6. Inside packs of No. 6 cigarettes were tokens that could be saved until one had enough tokens to redeem for an item from the No. 6 gift book. This old lady as a youngster got herself a packet of No. 6 playing cards (they had the No.6 logo on the back) and taught herself how to do readings with them.

When she died she insisted that she was buried with her pack of No.6 cards so no-one else could get their hands on them!

I've used playing cards sometimes though not often. They really do suffer I find from not having the major arcana with them, plus people seem genuinely disappointed that they're not having (as they would see it) a "real" tarot card reading. Perhaps playing cards are just too associated with games, and magicians, and tricks to be taken seriously as tools of divination?
 

Bernice

Hi there themagicwand,

Hundreds and hundreds of people still do readings with playing cards. But this is Tarot forum (which also covers playing cards and oracles etc.) and lots of the members are primarily interested in tarot.

Try the Oracle Sections :)

Bee

P.S. I lived in the East End. It 'aint like it used to be...
 

euphoria

That sounds interesting. I can definitely see maybe a child who may be interested in tarot, but can't afford a deck of tarot cards, (or perhaps their guardians won't allow them to mess with them), can use playing cards for the same purpose. They're just like pip tarot cards.

I have an oracle deck myself (The Fairies Oracle by Brian Froud) but I have never used it, because I thought learning tarot would be the best foundation to learn other types of decks with, but maybe if you learned with playing cards, picking up tarot would be even easier with all the images and the major arcana.
 

Demon Goddess

themagicwand said:
Just out of interest here - has anyone ever used standard playing cards to do readings with?

I've used playing cards sometimes though not often. They really do suffer I find from not having the major arcana with them, plus people seem genuinely disappointed that they're not having (as they would see it) a "real" tarot card reading. Perhaps playing cards are just too associated with games, and magicians, and tricks to be taken seriously as tools of divination?

Hi TMJ, welcome to the forum.

I don't use them anymore, but was initially trained on playing cards by my Grandmother. Who, I might add, is a well-known professional reader for over 70 years.

Fwiw, you don't actually lose the knight, it melds with the Jack and the King... so sometimes you'll get knight qualities in the King, sometimes in the Jack.

The reason that tarot cards were preferred by my Grandmother at the time is because they were far easier to find than Tarot cards. Not being massed produced anyone learning back in the thirties would have been highly hard put to even find a tarot deck, nevermind buy one.

There have been some detailed conversations about the differences and similarities between the two decks on the boards, many times over the past ten years here at AT.

Fwiw, my Grandmother and I would scoff at the idea that people might take less seriously the divination of the playing cards. If you can see with the playing cards as well as my Grandmother can, then there is no doubt in your mind that these are most definitely a good divination tool. And I might add, she can read better with those plain old Bicycle brand cards than I ever could with the Marseilles. I'd suggest the disappointment comes from a reader's lesser ability with playing cards. Such readers, it is my never humble belief, should use the Tarot. I believe and my Grandmother, I hope, would agree that if you don't see well with the playing cards, it's because you've got the wrong divination tool in your hands.

I have a friend who has become a famous numerologist. She used to read with Tarot, but it wasn't a good divination tool for her.

I read tarot because I didn't SEE things in the playing cards, so I was reading pure book meanings which as any Glorpist or intuitive reader would tell you is lacking... but then, as I said, I don't see things in the Marseilles either. I do have three tarot decks with which I can really see things... and it makes no matter that they are Tarot or some other divination, I simply believe that it is a question of the reader finding the right tool for themselves.

My Grandmother, btw, would throw you out on your ear if you for one second suggested that she couldn't read as well because she wasn't using standard tarot cards. :D It's a lucky thing for you that she's not on the internet. ;)
 

starrystarrynight

I have gotten some of my best "in-person" professional readings from a woman who uses only playing cards. She does a stunning job with them!

My great aunt used to use only playing cards to read - back in her day, they likely couldn't afford tarot cards or tarot cards weren't as readily available.

Check out the Cartomancy threads below, as many here use playing cards, too!
 

themagicwand

Demon Goddess said:
My Grandmother, btw, would throw you out on your ear if you for one second suggested that she couldn't read as well because she wasn't using standard tarot cards. :D It's a lucky thing for you that she's not on the internet. ;)
Hi Demon Goddess (great name!). I wouldn't for one second suggest that people can't do fantastic readings with playing cards. I just know that it doesn't "click" for me personally - I like having the major arcana there. Also it's just my experience (I work mainly with folk who have never had readings done before and for whom the reading is part of an evening's entertainment) that people prefer to have a reading with a pack of tarot than a pack of playing cards. I'm sure this is purely based on appearance and for the sitters to be able to boast to friends that they had a "real" tarot reading. I realise this is their loss in many ways, but the customer is always right! Or so I'm told! Or at least the person with the cheque is always right!
 

Demon Goddess

themagicwand said:
Hi Demon Goddess (great name!). I wouldn't for one second suggest that people can't do fantastic readings with playing cards. I just know that it doesn't "click" for me personally - I like having the major arcana there. Also it's just my experience (I work mainly with folk who have never had readings done before and for whom the reading is part of an evening's entertainment) that people prefer to have a reading with a pack of tarot than a pack of playing cards. I'm sure this is purely based on appearance and for the sitters to be able to boast to friends that they had a "real" tarot reading. I realise this is their loss in many ways, but the customer is always right! Or so I'm told! Or at least the person with the cheque is always right!

I know exactly how you feel... I have posted here many times at how I felt when I first got my Thoth, (I use the revelations deck now).

I think people can pick up on negative energies... if you pick up a deck (playing card or tarot, or some other divination tool) and they sense a lack of expertise in you, they will pick up on that.

I too think that if the customer feels uncomfortable with whichever deck you show them... then yeah, I'd change decks too... Easiest to simply lay out the decks you are comfortable reading with and let them choose...

btw, you'll get better feedback on using different cards for pro readings if you subscribe to the forum and post in the Professional Readers' section.
 

themagicwand

Demon Goddess said:
btw, you'll get better feedback on using different cards for pro readings if you subscribe to the forum and post in the Professional Readers' section.
Yeah, I've sent off my subscription. Just waiting to be let in now! ;o)
 

Le Fanu

Hey, magic wand, try doing an "advanced search", titles only, with the search option, and type in Playing Cards. There are oodles of threads on this in the Oracle section.There is one on the go right now!

Im a fan of playing card for divination. Im not saying I do it well, but it´s a format Im enjoying learning. And I think of Lenormand as fundamentally a playing card method too. But what we have with Lenormand (IMO) is a form of illustrated pips for playing cards. And it´s a different way of reading to tarot.

For me, with tarot, it develops into more of a story. With Lenormand/ playing cards you piece together, like a sentence, what the cards are saying. For me (I can´t speak for everyone), there is less "storytelling" with playing cards, and more "receiving messages". For example; Xcard plus Ycard plus Zcard could mean that a friend will break an agreement and etc...

If that makes sense....