Playing Cards - Do you Use the Whole Deck?

By this I mean, do you use the 32 card deck, or 36 or the whole 52?

Reading a book by C Thorpe it seems more common to use just 32 cards and leave out pips 2 - 6 in the shuffle. I'm wondering how common that is amongst the members here who use playing cards as their main method of divination.

I use all 52, and sometimes leave the 2 Jokers as well.

My working theory is that different regions settled on which cards to remove. I'd dearly love to know how & why the removals were justified.

just like cardlady, when I read with the cards, I use all 52 cards and the 2 jokers. however, I have had readings done with only 32 cards. very good readings in fact!

I think it is up to the card reader and what they want. I have thought about doing a reading with only 32 cards and see how it goes.

I've only dabbled with reading playing cards over the years, not enough to memorise the meanings but enough (along with reading Marseilles decks) to be familiar with how they interact with each other in a spread. I also used to read Lenormand spreads which work in a similar way but with 36 cards.

Its the Piquet decks which use 32 cards for the game of Piquet and from there I guess people adapted their ordinary playing card decks for whichever card game they were playing.

I quite like using just 32 cards at the moment, but I suspected that most readers here would use the whole deck. The Jokers, never thought of including them, that's something new to try.

testing . . . the post I just hit Send on has disappeared.

OK, what I mentioned was that I use the colored vs the black-and-white Joker to represent sudden, unexpected forces with the issue or person. The color is a more flamboyant, in your face thing. You're distracted by the "magic act" while the important thing goes overlooked. The b&w one is something intense and deep that springs up from the depths. It refuses to be unseen anymore.

Thanks cardlady, I must try that. I have the Goethe transformation deck with me at the moment, which I don't think had Jokers (or maybe I left them in the box).

In the Marseilles deck I think of the Fool as a bit of a wild card, and representing freedom. In the card sequence he fits in anywhere, to me. I guess the Jokers could be used as wild cards in a reading. Your meanings for them make a whole lot of sense.

In the Goethe Transformation deck, the Jokers are red or black.

Thanks cardlady, I have them in the box and they are now with the rest of the deck.

I've been thinking about the Jokers and how I can incorporate them into the deck for divination. I also like to consider the history side of playing cards so Andy Pollett's page on the Fool and the Joker gave me some great insight into how I want to read these cards. Very interesting page too, and a favourite site of mine:

http://a_pollett.tripod.com/cardjokr.htm

I'm also thinking about the 10, Jack, Queen and King and how I want to think of these cards in a reading, depending on whether there is a 10 AND Queen in the deck, and how the King/viceroy/second viceroy of the Mamluk cards may fit in to all this court sequence.

32 Card methods...I remember now!

There's some excerpts in an old standby, also known through various reprints as "PRS Foli" and as an overview, some playing card methods: the index also lists other methods, but the 32 card suggestions are fun/historic:

http://supertarot.co.uk/bookfoli/index.htm

I'm thinking of these, myself!

Bceause I sometimes use Patience as a form of divination - for yes/no stuff - I use a variety of decks; I use a 52 card deck, the 32 Piquet deck, the Spanish deck (with 40 cards) plus two 52 card-decks together making 104. I even have a special deck made up of 4 identical 32 card decks which I use for one of my favourite games "Olga". When I say Patience, I don't mean that standard patience game but I have a whole repertoire of forgotten Victorian ones copied into a silk bound exercise book.

I have never thought of using the jokers either. Don't ask why. It never crossed my mind and there are some beautiful jokers around which I'd love an excuse to use! Great link, Evie with ideas for use. Thank you!