Is anyone here just a little bit scared of playing cards?

firecatpickles

My Etruria Minchiate pip deck would be perfect for this!

KK
:TSTRE
 

Little Baron

Lee said:
Hi LB, it occurs to me that it might be interesting to try this method with a tarot deck which has non-scenic pips but more stark ones than the Marseille. For example, the Prediction, or the Mystic Meg, or the Lovers Tarot (78-card version).

I'd seen that hedgewytchery link before, but I'm glad you reminded me of it, I'm going to give it another look. Meantime, if you do experiment with using this method with a tarot deck, I would be very interested to hear how you find it, especially how you feel the trumps fit in with the method.

Oh, and another good deck might be the Angel Tarot by Robert Place, since the pips there are the French suits.

-- Lee

Hi Lee

I have the Prediction Tarot and up until you mention this here, I never thought of much use for it. I was never so taken with it. I mentioned in either this thread or another, that I might have a go by removing the trumps and extra court.

Thinking of the Marseille, I am not sure if it would work in some decks as I find the swords and baton suits to be a little vague sometimes. There is something about playing cards that jump straight through the confusion.

Thanks for the ideas.

LB
 

Cerulean

Hello Little Buddha...

I read this with interest, hope that some of my comments will be useful.

1. First question:
I don't think that I could have read for her. Not just because I would have had to translate the messages, if they were negative. Because maybe I might have held some stuff back. And maybe because I wouldn't have wanted to hold that information to myself.

What do you think?

Cerulean's reply:
I understand what you are saying. Your posts lately (the few that I've read) have a very nice fatherly feeling to them--you want to be kind and not scarey, especially to sensitive friends. Also, if you feel tired, you don't want to be too down because it would be 'your energy talking' rather than a higher source. From what I gather, you really would like to draw on energy from both the earth upward and then from the higher source through you....that way, it's not so draining.

2. Playing cards

And in terms of using playing cards, it's really only the Latin-suited decks that work for me and the meanings I prefer are gently spoken, like Gillian Kemp's decks. She usually seems to have 52-card oracle decks that remind me of playing cards with different themes. The meanings are usually very kindly phrased. So if you had a 'dark' or 'black' suit, the meaning is suggesting an awareness or asking you to draw on a strength that might balance or counter a potential problem.

If people equated the King of Swords with the King of Spades, the feeling of being a weary, experienced or soldierly gentleman who deals with communication might be similar. My way of reading differs from yours, but I do enjoy reading the different forms of those reading cartomancy!

3. Dreams...And it seems, with your dreams, you are able to tap into the concerned and kindly fatherly energy of the divine naturally, which is wonderful.

Regards,

Cerulean
 

Little Baron

Thank-you Cerulean. That was a lovely post.

I had not thought of myself as fatherly but now you mention it, I can see where you are coming from. I enjoy being able to help and advise if I can, which I suppose can be like fatherly advice. There are members here that I enjoy to support, who I know are younger than me - a young man that asked a question about age in relation to professional tarot and another teenager, whom I have just gifted a deck. I get as much from these interactions as they do, because in terms of those specific members, their energy and enthusiasm for the cards is extremely inspiring.

And yes, I enjoy to gift messages as well - whether through dreams, voices and visions or the cards. So when messages become just that little bit darker, it does concern this nature of mine. But I wonder if it is like going to bed, switching off the lamp and eventually adjusting to the dark; being able to eventually see in the dark once your eyes have become accustomed. At first, the dark is scary, but in time, you can make out shapes and recognise things in your room. Are playing cards like that, do you think? As I begin to understand and practice more, will I see the difference in shape between what might be a minor problem and that which really needs attention for the good of either me or the querant?

LB
 

celeste

This has been an interesting thread. And I think I will try the method-I've already bookmarked it. I use to read playing cards a long time ago but found that I was always comparing them to the traditional tarot meanings-and kept "thinking"my way through the reading rather than reading intuitively, which I tend to do with the tarot naturally.

Another thing that came to mind when reading through this thread was the thought, what about using the comparitive tarot method with regular playing cards? Like drawing the playing cards in the cartomancy method, then pulling the corresponding tarot cards of the deck of your choice and laying them along side the playing cards for a more layered reading. Or even more than one tarot deck if you want to get really deep.
 

Little Baron

It might be interesting, with the different meanings of the tarot, to see if any new meaning can be gleaned from the tarot by reading the corresponding cards with the same kind of method as used in the tutorials - colour corespondances, suit interaction.

LB
 

firecatpickles

For me the pip cards go way deeper than the playing cards. Generally, I try not to see the suits and numbers as having one set meaning like the playing card method. I look to see more of a pattern developing in the spread with tarot and therefore "one size fits all" readings don't do it for me. I find if I try to read tarot like this then the reading stops making any kind of sense. This is the exact reason I am leaning more toward the non-scenic decks.

Playing cards seem like the scenic-meets-pip approach.

KK
:TSTRE
 

Cerulean

Here's an odd way of seeing the dark side of things...

Naturally in this life, I like the cheerful side of things. Which makes any balancing that shows a hint of soberness to feel 'a downer'. Well, we do need balance...can we tell in divination if it's both a message for us, or the querent? I think you are enjoying honing your questioning and relational skills in dealing with direct readings from playing cards... and topics that also deal with the mundane or less bright aspects of life. And playing cards seem to do this for you and the seeker of answers...

Now your friends who decide that such divining just isn't for them, that's fine. Especially those dealing with kids or babies who really need their attached parents to be very clear and bright or nurturing and safe...sometimes it's just so.

By the way, I liked this lyrical song of seeing the dark side of things--on the album called Supernatural.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/santana/wishingitwas.html

In this song, the lyricist seems to imply they know the nature of life is getting through the hard stuff...and they are surprised by joy, so to speak.

Some philosophies state a negative "All life is suffering" which makes one feel a little grumpy to begin with -- like waking up in the morning. I read a webjournal that said when they were walking among Japanese shrines, that all the grumpy or sad impressions they got were from the Buddhist shrines, but the Shinto shrines had all the happy deities. Maybe it was a cultural balance, as most of the Shinto shrines get the birth, marriages and cheerful celebrations.

Sorry, seem to be meandering. I hope the message I got across was that I could see you finding a balance and quieter/sobering/balancing messages using playing cards and getting used to expressing this balance. And you are right, there's beauty in the night...especially if it's not always cloudy and you can also see the stars and moon!

Cerulean

P.S. I just remembered the Secrets Tarot. That has quite a bit of 'shade' going on, a mix of the darker with the bright images.
 

Lee

I just printed out the Hedgewytchery material. If you include the Card Combinations section (which is linked to at the second page), it comes to 83 pages.

By the way, if anyone's really into the Hedgewytchery method, you may want to take a look at a self-published book by Regina Russell called "Card Reader's Handbook." The general method is very similar, in that sets of three cards are examined as combinations, with cards affecting each other based on suit as you move from left to right. The specific card meanings have many similarities, although some differences. In fact the general methods of both are so similar, I would guess that both authors learned from a common source (or each other).

The Hedgewytchery card meanings are much simpler and easier to work with; Russell's meanings are a collection of very idiosyncratic and highly specific meanings, all of which she insists you memorize, which needless to say would be a very tiresome task. However, Russell really excels when describing spreads and the reading process. All of Russell's spreads involve using three-card sets (which she calls "fans") in each spread position, and when you read her sample readings, she describes a fascinating process where first she interprets the three-card fans, and then interprets non-adjacent cards together to weave a web of meaning which is really unlike anything I've seen described in tarot or playing card books.

It seems to me that if one were to take the Hedgewytchery card meanings and apply them to Russell's spreads and reading methods, one would have an excellent and complete system to work with.

If anyone's interested, you can order the Russell book from her site. (Besides selling the book, Russell runs a psychic tea room and telephone reading business, so you'll see those kinds of references at her site.)

-- Lee
 

Little Baron

Thank you very much Lee. I will check that site out. I might invest in the book for comparison after I have got my head around the Hedgewitchery stuff first.

Much appreciated.

LB