For almost half a year, we’ve been going through a cohesive system of divination using playing cards. We’ve covered the meanings of the colors, the suits, the various numbers, the court cards, and the jokers. We’ve looked at how to structure spreads and questions to get clearer, more actionable readings. In this last post, I want to put everything together in a quick example reading.
Quick Reference
For easy reference, I’ve pulled the meanings of the various cards together into the table below. It is highly recommended that you read the entries for particular cards, to pick up on the nuanced differences between them. But if you just need a quick reminder (“What does the Seven of Spades mean again?”), this table can help jog your memory.
| Card | Title | Keyword | Imagery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ace of Diamonds | The Seed of Power | Opportunity | A coin, a letter |
| Two of Diamonds | The Polarity of Power | Differential | A transfer of funds, birds |
| Three of Diamonds | The Bounty of Power | Beneficence | A gift, a fountain |
| Four of Diamonds | The Stability of Power | Conservatism | A closed purse, no news |
| Five of Diamonds | The Embodiment of Power | Luck | Good luck, laughter |
| Six of Diamonds | The Direction of Power | Acquisition | Streets of gold, good decisions |
| Seven of Diamonds | The Shadow of Power | Deceit | Lies, deception |
| Eight of Diamonds | The Words of Power | Reputation | Gossip, idle chatter |
| Nine of Diamonds | The Culmination of Power | Idealism | Daydreams, peace |
| Ten of Diamonds | The Aftermath of Power | Joy | A treasure chest, sunlight |
| Jack of Diamonds | The Youth of Power | Change | A girl, good news |
| Queen of Diamonds | The Lady of Power | Matriarch | A good wife, an elaborate wedding, sensuality |
| King of Diamonds | The Lord of Power | Monarch | A bank, an institution, a civil trial |
| Ace of Clubs | The Seed of Labor | Planning | A cave, solitude, planning |
| Two of Clubs | The Polarity of Labor | Partnership | A handshake, a business deal |
| Three of Clubs | The Bounty of Labor | Obstacles | A stone wall |
| Four of Clubs | The Stability of Labor | Patience | A planted field, a loaded cart |
| Five of Clubs | The Embodiment of Labor | Health | A healthy body, a barn |
| Six of Clubs | The Direction of Labor | Direction | Footprints, a clear trail |
| Seven of Clubs | The Shadow of Labor | Worry | Doubts, worries, stress |
| Eight of Clubs | The Words of Labor | Collaboration | Shop talk, a table, a workbench |
| Nine of Clubs | The Culmination of Labor | Harvest | Reaping a field, an orchard, a forest |
| Ten of Clubs | The Aftermath of Labor | Stewardship | A herd or flock, rainclouds |
| Jack of Clubs | The Youth of Labor | Peer | A friend, a sibling |
| Queen of Clubs | The Lady of Labor | Caregiver | A mother, a nurse, a wise woman |
| King of Clubs | The Lord of Labor | Leader | A father, a judge, a general |
| Ace of Hearts | The Seed of Intimacy | Desire | A kiss, infatuation, feeling lonely |
| Two of Hearts | The Polarity of Intimacy | Coupling | Lovers, sex, intimacy |
| Three of Hearts | The Bounty of Intimacy | Friendship | A wish granted, a full cup |
| Four of Hearts | The Stability of Intimacy | Reservation | A locked trunk, a travel case |
| Five of Hearts | The Embodiment of Intimacy | Fertility | A chapel, a bed, fertility |
| Six of Hearts | The Direction of Intimacy | Fidelity | A dog, loyalty, stamina |
| Seven of Hearts | The Shadow of Intimacy | Jealousy | Jealousy, hatred, fear |
| Eight of Hearts | The Words of Intimacy | Flirtation | Seduction, flirtation, pillow talk |
| Nine of Hearts | The Culmination of Intimacy | Nesting | A small house, a cottage, a new life |
| Ten of Hearts | The Aftermath of Intimacy | Family | A happy family, a fire |
| Jack of Hearts | The Youth of Intimacy | Children | A baby, a cradle, a young boy |
| Queen of Hearts | The Lady of Intimacy | Romantic | A sensitive woman, attraction |
| King of Hearts | The Lord of Intimacy | Confidant | A sensitive man, attraction |
| Ace of Spades | The Seed of Strife | Death | Death, sudden change |
| Two of Spades | The Polarity of Strife | Duel | A duel, separation |
| Three of Spades | The Bounty of Strife | Battle | A battle, setbacks |
| Four of Spades | The Stability of Strife | Prison | Mire, the four horsemen |
| Five of Spades | The Embodiment of Strife | Illness | Illness, wounds, a corpse |
| Six of Spades | The Direction of Strife | Temptation | Temptations, sins, bad decisions |
| Seven of Spades | The Shadow of Strife | Righteousness | Tears, blood, war |
| Eight of Spades | The Words of Strife | Shouting | An argument, shouting |
| Nine of Spades | The Culmination of Strife | Mourning | A funeral, a coffin, a ghost |
| Ten of Spades | The Aftermath of Strife | Ruins | A cemetery, a ruined church |
| Jack of Spades | The Youth of Strife | Enemy | A rebel, a backstabber, bad news |
| Queen of Spades | The Lady of Strife | Harpy | A cruel mother, a seductress, a false friend, a female rival |
| King of Spades | The Lord of Strife | Kingpin | A criminal, an executioner, a male rival, wrath, violence |
| Joker | — | — | An undefined future, information withheld, vision obscured |
An Example Reading
To help make this more concrete, let’s walk through an example scenario, and how I might conduct a reading.
Let’s say the querent in question – we’ll call her Jane – has a tumultuous relationship with her boss at work. She often feels like she is being singled out in team settings, or that she is being specifically set up for failure.
The first question I might ask is something like “Is this perception accurate? Is Jane actually being singled out by her boss?” Because this is an easy yes-or-no question, I’d probably start with a three-card yes/no spread, like we talked about early in the series. You could potentially just pull a single card, but I like the additional insight you get with three.
I actually did this reading, and the three cards that came up in response to this question were the King of Spades, the Eight of Diamonds, and the Ten of Diamonds. Looking first at the color, we see we have two reds and a black: a qualified yes. Jane is correct that she is being specifically targeted by her boss. It’s not an unqualified yes, so there may be some additional factor she’s not aware of (perhaps other people are being targeted as well), but she is largely correct in her assertion.
Because I’m mostly interested in the yes-or-no answer at this point, I’m not going to go too deep on looking at the sequence of colors or suits as a story. But it’s worth noting that we start with black (spades), before transitioning to red (diamonds). That indicates this has been a rocky relationship from day one, rather than there being some specific event that turned it sour.
Finally, I’ll look at the cards themselves. First up is the King of Spades – a very apt card to see here. This is the most immediately informative card in the spread. The King of Spades can mean wrath, violence, or a male rival. Specifically one who is used to operating as a power unto himself, and thinks the rules don’t apply to him. We’ve learned that the boss in question is most likely a man, and a little bit more about his temperament. Cards two and three are less directly informative, but tell us something about the reasons the boss might be targeting Jane. The Eight of Diamonds (Reputation) and the Ten of Diamonds (Joy) are pretty positive cards. I’d read that as Jane having a reputation for being highly effective at her job, and the boss feeling threatened by that reputation, her passion, and her ability to effectively accomplish hard tasks at work.
We now have a little bit of a picture about the situation at hand. But really, the goal of any divination is to give you some actionable intelligence. What’s the best course of action here? My next question would probably be a two-card reading on how to improve this work situation. The first card being what Jane needs to bring to the situation to improve things, and the second card being what Jane needs to withhold from this situation.
The two cards that came up for me were the Two of Clubs and the Eight of Clubs. Both interesting, work-related cards, but not immediately straightforward to interpret. The thing Jane needs to bring to improve this situation is the Two of Clubs: the Partnership card. That could be read either as Jane making some sort of agreement with her boss that lets them work together, or forming a partnership with someone else to help improve things. Given the context we have about the situation, I read that as the latter.1 The thing Jane needs to bring here is allies. She should be looking for other folks within the company to team up with for mutual support. Particularly if Jane isn’t the only person being targeted, that’s a sound strategy.
The next card, what should be withheld, is more interesting. The Eight of Clubs is the card of collaboration and work-related communications. I read that as Jane needing to be less transparent about her plans, to limit her boss’s ability to sabotage them. This is counterintuitive advice, since generally I think transparent communication improves most relationships. But the indication seems to be that the relationship here is unsalvageable, and less interaction will give less opportunity for issues to arise. Given the perhaps-controversial nature of that advice, another card could be drawn here, to clarify or confirm.
Taken together, I read these cards to mean that Jane should start routing around her boss. She should be cultivating a network of supportive co-workers, ideally those who have experienced similar interactions, and then relying on that network to get things done even in the face of a hostile manager.
From here the reading could continue, to look at other factors that might be in play, or examine how the situation is likely to evolve over the next year if Jane follows the advice outlined. But this example has already gone on for a while, so I’ll wrap it up here.
Where Do You Go From Here?
You can study as much as you like about the theory of divination, but the only way to actually develop the skill yourself (as with any other skill) is through practice. Start reading cards regularly.
One easy way to do this is by starting to draw a daily card every morning. This is useful both from a purely pragmatic standpoint – a flashcard-style drill to remember the meaning of at least one card a day – and also to form your own conceptions of the card meanings. If you draw a card in the morning, and then reflect in the evening about what happened during the day that might relate to or embody that card, you’ll start to make connections beyond just the imagery I’ve outlined. You’ll take my definitions and make them your own.
While daily card draws are helpful, they are not sufficient to become a skilled reader. You also have to take a stab at reading for specific questions. You can start with made up scenarios, like the one outlined above, but you’ll get the most mileage out of real questions you can use a real answer to.
What you get out of this practice is precisely commensurate with what you put in.
This post is part of a series on playing card cartomancy. If you like what you’ve read, you can check out the overview post and start from the beginning here.
- You could pull an additional card for clarification, if you wanted. ↩︎
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