Ace of Spades - "a death; a decision"
Lately I’ve been a bit lax in my Tarot studies, no offense to Tarot 
Rather I’ve picked up a different form of cartomancy (divination using cards) – reading playing cards! A friend of mine taught me how to read them after doing an incredibly insightful reading for me.
Something that struck me coming to the playing cards as a Tarot reader was that the playing card meanings are both very strict, but become more flexible as interpreted with other cards. Like Tarot, reading playing cards takes into account the meaning of the card number/court and the suit to create meaning. This is then explained in the context of the spread.
For example, the 2 of Spades: 2 = exchange, often a conversation; Spades = trouble. Thus, this card can be understood as perhaps an argument or fight. While the card meanings are individually more confined than the spectrum of meanings that Tarot cards have, playing cards meanings can vary upon the interpretation of the cards near it in a spread. Reading playing cards relies greatly on reading them in groups.
One thing I like about reading playing cards is that it is simple and effective. I think that if someone has a hard time with Tarot, they should give playing cards a try – there are less cards, more defined meanings which can still spark intuition as you read the spread, and it easily teaches correlating numerology and suits to provide the card’s meaning rather than relying on memory or pictures on the card. Another benefit is that playing cards are both cheap and discreet – great for those who’d rather not tote around a Tarot deck or pay $20 for one.
Since playing cards are pretty much the Tarot’s Minor Arcana, you can expect the playing cards to speak to “earthly” issues with surprising clarity. I don’t see the playing cards helping me spiritually like Tarot, but for down-and-dirty questions about people, work, goals, family, love etc I can expect the playing cards to provide surprisingly specific results. Where with Tarot I’m more apt to sugar-coat, I know that playing cards are like the one blunt friend you have that will tell you that dress you have is freakin’ ugly. Blunt, for sure, but grateful for them not being afraid to be real with me here.
What’s your experience with playing card divination? Have you ever gotten a reading? Do you read yourself? There’s resources online for those who’d like to learn. Some playing card readers seam to rely a lot on a card’s corresponding Tarot meanings, and there’s nothing wrong with that – it’ll help you pick it up that much faster. However, if you only read playing cards with Tarot meanings, try to read the playing cards with their original numerology and suit meanings – this will add a new level to your understanding of the cards, playing and Tarot.
4 comments
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October 30, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Mark
Dear Garnet,
I’m with you on this too.
I love both Tarot and playing cards. Last night I did a reading with both on my red bed spread. For me, using both allows me to pick up on extra information. They both offer a slightly different point-of-view, giving me more perspective on my question.
Garnet, keep up the great blog of yours!
Brightest Blessings,
Mark
Aurora, CO
November 1, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Balakirev
Innnnteresting! Can’t say I’ve ever read playing cards, though I’m all for reading “mundane” things. Once, at a boring dinner-by-myself in a restaurant, I read the dregs of some French onion soup: got quite a bit out of it. Though properly speaking, that’s more akin to crystal ball scrying, than actual cardwork with predetermined meanings.
I’ll have to give your suggestion a try.
December 5, 2008 at 3:02 pm
woley
I love playing cards and use Deborah Leigh’s Personal Prophesy method. I usually buy myself a few playing cards every year, just placed a Christmas order with Somerville.
I like the small Patience-sized cards, they are great for table layouts. Also, the pips and courts from Tarock decks can be interesting to use with playing card methods.
April 11, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Danielle
Hi,
I like your posting about reading regular deck of playing cards. I find them a lot easier to read than Tarot. What is interesting is that many people online with their own websites have really far different interpretations of the meanings of the cards, which you typically don’t find with Tarot. In Tarot you find people who make decks who expand on the traditional meaning but don’t really change the meaning. I found one website where the meanings are right on (Serena’s).
A regular deck (RD) is so accurate in a very blunt way as you say. Sometimes I don’t like to use them if I really don’t want to be overly concerned about something. Tarot too, depending on the deck, can be intimidating in getting scary doom and gloom responses. Because I am new to all of this (including tarot) I tend to use a series of decks for one inquiry. I may use a RD, Tarot, and definitely Oracle Cards. Oracle Cards, if a positive deck, will buffer the bluntly negative Tarot or RD with optimistic possibilities to an also potentially bleak situation. From this I’ve learned that evil and good do coexist but its best for to always choose the positive to counteract the negative.
In general, if I want really accurate readings with really specific details, hands down a regular deck outshines the others. However, I wouldn’t give up my Angel Therapy Oracle Deck or Inner Child Card Tarot Deck because they too provide added insight.