Going back to my roots

This time it's not about tarot, but it's still about doing divination with cards, so I decided to put it here. Thanks to jmk for the inspiration!

My Grandma used to read from regular playing cards, using only 24 of them (9, 10, J, Q, K, A). She learnt from her mother in Poland. When she was small, she imagined - or did she imagine? - that she had a Gypsy ancestry. Once I asked her to tell me the meanings and I wrote them down. Here's the translation.

The best days for reading the cards are Tuesdays and Fridays.

♣

Ace♣ - worry, illness (e.g. Ace♣ and 10♣ combined - a serious problem, even death hazard)

10♣ - longer journey

9♣ - short journey

♠

Ace♠ - your home

10♠ - a lot of vodka drinking!

9♠ - drinking a bit

♥

Ace♥ - a wedding, a great joy

10♥ - a big joy

9♥ - a small joy

♦

Ace♦ - a letter

10♦ - big money

9♦ - small money

Court cards

Kings - elder men

K♣ - dark/brown hair, serious and solemn

K♠ - black eyes, black hair

K♥ - dark blond hair

K♦ - light blond hair

Queens - women

Jacks - young men, bachelors

Q♣, J♣ - dark/brown hair

Q♠, J♠ - black hair

Q♥, J♥ - dark blond hair

Q♦, J♦ - light blond hair

How to do a "board" reading:

(I call it "the board reading", Grandma just says "the reading").

Shuffle the cards, cut into three. Look under each pile to see the bottom card, interpret.

Put the cards back together, lay them all in three rows, 8 cards each. Your starting point will be the significator card (one of the court cards you chose for the querent). Then travel with your finger through the "board" made from the cards counting to three (in fact Grandma would count "3-4-5", but it still makes three moves...) - you can go up, down, to the sides, change direction etc. The direction you choose depends on your intuition. When you stop at a card, it becomes your new starting point, then move three cards from it etc.

Pile reading:

Can be used as an initial reading before the more detailed "board" reading.

Shuffle the cards and cut them into 5 piles (they don't have to be even). Take each pile into your hand and start interpreting the sequence of cards.

The meaning of the piles are as follows:

1. For me.

2. For the house.

3. What I don't know.

4. What I don't expect.

5. What will happen to me.

Solitare:

use to answer a yes/no question. Put two cards on the table, these will be beginnings of two columns. Lay a card on each of the cards. Whenever the same number/court card appears on the top of another, remove these two and fill the space from the other column - if not, put more from the pile. Your  answer is yes, if you're able to remove all cards from the table.

My year card for 2015

My year card for 2015 is VII The Chariot (I summed my birthday day and month with 2015, then summed the numerals until it gave a number between 1 and 22). It should be the time to be active, to win my goals. I will have a lot of energy and maybe a lot of travelling this year. I will regain some control over my life and gain courage for everyday struggles.

TdM Majors reflections - XV LE DIABLE and IIII L'EMPEREUR

I wanted to write down some reflections on the Tarot de Marseille Majors. I chose XV that I like a lot and IIII that I don't really like. I thought it a good exercise and opportunity to think deeper about the cards. Tarot de Marseille catches my heart by it's minimalistic look, but there's the Devil in the details!

 I must admit, I absolutely love LE DIABLE card from TdM! First of all, it's totally weird and thus making a person uneasy. It warns us about indulging in carnal pleasures, but also shows how deeply the flesh and its desires are connected to our human nature. The two horned creatures hide their hands - hands, with which we can perform so many things animals cannot. The creatures go into the world of animal instincts. We're bound to this devil/goddess and denying it, averting our eyes won't make it disappear. Moreover - it would make matters worse. Denying our own nature is lying to ourselves and stops us from finding illumination. Only after we acknowledge needs of the flesh, after we learn to respect them, can we go further on our path.

Personally I think this card holds an important lesson for me, for I used to dismiss needs of the body as less crucial to my development.

 Whenever I see the L'EMPEREUR card, I sigh inwardly. It seems that I'm a numerological Four and somehow it doesn't make me happy. I have a feeling Fours are boring, down-to-earth and stubborn. No place for imagination and adventure. I subconsciously see the Emperor as an oppressing ruler, who always wants to have his way. I'd like to find in me some warmer feelings for him.

The Emperor is well organized and likes to plan in advance, what let's him to be in control of his life. He has a strong personality and shows the way for others, he's leading the way. He learns from past events (he's facing left, the "past" direction) and uses this knowledge to built better future. In my Jodorowsky-Camoin deck (I'm using the CBD TdM in this post - it's great quality, it's free for non-comercial use and webpage-friendly! Thank you, Yoav Ben-Dov!) his eagle sits on the egg we previously see with LA PAPESSE: the Emperor builds his rule on wisdom and wise counseling.

A Friday trip

I wanted to know what chances do I have of going on a trip I had planned. Today some obstacles appeared and it's possible I won't be able to go in the end.

I pulled three cards from The Tarot of The White Cats:

2 of Swords, 2 of Coins, XVI The Tower

I think I won't go. Tonight it will be questionable (2/Swords), tomorrow will be unclear (2/Coins) and tomorrow evening (I can even see the moments of the day by the colour of the sky in the cards!) will bring the news that the trip is impossible (XVI).

Did I read correctly? We'll see in two days ;)

Edit: indeed the trip was impossible. It wasn't exactly as I have interpreted, but the last card - The Tower - shows precisely my baby's high, flaming fever!

New Year's Reading - First Quarter

Just after New Year I did a reading for each quarter of the year. For the first quarter (January, February, March) I can say it's pretty much spot on.

I pulled from my Tarot of The White Cats:

First quarter in general: 3 of Swords

Work (working on my book with the editor): 10 of Cups, 9 of Coins

Health: XIII Death, 10 of Swords

Husband: VII Chariot, 5 of Coins

Baby: XVII The Star, XI Strength

Only two thirds of this quarter are gone, but I already can tell, that the beginning of this year was hard (3/Swords). The editor is still reading the text and I have nothing to do, so cards like 10/Cups (relaxed idleness) or 9/Coins (relaxing in luxury) fit well here. My health is portrayed well too: I struggle all the time, catch infections, I'm weak... Death and 10/Swords sum it up. My husband has a lot of challenges (VII), because he has to support me and he's quite exhausted (5/Coins). With the baby I got better - I'm better at handling him and also he himself became easier to care for. Still, some struggle is needed (XVII, XI).

When I saw these cards just after New Year, I was not delighted. I started wondering if there's any sense in reading the cards about the future - then see they're not promising and starting to worry. Now I think it's not bad to see difficulties coming. Seeing them in the cards gives us opportunity to mentally prepare.