Thanks, all!
It's nice to have our good ol playing cards get some attention...lol... your kind remarks and most appreciated... as for a best system... I recommend just going through them all and seeing what kinda works for you... play with them... experiement.... I pull from various and have found a system that works for me... I've studied all the sites mentioned... and I've read a number of books on it... basically any I can get my hands on... if you go to amazon.com and do a book search on...
cartomancy
fortune telling with playing cards
divination with playing cards
you'll get a number of books... most out of print but available for as low as a couple bucks for used copies.. I've read the ones by Jonathan Dee, Richard Webster, Ana Cortez, Sophia, Nerys Dee, Jane Lyle, and some others that I just can't think of at the moment... and all of them vary somewhat... I've also talked with some cartomancers who've learned it form their mothers or grandmothers... one lady I know of Greek heritage uses 51 cards, leaving out the 2 of Diamonds for some reason... another uses all 52, another I know uses 32.... not met anyone who uses 36 or 40 just yet... but those are the lenormand and spanish styles... I personally use 52 plus the joker to equal 53... I've found I started off heavily relying on tarot interpretations... and including some energies of major cards into what I felt would be a minor correspondance... not really in a trump fashion, but just because I felt the two meanings could be sorta blended.... like the 2 of Cups as the Lovers... 8 of Cups as the Hermit... 10 of Cups as the Sun... 9 of Cups as the Star... 7 of Cups as the moon... Queen of Swords as Justice... King of Wands as Emperor, etc... then combined page and knights to equal jacks... this worked for a while and then I moved beyond it... I've found each card to have a sorta energy to it that really needs exploring... daily pulls helped me to hone this... and it still changes... I've incorporated some basic numerology, astrology, and element associations... and played with spreads... I've found an elaborate modified celtic works wonderfully for long readings... and simple horshoes and three cards pulls great for shorter reads... there's so much in here.. the actual pattern the suit images make now affects readings... for example.. in the 7s (which can represent obstacles) if the middle suit pic is closest to the bottom I've found this indicates sooner than later... and the oppositive is if it's at the top... this was a minor thing I picked up, but really adds some extra lil things to consider when reading cards... really fascinating how something apparently so simple as playing cards, can be so very deep and profound... now I'm just rambling...lol I should get to bed... thanks again! take care...
Joey