Cartomancy

i read playing cards, i like them.
the meanings i use, are just the number combined with the suit, nothing more than that.
and i dont have a nice deck, i use whatever gory, beerstained greasy deck is around.
wondering if you people use 52 cards or less?

I need to check Yaboot's links, but I do want to mention that I have seen it done in two ways: The first was done in a horoscope spread; one card for each house of the zodiac, with the remaining cards (using up all 52 by the end) read in a series of three card spreads until the deck is done. It is a lot harder, as you can imagine.
The second way I observed most recently when I was read in person. She called it the "three wishes spread", which was actually layed out with nine cards, done 3 times, totalling 27 cards, if I have multiplied correctly! The future seemed to be the bottom row,the present was the middle row, and past was at the bottom. That's how it seemed to me, anyway (I was the one being read). It was clever and clear. I enjoyed it very much.
The courts were read as people, by the way.
Meanings of the playing cards, that I know of, are slightly different than those ascribed to tarot, but I have seen it read both ways (wands as clubs; hearts as cups; swords as spades, and aces as pentacles, along with tarot meanings for each playing card).
Sorry to run-on so long.

Warmest,

Elle

Yaboot001 said:

Hope you like.

Click to expand...

Yes, me likes, me likes a lot!
Hmmm, about a name...something in reference to couturier, perhaps?

Here's how I read my greasy, beer-stained poker deck!

Kaz said:

wondering if you people use 52 cards or less?

Click to expand...

I use just the 52 cards. I've started associating them to their tarot meanings now, since that's where my brain goes anymore. I also use numerology. I assign the face cards to the court card equivalents, with the Jacks becoming a Page/Knight combination. I let the other cards around the Jack determine whether he is being a Page or a Knight, in context to each spread. The Kings, Queens and Jacks all generally represent people, but when more than one of these comes up in the spread, I read a characeristic of the querent coming through, rather than a person in the querent's life.
Peace from Tauni

Thank you to the response Yaboot, Tauni, Kaz and Elle. Loved them all! Elle, never apologize to me for any length in posting. I can never say anything with few words. Almost all my post are very lengthy.

I have had card reading done for me years back before learning any Tarot where some would read strictly with a regular card deck only, others that read the Tarot only, and then ones that read both.

I have done a lot of reading about the approach people use to read cartomancy. Several make methods much like Tauni has, meaning tarot and numeric values being assigned to them as they see fit. There is a few different meanings for all the cards that have been hand-me-downs from generations. Some of these have been published in the late 1800s (I believe) and I know the early 1900s. I have two books on Cartomancy. They don't relate to each other at all. I have been to numerous, numerous computer sites and have read them all. Yahoo has (or more correct had) two Yahoo Groups with this subject. One is totally gone. If you try to become a member of it, it leaves you in limbo with no response ever for a full year plus. The other has seventy some members with 700 post, of which maybe 500 or 600 is actually about card reading. I've read ever post in this one. That group died a slow, slow death of about a year and a half. It is still on-going, meaning you can get in, but all of 2003 is nothing, just a straying new member saying a hello and seeking help.

From all of this and from the people that have done it for a good long while, they all say that you need to determine whatever you want to assign as card meanings, stick to it and the Spirits will use it to give an answer from your meanings. You can grow with it, therefore adding meanings to your base meanings, as you see where it applies from your readings done.

So for the ones of you that have posted here and said you have great response to your method, that is the general rule. As with Tarot it is all within YOU, what you see. Your intuition/pyschic abilities will grow with added use of reading the cards and you will become better at it.

Yaboot, I wish you success with your deck you are creating! No problem with posting them here. It was fine with me.

As for me...

As for me, while I have found methods that are more in my favor, as they are where you can see they are using Tarot meanings for the regular playing cards, I am going with something different. Or at least it isn't as obvious to me, thus far, (some is). I have a few reasons for why doing this. One, if using just Tarot meanings, why not just give a Tarot reading? The other reason I am using the way I've chose is the Card Readers that have read me long back when, were each able to give me very strong, defined and detailed information. I am wanting the ability to do the same.

From all that I have read, it has been Regina Russell's book, "Card Reader's Handbook" that is the most concise. Back in the Spring I finally had read enough reviews of this book from across the board, that I bought it and she has very defined meanings. She gives a huge amount of information regarding health issues too. Her book is based on her years of experience compiled from her personal notebook of her public readings she had done. She has used this way since the 1970's. In reading the book, it is readable and interesting, but I find it difficult to piece it all together. Mostly why this is because there is defined areas for information per each card and then almost random information due to listing combinations scattered about the entire book. Because it is more in-depth readings and the meanings so refined, I can understand this. It just will take some time in learning it all.

Since I have been struggling with putting it all together and I had seen suggestioned elsewhere to put the meanings on a deck of cards, this is just too much to be on a deck of cards. So I got the idea recently to use large-sized index cards, placing all the info on them, including all the scattered meanings found in her book too. I am not doing this to be an artsy deck. Just a notebook on index cards inwhich to learn the her meanings from.

Her book is 219 typing paper sized sheets/pages (for any interested).

I have the Regina Russell book. I particularly liked it for the style of reading she's worked out -- very, very different from the mainstream Tarot approach. A spread of cards seems much more organic in her method; all the cards relate to their neighbors and each other, and she zips from card to card across the spread, relating them to each other in different ways and patterns.

The meanings I found rather intimidating, because they're often simply long, long lists of unrelated things, so that it would be extremely difficult to memorize. That's a good idea about writing them down in index cards.

Thanks, Wisp Wings, for bringing up this book, now I'm going to go take another look at it.

Here is where to buy the book if anyone's interested:

http://www.rrtearoom.com/book.html

It's self-published and sold by Regina Russell, who owns a large reading establishment in Massachesetts where she requires all her card readers to memorize her book and use her meanings.

-- Lee

A Memorization Suggestion

Wisp Wings: I would buy a regular deck of playing cards and write the meanings on them - use this deck just for practice. It might make it easier to memorize the meanings from the actual cards, instead of making the leap from index cards.

Warmest,

Elle

over the years I have found nine different methods of 'interpreting' playing cards.

I use a sorta kinda tarot crossover - but not really...I mean it is crossed over tarot meanings...but - it's no the same.

I like using playing cards...