My method of reading playing cards

SunsetKay

Because I was asked how I read, I'm posting this here for any interested parties. This is simply what works for me. This is copied and pasted from a different post.

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I said that I'd post how I read playing cards. When I went into the playing card subforum, I didn't understand one third of the posts that I glanced at there. I'm not qualified to make a post there. I have no idea what system is which or what the different methods are. The method that I learned really isn't that sophisticated. I'll post it here for the person that asked me about it.

There are some key things to keep in mind for this method, the first thing is that there are layers to the reading. The first layer is the individual card meaning. The suits, numbers and people present are the others.

The second thing is that each individual card meaning does not change. It will be influenced (positively or negatively), expanded upon, clarified, and/or nullified by combining the layers, but it doesn't change... If that makes sense. I may or may not read past the first layer or two, depending on the question or how in-depth of an answer I'd like.

Third is that Aces are the highest card of any suit and they epitomize its energy. They are usually pulled and set above the rest of the spread. The Ace influences the meaning of every card in the spread.

Fourth, the Queens and Kings ALWAYS represent people. Jacks may or may not, again it depends on the surrounding cards.

Last is the Joker. The Joker is everything. And he is nothing. When I first moved from playing cards to Tarot, I was really surprised to see that Tarot has 22 cards to say what the Joker is saying. I guess he's kind of the Fool and his journey in one card?? But he represents the "heart of the matter".



Card Meanings by Suits:

** I thought about fleshing out the meanings and offering others, but I think it's best that I actually don't. Each card has TONS of meanings, and they're likely to be individual and determined through use. The basic meanings serve as a spring board and they're the first I learned. My expansions will just muddy the waters. For example; for me, taking a bath would be the 8H (8H = Joy, 8 =freedom, H= water), but for my grandmother it was 6H. **

HEARTS: close relationships, love, also relates to preachers and the like. Equates with summer. Element is water. Timing is usually weeks/months.

Ace - Love/Affection/Home
King— The influential man/ The holy man/The fool.
Queen—The devoted woman/The flighty woman.
Jack — Cupid.
Ten —Gathering.
Nine —Wishes/Deepest longings.
Eight—Social/Joy
Seven —Doubt.
Six— Harmony.
Five—Separation.
Four—Commitment.
Three—Indecision.
Two - Hearth/Success.


Clubs: Energy, effort, passions, relates to artistic types. Equates with Spring. Element is fire. Timing is fast. But NOT as fast as diamonds would be. I'd say days/weeks.

Ace — Communication/Knowledge/Desire.
King — The virtuous man/The companion.
Queen — The social woman/The moody woman.
Jack — Trust.
Ten — Inheritance/Travel.
Nine — Completion/Progress.
Eight — Confusion.
Seven — Confinement.
Six — Intuition.
Five — Plans and renovations.
Four — Stability (or the lack thereof).
Three — Creativity and also fights.
Two — Conversation. Generally indicates that there is or will be a problem.

Diamonds: jobs/business, money, relates to the white collar types. Diamonds are fall. Element is earth. Timing is fast. Could be immediate, wouldn't be more than a few days out.

Ace — Partnerships/Commitment - there is usually a message attached to this card as well
King — The homme d'affaire/The Military man/The fair but vicious
Queen — The grande dame/The gossip/The flirt
Jack — The soldier/Confusion/Anxiety/The Messenger.
Ten —Prosperity.
Nine — Spending.
Eight — Windfall.
Seven — Challenges.
Six — Responsibility.
Five — Exchange.
Four — Patience.
Three — Confrontation.
Two — Investment.


Spades: Warnings, changes, relates to soldiers and blue collar workers. Season is Winter. Timing is slow. Could be a months, could be years.

Ace - The natural cycle. Endings and beginnings. The MOST powerful card outside of the Joker.
King — The ambitious man/The just man/The intelligent man
Queen — The widow/The treacherous woman/The reserved woman
Jack — Laziness/Charm/The Wolf in sheep's clothing.
Ten — Grief/Mourning/Jail.
Nine — Disappointment.
Eight—The Crossroads.
Seven — Truth.
Six — Destiny.
Five — Surprise/Breaking loose
Four — Sickness/Comfort.
Three — Tears/Stress/Infidelity.
Two — Loss/Division.

Card meanings by the numbers:

Ace - The truest self, the highest self
Ten - Destruction, transformation, completion, rebirth
Nine - Perception, illusion, imagination
Eight - Disruptive change, freedom, progress
Seven - Discipline, limits, conflicts, blocks, responsibility
Six - Wisdom, luck, abundance, success
Five - War, aggression, men, passion (sexual)
Four - stability, love, affection, art, music, women
Three - travel, trade, communication, skill
Two - Emotion, instinct, unity, intuition

So knowing that, I just combine the different layers of meaning to read the cards.

** Also important are combinations of cards. I will add those tomorrow **
 

SunsetKay

Part 2

Combinations:

Suits:

Cards are read left to right. Each card is influenced by the suit that follows it. So, for example, if my first card is a Spade and the second is a Heart, I know that the warning of the Spade is usually going to relate to healing in some way, usually emotional, but depending on the Spade, it could also be physical. If the reverse order were to come up, (a Heart followed by a Spade), I'd see it more as a case of hurt feelings or trouble with a friend/lover. This sort of interpreting of the suits is going to be highly personal because it is based on the way that the reader uses the suits. My great-grandmother taught me a slightly different way of interpreting the interactions, but it didn't work for me. I don't remember much of it because of that. Her interpretations were based on the way she interacted with her deck. Mine are slightly more fluid.


Courts:

When you see a preponderance of Courts (especially followed by the Social card, Gathering card or the Commitment card), you've usually got a get-together of some sort coming up. It could be a party, it could be a work convention OR if that doesn't match what your intuition is telling you, look at the courts as groups of pairs. Let's say you've got three Queens and a Jack. It could be a baby shower. It could be a bridal shower for a childhood friend. Or if it doesn't feel like that, you'd break them into pairs and read each pair separately. One Queen with a Jack could be a friend that you haven't seen in a long time, a pregnant friend, a younger sister, newlyweds or younger marrieds, a cougar (lol). If it's the Queen of Hearts, it could be the return of an old flame (female, only Jacks can be either gender), or Sabrina the teenaged witch. Lol.

Jacks are a bit of a special case. They can represent a person. If the matching King and Queen appear with them, then they are thoughts. If no other courts appear, then they're usually the querent's thoughts or a message. If two Jacks show up together, then the one to the right will represent the "feel" of a meeting. Like, if the second Jack in a pair is Hearts, then it's a friendly meeting, or a date. Say if I pulled the Jack of Diamonds and the Jack of Spades, I might read it as a court hearing possibly for child support, a lawsuit, etc. I might read it as trouble between two children, maybe some sibling rivalry, or an after school fight. Again, it would depend on the surrounding cards.

** eta, OH! I forgot the directions! If a court is facing left, it can mean that a person is interested in your subject/querent, right will mean not interested or currently not a part of his/her life. If two courts are facing each other, it can mean showing interest in each other, being friends, or agreement with each other. If one court is facing and the other is looking away in a pair, it can represent one sided relationships. **

There are an infinite number of possibilities for the way that these cards interact. Have I confused you, yet? Lol.

Numbers (in pairs, threes and fours):

** What I was taught differs from the way I read. What I've posted here is what I was taught. Unless I've posted otherwise, I've found them to be generally untrue. YMMV. **

Aces

Two - Marriage, reunion (true for reunions only)
Three - Trouble, excessive behavior (true)
Four - Major life change (true)

Ten

Two - A new job or business, etc.
Three - Loss
Four - absolute success, great happiness

Nine

Two - being content, could also represent a move
Three - a lump sum of money, or the loss of a lump sum of money
Four - A pleasant surprise

Eight

Two - stupidity (meaning current actions are foolish, useless or wasteful)
Three - Birth, marriage, pleasure seeking
Four - Travel, a new job, stable but stagnant (I've sometimes found this one to be true)

Seven

Two - Lying, betrayal (true), unity
Three - Sickness, stress sickness, general unpleasantness
Four - Warning, plots, lies, tricks

Six through two (This is the method I use most often)

Two - indicates some sort of problem/imbalance in the area indicated by the number
Three - Indicates that progress has been made towards stability in the area, but more work is needed
Four - Success has been achieved in the area

** If you have more than one number in a position or a spread. Pay attention to the number. It's your message. Same holds true for the suits. These change the reading. **

Umm, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. None of this is written down anywhere, so I can't be certain that I haven't forgotten to add anything. If anything doesn't seem to make sense, feel free to let me know, and I'll clarify.
 

SunsetKay

Part 3

Random Stuff:

Red vs. Black

This is probably the first thing I notice, tbh. If red cards dominate, the reading is primarily positive. The opposite is true for black. If reds surround and outnumber black cards, the problems in the reading will be short-lived. Of course the opposite is also true.

I was taught three methods for yes/no questions. The first is to turn over a single card, red will be a yes and black is no. I find this doesn't work well for me.

The second (it actually works quite well) method is what I use if I want an in-depth answer to a yes or no. I'll turn over any odd number of cards (I usually use 3 or 5). If there are more red, the answer is yes. The MORE red there are in the sequence, the more definite the yes. If all the cards are red, the yes is so solid that it might as well be written in the stars. If it's mostly red, then it's most likely yes, but events can be altered. The cards that are laid out will tell me what will happen prior to getting my yes/no.

The third method is my personal favorite. I simply take the answer from the meaning of the card. ** It's important to keep in mind that the card meaning is additional information about the yes or no, just not as in-depth as the odd draw. **

Timing

I was taught to time by laying out cards until I come to the card that signifies the desired event. I then count the cards up to the event, and use the suit of the card that precedes the outcome card to determine the time frame. So if someone were to ask me when they'll find their next relationship and the Ace of Hearts was the 5th card turned over, preceded by the 6 of Spades, I'd tell them more than a year but less than 4 years. This is iffy when applied to other people, it seems to only work consistently when applied to events in my life. I simply don't predict timing for other people often anymore. Lol.

Another method is to time by the season associated with the suit. My grandmother was all mystical about it. Lol. "In the 6th week of the season of the summer sun" and rot like that. Lol. She might have been right. I didn't really pay much attention because she only used it when she was trying to be mysterious.

Playing cards and Workings/Magic

I use a completely different list of meanings when playing cards are used to read about "workings" or magic. The first thing I do when I set aside a deck for these purposes is take the deck down to 36 cards. I haven't found 52 to be necessary. I won't list them unless someone is interested.

Okay, now I think that's everything.
 

Padma

Wow! Thanks, I am saving this! Very grateful for your efforts in sharing and typing it all out! :love:
 

dancing_moon

Thank you for sharing these! I'm still very new with the playing cards, so this is a great help. :)

If you find time, please do share the magic meanings as well. :) Thanks again for your time and effort!
 

kmartin60

I would love to see the "Magical meanings" as well~ Would give a whole new dimension and metaphysical tools for one to use.... thanks so much for sharing your way of reading them btw! VERY appreciated.....

Having a relative to teach and share it all with you if the most awesome part... what a experience and legacy to share. (I'm a wee bit jealous pouty face) ;) mine shared yarn crafts, cooking & herbs (not discing grandma at all)which was great BUT still a little green here! LOL Have a very blessed weekend and Turkey day coming up...Kim
 

SunsetKay

I would love to see the "Magical meanings" as well~ Would give a whole new dimension and metaphysical tools for one to use.... thanks so much for sharing your way of reading them btw! VERY appreciated.....

Having a relative to teach and share it all with you if the most awesome part... what a experience and legacy to share. (I'm a wee bit jealous pouty face) ;) mine shared yarn crafts, cooking & herbs (not discing grandma at all)which was great BUT still a little green here! LOL Have a very blessed weekend and Turkey day coming up...Kim

I was always jealous that I didn't learn more about herbs! Lol!

Happy Turkey day to you and yours! :)
 

Morwenna

Thank you from me as well! I'm having to learn meanings almost from scratch, because my mother didn't learn enough from her mother to account for even half a deck, and my friend's Scandinavian system differs quite a bit from the little I gleaned before; and I do have a book but I'm not as fond of it as I once was.
 

dancing_moon

Another method is to time by the season associated with the suit. My grandmother was all mystical about it. Lol. "In the 6th week of the season of the summer sun" and rot like that. Lol. She might have been right. I didn't really pay much attention because she only used it when she was trying to be mysterious.

I wonder if this refers to (or somehow echoes a variety of) the traditional timing method often used with the playing cards, associating each card of a suit with a respective week of the respective season - a very handy method indeed, given that each season contains roughly 13 weeks. Thus A:heart: would denote the 1st week of summer (1-7 June), 2:heart: would be the 2nd week (8-14 June), etc. The few day discrepancy is quite negligible, I think. :)