YouTube - Balthazar's Conjure: Accurate Predictive Tarot and How NOT to Use Tarot to Hide From Life
Bloody hell. This blog is in danger of turning into the Balthazar Channel đș. But I love his take on tarot, and this video is another winner.
Predictive tarot is a thing. Sure, I use tarot for "spiritual counselling" as well, but when I'm fortune telling I read the cards much like I would playing cards.
If you're using a deck that you've developed a deep intuitive connection with and you find you're having trouble reining in your interpretations, try using a completely different deck for predictive readings. I'd recommend a Marseille deck, or even a bog standard RWS if you don't use one already.
You could even limit yourself to just the trumps. đ± Keep it simple, keep it clear.
Response to "Determining death with Playing Cards Cartomancy"
Angelo Dicostanzo is a playing card reading virtuoso. If you want to discover how reading playing cards works, watch any of his videos.
In his most recent video, he discusses a situation in which he was asked to determine how someone would die. Normally this is something he would not address (nor I!), but in this instance there were very special circumstances, and the resulting spread was too good an opportunity for learning not to share, on YouTube and in his group on Facebook - The Magic of Playing Cards.
And I want to share my "interpretive process" for this one, as well - as an example of how someone who comes from a different card reading background, with different meanings, and who doesn't even have a meaning for one of the cards, can pull it together. If I can, anyone can, is basically what I'm hoping to get across. đ
But I don't want to spoil the impact of Angelo's excellent video, so please watch it first before you read my scribblings...
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Watched it? Brilliant, eh?
So, here's how it went for me. đ The first thing that jumped out at me was the 9 of Hearts. This is my "Great joy or Good event" card, but traditionally it's thought of as the Wish card - you will get what you've been wishing for. As death doesn't quite fit into the great joy/good event category, I decided this card was showing that the person will die they way they want to.
At this point my rational mind piped up and said "Most people want to die in their sleep". That seemed reasonable, so I looked to the other cards for confirmation... "Mmm, they're not saying that." Let's pick them apart.
The Jack of Spades is my "False friend". Someone with negative intentions. Not aggressively malicious like the Queen of Clubs, but someone who's "not right", as my friend would say. And traditionally, the Jacks can represent thoughts, so here we have negative, misleading, perhaps sinister thoughts.
Then there's the 5 of Clubs. If you follow my blog you know that I read a with stripped deck of 32 cards, the lowest being the 7s, so I don't actually have a meaning for the 5 of Clubs. But I follow lots of readers who do use all 52 cards, and I've picked up a few things. When confronted with a card I don't "use", I consider its number, in this case 5, which for me is a number of Disruption, and the suit, Clubs being the suit of Actions. So this is disruptive action.
It began to dawn on me that this was heading in the "not natural causes" direction. I was hoping what I was looking at was assisted suicide.
But.... Why the dark presence of the Jack of Spades, when, ideally, assisted suicide is an act of love and respect? And the 5 of Clubs? True, even at best, such a death would be disruptive, but it seemed there was more to it...
The Jack is looking directly at the 5 of Clubs and on to the 9 of Hearts. And acknowledging tradition again, 5s can signify a hand. This was someone with negative thoughts, or thoughts perceived by others to be negative or misguided, taking direct, disruptive action - death by their own hand - to achieve their desired outcome.
In conclusion, I hope that demonstrating how I negotiated my wobbly way through this trying reading will encourage you to approach your readings with flexibility and creativity. Like I said - if I can do it, anyone can.
Ok, it's easier for me because I only use 32 cards, but you can count cards to get just 32 or 36* for a spread.
And I don't attempt to read every single card. I just home in on the interesting stuff. Laying all the cards out gives your deck the opportunity to hit you with some really juicy clusters and juxtapositions.
For instance, I've clearly left it too long to do a spread like this for myself because I'm sitting - Queen of Hearts - right at the bottom of the spread with all sorts of âstuffâ going on over my head. And look at that line of three Aces with me staring intently at the bottom one. In fact, you could see that whole column as a situation âbetweenâ me and my Significant Other - King of Hearts â at the top of the spread. Who are those two Kings in the middle of the spread and what is their interest in the 8 of Spades? Perhaps the cards above can tell me more about them. And if you place a special significance on the first three cards of the spread, what might two 9s plus an 8 of Diamonds tell you?
Thereâs so much potential in a Grand Tableau â itâs entirely up to you how much time and energy you want to put into it.
*For 36 cards - take a 52-card deck and count by 3s through the deck, discarding cards 1 and 2, and placing #3 to the side. Repeat until the deck is exhausted (you'll have one card left over, discard it, and a pile of 17 cards). Take the discards and repeat the process - now you'll have two extras and 28 cards selected. Repeat one more time, so 3 times in all (the magickal 3 x 3 effect) and you'll end up with 36 cards and no leftovers - a nice symmetry.
I have a real soft spot for these "everyman" spreads. I think many of us, especially in the UK and North America, think we're somehow special, perhaps even spiritually advanced because we Consult The Cardsâą. But in other parts of the world, many people spread the cards for themselves quite ordinarily and unpretentiously. It does my heart good. đï»ż
A terrifically flexible spread generator
(click on Sun)
created by Tarot and card reader Bertrand Saint Guillain, featuring his Palimpsest Lenormand, Nicolas Conver 1860 Tarot and Triomphes de Paris
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And over at The Deceptionary you'll find a selection of
3-card reading generators
- using the Universal Tarot, Marseille (trumps only), playing cards, Psycards, Zener symbols, geomantic symbols and runes. You'll be given the description of a "querent", their area of concern, and three cards or symbols to interpret for them.
