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In many people’s perception, tarot divination is a sacred and rigorous activity. You might be surprised if I told you that you could do divination of tarot cards with playing cards that is readily available. This method has been around since the 1700s. If you’re willing to give it a try, you will find tarot playing cards reading is easy and fun!
Who Is Suitable For Using Playing Cards For Divination?
If tarot cards reading makes you feel rugged, you can start playing card divination. It is much easier to learn than a Tarot because you can get familiar with all the cards’ symbols and numbers soon, and it is portable. Also, it is a good choice for anyone who wants to try a new form of divination.
Why Can Read Tarot Cards with Playing Cards?
The original prototype of playing cards was the French Tarot which was simplified to 52 cards. There are 78 cards in the tarot cards as we know it, 22 of which are the tarot cards major arcana. After taking away these cards, the remaining 52 cards are the playing cards.
It means that every playing card in the past has a meaning! 52 cards represent 52 weeks in a year, 364 days, which is a typical year. 4 suits correspond to different 4 seasons. 1-13 points add up to 91 points, and each season is also 91 days. A leap year has 366 days, which is 2 days more than an ordinary year. These extra days are two ghost cards. In addition, all playing cards have two colors, where red represents day, and black represents night.
What Is The Meaning Of Tarot Cards Represented By Playing Cards?
Let’s start with a comparative understanding of the four suits of playing cards and the four elements of tarot.
Like Rider-Waite Tarots, tarot cards can be divided into the elements of “Wand, Chalice, Sword, Pentacle” and “Fire, Water, Wind, Earth,” which correspond to “Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds” in playing cards. For the specific meaning, please refer to the following description:
- Single playing card
- Playing cards combination
One noticeable difference between reading playing cards and tarot cards is the emphasis on card combinations. There are many permutations and combinations of playing cards. Only some of the more common combinations are provided below:
How To Read Tarot Cards Using Playing Cards?
- Set up a scene
As with any ceremony, it’s essential to establish a calm and supportive space. Clear clutter and allow your mind and intuition to be clear and free to flow. If desired, you can also offer a prayer or blessing before reading the playing cards.
- Ask a question
Before shuffling, you should ask a question in your mind and meditate continuously and attentively during the shuffling and cutting process. It would be best if you were specific about your question, preferably open-ended, such as:
- What will be the fortune in 2022?
- How is my relationship with Adam currently?
- Will my job get better if I change jobs?
- Will it rain on Tuesday?
- Am I suitable to live in California?
- Draw and interpret the playing cards
When you sense that you should stop shuffling, layout all the playing cards on the table and draw 1 or 3 cards, like we would question how to do a one-card tarot reading if you choose to draw only one playing card, then the red card means “yes,” and the black card means “no” (just like tarot cards yes or no).
If you choose to draw 3 cards, line them up in order (which means tarot reading with playing cards layout) before deciphering your cards. The first card represents the past, the second card represents the present, and the third card represents the future. Explain the suits of the cards first, then deepen your explanation with numbers. Combine all the cards at the end to get a complete picture, and use your intuition to decide what the cards mean to you. You can go back to point 2 of the article for the meaning of the relevant suits and numbers.
Of course, if you want to rely on playing cards alone, it is impossible to predict more accurate or complete results. Because it has 26 fewer cards than the tarot cards, and it can only be interpreted by the suits and numbers of the cards, the amount of information will be much less than that of the tarot cards. So, playing card divination is only suitable for some emergency places or playing a little as entertainment.
However, you do not need to despise or refuse to use this method. Perhaps it can help attract or lead those who like playing cards to enter the mysterious world of the Tarot.
