Reading combinations

Lesson 9 of 12 — the Arcana cartomancy guide

Playing cards mean most in company. Pairs, triplets, neighbors and the tables the old readers kept.

Key points

• Several cards of the same rank form a combination with a meaning of its own: four Aces a turning point, three Queens a gathering and talk, four Tens a completion.
• A card is colored by its neighbors: a Spade beside the Nine of Hearts delays the wish, a Heart beside a Spade softens it.
• A court card between two cards of its own suit is a person at the center of the matter.
• Count the suits across the whole table; the majority is the subject, the minority is what is neglected.
• The Nine of Hearts, the Ace of Spades and the Sevens are the cards to watch wherever they fall.

The old manuals devoted whole chapters to combinations, and this is where playing-card reading comes alive. Same-rank sets are the first kind. The traditional tables suggest that four Aces mark a major turning point and three Aces good news; four Kings recognition and three Kings a meeting of authorities; four Queens a gathering and three Queens talk and visits; four Jacks a noisy crowd and three Jacks false friends; four Tens a completion; four Nines a surprise; four Eights a journey or a change; four Sevens intrigue. Read them as strong accents, not as rules.

Neighbors are the second kind, and the more important. Every card is colored by the cards on either side of it. A Spade next to the Nine of Hearts suggests the wish is delayed or has a price, and the Spade says which. A Heart next to a Spade softens the trouble. A Club beside a Diamond suggests money earned rather than received. The Ace of Spades touches whatever it lies beside with an ending. The Seven of any suit intensifies its neighbor.

People are the third kind. A court card lying between two cards of its own suit is a person at the center of the matter; a King and a Queen of one suit together often read as a couple or as parents. Finally, count. Across any table of cards, the majority suit is what the reading is about and the minority suit is what the situation is neglecting. The majority color is its mood. Count before you read, and again after.

Practice

Lay seven cards in a row and read only the combinations: same ranks, neighbors, courts between their suit, suit counts. Do not read a single card on its own. Then compare with a card-by-card reading.