covenrochester | Entries tagged with cards

"The Game of the Hand" is another old French fortune-telling deck. The original deck was created by Adele Moreau, a woman trained in card-reading and palmistry by Madame LeNormand. The modern reprint of the original deck differs in some interpretations, but they are both really good decks. What constitutes a good deck to me is that one can both (a) answer specific questions from them, and (b) accurately predict concrete events for people even in the absence of a question. As with the Grand Jeu of Madame Lenormand, Le Jeu de la Main shoots straight from the hip. Expect the truth, not soothing platitudes.

In the above small reading, the Q asked to check on a female friend. The cards say:

"Love has failed her. She is sick of being made invisible. She is taking the necessary steps to move toward indifference."

No comforting advice. No everything-will-be-fine-in-the-end. The woman's loved ones have belittled her, made her feel unworthy and invisible. Now, as a defense mechanism, she is moving toward indifference, purely as a matter of personal survival. Not a great message of hope here.

Because Mlle Moreau was palmist, she also encoded further information into the palm drawings and, if you know some palmistry, you will be able to read even more details here. There are stars on the Mount of Venus in two of the palms: great familial stress. The green palm contains a prominent Line of Health rising from the Mount of the Moon and a cross on the third phalange of the Mercury finger: long-term emotional instability has developed into a serious physical health challenge. She must move toward more emotional indifference in order to protect her own health -- you can see a doubled Life Line in the last palm.

Every Witch in the Coven must learn some form of divination. Lots of people pick Tarot. I would love to one day train someone who picks one of these old French decks. Or, I wish someone would translate them into English for publication. I think a good English name for this deck would be The Hands of Fate.

( A Prediction I made on February 26, 2014 )

Things I've quoted recently to others,

( In Conversation )

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

This was a common cartomancy spread in France (well, I can speak only to Paris, actually) in the 1850s and 1860s, although it eventually made its way to the English-speaking world. The Seeker would draw seven, or sometimes eight, cards from a deck, without looking at them. He would then touch them to his heart, his brow, and his lip. He would then shuffle them, and the Witch would direct him to lay out the cards in the above pattern. The above example shows seven cards. If an eighth were drawn, it would go under the 4 of Diamonds here.

You will usually only get one solid prediction out of the spread, so it is useful as a daily spread, or when you are reading for several people at a family gathering, or perhaps a charity event. It is rare to get two predictions out of it.

This particular example is very easy to read. I told the Seeker that a party to which she had already been invited would be canceled because the woman of the house hosting the party would contract an illness from her daughter. The party would be rescheduled four weeks from the canceled date.

And so it came to pass.

( And Here's A Second Example )

Reading cards is easy. I used to think it was difficult to remember everything. And then I figured out that I already knew all of the meanings. I simply had to remember them as part of Nature's Speech. After that, everything flowed. With a good teacher and a motivated student, an adult should be able to come to grips with the whole art in a week. Even a child of 8 or 9 could learn the basics within that time.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

Another example of a reading where the female Querent (Q) had no particular question, but just wanted a general look at the future. The events of this reading have already come to pass, so I have no hesitation in sharing it with you. Plus, it has some instructive features to it.

The first line is the Ace of Clubs, the 4 of Diamonds, and the 9 of Spades. A Club-Diamond-Spade line indicates the Q doing something financially detrimental. In this instance, I told her that there would be a problem with her bank account, such as an overdraft, and that she would be notified by her bank of such.

The second line is the Jack of Clubs, the Queen of Clubs, and the 7 of Spades. The Court Cards often give card readers trouble because it is so difficult to determine precisely whom the Court card represents. This is made easier in some old card reading systems, though, by use of the JACK OF CLUBS or the JACK OF HEARTS as a qualifer. If the Jack of Clubs or Jack of Hearts falls next to another Court card, the cards are trying to give you some specificity. Those combinations involving the Jack of Hearts will indicate family members (for example, Jack of Hearts + Queen of Diamonds = the Querent's mother). Those combinations involving the Jack of Clubs will involve friends or professional people (for example, the Jack of Clubs + King of Spades = a doctor).

In this instance, the combination Jack of Clubs + Queen of Clubs = a female friend. A Club-Club-Spade line indicates some activity stopping abruptly. The 7 of Spades, itself, indicates tears. The two 9s, above and below the 7 of Spades, give the clue that the trouble is a downturn in finances. I told the Q that a female friend would come to her in tears because of an abrupt change in the friend's life that would bring the friend great financial trouble. More specific than this we cannot be. After all, we have only 9 cards before us.

The final row, the 3 of Hearts, the 6 of Clubs, and the 9 of Diamonds. A Heart-Club-Diamond line indicates hard work paying off. The 3 of Hearts often indicates a child. The 6 of Clubs often indicates school and education. The 9 of Diamonds, per above, can indicate a change in finances. But one of its lesser-used meanings is recognition or fame. The meaning is clear: The child will receive an award at school for work well done. I knew it was a male child because the Jack of Clubs is just above the 3 of Hearts. Furthermore, I knew that the Q would receive a communication from the school about it, based on the Ace of Clubs above the Jack of Clubs. The first downward column on the left, and the third row are connected: They are all part of the same prediction. The Q will receive notification from the school that her son has been selected for an academic achievement award.

This Square of Nine spread is a useful one for a quick reading. I have mostly focused on the three horizontal rows in this entry. In a complete reading, however, all rows and columns will be read, as well as the two diagonals, thus giving scope for as many as eight predictions. The predictions are often fewer, however, because some of the rows and columns will be intermingled, giving only one prediction when combined

What I have written above, however, is sufficient for an example.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

The First Rule: Red and Black Cards

The Second Rule: The Suits, and some Cosmology

The Lay of the Worlds, Some Card Meanings Specific to Witches
The Notation along the side highlights that the 7s are related to magic and the powers. The 7s are also very important with respect to the Moon and timing.

The Gods and the Cards

If a Witch were to teach you card-telling, these are some of the initial things you might learn.

We once shared a large part of our family card-reading system for free on an old website. Unfortnately, warlocks (uninitiated, nonCraft people, both male and female, who pretend to be Witches, who damage the Craft for their own pride or profit, writing books, giving workshops, etc.) started "adapting" it here and there and claimed it as their own, thereby destroying the system in the process. Anyone with a functioning frontal cortex can spot these fakes fairly easily, but it is best not to give them too much material for them to deceive others. Fortunately, we never shared the entire system, and left out enough of it that the fakes are self-exposing.

Instruction by Witches in any art is free, of course, but we've learned over the past 30 years from the explosion of nonsense books from nonsense publishers, that it is best for us to keep our information and instruction within our covens.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

A Reading Six Weeks Ago
Facsimile Playing Card Deck, American, 1860s

It would have been very uncommon before the 20th century for most Witches to own a pack of Tarot cards. Divination by regular playing cards was much more common. If a Witch owned a Tarot before the 20th century, it would have been an old-style deck without pictures on the Minor Arcana cards. That was just as well, of course. With playing card decks or old-style Tarot decks, one is literally reading an orderly microcosm, or "world in miniature." More modern decks with specific scenes on the Minor Arcana cards work, too, although they can be somewhat confining to a Witch's power to perceive the future and predict specific events, particularly if the Seeker has no specific question.

That often happens. A person comes for a reading and has no question other than wanting to know what is coming up in the future. It is easier to predict specific events by "reading the world in miniature" than trying to link together and interpret varied images and come up with specific events.

Here is an example, using my family's card-telling interpretations. The above spread is known as The Fateful Square, and the 16 cards (plus 3 "surprise" cards) are chosen by a specific method too detailed to outline here. Predicted events will usually come to pass within 4-6 weeks.

The Seeker was the King of Hearts. He had no specific question, but just wanted to know what was coming up in his future. I told him. Let's count the predictions:

1. A friendly woman from your past, with whom you have not spoken in a long time, has experienced some kind of sudden trouble or dismay, and she is going to reach out to you by text or telephone for advice (Knave of Spades, Knave of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, 2 of Diamonds): The double Knaves show the suddenness. The Knave of Spades falling first shows the trouble or dismay. A Knave and a Queen of the same suit next to each other means an old friend coming back: "A Queen and a Jack brings an old friend back" runs the Witches' proverb. The 2 of Diamonds shows the telephone call or message.

2. You will have an argument with a woman who is ill-disposed to you. You will know she is lying. But you will also know that it is a trifling matter. Do not resist her. Agree with her and let her think that she has won in order to keep the peace (Queen of Spades, 2 of Spades, 3 of Diamonds, 8 of Hearts): The Queen of Spades is a woman ill-disposed toward the Seeker. Followed by another Spade, she is a liar. Here, the situation may be even worse because she is bounded by both the 2 of Diamonds and 2 of Spades -- a definite omen of conscious duplicity or falsity. The nonserious nature of the matter is shown by the 3 of Diamonds, and keeping the peace by the 8 of Hearts. This woman is trying to bait the Seeker into overreacting.

3. The most prominent thing for you in the near future is that an electrical or wiring problem is emerging in your residence. It will cause no fire or damage, but you will need to call someone to have it dealt with (3 of Clubs, 7 of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs, King of Hearts, 3 of Spades, 4 of Diamonds): The 3 of Clubs and 7 of Clubs together show a practical problem developing, and the Ace of Hearts and 8 of Diamonds show electrical wiring in the house. The Ace of Clubs and King of Hearts show the Seeker seeking help, and the 3 of Spades and 4 of Diamonds show expenditure of funds. The 3 of Spades can indicate loss or expense. The 4 of Diamonds can be a wallet, bank account, check, or credit card. There are certain combinations of cards that appear to show damage or fire, and they do not appear here. Therefore, this is a not a physically threatening situation.

4. Be careful of leaving your wallet or a credit card at a bar or restaurant. You will retrieve it, but it will be an annoyance (King of Hearts, 3 of Spades, 4 of Diamonds, 5 of Diamonds): I have seen the 3 of Spades and 4 of Diamonds combination so often that I know what it means. The 5 of Diamonds has to do with material things for the body -- food, clothing, etc. -- and it can symbolize a restaurant.

5. Note: The Surprise (5 of Diamonds, 6 of Hearts, 9 of Hearts): I do not know why the old card tellers call a certain grouping of cards a "surprise," but they do. Oftentimes, it is just another prediction, and not all that surprising. Meaning here: You have been meaning to purchase new clothes for work. You will do so this month, going out shopping, and not on-line. You will be extremely happy about what you find and buy: The clothes will be for work because the King of Hearts is next to the Ace of Clubs (duty, work). The 3 of Spades and 4 of Diamonds show the expenditure of money. The 5 of Diamonds shows clothing and, next to the 6 of Hearts, an enjoyable shopping trip. The 9 of Hearts shows the Seeker's wish being fulfilled, so this shopping for clothes has been on his mind for a while.

There you have it. A Fateful Square giving five detailed predictions.

According to the Seeker, all of them came to pass within six weeks.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester