Cartomancy readings are often confused with Tarot, but they are actually very different. Cartomancy is one of the oldest forms of divination or fortune telling, having appeared in the 14th century, when playing cards became popular in Europe. Granted, there are indeed some similarities between Tarot and cartomancy, but the cards used are different, as well as the overall process. Let’s take a closer look.
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How Does It Work?
Cartomancers use a standard poker deck (sometimes including Jokers) in order to tell the future. Each card has a specific meaning, and, depending on the spread used, you can receive answer regarding different aspects of your future or past.
What Can You Find Out?
Cartomancy is generally used for issues related to health, love or wealth. So, you can ask your reader about anything, from future health issues or whether you’re in the right relationship, to finance concerns or whether you should choose a new career path.
Cartomancy can predict your future, as well as help you better understand your past and present. It all depends on the knowledge and intuition of the reader in translating what the cards are saying.
Card Spreads
It is important to note that different questions may require different spreads. Furthermore, keep in mind that a cartomancy spread is different from a Tarot spread. The three most common spreads are:
- The three-card spread. These spreads are generally used to offer a quick answer or solution to a single issue. The three cards represent your past, present and future – reading from left to right.
- The horseshoe spread. These spreads offer deeper answers, analyzing your life as a whole. This method employs 21 cards, grouped in 7 categories: your past situation, your present, near future, the unexpected, people in your life, obstacles, and the outcome.
- The gypsy spread. This spread requires more advanced cartomancy reading skills and needs a lot of practice to master. It should be attempted only by those who are completely confident in the meaning of the cards and the way they interact with each other.
What Are the Card Meanings?
Each suit of the deck is representative to a specific aspect of your life, and each card has a different meaning according to the suite it belongs to.
Since love, in all its forms, is what truly makes us happy, we will focus more on the Hearts suit. This suit represents emotional endeavors, relationships and overall happiness. The cards in this category have the following interpretations:
- Ace – friendship, love, new romance
- Two – success, luck in love
- Three – be careful not to say things you’ll regret later
- Four – journey, a change in your relationships
- Five – jealousy around you
- Six – pleasant surprises
- Seven – broken promises
- Eight – visitors
- Nine – wish come true
- Ten – happiness and good luck
- Jack – information about close friends
- Queen – a good-natured lady
- King – good advice, good-natured man
The other suits’ meanings are:
- Clubs – provides messages about overall well-being, wealth, and sex life
- Spades – represents life problems, secrets and bad luck in general
- Diamonds – offers information about money, fortune, work and marriage.
Do You Have to Be Psychic to Make Cartomancy Readings?
As is the case with tarot readings, a cartomancer mustn’t necessarily have psychic abilities to be able to interpret the cards. However, if a clairvoyant person reads the cards, the results can be much more useful and insightful. Psychics can see the true meaning of the cards and the connections between them much better than regular persons.
Furthermore, traditional cartomancy requires a great intuition and insight. In order to truly understand the right message of the cards, the cartomancer should have a strong sense of the situation at hand and the individual they are reading. Thus, cartomancy requires a lot of practice even for someone with psychic abilities.