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Michael Weber
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................4
CARD MEANINGS IN GENERAL................................................................................................................9
THE FOUR SUITS.........................................................................................................................................11
THE NUMBERS............................................................................................................................................12
CARD INTERACTIONS: RED & BLACK..................................................................................................17
CARD INTERACTIONS: THE CLOCK.......................................................................................................18
A FEW EXAMPLES......................................................................................................................................19
THAT’S IT!....................................................................................................................................................21
RESOURCES.................................................................................................................................................22
As a young child of the early 1950’s, I have vague memories of my mother and
her sisters driving a ‘long’ distance (perhaps thirty miles!), to the home of a woman
who ‘read cards.’
It was one of those activities that some people did – but didn’t tell all their
neighbors about. My impression was that there were unfavorable feelings about card
readings by the more religious local people.
Knowing who read the cards was one of those bits of private information that
was only whispered amongst the few.
I imagine that one called, via long distance in those days, and set up an
appointment for some summer weekday afternoon, as most of the women could find
time away from their occasional part time jobs, if they had one at all!
As pre-teen children, my younger sister and I would have to tag along, of course,
but were kept busy playing just outside the front door of the woman’s house.
The drive itself, with a stop at a restaurant perhaps, was an adventure in itself for
us children. We had only vague notions of what card readings were all about, other
than the fact that the grown ups seemed to like them.
It’s now been about three years since one of my palm reading clients mentioned
her distant memories of playing card readings. We both traded stories of how the
adults treated the process with a very hushed sense of mystery and awe.
Later, I dug out a deck of cards and began seeing if I could remember any of
the old ‘fortune telling’ information I had picked up as I’d grown into a teenager. I
found that at least half of that information was no longer accessible in my mental
files.
I then went to the more professional publications and found a few that dealt
with regular playing cards, some of which I’ll list in a short bibliography at the end
of this manuscript.
Like so much of the ‘insider’ information, these were much better written! They
were easier to understand and often related to subjects that I was already familiar with
–Tarot or Numerology, for instance.
Within a couple months, I was reading playing cards about as well as necessary.
Then a very special deck of fake-aged Tarot cards came on the market,
something I had been longing for.
I began trying to use these special cards to their best advantage, when a fellow
reader, Larry Baukin, suggested that these types of cards could be used in very short
quick readings similar to the old playing card readings.
A light went on inside my fevered brain and within the same year, Larry and I
published “Quick Commercial Card Reading” (now available through
www.mevproshop.com).
In the book, we did not spend time explaining the meanings of the playing cards
or Tarot cards, but rather focused on the process of using either cards in short ‘party’
type readings, where you must read very quickly for a large number of people.
Next, that strange creative part of my brain began producing the “Swamp
Cards” based on the methods of a historic reclusive male card reader.
Now that the “Swamp Cards” manuscript is finished, I find that it’s necessary
that I write out a systematic approach to learning card meanings.
I’ve had many, many dozens of people, over the years, tell me that they have a
deck of Tarot cards – and a book – in a drawer at home, but it was all so complicated
that they never did much with them.
I hope this little book will help you – easily – learn the basics in how to read
playing cards.
In the beginning… well, learning what cards meant was a very difficult task of
learning 52 or 53 sentences – all quite different in subject matter – and linking each
of them to a specific card.
Each sounded much like a long single sentence that you’d find in a daily
newspaper horoscope column:
“A female relative will come to visit and bring news from far away.”
Also, depending on which book you were using as your text, the long, chaotic
lists rarely agreed with each other unless plagiarism was involved.
The history of the ‘simplified’ systems for learning card meanings seems to start
with Howard P. Albright. I know little about him, other than his authoring, in the
1930s, a few publications dealing with mentalism.
In his system, Albright assigned a general meaning to each of the four suits. So,
whatever Heart card you were looking at, for example, it fell into a particular general
category. In this case (Hearts), matters of emotions, love and other strong feelings.
It was the same for the other suits; they, too, had their own specific ‘territory.’
Then, he assigned a meaning that would apply similarly to all of the aces.
‘Beginnings’, for example.
Then a meaning that would apply to all of the Twos, maybe ‘partnership” or
‘diplomacy’, and so on.
Once you learned the meanings of the four suits and the meanings of the
thirteen cards, you pretty well had enough information for giving a short reading.
This systematic approach has been modified over time by such intelligent
thinkers, such as Bob Cassidy, Joe Riding, Loren G. Tindall, and the long-experienced
reader Gene Neilsen. As promised earlier, I will give you places you can get some of
these excellent publications in the bibliography.
My own card meanings have been altered somewhat by these people, but my first
contact with this kind of systematic approach was through the wonderfully creative
New Zealand performer and writer Richard Webster.
As you will see, my own meanings have been forever colored by the
numerological meanings of the single-digit numbers, as taught by Richard in his many
publications.
Note that I don’t fully disagree with most of the other card readers who have
written books about their own systematic card meanings.
I just think that the issues that I include are those that I see far more often than
some of the things that they mention.
If you read a few of the systems that I’ll mention, I am sure that you’ll find a mix
of meanings that will work best for you!
In my travels through the years of psychic fairs, for example, I have met
hundreds of readers of all types. Some of these are certainly mostly self-taught or
have been heavily influenced by some momentarily popular paperback New Age
book that impressed them.
When Native American culture was ‘in’ (around 1995 in my area), everyone was
reading ‘Animal Cards.’
Then there were ‘Angel Cards’, followed by Fairy Cards, Dragon Cards, Crystal
Cards, and so on and so on, ad nauseum. (Does anyone remember ‘My Little Pony’
Tarot? Huh. Me neither.)
These readings, dramatic as they try to be, dwell on the client’s past lives, or their
affinity for the essences of certain types of animals, or the vibratory rates of specific
crystals, or their spiritual affinity with a few dozen particular invisible angels.
I well remember one very flashy costumed woman who had a highly decorated
table, who sat and droned her readings into a small recorder held to her lips. Privately
some of us referred to her as ‘the corpse’, based on her perfect make-up but lack of
much movement at all. Certainly she never smiled.
She also tended to sometimes to wave her arms and make occasional loud
mooooing sounds, sounding vaguely like a cow.
She was entertaining, certainly, but a lot of people who paid for a reading with
her almost inevitably felt it was a waste of money.
Now, I must warn you that the meanings that I assign to these cards are not
meant to be the unyieldingly final perfect words on the subject.
If you locate some of the books mentioned in the bibliography (and I think
that’s a good thing to do), you will see that others don’t fully agree with what I say!
You may find a particular difference in some other writer’s work that appeals to
you more than something that I have said.
That’s the way it should be. How you talk about the cards’ meanings in the
client’s life should suit you, as well as the client, and the way you naturally talk and
think.
These are not too difficult to remember. Well, there are only four of them!
Clubs
Hearts
Spades
In a less negative view, I also assign the human critical thinking skills, the intellect
here. The Conscious Mind.
Diamonds
ONE
Beginnings. First steps. The original idea. One person. A seed. The drive
to be first. New love. New money. New Work. Beginnings of a conflict.
TWO
Partnership. Two people. The original idea shared. A seed that is starting to
grow. Balance. Cooperation. Diplomacy/communication. The dealings
between two people.
THREE
Creativity. (The previous Two now has now become Three, and therefore
has sometimes been associated with pregnancy!) Light-hearted playfulness.
The project is beginning to sprout and grow. Artistic/musical talent.
FOUR
Work. Slow, steady progress. Stability – imagine a table with four legs.
Steady and reliable; consistent. (Perhaps boring because of the predictability?)
A time when effort is required; perhaps repetitive effort.
FIVE
Restless. Stability of the Four, plus one = less stable. Looking for excitement
and novelty. Not satisfied with the status quo. Desire to move, change and
travel. A time for experimentation and taking chances. A hint of wildness –
or at least, so it would appear compared to a slow, steady ‘Four!’
SIX
Family, hearth and home matters. Double three; doubly creative. Could be
family (people) issues, good or bad. Could be buying/selling/changing/fixing
one’s house or living space.
EIGHT
NINE
Completion. A project that is fully finished. Time to dust off your hands,
take a short break perhaps, and begin a new project.
It seems to indicate endings, but these are almost always endings that are
naturally finished and complete.
It can suggest that a project has been successfully completed (as in the
number Eight), and that one can now teach others how to similarly succeed, or
help others to succeed, too.
As a Nine includes all of the previous numbers, it’s often seen as the ‘perfect’
number. People who are numerologically a Nine are viewed as intelligent and
wise.
Ten is indicative of any situation where emotions are running far too high, or
in the case of finances, too much spending, debt or addiction to spending.
In work, it could be working too much, at the cost of family life or personal
health.
JACK
I use Jacks to represent young people – usually younger than the client in
front of me. They may be male or female. Their suit will tell you more about
what area of the client’s life these young people will affect.
QUEEN
I use Queens to represent women. They are about the same age as the
client, although this is something that I decide based on my own intuition at
the moment. The type of woman is decided by the suit.
These represent men, of course. Often ‘older’ men (as opposed to Jacks,
which are younger). The suit, as with the Queens, will tell you more about
where the man fits into the dealings with your client.
JOKER
I usually have one Joker in the deck. This is my ‘wild card.’ It can mean
whatever I want it to mean at the moment. It can foretell of a major change,
either positive or negative.
It can suggest that the client will get their wish. I sometimes tell them
that they will get their wish – only it will be somewhat different than they imagined it!
I may decide, based on my intuition at the moment, that the Joker
changes/weakens/strengthens the card(s) next to it, if that seems right.
Sometimes a Joker has suggested a very happy celebration of some sort
coming within a few months at most. “Not just a birthday, but something bigger.”
It has suggested that ‘major news’ will be arriving very soon.
I admit that I have usually marked the back of the joker in some subtle
way. If I see it sitting on the top of the deck in my hand, coming up next, and
think it’s not the right time for it, I may cut the cards or do whatever is
required to avoid it, like dealing three cards down and turning over the middle
one. Whatever.
When I was young, I do remember (what very little I remember of my
mother’s and aunt’s readings) that the Joker was the ‘getting your wish’ card. I
don’t like to always be so saccharine sweet! It’s probably a good card, but not
necessarily.
If these little additions intrigue you, then get the book! It has a number of these
very useful systematic rules that can expand your readings beyond what you find in
your usual ‘fortune telling’ book at the library.
Consider that the red cards are female and the black cards are male. This may be
useful information in some instances.
Now look and see, in whatever card spread you use, at the cards that are next to
each other.
A) When two cards next to each other are the same color, this is positive and it
helps each of the individual cards in a positive way. Troubles end more
quickly. Profit is larger. Progress is faster. Passion runs deeper. Promises are
more likely to be kept and so on.
B) If, however, the cards next to each other are different colors, then they tend
to slow down and conflict with each other. Progress may be slower. Passion
may be only mild affection or friendship. Arguments are louder and last
longer. Money coming in is not very much.
C) If you have a card that has a red card on one side and a black card on the
other side, then they cancel each other out and no additional meaning can be
found there.
In small card layouts, involving five or six cards at most, these small interactions
can add a lot of ‘texture’ to the reading.
This is a very useful element that is taken from tea leaf readings, of all things!
You will find more ideas similar to this in my and Larry Baukin’s “Clever Little
Miracles.”
Whatever small card spread you use, imagine that it is sitting on a very large clock
face. Perhaps you could visualize the entire table as a clock and you are laying the
cards on the glass over the hands and numbers.
You are sitting in front of the six at the ‘bottom’ of the dial.
Following the path of the clock’s hands, the cards that are on the noon to six
o’clock side of the dial (the right hand side) will represent things that are possibly
coming to/toward your client. Things that are growing in importance. Love is
coming her way. Money. Conflict. Work. Whatever.
You may use the clock’s number that would be nearest the card on that imaginary
clock face to get an idea of how many weeks/months/days there are until the actions
are most likely to occur.
A King of Hearts at the three o’ clock position that you are imagining in your
mind, would suggest an older male, very likely someone who arouses strong feelings
in your client (generally positive ones!) that should be realized within three
days/weeks/month.
An Ace of Diamonds at the five o’ clock position might be saying that a small
amount of extra money was headed toward your client and should arrive within five
days/weeks/months.
The opposite side of the clock (from six o’ clock until midnight, the left side of
the dial) represents things that are moving away from the client, or coming from the
client and moving toward someone (or someplace) else. Feelings, for example.
Things diminishing and growing smaller and less important.
The same Ace of Diamonds at seven o’ clock would suggest a small amount of
money going out or being spent/lost within seven days/weeks/months.
Let me give you some ideas on how the suits and numbers work together, with
the Red/Black and the Clock additions.
If the cards are on the right side of the imaginary clock, then this is on its way to
the client and/or these feelings are coming from someone else and are directed
toward the client. If the card is on the left side of the clock, then the wild romance is
becoming less wild and is diminishing, or it could be interpreted that these strong
wild, emotional feeling are coming from the client and are directed toward someone
else.
If this is on the left side of the card spread, the consultant may not be a
permanent fixture nor stay a long time.
If the cards around this Two of Clubs are also black, the consultant’s efforts will
help quite a bit.
If the cards surrounding the Two of Clubs are both red, then the consultant’s
advice will be met with a lot of resistance and it will be more difficult to put his ideas
to use, whether they are right or not.
An Ace of Hearts. Possibility of a new relationship. The very first feelings that
you have for someone – or that they have for you. Which side of the card spread is
this card on? Is this possibility growing or shrinking? How long until you see it or
until it is gone?
What color are the cards surrounding the Ace of Hearts? Will the tender first
feelings be easy to discuss and communicate or will it be very difficult to express and
nurture?
A Jack of Diamonds. News coming to you, via letter or perhaps email, about
money and finances. Is the Jack of Diamonds on the right or left side of the
imaginary clock on the table top? Is the money coming in or going out?
What color are the cards surrounding the Jack of Diamonds. Do they help or
hinder in this financial situation?
Is the King on the right of left side of the spread? Are the feelings coming
toward the client (right side) or are they coming from the client and directed toward this
man (left side)?
This is the basic playing card reading ‘stuff ’ that can get you started in giving
some very good readings.
None of it is very hard to learn, at least compared to the usual “Fortune Telling
by Cards” kind of books that you find in your library or book store.
Four suits, thirteen cards, a Joker and two additional pieces of a system that can
give you more to say.
Huh. I usually just put out three little rows of three cards each, nine cards in all.
Past X X X
Present X X X
Future X X X
I prefer to use the phrase, “next most likely steps”, when referring to the future.
I’m not a believer that the future is ‘out there’ someplace and we blindly just
bump into it as we travel our path.
I say that there is cause and effect, and what we do today will make a difference
in what happens tomorrow. Of course it does! I only have to look at my belt line and
remember all those wonderful pastries I ate yesterday…
But if we have a peek at what is most likely happening at this moment, we can
make changes. I say, “We may not be able to hold back the rain, but we can choose to carry our
umbrella.”
I would hope that this little beginning treatise will spark your interest and curiosity. I
find that the existing card systems that match my own ideas most closely are:
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