Loving the Playing Card Oracles, and a Relationship Reading

The Playing Card Oracles by Ana Cortez,
published by U.S. Games, Inc.

The last two readings I’ve done with the Playing Card Oracles have been great: very accurate and in depth. The combination of geomancy and card meanings seems to hit a sweet spot for me, too.  I find I'm better at synthesizing the meaning of the cards and figures with the PCO than I am with tarot.  I’m also in love with the pocket sized edition, and will be purchasing a backup soon. Then I will have four copies of this deck, which seems a little crazy, but crazy is fine with me (I currently have a regular US Games, one Vintage, and one pocket.)

I thought I’d post the reading I did last night to show how I’ve been using and interpreting the deck. I’ll post how I interpreted the cards and the geomancy outcome, and then will relate it more directly to the querent’s situation at the end. Since I find it useful to see how other people come to their interpretations, I’ve also included my detailed notes on the cards and figures.

I used the Present 4-card spread, and asked, “Where is Mr. X’s head at with regard to his relationship with Ms. Y?”

Head: 4 of Spades – North Wind
Throat: 2 of Clubs – The Friends
Heart: 4 of Hearts – West Wind
Foot: Ace of Clubs – Ethra

Right/1st Witness (by number): Tristitia
Left/2nd Witness (by color): Puer
Judge: Fortuna Minor

Reading Summary:

X’s primary focus is on sexual energy and sexual motivations (4/spades in the Head position.) The two clubs cards point to a lot of mental energy and thoughts about the situation. Communication is probably easy for him with her, but he has a distanced curiosity about the whole affair and might be trying to keep her at an arm’s length emotionally (The Friends). Despite this fact, he feels a genuine, gentle warmth for Ms. Y (West Wind). The West Wind makes him want to ignore any worries or conflicts and just focus on the positive vibe between the two of them. The foot position is not well grounded with only an Ace (i.e. the very beginning, only a little) of air, so practical considerations are probably not on his radar so much. His dreams and fantasies about her are taking precedence. Ethra gives a need to reach out to connect, and in the foot position, this may be done in a very matter of fact way.

Geomancy Overview:
X has moved from a sorrowful but “stuck” situation in which something carefully built has eroded (Tristitia), towards a passionate, but immature and unstable situation (Puer). X may behave impulsively here, and will take initiative (Puer). A secret will be kept (Tristitia). In the end, what is gained here will be easily lost, but it will move quickly and will happen easily while it does, and while circumstances allow (Fortuna Minor). X may abuse power in this situation, and will see success for his hard work done. He may be fickle and unstable, but in general, X will be protected from misfortune & harm in the situation (Fortuna Minor).

What’s Really Going On: 

The cards and geomancy really hit the nail on the head! X is indeed in a serious relationship that has gone downhill and caused longterm disappointment, but he’s very stuck by his circumstances and cannot leave (Tristitia). This has lead him to explore this unstable passionate connection with Ms. Y, and theirs is a secret relationship (Puer). As The Friends and West Wind imply, he’s pretty clear on keeping things light, friendly, and fun instead of intense or emotional.  He's being very forward and assertive in pursuing her and in stating what he wants from her (Puer), but he's also being kind and being sure she knows that he wouldn't hold it against her if she wanted to end things at any time (West Wind).  He doesn’t seem interested in hashing out the practical issues either (weak Air/Ace in Foot), and just wants to focus (laser focus!) on the pleasure (sex!) (North Wind, West Wind.) 

Fortuna Minor’s influence is unfortunately pretty accurate, too. They moved into their relationship very quickly, but their togetherness is very dependent on their current circumstances. Should those change, they most likely would not continue seeing each other. In other words, it will be “nice” while it lasts, but Ms. Y shouldn’t hope for something long-term or deep from this connection.

(Feel free to skip the detailed notes below!)

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Signs, signs, everywhere a sign...

I have a post on a geomancy chart in the works, but I'm still not finished with it yet, so you get a silly little oracle deck reading diversion instead!

I brought out my Oracle of Shadows and Light the other day after reading about the upcoming new edition on Aeclectic. Last year I used this one pretty often, but I fell out of the habit, and was happy to be reminded of it again.  It speaks to my teenaged goth girl self.  I asked a general question, "what message do you have for me?"  I pulled one card, but had a serious jumper, too.

Pulled:  1 - Ghost of the Pumpkin Patch
Extra jumper: 4 - The Snow Angel 




1 - Ghost of the Pumpkin Patch: "Count your blessings"
This card is all about overlooked blessings, taking notice of what you have, and being thankful.  It's true that I'm in a very lucky position in my life right now, and that I may be guilty of taking that for granted.  This reminder for me to do a little something to express my gratitude to the people around me.  Message heard.


4 - The Snow Angel: "The signs are with you already!"
Stop asking for signs!  You have received so many already, very definite, clear signs which you have asked for again and again. You are refusing to hear.
Touché.  This card encourages you to overcome your fear, quit hesitating, and take action.

The Snow Angel jumper card really hits home, and it's timely, too.  I've recently described some of these issues in passing on forum posts.  The card even gives a nod to the title and theme of my blog!  I'd say that the story of my entire life so far is that I'm constantly trying to figure out where I'm supposed to be going and what I'm supposed to be doing.  I'm always looking for clues to point me in the right direction.  I'm so hungry for signs that I've even been known to say that I wish there were just a test that I could take that would give me my destiny, tell me what I'd be best at, tell me what I'm meant to do.  Sort of pathetic, right?

This grumpy Snow Angel is maybe telling it like it is:  I'm a clue junky, a sign seeker, a test addict.  At this point, I already have all the signs, and I just need to get down to finally interpreting them.  This isn't a surprising revelation, I have to admit. I do already know that my preferred procrastination method is the information gathering loop.  My sneaky brain says, How can I interpret the signs when I a) don't yet know everything there is to know about signs, and b) haven't yet received every relevant sign possible?


This is yet another message from the universe telling me to take action.  I've been working on doing that, or at least doing something, even though my constant fear is that I'm doing the wrong things.  I guess I just have to trust that I'll know it if I'm on the wrong track.  Eventually, at least.


I wonder about everyone else in the world, and how they deal with these questions for themselves.  Did they always know what they should do with their lives?  Have they ever known? Did they receive signs?  Or did they just choose something and get on with it? Does everyone else agonize over these decisions as much as I do?


In the meantime, I'm going to cross my fingers and consider any recent clues I can remember, without letting this interfere with my productivity, activity, or plans.  Wish me luck.

Weather Forecast for Tuesday, Jan. 17

I've been pulling cards to forecast the weather for the past few days, after reading Alec Satin's posts about using tarot for weather forecasting.  My success rate is pretty good so far!

Last night, (Sunday 1/15), I pulled 8 of Wands and 8 of Coins using the Noblet Marseille to forecast for today, Monday, Jan. 16.  In Alec's system, this means roughly, "Sunny and still, but with a chance of a snowstorm" [I changed downpour to snowstorm to adjust for the season.]  It was a bright and sunny day here, with no noticeable wind.  I thought I struck out about the storm, but just about 20 minutes ago my husband, who doesn't know about the forecasts, called out to me, "We have snow!"  Sure enough, for the first time in over a month or maybe two, we have snow.  Not a snowstorm, but about an inch so far.

Here are the cards I pulled for tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17:

Reyne de Baton, Fournier Marseille

3 of Swords, Fournier Marseille

Today's draw sounds kind of wishy-washy:  "Variable weather, storms, unpredictable."  Hmm.  Unpredictable?  Thanks, tarot!   I'll report back tomorrow in the comments.

Book Review: Traditional Astrology for Today

I finished Traditional Astrology for Today last week, and it was exactly the book I’ve been looking for. As an overview of the field, a primer on the philosophical background of the tradition, and an intro to a few techniques one can use to begin to interpret a chart, it’s invaluable. I also really appreciated his examples, which made the interpretive process less intimidating.

Books can speak to people for various reasons, and I found this one struck the right chord in my brain at this moment in time. For anyone else who may have a similar personality or mindset, or similar difficulties in their astrological studies, I’ll describe why I think it might be an especially good choice.

My perspective is that of a person newer to traditional methods and who is not well trained in technical astrology of any sort. I’m just a lifelong student and natural researcher. I often feel I “can’t see the forest for the trees” when I immerse myself in too much detail without getting a broad overview first. I love knowing and understanding the details, especially as a perfectionist who desires to know “the right (or best) way” to do everything, but this can mean that I never feel I know enough to actually begin.* Getting to the point of putting the multitude of traditional methods to practical use seemed so far off!

I was reading On The Heavenly Spheres before, and it’s great, but I stalled out after feeling again that I was continuing to collect information without a clear plan for how to use it. Traditional Astrology for Today gave me a practical starting point to get up and running, and now I’m eager to apply some of it and then get back to finish Spheres. So yes, it’s a slim little guide, and one may wonder if it’s worth getting or if you should just dive right into something meatier and more complete. I say that depending on your learning style and personal quirks it might be just the perfect thing.

I also think Ben strikes the right tone in educating the modern astrologer or student about the traditional mindset without badmouthing the modern practitioners. He demonstrates that the traditional perspective can still be compassionate and constructive, and isn’t incompatible with a counseling approach. He also doesn’t make one feel guilty if one still wants to incorporate the outer planets in one's work.

Sorry if this gushes a bit – it’s just that I’m high on this feeling of “NOW I’m ready to go!”

Plan for the Way Forward

Today I decided to do a short reading asking for guidance to keep me on track with my study goals.  Since I have a difficult time staying focused on one thing long enough to make real progress, I wanted some suggestions from the cards on how I should try to accomplish this.   I used my trimmed PCS Commemorative deck, and laid out three cards with the loose positions of Do, Don't Do, & Direction/Think About:

Do: 10 of Pentacles
Don't Do: 2 of Pentacles
Direction/Think About: King of Cups

Do: 
At first this stumped me, since I tend to see the 10 of Pentacles as family, extended relatives, etc.  Since I can't see them being a resource for my esoteric interests, I wasn't sure what to make of it.  But it could also suggest a practical community or group.  Maybe I need to find and participate in communities that would support my learning.  I often lurk around forums without speaking up much, and I see this card as telling me that needs to change.  Since I finally started my blog for this very reason, I'll take it to mean that I"m on the right track.

The older gentleman on the card could also mean finding a learning group with some older, more experienced people who are sharing their wisdom.

Don't Do:
This illustrates my usual problem perfectly!  The 2 of Pentacles is juggling too much, trying to keep it all in the air, dancing back and forth from foot to foot (topic to topic), too much multi-tasking, dancing about which turns a little manic.  The sea waves even echo the roller coaster of progress:  make a little headway, then let it slide as I move to something else, make a little headway, let it slide, and so on.  This card just underlines what I've already been saying:  I need to stop doing this!! 

Direction/Think About:
The King of Cups here is a bit of a mystery to me.  Do I need to cultivate the King's emotional composure and maturity?  Since I pulled a blank with the card, I took a peek at Paul Quinn's Tarot for Life, and see the King can be a wise counselor and people reader, helping them navigate difficult times.  All I can think is that this card is gently reminding me that my ultimate goal is to read for others and to help them, so maybe I should think about practicing this sooner rather than later.

Other notes:
Two of the three are pentacles, pointing towards practical matters.  They are all minors, too, which focuses again on every day concerns.  More votes for just getting down to business!

Books for the New Year

Happy New Year!!

The holidays and traveling kept me very busy for the past few weeks, and away from my computer and divinatory interests.  Although I did continue to read the kindle version of The Art and Practice of Geomancy: Divination, Magic, and Earth Wisdom of the Renaissance, by John Michael Greer, before bed each night. His approach to explaining the charts really clicked with me, and I look forward to trying out the methods with some practice questions soon.

The other book I've almost finished is Traditional Astrology for Today: An Introduction by Ben Dykes, which is absolutely fabulous. It's exactly what I've been looking for.  It deserves its own post, though, so once I finish the final chapter I'll write up a proper review.

Beginnings, Studies, Obsessions

I had a blog parked elsewhere for a long time, waiting patiently for me to start writing about my divinatory interests.  But procrastination is strong and I am weak.  Momentum is key, though, so I'm giving that ball a shove to get it rolling.

Today I bought some stones to use to cast figures for astrological geomancy.  I went into the shop expecting to find something more obviously for this purpose, but ended up buying two bracelets to take apart into loose stones.  The type I chose was Sodalite, which I knew nothing about, but they were the best compromise of size, attractiveness, color, hand feel, and price.  Now that I’ve looked it up, I think this was a fun intuitive hunch!  It’s a stone connected to my zodiac sign, and it supposedly brings peace and calms anxiety.  It may enhance intuition and clarity, both important for any divinatory endeavor, I’d say.  It’s also said to enhance communication skills for writers and the verbalization of feelings.  And hey, it can support your thyroid to help you lose weight, heh!   It's just the magic stone that does everything.  ;)

I have so many areas of interest and I’m usually prone to fluttering around, jumping from topic to topic without staying with any one of them long enough to get any depth.  It's time to change that, so in the next few weeks I will zero in on something to tackle first.

Here is the list of my long-term plans:

• Learn Traditional Astrology more thoroughly:  I cut my teeth on psychological and modern astrology, and have loved Liz Greene and Co. for years.  I’ve never been satisfied with its accuracy when delineating a chart for someone I don’t already know very well, though, and this has led me to investigate traditional techniques.  I’m also interested in predictive astrology, so traditional is where it’s at for that, too.
• Start with Horary Astrology:  This will satisfy my desire for straightforward answers, and will help me learn the traditional basics.
• Learn Astrological Geomancy:  I see this as a stepping stone to horary, actually, since you handle some of the chart reading in the same way.  This will be quicker to master than the astrology and will give me something to practice with friends.
• Try out Mel’s horary-ish, geomanticy Astrological Spread/System for the Marseille Tarot:  another fun, quicker way to practice similar chart reading to answer questions.  (this would be Mel from the Aeclectic Tarot forums)
• Tackle the Lenormand:  For whatever reason, I have a hard time getting out of the introspective, psychological, self-help mode when using tarot cards.  I’ve been having some fun learning the Lenormand and find it much easier to build down-to-earth sentences from the cards, especially about practical matters.  I have courses from Melissa Hill and Britta Kienle, and plan to eventually get the Treppner course too. Look out!
• Learn cartomancy with Playing Cards:  I’ve had the Playing Card Oracles deck and book for a while, and just need to sit down with it to really let it sink in.  I love the geomancy angle and think it adds a great depth and structure that I can connect with.  I also considered other systems because I love their detail and comprehensiveness: Hedgewytchery, Kapherus, Regina Russell.  But maybe Lenormand will fill that specificity niche for me, and I can settle down with the PCO.  We’ll see.

So there they are, my big ambitious plans.  Now I just need to nurture my discipline.  See you soon!