A Quick Guide to Reading Ordinary Playing Cards  

By Cheryl Lynne Bradley

Other omens and superstitions about playing cards involve their use in gambling. It is generally believed that you will never get a good hand if you are dealt the four of clubs. "The Dead Man's Hand", Aces over eights, that Wild Bill Hickock was holding when he was killed, is considered very unlucky. The nine of diamonds is sometimes referred to as "The Curse of Scotland" as it was used to give instructions for the beginning of the Glencoe Massacre in 1692. On a cheerier note, we have to remember the old saying "unlucky at cards, lucky in love."

Gong Hee Fot Choy, "Greeting of Riches," is a divination system utilizing regular playing cards which Margarete Ward, a mystic and world traveler, introduced in her 1935 book. It draws heavily on Chinese and Eastern mysticism for its wisdom. This system uses a board, a book and 32 cards. Jokers, 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's and 6's were discarded and only 7's through to the Ace were utilized. The board and book are divided into 32 houses. Each card has a different meaning depending upon which house it lands, and are detailed in the book. There are 1,024 combinations. The Houses are Compasses, Marriage, Happiness, Enjoyment, Messages, Relatives, Health, Money, Seasons, Friends, Gifts, Moons, Sun, Luck, Wishes, Success, Surprises, Popularity, Abode, Journey, Papers, Vocation, Letters, Trouble, Disappointments, Death, Undertaking, Achievement, Inheritance, Callers, Gratitude and Inquiries. The hearts represent love and friendship; anything of a personal nature. The diamonds represent fortune and riches; papers of any kind. The clubs represent luck wisdom and business. The spades represent the unpleasant things of life.

Tarot reading layouts readily adapt over to regular card reading as do divinatory meanings. Hearts equate to Cups, Diamonds to Coins, Spades to Swords and Clubs to Wands. To proceed with a reading, shuffle and cut in your usual method, and deal out the layout of your choice or try the following reading.

Relationship Potential Reading

Deal out the remaining cards face up, laying them out one at a time on or below one of the Trumps, proceeding across all four and returning to the beginning if required. Your question is answered when you deal a matching suit on one of the Kings or Queens. Ask another question and start laying down cards from the beginning of the row again, stopping again when a suit matches a trump. After all of the cards have been dealt, pick up each stack and count the number of cards of each suit. Hearts denote love, clubs indicate level of happiness, diamonds predict money and spades augur sex. The more you have of one suit indicates the predominant influence or potential asset of that relationship. Look up the meanings of the cards on the reference chart for a deeper enhancement.

Hearts (Cups):

Spades (Swords):

Diamonds (Coins):

Clubs (Wands):

In Closing...

Have a little fun with this, it is a very enjoyable method of divination and accessible to everyone. Someone who has trouble managing the size of the Tarot cards in shuffling and dealing or if you have problems with your hands, might find these easier to work with.

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