Graphic by Harlow Berny

By Harlow Berny

Hello, fellow Palm Valley Students! In my last post, I briefly mentioned divination, which is the art of gaining knowledge of the future or the unknown through supernatural means. A common form of divination is tarot reading, which is done by using cards with a predetermined meaning to answer questions posed by the “reader” who is performing the “reading.” While it’s mainly tarot cards that are used for a “reading,” common playing cards can be used instead.

In a tarot reading, you have to interpret the cards for what they mean and represent. Usually there would be pictures on the tarot cards to help you with this, but since you’re using regular playing cards, you’ll need to understand what each individual card means. Luckily, Exemplore has made a simple list with the meaning of each individual card.*

For example, the Two of Spades means “failure to communicate”; the Jack of Clubs means “unreliable, hot-headed, risk-taker, athletic”; the Queen of Hearts means “emotional, dependent, and empathic.”

When it comes to the actual “reading,” things get pretty simple. You’ll need to shuffle your deck with three questions in mind (the most common three regarding the past, present, and future). If you’re not good at shuffling, you can split the deck into three stacks, rearrange them, then merge them again. Once done shuffling, you’ll need to put three cards from the top into a horizontal row without flipping them over. When you’re ready, flip the cards over from left to right. After you interpret the meaning of the cards, take some deep breaths and reshuffle the cards as you clear your mind. Congrats, you’ve finished the tarot reading! If you want a more in-depth explanation, then you can consult the Golden Thread Tarot**.

Editor: Leo Milmet

*https://exemplore.com/fortune-divination/How-to-Read-Tarot-with-Playing-Cards

**http://goldenthreadtarot.com/how-to-read-tarot-cards.html