Does anyone else use Cartomancy?

[Aki]

Cartomancy is the use of a standard deck of playing cards to tell fortunes in the fashion of a tarot deck. It was a way for fortune tellers to hide from persecution, because there was no way to tell if it was a deck used for predictions or poker. That's actually how I picked up this non-standard way of fortune telling: my mother would have flipped her lid if she had found a tarot deck on me in high school, and even in college. But a deck of cards? I could use them to pass the time, and no one would be any the wiser, until I whipped out a reading layout. (...although, the funny thing is, my best reading layout I found, is the layout for a game of solitaire. So even when I was doing a reading, hardly anyone knew.)

So, anyone ever use this style of fortune telling? From what I understand, it's not very common anymore, what with the availability and the lessened stigma of Tarot cards.

My grandmother who read cards all her life read from playing cards. I learned from her and my mother how to read cards. This was back in the sixties. I did not get my first deck of tarot until ten years ago. The meanings of the numbers and suits are very similar to tarot, it was an easy transition to tarot. I still have clients who like me to read from playing cards, but most now like tarot. Hiding card reading is something I never had to do. My grandmother read openly, she never hid it, don't know about her mother...they are both gone now so I cant ask.
Why do you hide reading from playing cards? Will your mother disown you? Is it a religious thing?

[Aki]

In high school and college, I don't think she would have disowned me, but she definitely would have put the fear of MOM into me. (Whether it was a religious or personal thing, I do not know, but I abhor confrontation, with my mother especially. So I hid it.) But when it comes to the now (I have my own home, now) I don't have to hide it. Granted, I don't really do it anymore, but I don't have to hide it anymore, as well, which is nice.

And it's nice to see someone else that knows how to do it. ^__^

[daisy]

Yes I do, differently to how I read tarot though

[Lengar79]

I started reading cards when I was in my teens and early twenties. I used a Spanish cards deck (like this one which is the kind of deck that people use in Spain (where I'm from) to play. I just had my special deck that I only used for readings, but nobody knew that. I still have it but haven't used it more than 10 yrs later, maybe it's time to cleanse them and give it a try :)

I heard about it! I was looking at a Playing Card Oracle a while ago...decided to get into it after I am expert in Tarot reading, haha. :P

[gypsymystique]

I have used it in a pinch.

No, I haven't ...
However, I have do use bibliomancy on a daily basis w/a various books ...
For some reason, I continue to be surprised that I always get what I need at that particular moment ...

[Aki]

@lengar: Cool! I like the look of Spanish decks as opposed to "standard" decks. I had one, but never found a good enough guide that I could use with it, but I hope you do take it up again, at least once, to see if it should be a part of your life again, or if it is something that you have passed.

@kimtsan: I wish you all the best of luck in your Tarot mastery! ^__^

@livingkarma: I've never really used bibliomancy... it always seems to come out jumbled for me. I can never make heads or tails of it. Could I be doing something wrong?

Originally Posted by Aki

livingkarma: I've never really used bibliomancy... it always seems to come out jumbled for me. I can never make heads or tails of it. Could I be doing something wrong?

Babe, I don't think you're doing anything wrong ...
I think, in those times, we need more information or signs to unravel it ...

For example, while I was grieving (extremely angry & fit to be tied) regardless of the spiritual or religious or non-fiction() books I would open, I alway got the words "today or now" which I interpreted as living today or living in the now ...
B/c of my grief I couldn't make the connection besides its not what I wanted or thought I needed to hear ...
After a couple weeks, I finally made the connection after battling w/my dog about chasing wild hopping bunnies that came into the yard as well as repeatedly hearing the song "Jump" by Van Halen ...
The answer was that I was trying to quantum leap to bypass the pain ...
I was far too involved w/obsessing over my anger/grief wanting to escape the pain & work of recovery ...

Its just best to pay attention to body signals/behavior & to what is happening around you ...
This develops your intuition as well as w/tarot skills ...