Fortune Telling with Playing Cards

Playing Card Meanings and Combinations

Hearts

Cups – Water – Clergy

Ace of Hearts – Love and happiness. The home, a love letter. This card is a particularly favourable card that indicates troubles and problems lifting.
King of Hearts – A fair-haired man with a good nature; or a man with Water signs predominating in his chart. Fair, helpful advice. Affectionate, caring man. This man helps you out without much talk. His actions reveal his kindness and concern.
Queen of Hearts – A fair-haired woman with a good nature; or a woman with Water signs predominating in her chart. Kind advice. Affectionate, caring woman. Sometimes, this card can indicate the mother or a mother figure.
Jack of Hearts – A warm-hearted friend. A fair-haired youth; or a young person with Water signs predominating in his or her chart. Often this points to a younger admirer.
10 of Hearts – Good luck, success. This is an important card that suggests good fortune after difficulty.
9 of Hearts – The card of wishes. A wish/dream fulfilled. Look to the card just preceding this one to determine what the querent desires.
8 of Hearts – An unexpected gift or visit; an invitation to a party.
7 of Hearts – Someone whose interest in you is unreliable; someone with fickle affections for you. This card can indicate lovesickness.
6 of Hearts – A sudden wave of good luck. Someone takes care of you, takes warm interest in you.
5 of Hearts – Jealousy; some ill-will from people around you.
4 of Hearts – Travel, change of home or business.
3 of Hearts – Love and happiness when the entire spread is generally favourable. In a difficult spread, this can indicate emotional problems and an inability to decide who to love.
2 of Hearts – A warm partnership or engagement. This is a very favourable card that indicates strength and support coming from a partner.

Clubs

Wands – Fire – Peasants

Ace of Clubs – Wealth, prosperity, unexpected money/gain. However, in a difficult spread, this money may disappear almost as quickly as it appears.
King of Clubs – Dark-haired, kind-hearted man; or a man with Fire predominating in his chart. A generous and spirited man.
Queen of Clubs – Dark-haired, confident woman; or a woman with Fire predominating in her chart. She may give you good advice.
Jack of Clubs – A dark-haired or fiery youth. Popular youth who is good-hearted and playful. Can also indicate an admirer.
10 of Clubs – Business success. Good luck with money. A trip taken now may result in a new friend or love interest.
9 of Clubs – Achievement; sometimes a wealthy marriage or a sudden windfall.
8 of Clubs – Work/business problems that may have to do with jealousy. This is generally thought to be quite unfavourable.
7 of Clubs – Business success, although there may be problems with the opposite sex. A change in business that may have been expected or earned, such as a promotion.
6 of Clubs – Financial aid or success.
5 of Clubs – New friendships, alliances are made.
4 of Clubs – Beware of dishonesty or deceit; avoid blind acceptance of others at this time. 
3 of Clubs – Love and happiness; successful marriage; a favourable long-term proposition. A second chance, particularly in an economical sense.
2 of Clubs Obstacles to success; malicious gossip.

Spades

Sword – Air – Knights

Ace of Spades – Misfortune; sometimes associated with death or, more often, a difficult ending.
King of Spades – Dark-haired man; or a man with Air predominating in his chart. An ambitious man, perhaps self-serving.
Queen of Spades – Widowed or divorced woman; or a woman with Air predominating in her chart.
Jack of Spades – A youth who is hostile or jealous.
10 of Spades – Worry; bad news.
9 of Spades – Illness, accident, bad luck. The querent is at his/her personal low.
8 of Spades – Temptation, misfortune, danger, upsets.
7 of Spades – Advice that is best not taken; loss. There is some obstacle to success, and this indicates that obstacles may be coming from within the querent.
6 of Spades – Small changes and improvements.
5 of Spades – Opposition and obstacles that are temporary; a blessing in disguise. Sometimes indicates a negative or depressed person.
4 of Spades – Small worries, problems. Financial difficulties, personal lows.
3 of Spades – Breaks in relationships. Sometimes indicates that a third person is breaking into a relationship somehow.
2 of Spades – Breaks in relationships; deceit. A break in an important process in the querent’s life. If the question concerns a particular romantic interest, this is considered a warning card – infidelity or separation is quite likely.

Diamonds

Pentacles – Earth – Merchants

Ace of Diamonds – Change; a message, often about money, and usually good news.
King of Diamonds – A fair-haired or graying man, or a man with Earth predominating in his chart. A man of authority, status, or influence.
Queen of Diamonds – A fair-haired woman; or a woman with Earth predominating in her chart. A gossip.
Jack of Diamonds – A youth, possibly in uniform or, a jealous person who may be unreliable. A person who brings news, generally negative, but relatively minor.
10 of Diamonds – A change in financial status, often for the better.
9 of Diamonds – A new business deal; travel; restlessness; a change of residence.
8 of Diamonds – New job; change in job situation. The young or the old may find love on a trip.
7 of Diamonds – An argument concerning finances, or on the job. Generally expected to be resolved happily.
6 of Diamonds – Relationship problems, arguments. Separation.
5 of Diamonds – Happiness and success. A change for the better. A birth, or good news for a child. This is a good time to start new projects.
4 of Diamonds – Financial upswing; an older person may give good advice.
3 of Diamonds – A legal letter. Be tactful with others in order to avoid disputes.
2 of Diamonds – A business partnership; a change in relationship; gossip.

The Joker

The Joker is the only card remaining from the Tarot trumps. He corresponds to The Fool in the Tarot deck and has some of the same meanings in the regular deck of playing cards. His number is zero and he is truly a “wild card.” When the Joker appears in a reading, it means that something unexpected and uncontrolled can occur. If there are two Jokers with your deck of cards, and you choose to use the Joker in your readings, you need to add only one.

Playing Card Combinations

One significant difference between reading the Tarot and reading playing cards is the strong emphasis put on card combinations when reading playing cards. Although the concept applies to the Tarot and is certainly used, the card spreads used and the addition of the Trumps (Major Arcana) makes large numbers of multiples less likely. There are some combinations shared by both decks, especially relating to the occurrence of multiple court cards.

The following chart shows interpretation of multiples of the same card of different suits in the same spread.

	Multiples of Two	Multiples of Three	Multiples of Four
Ace Beginnings	Partnerships or reunions (Clubs & Hearts – marriage Spades & Diamonds -difficult union)	Good News, Lucky Break	Triumph
2 Opposition	Parting of ways	Direction reversed	Reaching a crossroads
3 Creativity Communication	Choices	Stability	Hope
4 Foundation	Shaky foundation	Foundation weakened	Secure foundation
5 Change	Personal challenges	Disappointments	Personal desires realized
6 Harmony Adaptation	Contradictions	Hard work	Unexpected challenges
7 Surprises	Light-hearted fun (Two red sevens – love and pleasure)	Lowered vitality (brief illnesses)	Conspiracy
8 Karma	Indiscretion, brief affair causes regret (Two red eights – new clothes)	Not good to make long term commitments now	Worries and burdens prove too much to handle
9 Fortune	Minor gains	Good Health	Wishes come true
10 Completion	Circumstances improve (Two red tens – wedding)	Plans get upset	Guaranteed Success
Jacks Youth (Male or Female)	Disagreements	False friends Quarrels	High Spirits, Parties, Battles
Queens Mature Female	Meeting with female friend Idle chat, gossip, curiosity	Visits Betrayal of Confidence	Social Events Scandals
Kings Mature Male	Business partnership, good advice	Good Support	Rewards, Success

Other Playing Card Combinations

There are many combinations of cards which various readers may find significant. Here is a brief list of some of the more common combinations:

Ace of Diamonds/Ten of Hearts – romance leading to marriage
Ace of Diamonds/Ten of Diamonds – marriage for money
Ace of Diamonds/Six of Hearts – invitation
Ace of Diamonds/Six of Spades – news of failure
Ace of Diamonds/Seven of Hearts – news of rivalry
Ace of Diamonds/Nine of Hearts – love letter
Ace of Clubs among Diamonds – success in money matters, business deal
Several Court cards – a social gathering
King, Queen or Jack between two cards of same number – support for person
King or Queen between two Jacks – protection from enemies
Queen of Spades between a King and a Queen – relationship break-up
Jack next to either King or Queen – protection
Jack among several Diamonds – message about money
Seven, Ten and Three of Diamonds – a secret wish will come true
Seven and Eight of Diamonds – do not give cause for or spread gossip, will come back to you
Eight of Diamonds and several Court cards of any suit – a social gathering
Eight and Nine of Spades (or Nine and Ten of Spades) – health problems
Nine and Ten of Diamonds – journey by sea
Nine of Diamonds/Eight of Hearts – journey for pleasure
Ten of Diamonds/Ten of Clubs – windfall
Ten of Diamonds/Eight of Clubs – meaningful journey
Ten of Hearts/King & Queen of Hearts – possible wedding
Ten of Diamonds/Seven of Spades – delays
Five and Eight of Spades – jealous rival, be careful
Four of Diamonds and Four of Spades – a decision against one’s will

 

Ideas on how to use this reference material in the ESL classroom at:

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