The Uncrossed Path Blog
Welcome to The Uncrossed Path Blog, where each post delves into the art and practice of cartomancy, focusing on traditional approaches to tarot, playing cards, and Lenormand, grounded in no-nonsense divination. Here, you’ll find explorations of cartomantic techniques, interpretations grounded in cultural and philosophical insight, and discussions that emphasize clarity over mystique. Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or a discerning seeker, these articles offer a rigorous approach to understanding the cards, with an eye on truth rather than trend.
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Reading the Gypsy Fortune-Telling Cards with Precision
What does it actually take to read the Gypsy Fortune-Telling Cards with precision? Instead of listing techniques, this short reading lets the cards themselves answer the question, revealing how proficiency emerges through structure, tension, and attention to relationships.
Beyond Prediction: On the Unseen Reach of a Traditional Favomancy Method
Can a method built on counting and prediction describe something as elusive as the role of art in a person’s life? In this article, a favomancy reading puts that assumption to the test, revealing how traditional bean casting can move beyond outcomes and into description—when approached with precision, flexibility, and common sense.
Balkan Favomancy: Conjuring the Beans to Speak
Bean divination, or favomancy, once common across the Balkans, survives today in only a few living traditions. This article examines Balkan-style beans reading as a working divinatory practice—its structure, its incantatory logic, and the animistic worldview that treats the beans not as symbols, but as agents capable of speaking.
The Known Devil vs. the Open Door: A Reading On a Career Choice
A career choice that pits stability against renewal is rarely about the jobs themselves—it’s about dread, predictability, and the price we pay for both. In this article, I explore a Lenormand Choice reading for a client torn between a secure but soul-numbing position and a far more promising role with no guarantees. The cards, as usual, cut straight through the illusion of safety.
When the Cards Come Back - On Spirits Within The Deck
Some decks never truly leave us. On All Hallows’ night, I write about the spirits bound to the cards we use—and how old friends sometimes find their way back through familiar imagery and the quiet persistence of devotion.
Flinging the Cards: Playing-Card Divination According to the Serbian Big Folk Dream Book
A complete English translation of the traditional playing-card meanings from The Big Folk Dream Book from Serbia—one of the rare surviving sources of old cartomantic lore. This edition includes the full 32-card system, extended meanings for the 52-card deck, and the original section on interpreting card groups.
From the Piquet Deck to Divination: Functions of the 32 Playing Cards
Drawn to the stories of my Great Aunt Marija and her playing cards, I turned to the 32-card piquet deck—the form most deeply rooted in European folk cartomancy. In this article, I explore the functions of suits, numbers, and courts, not as rigid “meanings” but as common-sense guides shaped by culture and practice.
At The Thresholds - On Magical Timing
From the New Moon in Virgo to the coming eclipse in Pisces, the making of the Family Protection Amulet unfolds within a carefully chosen rhythm. This piece reflects on why timing matters in magical work, how tradition and observation shape our acts, and how power settles more firmly when it moves in step with time itself.
Building What You Love: A Business Reading with Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards
When we love our cause and want it to succeed, clarity and consistency matter more than chasing the masses. This reading — a Square of Nine with Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards — revealed how even one loyal supporter can carry a business forward, if you have the courage to build it yourself.
By Suits and Rows: A General Reading With Playing Cards
How much can we truly see without a question? In this piece, I reflect on inherited methods, demonstrate a full tableau reading with the 32-card deck, and examine what general readings can—and cannot—reveal. A case in point on why clarity begins with the querent.
The Art of the General Reading: A Tableau With Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards
A tableau reveals the whole picture at once - past, present, and what presses from fate. This method, rooted in Balkan cartomancy, uses the Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards to craft readings that are structured, sharp, and anything but vague.
On Stomach Pains and Stolen Mojos – A Health Reading
We often speak of ‘feeling things in our gut,’ but the connection between the mind and the stomach is more than just a figure of speech. The gastrointestinal system responds to our emotions just as much as to the food we consume. When physical ailments persist without a clear medical cause, deeper psychological patterns are often at play. In this article, I explore how the Piatnik Gypsy Fortune-Telling Cards can illuminate such connections through a real case of chronic stomach pain—one rooted not in diet, but in unresolved grief and personal loss. A sharp spread, a well-placed Death card, and a final, decisive cut: read on to see how cartomancy exposes what the body already knows.
Reading Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards - From ‘Meanings’ to Common Sense
Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards, with their rich history and straightforward imagery, offer a refreshing approach to divination that emphasizes observation and cultural competence over convoluted traditions. This article explores the cards’ clear and relatable concepts while encouraging readers to rely on what is visually apparent and contextually relevant. Far from adhering to rigid interpretations, it invites you to see the cards as practical tools for meaningful insights.
The Year’s Wheel: A Method for Yearly Forecasts
Discover how the Lenormand cards unveil the challenges and opportunities awaiting you in 2025. In The Year’s Wheel, I explore a method for creating 12-month forecasts, offering insights into each month’s key themes. Whether approached generally or with a specific focus, this reading style reveals patterns and pivotal moments, helping you navigate the year ahead with greater clarity.
The Gifts of Great Aunt Marija
What does it mean to inherit magic? Is it about traditions passed down, or is it something we must create for ourselves? Reflecting on the life and craft of my Great-Aunt Marija, this piece explores the balance between honoring ancestral legacies and forging a unique path in magic. Through her story, I delve into the power of resilience, the lessons of the cards, and the sovereignty we claim as magicians.
Love & Connection: A Relationship Spread
The card-reading community is always drawn to a good spread. As a studious teenager, I relied heavily on them. Over time, I found myself preferring simplicity: three cards can address almost any question, six cards bring out contrasts, and nine cards add depth. A straightforward 3-6-9 progression that’s easy to remember and covers most needs. That said, there’s no harm in using pre-defined spreads.
The Death Card: ‘Transformation’ and Other Convenient Theories
In card reading, clarity starts with calling things by their real names. A book is just a book before it symbolizes a ‘secret,’ and death is death before it’s ‘transformation.’ Ignoring the true function of a card in favor of convenient meanings undermines the power of a reading.
A Prediction Method Featuring Thoth Tarot
Old loves never truly fade, especially for someone as sentimental as I am. My journey into cartomancy began at fifteen, starting with playing cards and the Gypsy Fortunetelling Oracle. It wasn’t long before I ventured into Tarot, sparked by a gift from my cousin Katarina. She gave me her Ancien Tarot de Marseille by Grimaud, as she was more focused on another deck. The moment she introduced me to it, I was utterly captivated. The Thoth Tarot, with its stunning imagery, was easily the most beautiful deck I had ever laid eyes on.
The Season of Detachment
The fall is here. The vitality of summer is leaving us, as we descend deeper into the dark of winter. A season of transitions, of liminality which can be witnessed in the amber tree tops and the chill of rain on our windswept faces. It is also a season of letting go: just as we mourn the passing of summer, we mourn all the unfulfilled desires. More than ever, we are faced with time and our own temporality. But instead of embracing the nature of the season by acknowledging the losses, we cling to the empty husks of our missed opportunities, failed relationships, and all other unfulfilled dreams.
A “Snake” In Their Garden - Lenormand Love Reading
Without matters of the heart, a fortuneteller’s profession might well become obsolete. Yet, the fundamental reason for visiting one remains consistent across all aspects of life: the desire for clarity and certainty. It’s important to note, however, that these two often diverge. Many who seek divinatory guidance crave certainty, but only when it aligns with their hopes and expectations. In essence, they are looking for reassurance to support the things they hold onto, even when it might be more liberating to gain clarity, accept reality, and let go.