By Suits and Rows: A General Reading With Playing Cards
Traditions can be hard to shake. And as I am getting older, I keep asking myself, “Why the hell should I?” A fairer question, however, would be whether we should always blindly succumb to the imperative of change. I suppose that with age comes a higher aptitude for reflection - we become tired of running and eventually face ourselves. After the agony of enforced trend-following and desperate searches for identity, we are inevitably confronted with the things we tried so hard to avoid, yet with a different presence of mind, one that finally allows us to realize there was nothing wrong with them to begin with. If one is rooted in the moment and follows their own justice, it becomes clear that the tools we’ve inherited in the name of tradition are simply that - tools. If we are familiar with them, there is no real need to run away. We only need to appreciate them for what they are.
As a descendant of magically inclined women from the Balkans, I was naturally trained in the most ready-made arts of divination at hand - general readings. While most of them were quite adept at reading a coffee cup without posing any questions whatsoever, I found myself more intrigued by cartomancy. I found it infinitely more enchanting. Granted, one might ask whether it could ever compare to my late aunt picking up a cup and pronouncing her prophecy along the lines of, “In your living room, there is a cabinet to the right, and in its top drawer lies a ring from your late grandmother, which carries a family curse.” Nevertheless, the cards kept their hold on me. And the primary tool - perhaps the first I ever truly mastered - was reading a piquet deck of 32 playing cards.
General readings used to be performed as the default setting. Today, they’re often used when a querent doesn’t fully trust us yet, or simply can’t muster a concrete question. Since this setup is one I’ve encountered countless times throughout my fortunetelling career, I thought it might be useful to share an example - using my old faithful deck of 32 playing cards and the traditional linear tableau.
The method of laying down the cards remains largely the same as outlined in my previous article on the general reading method using the Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards. The only difference lies in the numbers: since we’re working with 32 cards instead of 36, the tableau is built with four rows of seven cards each, leaving four cards to cover the ones of interest. These cover cards are placed after interpreting the temporal rows and are read as augmentations of the original cards. So, let’s look at the example.
The querent wanted to know what he can expect in the coming three months, particularly in his career and home domains. I cast the tableau accordingly.
Whist Playing Cards by Fred Piatnik & Söhne A.G., 1920s, in my private collection.
We begin with the past line. Right away, we see that work pressure has begun to take its toll, souring the querent’s feelings toward his current position (9 Clubs, 7 Hearts, 7 Spades), though there has been a noticeable increase in income—which has also been a sore spot (7 Diamonds, 9 Diamonds). The whole development appears to be unfolding under the watchful eye of the calculating Queen of Diamonds, whom the querent confirms is his line manager. She may see further potential for development if the workload increases (Queen of Diamonds mirrors 9 of Clubs).
In the present, the querent’s focus is placed on excitement about both aesthetic and practical improvements to the house and its surroundings (10 Hearts, King of Clubs, Ace of Hearts). But obstacles emerge, as a not fully matured desire confronts the hard limits of what is actually possible (8 Spades, Jack of Hearts, King of Spades, Jack of Clubs).
In the near future line, we find his partner’s significator: King of Diamonds. He is caught between two women: one of heart and one of method (Queen of Hearts and Queen of Clubs). They appear to be applying pressure regarding documents they are eager to have signed (Ace of Diamonds, 7 Clubs) - which the querent quickly identified as an inheritance dispute between the partner and his family. These women will not let the matter go without deploying every weapon at their disposal (Queen of Spades looking at 10 Spades).
Curiously, we find the querent’s significator in the fate line - the line of outcome. His agency, for the time being, is handed over to fate, and the full weight of it presses down from above, taking place in the bottom row. We do see that the work invested in his job will bring financial reward, with the potential for even greater gains (8 Clubs, 8 Diamonds, King of Hearts, 10 Diamonds). Yet just as he reaches the success he hoped for, everything is slashed apart (9 Hearts to 9 Spades, Ace of Spades). With the Ace of Spades closing the fate line, the ending becomes all the more inevitable - and all the more painful.
We now proceed to cover the cards of interest: the querent selected his house (Ace of Hearts), his significator (King of Hearts), the Money (10 Diamonds), and the ending (Ace of Spades).
Amidst some execution issues, the house will receive its warm makeover. It will, in the end, be prioritized as their shared space (8 Hearts).
The card covering the significator is the Ace of Clubs. The querent will take the necessary initiative to better his position. However, money is matched with an equal amount of heavy labor (10 Clubs). Financial gain will come at a cost.
The ending is devious and inevitable. In Serbia, there’s a saying: “The Devil came to take what’s his.” And that’s precisely what this outcome suggests, as the Jack of Spades is traditionally associated with the Devil. What was given will be taken away just as easily. This calls for a moment of reflection on the querent’s part. What kind of thoughtless deals have been made? How far is he willing to go in pursuit of his desires - and at what cost? These are the questions I left him to consider.
***
If the reading seemed all over the place, that’s because it is. But that’s the nature of a general reading: without a clear question, the cards have no reason to stay within a single thread. We must remember that a general reading is exactly what it says on the tin - general. This reading could have focused on a specific question, which would have anchored the story and allowed for more precision and detail. But if you only wish to know, broadly, what’s coming - placing emphasis on career while not wanting to miss anything else that might show up - then this is exactly what you’ll get. And that is not a flaw in the reading, but a mirror of the question. It’s a common rule across all divinatory practices: input always determines output. The cards do not generate clarity out of thin air. They respond to the framework we give them - nothing more, nothing less.
This is why general readings can be useful, but only up to a point. They provide a landscape, not a verdict. You’ll see where the ground might shift, where something may knock at your door - but you won’t get far if you don’t know what you’re actually looking for. And we need to be honest about that. If someone sits in front of a fortuneteller expecting Delphic proclamations without knowing what they want, or without the courage to ask, well, good luck with that. Divination is not a performance art for the passive. It’s a dialogue. And like any dialogue, it requires something more than just showing up.
Interested in a tableau of your own?
Whether you come with a focused question or prefer a broader outlook, I offer detailed tableau readings using a 32-card playing deck, Lenormand, or Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards. Each spread is read with precision, context, and attention to what truly matters.
