How to Do Psychic Readings With Playing Cards

Believe it or not, ordinary playing cards have roots in mysticism. Their origins lie in the tarot, the ancient tool used for more than a thousand years by fortune tellers and witches to divine the future. While there are fewer cards in the modern game deck than there are in the tarot, the same principles for reading one's fortune can be applied to an ordinary deck.

Things You'll Need

• Deck of playing cards Candle (optional) Incense (optional)

Instructions

Learning the Basics

1. Learn the meanings behind each of the four suits. Spades represents anything to do with the intellect and conflicts. Clubs represent anything to do with creativity or change. Hearts represent anything to do with emotions or the subconscious. Diamonds have anything to do with materialism and fertility.

2. Learn the meanings behind each number. Aces is associated with new beginnings. Twos are associated with balance or choices. Threes are associated with communication. Fours are associated that which is established. Fives are associated with changes and new opportunities. Sixes are associated with harmony. Sevens are associated with unknown influences. Eights are associated with karma, or getting what's coming to you. Nines are associated with luck. Tens are associated with the end of a cycle and outcomes.

3. Learn the meanings behind the face cards. These may represent an actual person, or something associated with a stage. Jacks represent a young person or youthfulness. Queens represent a woman, or what are traditionally considered feminine qualities: nurturing, passiveness, emotional. Kings represent a man, or what are traditionally considered masculine qualities: authoritarian, aggressiveness, practical.

4. Consider how each of the suits correspond with the numbers. For example, if the three of hearts shows up, it would indicate communication between someone you have an emotional connection with; if the three of diamonds shows up, it would indicate a business relationship, such as negotiations. If the seven of spades shows up, it would indicate some kind of conflict in which someone is plotting against you; if the seven of clubs shows up, it would indicate an unexpected change of plans or opportunity.

5. Consider how each of the suits correspond with the face cards. If the Queen of hearts shows up, it may indicate an emotional woman in the reading, while if the King of hearts shows up, it may indicate a romantic or caring man. If the Jack of hearts shows up, it may indicate an emotionally charged youth.

6. Go through each card, suit by suit, meditating on what the card may represent based on the associations. This will help you to develop your intuition and form a relationship with the symbols on the cards so their meanings root firmly in your consciousness.

Learning to do a Reading

1. Prepare yourself for a reading by meditating for a few moments. If you like you can set the mood in the room with candles or incense. Relax and calm your mind. If you like you can offer a prayer for clarity or call to your spirit guides for guidance during the reading.

2. Concentrate on your situation and finding answers to your current problems. Shuffle the cards until you feel the urge to stop. Cut the cards and lay five cards across the table, face up.

3. Read the cards from left to right. The first card represents the past. Whatever card lands here will be referring to someone, or some event or issue from your past. The second card represents any problems or opportunities that led you from the past to your present. The third card represents the current situation as it is. The fourth card represents any obstacles or sources of help for your current situation. The fifth and final card represents the outcome of the situation if all things continue on the course they have been going.

4. Learn how to interpret the cards by putting them together, as if to tell a story. Where the cards appear in the layout is as important as what they represent. For example, if the seven of hearts shows up in the first position, it could indicate the root of your problem is that there has been deception in one of your relationships in the past that has caused the current situation to be what it is. If the seven of hearts shows up in the fourth position, it indicates that a deception will be an obstacle in your path that will determine the outcome. If the final outcome depicted in the fifth card is negative, you'll want to change your course of actions. If it is positive, then keep doing what you've been doing to overcome it.

5. Practice reading as often as possible to really develop your skill and understanding of the card combinations, in interpreting the cards and tapping into your inner intuitive abilities.