How Does It All Work?
I have been blessed to be surrounded by magic and divination ever since I can remember. That, of course, means that my first knowledge about fortune telling and magic was formed within the context of Folk Witchcraft practiced on the territory of Former Yugoslavia. One of my first memories concerns my mother and my grandmother reading fortunes from a coffee cup – their preferred method. My grandma did it full-on traditional style, while my mom still does it with a good dose of New Age stew. That’s why my coffee reading sessions with my mom mostly consist of her making grand narratives, me rolling my eyes, her telling me to fuck off, and then getting to the point. When she gets there, she is spot on, but she says she needs to trust her process which always brings her there. So who am I to say anything?
Anyways, being taught magic and fortune telling from the old pros in Yugoslavia means learning to follow the cardinal rules of divination, if it is to be successful:
One and only one person can interpret the cards or a coffee cup in the reading session. Especially when it comes to reading a coffee cup, it will only make sense to the one intended to read it. This means fate has decided to reveal stuff to the reader who will be able to interpret them in their way. So – no second opinions.
Cards rarely open well for people closest to us. That is why you should avoid doing readings for your family members. Great-aunt Marija only agreed to read the cards to other family members if there was a significant life issue or a completely trivial matter like passing exams. The belief behind this is that if the fate of a reader is intertwined with that of the querent, clarity is not assured. Usually, they would say that they cannot make any sense of the cards in these situations.
Divination is best done on Tuesday and Friday, or during Full Moon.
Divination is not for everyone. You either have it in you or not.
In the folk witchcraft system, being able to read fortunes is considered a talent that is not bestowed upon everyone. That is to say, no matter what tool a diviner uses, he or she should be able to provide a good reading. Some say painters are especially talented in reading coffee cups – they have a keen sensitivity of vision which allows them to see entire worlds in coffee patterns. The same goes for cards. If they can make you spin a tale, then you have it.
I follow a few rules from above. I save my most important readings for Full Moon and often do readings for others on Fridays. I also believe I get help from the dearly departed when reading cards. If I think I need extra clarity on something, I call upon my ancestors (the ones I know and remember). Sometimes I ask the Old Trickster to land his hand, or the Queen of the Crossroads. In these instances I tend to pick random cards from the deck with my left hand, to allow for some otherworldly intervention.
But sometimes, even an app would do. When my brother called me to say that my father had a car crash and he could not find to which hospital they brought him, I was in a metro. I pulled out a Lenormand app on my phone and asked if my father was alive. The cards I got were Road, Coffin, and a Whip. A minute later my brother called to tell me that my father had passed away. In times of pressing need, I get unequivocally clear answers.
If I could sum it all up, I would say there is no right answer to why and how cards work. It is all up to the reader who holds the deck. Some people need spirits to make it work. Some need the right setting, and the right inspiration. Some need nothing. The contingent experiences of my life have formed me as a reader, just as they have formed other aspects of myself. My little rituals work because they are mine.
But why wouldn’t we pose a very simple question to the cards themselves? Inspired by my mentor Camelia Elias and one of the assignments in her Nonreading program, I would like to allow the cards to speak for themselves, especially in such an instance where their very modus operandi is being questioned. Approaching the cards in this manner is precisely the reason why I have been Camelia’s diligent student over the years and why her teaching approach is such a tremendous success. So, to paraphrase the question from the program: How do the cards tell the future?
Soprafino Tarot, published by Il Meneghello.
The cards tell us the future by taking the rough tangible elements of an issue and correlating them to their fluid counterparts suitable for drinking and absorption. The story now has a well-structured path it can follow. It can both lead us to focused answers that are less elaborate (5 wands) and reveal an intricate web of circumstances by placing the subject in the context of intertwined tensions (10 wands).
Can we trust this? It is a tad challenging to talk about trust when the Devil is in the picture, with his hand on the wheel, no less. He throws the coins to the Fool and dares them to figure it out. But Fool being a Fool trusts that it will work out. They are lucky to have an angel on their side, raising the spirits who will tell them what’s what.
The Wheel of Fortune, standing in the center of the spread for the cards themselves, simply spins and recombines continuously. The wheel stops to let the contingencies speak and then keeps on spinning. When presented with them, it is what we do with them that matters. The 7 coins as the bottom card tell us that it is all about our magical vision. If our sight is sharp enough to see the correlation between the seemingly random elements and the predicament on the table, then we can truly call ourselves a cartomancer.
With the New Year approaching, we are all weighing our options, reflecting on the year behind us, and looking into the year ahead. Do you have any plans that require clarity, or do you simply wish to see how the path you are currently on will develop in the coming year, the comprehensive approach of the large reading will provide you with the needed input. You can book the large reading on the Readings page, or feel free to contact me to discuss an in-person reading option.
