Cursed, or simply exhausted
Being a cartomancer with a South Slavic background often means that you are confronted with clients believing that they have been cursed at least 80% of the time. Folk magical practices and Western ceremonial ones are very much alive and kicking within the borders of Former Yugoslavia, and naturally, when weird and hard-to-explain events occur, some people get rather nervous.
Here I do not plan to enter into a discussion on magical practitioners and the effectiveness of their work, as it would be utterly pointless. To paraphrase my dear mentor Camelia Elias: as cartomancers, we are there to answer all the questions that have been laid down on a table. Nevertheless, what we will often find in these cases is that people lack clarity in their predicament. And reaching out for the cursed predicament explanation seems like an easy, and sometimes ‘logical’ explanation.
A client has been experiencing intimacy difficulties in her marriage. She wanted to know if she and her partner have been cursed by the partner’s ex, who is not on friendly terms with them. Here I cast a Do/Don’t spread for a quick clarification of the situation at hand, as well as advice on what would and what wouldn’t be a beneficial action at this point.
Just at a glance, we can see that there are no clear signs of a curse at play here. Curses or hexes are traditionally the territory of spades, which are completely absent. We are also missing any active characters here, as none of the significators appeared for the actors involved. The horizontal line talks about a relationship trapped between both emotional and practical daily stalemate. The connection is there, however, it seems to be under pressure from a limiting work routine that directly reflects itself in a limited emotional capacity. After pointing this out, the client confirms that her partner is stuck with two jobs, which often results in him coming home physically and emotionally depleted.
The top and the bottom cards indicate what is the beneficial course of action (Do-card), and what should be avoided (Don’t-card). I advised the client to try approaching the intimacy issue with an open conversation about their emotional response to the situation (Jack of Hearts) and avoid going straight to issues with hormones and bodily fluids (5 of Hearts) that may get the blame for decreased intimacy, only to replace the curse as the first unjust suspect. When hearts fall on the table, but in small numbers and limiting formations, it is clear that the issue lies on the emotional level.
If you would also like to receive quick clarity for a burning issue, you can book a small reading, or explore other options on the Readings page.
Featured decks: Oswald Witrth Tarot reproduced by Kartograme (cover); Vintage Fred Piatnik & Söhne ca. 1930.
