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Welcome back, witches! In this episode, we’re shuffling the deck and diving into the art of cartomancy—reading the past, present, and future using playing cards as a distinct form of divination. So get in, loser, we’re decoding the hidden messages within the cards!

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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch

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Transcript

Introduction to Witchcraft

00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult, but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, we're doing witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey.

What is Cardomancy?

00:00:12
Speaker
Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about the craft. So get in witches as we explore cardamancy.
00:00:41
Speaker
Literally. That's what technology is supposed to be for, right? Exactly. Also, we have yet to discuss Nosferatu on this podcast. I loved it so much. It wasn't so good. It was so good. It was so well done. So well done.

Theater Experiences and Movie Discussions

00:00:59
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Somebody fell asleep in the theater behind us and they snored a little bit.
00:01:06
Speaker
added to the ambience just a little bit. How could you sleep through that? i mean I think she was like drugged there with her friends. Like she was just like not into it at all. And they were. Yeah, she fell asleep and made a little snore. Yeah, I want to watch it again. I don't think it's playing anymore because like I don't know if the the theater on Ramstein is like how it is on Kadena where they will show a movie like for just like they'll do like two showings and then it'll be coming and I'm like, what the fuck? Yeah. like So same.
00:01:42
Speaker
Yeah, but maybe we can watch it like in the Japanese theaters because they usually will do like a subversion instead of like a dubbed version of a lot of popular music movies so we could watch it there again, but I can't wait to watch it again. Oh, it's okay. It's okay. Our listeners don't care. It's not happened, so it's fine. Look, at least I have my voice this time and I don't sound like an 80 year old woman that just smoked like 87 poxos. Yes. Cheers to that. Cheers to that.
00:02:12
Speaker
Also, but know in the same vein, did I tell you Mike and I watched The Lighthouse recently? Uh-uh. So it's by that same director. And we like his other movies, right? So I love The Witch, and I love The Northman a lot. That's the one with Robert Panson? Yeah. how Yeah, OK. I haven't seen that one.
00:02:35
Speaker
It's weird. All I'm going to, I'm just, I'm going to give it away. There's a lot more cum in this movie than I thought would be in this movie. No. Because this is Willem Dafoe. Yeah. And Robert Pattinson. Interesting. Okay. It is, I will say, I don't think I'll ever watch it again.
00:02:59
Speaker
But it was interesting. It definitely was interesting. And they did a really good job. like The actors, they did a really good job in it. And just that director, I swear to God, like i hate he's like a genius. like The just yeah visuals and stuff, it's just perfect in every movie. yeah i like if Also, which is, if you have not watched the Northman, you have got to watch that movie. It is so good and historically accurate. yeah It's so fucking good. We haven't watched it yet, but actually Anthony watched it and that's why I haven't watched it yet. He watched it on a plane.
00:03:33
Speaker
Me too. That's how I watched it. and then mike was like oh we got ah There's this movie that's come out recently. We should watch it because it's by that director we like. And I'm like, is it called The Northman? And he's just like, how how did you watch it? And I'm like, I've literally watched it. And he's just like, no, you didn't. And I'm like, I watched it on a plane.
00:03:53
Speaker
Oh, it was so good. It was so good. I already did so much research for that that I almost said show, but for that movie to make it like so historically accurate, which makes me excited to watch it eventually. Yes. And because a lot of Norse mythology style movies that are out there, they also lean very heavily in like a Christian connotation or like when you know that part in history where like Christianity first started coming into like yeah that area but they took all of that out like he did such a good job researching to where like there is no like Christian influences on any of the Norse mythology that I love it
00:04:35
Speaker
It is love it so good. It's really good. I heard like I read this article about him specifically, because we also really love his movies. And they were talking about how he does that for a lot of stuff that he works on. Even if it's just a minor thing, he puts so much time and effort into researching. And for that movie in particular, he brought a historian who specialized in that time period.
00:05:01
Speaker
in on it to help him like really make sure that it was accurate. ah Just amazing. We love somebody who really like put so much thought and effort into their art. I just love it.

Changing Trends in Movie Consumption

00:05:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I need to watch it still. Yes. You got to watch it. You're going to love it. And then you're going to see if it's on anything yet. I think I'm not sure. I'm not sure if we rented it for Mike to watch it. Yeah. Or if it was streaming somewhere.
00:05:31
Speaker
It might be like on prime or whatever, which is where we normally will rent stuff. Have you seen how expensive they've gotten? Yes, it is crazy. Our rent to movie, it's $20. Yep. And then you could buy it for like $35. Exactly. I'm like, why the fuck am I spending $20 to rent it?
00:05:49
Speaker
right? Yeah, we have been waiting for because we want to watch The Heretic that new movie with what's his face from Bridget Jones's diary and you know who I'm talking about Hugh Grant is that same Hugh Grant. We really want to watch that movie but to rent for the longest time it was $20. Now it is finally $5. Yeah. So we might I forget what Anthony wanted. Oh, he wanted to rent. He wants to see the movie Craven. And It's on Amazon for $20 to rent it. That's insane. And I think that's even crazier than that. They make you pay $35 to buy it, but you don't technically own it, right? like If amazon Amazon ever goes away, that's just money lost. You don't have that anymore. Yep. Which is why like I would never buy a movie digitally anymore. And like I will never do that. I will like pay for a TV subscription to
00:06:42
Speaker
watch as I please. And if it's no longer available anymore, I'm not going to watch it. But if I really want it, I will buy the fucking DVD because I'm not going to do that. Buy them digital digitally only if they're on sale.
00:06:54
Speaker
Like if it's like, because you know, Prime will sometimes do for Prime members, these movies are like discounted this month. If it's like $10 and under, then maybe we'll buy it if it's something we really want to watch. And we don't because we don't have a lot of DVDs. We got rid of most of them. The ones that we kept were mostly like Disney ones, like Disney movies that we love and stuff. Yeah. but For the most part, like we don't keep DVDs on hand. It just takes up my room. We have DVDs, but we keep them like... So whenever we were in England, because we just didn't have any space to store things, we got rid of all of the pieces. I bought like the sleeves. Oh, yeah. And then we have like a box that we keep... like a
00:07:38
Speaker
decorative box in our living room that goes behind the sofa console table. It fits in there. So it's like, out of sight, out of mind. You don't ever see it. But anyway. We're not talking about DVDs and movies. No, we're not. Sorry, guys. We just went on the whole

History and Basics of Cardomancy

00:07:56
Speaker
tangent there. But What are we talking about today? We're talking about Cardomancy. I'm excited. This was fun. I feel like we keep saying that in our episodes. Every time we started, we're like, this one was really fun. But I feel like we've picked like great topics so far this year, this season, whatever you want to call it. Because there are topics that, like most for the most part, like topics that I don't know anything about. So it's all like a new learning experience for me.
00:08:23
Speaker
right? Yeah. And I know like, so I've heard about cardamancing, or I've seen it like in movies or in whatnot, but I've never actually explored it myself. And so yeah, I think it's really cool. Yeah. And I'm sure we're gonna talk about it, obviously, because I know it's in my notes. But like, for our listeners that have never practiced any form of divination or tarot,
00:08:46
Speaker
this might be a good starting point for you because it's a little more black and white in like what the cards are versus like having to really like think about it and rely on your intuition for it. So yes for those of you that are interested, get your little notebook, take your little notes because this one might be a good one to start with.
00:09:04
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I 100% agree because it's like, especially if you're one of those people where you can't just like look for themes like in a tarot card and you're just like, okay, I don't know what I'm supposed to gather from this. What are all these symbols mean? This is the perfect thing for you. Let me just FY. And that's not like a dig or anything. That's just like... Sometimes, you know, there's some of us who we just think differently than other people, and that's okay. So this is also good for those of you that are not open about your practice, because it's just a regular deck of playing cards. You don't have to hide your tarot cards or your oracle cards or whatever, because everyone has a deck of playing cards, right?
00:09:44
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah. And this world is becoming a scary place. So this is a really safe means of practicing divination. I love that you brought that up because I forgot to mention that. So let's look into some background and some history of cardamancy.
00:10:00
Speaker
So cardamancy refers to any form of divination that uses cards. That's like the basic definition for it. So technically, if we are applying that definition, this would include tarot cards. However, the way it is usually defined in our society today is that it is an alternative divination method that uses a deck of playing cards in a similar way as tarot cards are used. using some intuition, but really relying on the energy of the universe to divine aspects of your life. Yeah, and just like with Tarot, you present your question to the cards. You pull the cards while allowing your subconscious to guide you through your reading. The term cartomancy was not actually coined until the end of the 18th century. When Jean-Baptiste Alliette started discussing what he deemed cartonomancy, which was later shortened to cartomancy,
00:10:50
Speaker
In the height of its popularity in the 18th century, a card game was actually created that was named Cardamancy Game for the Amusement of Ladies, which was basically just Cardamancy, but it was like, here you go, ladies, go play this game. yeah I thought it was kind of funny because I was like, oh, let's look at this game. And it was literally just practicing cardamancy. Right? Yeah. But they're like, it's almost like hidden in plain sight kind of thing, which I thought was hilarious. And according to astrologer J.C. Nova, cardamancy can be traced back to Europe as far as 1360, but it really rose to prominence between the 18th and 20th centuries. And in many cases, it's considered to be the first form of tarot.
00:11:34
Speaker
Hmm, and that's interesting too, because I remember when we first started talking about the history of tarot. We were talking about it in that it kind of started out as a card game. So it's like tying it right back into that because like a lot of the things that we've discussed on this podcast, the history isn't quite defined on things. It's just like someone says this and someone says that. But what we do know is that the use of playing cards in general became standard around the 14th century.

Cardomancy vs Tarot

00:12:01
Speaker
And it's not known though when those cards began being used to divine messages from spirits or messages associated with the future. But throughout history, there are myths surrounding some powerful leaders
00:12:15
Speaker
visiting Cardamancers for divination. So an example of this is Napoleon, who was rumored to seek guidance from Cardamancers regularly throughout his lifetime. And another myth surrounding Cardamancy was that in certain courts, it was used as a way to predict outcomes of trials, which I'm sorry, but I'm gonna need a fucking lawyer. I would like a jury of my peers. yeah because oh Could you imagine your life being in like the hands of the cards. Right. What if they read them wrong? Like, no, thank you. No, thank you. Can you see the legend here? Sorry. No, you're good. But seriously, that would be so terrifying. I could not imagine. While it's very similar to tarot, Cardamancy does come with its differences. To start, just in general, a tarot deck contains 78 cards where a standard deck of cards only has 52.
00:13:12
Speaker
Nova also shares that tarot cards have more of a magical quality to them and really help you when you're doing psychic or intuitive readings, while stating that playing cards are a much more black and white type of practice, meaning that there aren't hidden meanings that require you to rely on your intuition to guide you to those answers. Cardinal Mansi is really thought to be much easier for those who have never practiced before because it's very direct and you're able to think more on a literal plane rather than having to like really lean into your intuition to guide you.

Understanding Card Meanings in Cardomancy

00:13:46
Speaker
And all that being said, Cardomancy isn't necessarily better than Tarot or vice versa, but rather it's all going to come down to your personal preferences. So looking at the card meanings, each suit, just like in Tarot, has its own meanings and then each card also carries its own meaning. So when it comes to the suit of spades,
00:14:10
Speaker
Spades represents challenging tasks, struggles, or events that might be coming up in your future. And so going through each of these cards, the Ace of Spades represents endings and misfortune. It signifies a time of significant change. One thing will come to an end to make room for something new. For two, this is tough decisions, deceit, and or change, something that may cause division between you and a loved one or a friend.
00:14:40
Speaker
The three represent trouble in relationships, infidelity, or tears from a stressful situation involving bad news, indecision, fear, or even your job. Four is tied to illness, broken promises, or stability will soon return to your workplace or health, signaling that troubling times are almost over.
00:15:01
Speaker
The five of spades represents obstacles and difficulty, eventual success, signaling that you will soon be moving on and leaving behind what you currently know, like maybe a job, a relocation, or the end of a relationship. The six represents improvement, small wins, upswing, or it's a warning that fate will soon strike and impact you, your work, or your finances.
00:15:26
Speaker
Seven represents bad advice, grief, and or loss, especially in terms of a disagreement or a problem. The Eight of Spades represents deceit, danger, caution is advised, and indicates that obstacles at work may soon put you at a crossroads where you will need to make an important decision.
00:15:48
Speaker
Nine of spades represents bad luck, depression, and or anxiety. It could also indicate that there will soon be a loss or ending in your life, possibly the death of someone close to you. Ten represents bad news, worry, or imprisonment, which I was like, wow, that's extreme.
00:16:06
Speaker
Yeah, grief that may be the results of health problems or just general fear. Jack is an unpleasant or immature young person in some sources that I came across specified with black hair in this instance.
00:16:22
Speaker
It could also represent a negative person in your life that may betray you or may be holding you back. Queen of spades is a woman or a widow and again here some sources say with dark hair. It can be representative of a cruel woman who is extremely manipulative or malicious. The king represents a selfish but ambitious older man.
00:16:46
Speaker
again, specifying dark hair in some sources. It represents an authoritative man who may create trouble in a relationship. So for me, when I was doing the research of the two suits that I was like, I'll just do these two.
00:17:00
Speaker
spades was like doom and gloom and hearts was like we're happy and loving and i was like wow like doing all the spades i was like god these are all he like horrible and then i got to the party i was like um here all right so the suit of hearts are centered around feelings family home love and relationships so ace of hearts represents new beginnings, relationships, marriage, friendships, job opportunities, or even just good news for yourself or someone close to you. Two of hearts represents good fortune in love and relationships. It signifies a union of the hearts and it means that it's time to spend quality time with your loved ones. Three means to be cautious of your relationships
00:17:44
Speaker
It's also tied to being the third wheel representing indecision or lack of commitment in a relationship. Four is representative of change or travel is on the horizon.
00:17:56
Speaker
It also signifies a stable, secure, and committed romantic relationship or marriage. Five of hearts, someone in your life is jealous, or major changes coming to your home or your family. It could signify divorce, a loved one moving away, or even a new home. Six represents a surprise new love interest, a time of peace and harmony,
00:18:18
Speaker
where you can work well with others to achieve your goals and overcome your obstacles. Seven is tied to broken promises, a partner or friend who is not dependable and will probably let you down. Eight is tied to visitors and invitations or an upcoming social event that will provide you with important business or even romantic connections with someone that you meet there.
00:18:40
Speaker
Nine is considered the wish card, meaning your wish will likely come true if this card is drawn. It could also mean that someone is wishing for more in like a relationship or having a baby or taking their relationship to the next level. Ten is tied to good fortune or news is coming. Probably at a large gathering of people likely a large event like a wedding or a party, which I thought was interesting that it's like Some of these going through it, they're so specific. Like when I was reading the ones that are like dark hair, and we're going to talk about some here in a like a few seconds where that it's like blonde hair specifically or like at a wedding or an event. Like they keep it so specific in these cards. They really do. So the jack of hearts can represent a good friend or a young person
00:19:32
Speaker
and some sources specify specifically a blonde person. This could also signify a lover or your best friend. When it shows up in a reading with the Queen of Hearts, it signifies a couple. The Queen of Hearts represents a kind woman Again, some specifying a blonde woman here. A female lover or ah even a fantasy, which could mean marriage, or it could represent a mother or a pregnant woman. The King of Hearts is a helpful man, and again, with the blonde being represented in some sources here. It could mean good advice. It represents an influential man who is romantic and affectionate, but also emotional. And in some instances, it represents a father.

How to Practice Cardomancy

00:20:16
Speaker
So moving on to clubs. Clubs represents positive things that are coming in the near future. So Ace of Clubs represents financial fortune, wealth, good news, happiness, and the possibility of a new business venture. The two of clubs represents challenges, a new social or business correspondence that may lead to gossip from people who mean you harm or just don't like you. Right.
00:20:39
Speaker
I know, right? Three of clubs represents a wealthy partner, a successful marriage, advancements, or just growth in general. Four of clubs represents deceit or betrayal, potentially by a trusted friend or a change for the worse. We hate that. Five of clubs represents new friends and support or a change in your work or social situation. Or it could also mean marital success.
00:21:04
Speaker
The six of clubs represents success and prosperity, financial help, improvement, progress on goals, or a completion of a goal, whether that be a business goal or a social goal. Seven of clubs represent success in business, changes, and potential trouble from a romantic partner.
00:21:23
Speaker
The Eight of Clubs represents trouble or difficulty in business, love, and personal relationships. Nine of Clubs represents a new admirer or opportunities and a warning against stubbornness. Ten of Clubs represents unexpected money, good fortune, travel, that also could be related to business. The Jack of Clubs represents a reliable and trusted dark-haired male friend who is usually young.
00:21:49
Speaker
The Queen of Clubs represents a dark-haired, helpful, and confident woman, usually a colleague, who is helpful and charming. And the King of Clubs represents a dark-haired, strong older man who is kind, honest, and loving.
00:22:04
Speaker
yeah Yeah, some of those were some really great positive cards. The others were kind of like, I don't know. 50-50. I had like, doom and gloom, happy and love. You had a 50-50. Yeah. Let's see what this last one brings. So the diamonds, the suit of diamonds are all about money and finances. Makes sense. Yeah, makes sense, right? Diamonds. I'll take that.
00:22:31
Speaker
Yeah. So the Ace of Diamonds represents a gift often of jewelry, a letter or message, improvement or new beginnings, and it can also indicate the beginning of an energy working. The Two of Diamonds represents disapproval of a relationship or affair, and it could also indicate making or receiving a payment. Three of Diamonds represents legal trouble, domestic arguments or family issues, teamwork, poor focus and instability.
00:22:58
Speaker
Four of diamonds represents unexpected money, inheritance, a gift, gaining financial stability, trust, and improvement. Five of diamonds represents positive energy, improvement, success in business, and a happy home life. Six of diamonds represents troubles, disagreements, poor communication, jealousy, relationship troubles, and or problems in a second marriage.
00:23:22
Speaker
which is very oddly specific. like Guesses of your second marriage is just be careful if you draw that. Seven of diamonds represents confusion, challenges, or problems at work. Eight of diamonds represents surprise, romance, or maybe travel later in life, and it could also indicate planning travel with caution. Nine of diamonds represents a new business opportunity, unexpected money, or changes and success.
00:23:49
Speaker
The Ten of Diamonds represents financial prosperity and good fortune, success and positive change. And the Jack of Diamonds represents an unreliable or dishonest young person with light hair, and this person might be a family member.
00:24:03
Speaker
The queen of diamonds represents an outgoing or flirtatious and successful woman with light hair. And the king of diamonds represents an accomplished older man of influence with light hair who is stubborn and reliable. I love when you look up tarot and like the meanings of tarot cards, there are general themes, but sometimes those card meanings vary from deck to deck.
00:24:30
Speaker
Yes, like it won't always be the same. And I love that I went to multiple sources for the two that I covered. And outside of like just adding dark hair, blonde hair, for the most part, they were exact. Yep. Or it would be like and just missing one like jealousy, the word jealousy or something like that. But the theme and the meaning of the card was that and so this is why I think for someone who's just starting or if you've tried tarot and it just didn't it feel right to you this would be good because you could like put your question out there and then as you're turning the card these meanings are so specific so it would make it easier for someone who might struggle with that like broader
00:25:16
Speaker
tarot sense where the themes sometimes are similar, but they change. They're not like the same from deck to deck. This is like consistently the same across all sources that I went through. So yeah, same.
00:25:29
Speaker
I liked it about Cardomancy specifically, like about that. Because sent like you said earlier, some people don't, you know, most people don't think the same, but like some of us think more literal, some of us can lean into that intuition and let it guide us a little more, or we can look for patterns or, you know, things like that. And if you're on the side that you you need a more literal sense, this is the perfect option, I think.
00:25:55
Speaker
So moving on ah to practicing Cardomancy. For those of our listeners that want to practice Cardomancy, here's some things to keep in mind. Just like with any practice within your craft, you need to be able to set the tone, have a clutter-free space full of positive energy, make sure you cleanse your space and remove any of the stagnant or negative energy from your space,
00:26:16
Speaker
Set your intention prior to a cardomancy reading to make sure that you aren't projecting personal emotions into the reading and keeping your reading more clear and unbiased. It's also great to work with the lunar cycle when practicing cardomancies. Working with the energies of the moon can really lend an extra oomph to your readings So think of instances like a new moon for new beginnings, a full moon for resolving old issues so that you can move forward, etc. And shameless plug and shout out to Sam and our monthly newsletter where she includes those dates for the various cycles of the moons and so much more.
00:26:55
Speaker
Yes, put a lot of thought and effort into our newsletter. really do It's so cute. I read it. I read our newsletter. like a subscriber I'm like, oh, thank you. Yeah, thank you. Yeah.
00:27:10
Speaker
Yeah and as with preparing your space and doing the reading it's also really important to make sure that you're caring for your cards because again as we know everything can be magical and everything is affected by energy. So it's recommended to keep your cards in a cloth bag or a wrap when you aren't using them. You could also place them inside of a wooden box like we see oftentimes with tarot cards and you can store them with a crystal known for cleansing and purification whether this be wrapped inside the cloth or in the wooden box or even just placed on top of your altar with the crystal on top of it. And these crystals that could be used in this instance would be like quartz, amber, seraphinite, and amethyst. And just like with Tarot, you can use a ton of different spreads with cardamancy and just a couple to get you started. The three card spread, which is the past, present, future,
00:28:06
Speaker
This offers a snapshot of your timeline. You simply draw three cards, one for past, one for present, one for future, and reflect on how they resonate with you and your journey. And the other one is the nine card spread. So you're going to lay out nine cards in a three by three grid. Each row represents different aspects. And some examples of this could be like past, present, and future, mind, body, and spirit, situation, action, and outcome.
00:28:34
Speaker
Once all the cards are laid out and you've determined what each row now represents, you'll start to reflect on the card's meanings for like those aspects for you. And you could literally use any tarot spread or just however you want like you want to toss them down. And

Conclusion and Further Engagement

00:28:49
Speaker
that's what it is. That's what it is. like There's no rules. These are just guidelines. Yes. You can even just ask yes or no questions and draw a card and see what it says and yeah base it off of events and odds. or certain suits or so. Yeah. How fun was it? I love how not that it's like easy, but it's more simplified. I feel like this version of divination is more simplified than tarot or Oracle, where you have to really rely on thinking about what that means to you and like the theme of that particular card or like its general meaning for that deck, because again, every deck changes. So
00:29:32
Speaker
I like that it it simplifies it, but not like dumbs it down. Yeah, sounds great.
00:29:52
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser Where You're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you love this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a 5 star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser Where You're Doing Witchcraft.
00:30:15
Speaker
There you can purchase a membership to our podcast and obtain exclusives like any episodes early, shoutouts on the show,