playing cards Archives - Empowered Cardology

Oct 31 2018

Ten of Diamonds – The Most Blessed Card

The Ten of Diamonds is called The Most Blessed Card…but just how blessed is blessed and what exactly does that mean? What is it like to BE the most blessed?

I think about this card a lot because it was my mom’s birth card. I also know several other 10 of diamonds. When I look at their lives, I don’t really see a life that is super blessed. My mom’s wasn’t a pleasant journey, for sure. She died when she was 45 and the years leading up to her death were spent alone, in a chair, paralyzed and unable to talk.

So, let’s dig in and take a look at this card, shall we?

The reason it is called The Most Blessed card is because it sits in the very center of the Solar Spread at Jupiter and Jupiter.

I call Jupiter Santa Claus because it is the benevolent, prosperous, happy, expansive and BIG planet. Jupiter teaches us that life is good, to have faith and is the lifter of spirits.

Ten cards are, at their core, all about success…and mean, “lots of…” Lots of love and creativity (hearts) lots of ideas and knowledge (clubs), lots of financial rewards (diamonds) and lots of work and wisdom (spades).

Tens also represent the Ace going from the self to the Divine. It’s a masculine energy.
Here is where being a 10 of diamonds can actually be a difficult path for some – the abundance of masculine energy.

The Life spread of the 10 of diamonds has:
Moon – 10♥
Mercury – 8♠
Venus – A♥
Mars – A♦
Jupiter – Q♦
Saturn – 5♥
Uranus – 3♣
Neptune – 3♠
Pluto – 9♥

There are two 10’s and two Aces in the Life Spread. Aces and Tens are masculine and this life path has a lot of masculine energy.

And how about Jupiter? A few facts: Not only is it the biggest planet, it reigns over four moons the size of Mercury way out there in it’s own domain, radiating a massive amount of energy. Jupiter isn’t a warring energy like Mars, it is radiating out in a big way, sending the energy of faith; faith that life is worth living and is good.

Let’s go back to Santa Claus and the metaphor of delivering gifts – leaving them in secret, to be discovered…and accepted. That’s Jupiter. Sending out gifts, leaving them on our doorstep – but, we have to open the door and receive them.
Masculine energy isn’t known for receiving- that is feminine.

Faith is also about receiving. The faith that Jupiter wants to give us isn’t the religious kind. It’s not about faith that God exists or living in blind faith the way most religions demand. It’s the natural faith in the existence of good, of happiness, of joy, of abundance. That as divine beings living a human experience, we, at our core, are meant to live with good, happiness, joy and abundance.

The diamonds suit doesn’t only represent money or finances, but the world (reality) we are building based on what we value. If we value loyalty, we build (create) a reality of loyalty.
The ten of diamonds is success at building lots of (what we value), but to do that, we have to believe in that success; to have faith that it is possible. We have to be open to receive the gifts, the good, the happiness, the joy and the abundance that the Universe wants to deliver to us.

So, it seems like a contradiction, right? To have a card that is so masculine need to be open to receiving (feminine).

That is the life path of the ten of diamonds person. To learn to be more open, to receiving, to seeing life as good and worthwhile. To use all that masculine energy to radiate out (like Jupiter) joy and expansiveness.

Is it that easy? NO.

Looking back at the cards in the spread of the ten of diamonds, we see a lot of uneven numbers, which indicates a not-so-easy life.
The only even numbered card is the 8 of spades. While that card is one of will-power and can indicate power in material accomplishment, the low-side is to be overly focused on material accomplishment and to use that power as abuse. Being in the Mercury position, it can indicate having a parent or childhood where someone was materialistic or made work the focus, or was abusive/controlling.
The eight is also a masculine energy and more akin to a warring energy.

A five as a Saturn card creates challenges because fives are an unstable, restless and sometimes chaotic energy.
They have two 3 cards – the cards of a lot of creative energy that can overwhelm and cause one to always seek variety or be stuck, unable to make a decision or stick to any one thing.
A 9 in pluto speaks to issues of loss and needing to transform with endings.
Sounds awful, right? How can a difficult spread be the path of the most blessed card?

It seems contradictory until we look at what the 10 of diamonds person came to do and BE (and teach all of us) about HOW we can achieve the blessings the Universe has for us.

If they are living the low side of their life spread, there are issues of power, restlessness, selfishness and issues with their love life.

I don’t know a lot about my mom, because she never shared her feelings. She was gregarious and everyone loved her (she was an Aquarius). She did have a lot of masculine energy, being into the outdoors, horses (she was a barrel racer) and breeding/raising/showing collies.
She wasn’t motherly, nurturing or a homemaker and wanted to be a veterinarian, but sadly was told as a woman she couldn’t do that.

As an Aquarius and with the 5 of hearts in Saturn, she needed personal freedom and that was taken away from her by my father.

The saving grace and ‘balancing’ energies for the 10 of diamonds is the three Queens in their life spread. They have the Queen of diamonds as their Jupiter card. This card shows where their blessings will come from. The Q of diamonds knows how to make money, but she uses it to be of service to her community. (Another feminine aspect)

The Karma Cards of the 10 of diamonds are Queens

The Karma cards of the 10 of diamonds are: First Karma card – Queen of Clubs. This card shows what they need to learn and achieve in this life, which is to trust and use their intuition. This means they have to be open to receiving those psychic messages.

Their second Karma card is the Queen of Spades. This is a gift from a past life and it indicated a life of self-mastery via inner wisdom and tapping into that feminine aspect.

This speaks to the 10 of diamonds person needing to balance all that masculine energy and being open to receive.

All of the life paths represented by each card have their low side, regardless of how easy or successful the life path is meant to be.
I know mine felt very unsuccessful until I learned to live the high (and beneficial ) aspects of being a 6♣.

What I love about Cardology is what it teaches us about life as divine beings living a human life.

While masculine energy is important and necessary to keep us moving forward and expanding (Jupiter wants us to reach out, seek and expand!) we can’t ignore the importance of the feminine – to being open to receiving, to going inward to master our reality, not in selfishness, but to tap into our heart/divine wisdom to create the successful life we desire.

The 10 of Diamonds life path beautifully represents how we need to balance the masculine and feminine. We need to assert and reach out, to expand and BE all we want to be. We also need to be open to receiving the bounty the Universe CAN and WANTS to supply us.

The 10 cards reflect the Universe ( each card does) and they reveal that the Universe is “Lots of…”, and chooses success. The 10 of diamonds represents the lots of joy and goodness that life really is comprised of, but when we act in a selfish, overly-independent, prideful, controlling way, forego our creativity and only focus on material gains and not our inner self-mastery, life can feel joyless, difficult and lonely.

I can’t speak to why my mom and my father chose to be together in this life. He was her Uranus and Neptune card and was a big part in her experiencing abuse, control/power issues and he stood in the way of others caring for/giving to her. I wish I could peek behind the curtain and understand why she lived such a short life that was unhappy, but knowing more about the 10 of diamonds life path helps me see that she was here to learn to receive, to experience how to balance the masculine and feminine, to nurture and be nurtured.

The Ten of Diamonds is most blessed because it represents all the potential, prosperity, and success that we as humans can achieve – but we have to understand that it isn’t gained by closing ourselves off or aggressively forcing it. A balance of masculine & feminine is needed as well as the faith that it is all possible!

Do you know any 10 of diamonds? What has their life been like?

When you have the 10 0f diamonds in your forecast (or spread) ask what is holding you back from your blessings – is it that you don’t believe it can happen or are you trying to force it all by yourself?

Sep 27 2018

Cardology vs. Tarot vs. Oracle Cards

Is Cardology Like Tarot? Oracle cards?

How is it different?

As a weekly Reader at a metaphysical store in Asheville, many times someone will sit across from me and expect to experience something similar to a Tarot reading. Granted, all Tarot readers have their own style and way of reading and even how they interact with the client, but for the most part, they do a spread of cards and start talking about what they see. Sometimes the client shares what is going on, sometimes they sit quietly and see if what they came to talk about is indeed the topic the Reader focuses on.

Cardology is more similar to Astrology or even Numerology in that it focuses on what you have going on currently in your blueprint. (Your yearly forecast)

It is a system that is based on your birthday and is unique to you, not a random draw. (I don’t believe tarot draws are random- my distinction is on a forecast verses a spread draw in the moment.)

That said, the playing cards can be used in so many ways, just like tarot or oracle cards can.

When I do a reading at Raven & Crone, I pull up the client’s current forecast (and I can look forward or backwards in years for further insights) and I do a 3-card spread to go along with it.

This lets me see what energies are at play in their lives and typically what they are dealing with is evident in their forecast. The 3-card draw lets me give them specific insights into what they are needing in that moment.

This is one of the many reasons I love Cardology. The forecast can show the broad generalities, while a spread in the moment can pinpoint specifics.

When using the playing deck as divination, first insights (intuitive guidance) is important.

When I learned to read the Tarot, I was taught to use the first thing in the images that popped out at me. Especially with all the beautifully illustrated decks out today, the overload of imagery can be…well…an overload and hard to narrow the focus of the meaning of the card.

How can you interpret a card that just has a number and a suit? is a common question when one begins to delve into using the cards.

Of course, each card has a basic meaning just like each tarot card does, but without images to pull from, does each card only mean that basic interpretation?

No. It has its low side, its high side, where it sits in the Earth spread and where it sits in the Spiritual spread.

As a Reader, just as you intuitively feel what symbol or part of the tarot card image to focus on, it is the same when reading the playing deck.

A Queen of Hearts can be about being a Mother, it can be about romance, great sex, sensuality, taking care of and nurturing yourself or over-indulging in fantasies or an addiction.

So when that card shows up-what do I focus on for the client?

Obviously, I take into account the other cards and their forecast because it invariably connects and I can see the whole picture at play, but I might clearly see when that Q♥ pops up that the client needs to take care of and nurture themselves and that is what I will talk about.

The deck can be used just like any Oracle deck

Before I knew about the Forecasting system of Cardology, I would draw a card each morning and journal about its basic meaning and how that applied to my life. I noticed a pattern emerging. I was dealing with issues around stability, loyalty and faithfulness and for days on end, I would draw a 4 card. I even got so sick of drawing a 4 card that I threw the whole deck on the floor in anger and guess what? All the cards landed face down accept one – a four card.

That happened many times during the years that I used the cards as divination. I needed to truly understand the card, work on that situation in my life, change an erroneous belief and THEN that card would stop showing up!

I’ve used the cards as an oracle game

One of my favorite things to do is to use the dice from Rory’s Story Cubes.

I do this when I feel I need to take action on something but I’m unclear on what ‘to do.’ While I have the whole collection, for inquiring on an action, I use the Action cubes.

I randomly pick a cube from the Action cubes (from a bag, so I’m not seeing them) and toss it onto my printed sheet of the Earth Spread and see where it lands.

This has given me such cool insights!

This kind of divination puts our creativity function in gear.

I asked the question: What can I DO to help increase my finances?

I drew a cube and tossed it on the sheet for the Earth spread.

You can see what cube and where it landed.

I laughed when I saw the results. The cube was an image of someone taking another by the hand and leading them. The card it landed on was the 2 of hearts – the card of heart connection.

It said to me to put more time into one-on-one and Coaching/Readings work as that allows me to make deep connections and work closely with others.

Our brains will make connections where connections don’t seem likely and come up with an answer for us.

In the same way that you can ‘play’ with tarot cards with creative spreads, you can incorporate most anything and play with the regular deck for unique and creative divination. Even drawing an oracle card to go along with a regular deck draw for an added layer of understanding.

Of course now when I play any regular card games (I’m a lover of Canasta!), it is hard for me to just see the cards as cards…I always see a story playing out!

I love learning how other readers work with the cards.

Do you have a creative way to work with the cards? Please share with me!

Jul 23 2018

What would it be like to know the energy between you and your children when they were born?

I didn’t know about Cardology when my kids were little. But one thing I get to do now is to observe the kids of my kid’s friends (I’ve yet to become a grandma!) and look to see what the relationship is between the parents and their new little ones.

I recently looked at the cards of the newest arrival to a young couple my daughter went to college with. It is always fascinating to me to see the family dynamics according to the cards and then watch it play out as the kids grow up!

This family has been especially fun to watch. I wish I could post pics to show their cuteness, but I don’t want to intrude upon their privacy, so will just share the relationships as told by their cards.

Mom is a 2♦/6♣

Dad is a K♣/4♥

Oldest daughter is a 9♥/9♦

(One of the interesting things about this is that my oldest daughter is a 9♥/9♦ and she and the oldest of the young couple have a very special bond.)

Baby #2 for this couple is a 6♦/5♦.

Here are the card relationships:

Baby is the Mars card for Mom (the 6♦ is the Mars card for a 2♦) This makes baby someone who can either trigger mom to anger a lot or be a catalyst for motivating mom towards her passions or even just to get sh*t done!

It will be a dynamic, action-oriented relationship for sure. The interesting thing here is that a 2♦ person can get very caught up in trying to decide between career (or having enough money) and doing what they love. That 6♦ is about financial responsibility and as a Mars card, it motivates them to get fixated on the bottom line of their finances, sometimes to the point of that being their main focus instead of enjoyment or their true happiness.

Baby is also a Mars relationship to Dad’s ruling card, so he will also feel the trigger of anger or motivation with this child.

Dad and baby have a mutual Mercury between his birth card and her ruling card, so they will easily communicate (which will help that Mars energy!)

Dad and oldest daughter also have a mutual Mercury.

Mom and baby have a mutual Venus between her birth card and baby’s ruling card and as well, a Venus between Mom’s ruling card and baby’s ruling card.

Venus between parent and child makes it a very close, loving energy and since it is ‘mutual’ both will feel that same creative, easy, loving energy.

As a Cardologer, if I was doing a relationship reading for this family, I would say that because there is both Mars and Venus energy playing out – that any anger/triggers that Mom might feel, she needs to check in and see if her child is playing out a want or expressing a desire that Mom is suppressing and the ‘anger/frustration’ is acting as an indicator of a need for Mom to LIVE her passions and not suppress them. (This is a very common dynamic that parent/children tend to play out!)

Let’s look at the relationship between the two kids (sisters):

Big sister’s ruling card is the First Karma card of little sister. Oh my! This means that big sister is actually learning to BE/Have or DO what little sister represents as a 5♦! Big sister is here in this life to give to little sister!

Now, we don’t always like or feel comfortable with those who are our first karma card because it is what we are striving to become- it is an aspect we are trying to achieve in this life and it moves us out of our comfort zone and into uncomfortable and sometimes scary territory!

The sister’s have a Venus relationship as big sisters’ Venus card is the ruling card of little sister and there is also a mutual Venus between big sister’s ruling card and little sister’s birth card. So, other than the karma relationship, these two will be close and have a very loving relationship.

Mom and Dad have a mutual Jupiter and Mom is Dad’s Uranus card. A mutual Jupiter means they provide blessings and gifts to one another. A Uranus relationship means it can be a close bond as long as he allows her to be herself.

This is a family that is very close-knit as is commonly expressed. If we look at their cards in the Spiritual Spread (where we find indicators of past lives together), we see a lot of connections there. They have been traveling together through time and space as souls!

I now get to watch this all play out.

I did use the Astrology knowledge I had when my kids were growing up, but if I had known what I know now about the relationships between me and my kids via Cardology, I could’ve made better choices in how I related to my kids.

Just because kids are born to the same parents does not make each child the same in how they view, react and navigate through life! If, as parents, we better understood how they will navigate through life, we can help them create the environment to empower them and not try to force them to see life the same way we do!

In my next post, I continue this topic with another twist to card/family dynamics: What if the cards say family members have a Venus (Love) or Jupiter (blessings and gifts) and everything looks like thy will be close and supportive…but, (as in the case of my biological family) it is far from close and loving?

Every energy has its dark and its light, its positive and its negative…what if that family is caught in the opposite of the Venus love (which is fear)?

Feb 02 2016

8 Reasons To Awaken Your Venus

It’s February! We know what that means, right? The stores are exploding in red and pink and we are either dreading that middle of the month date, or trying to come up with a plan…

Whether we avoid, hate or love Valentine’s day, are single, married or it’s complicated, there is one topic that all of us are always focused on and that is our relationships.

That brings me to the topic of the planet Venus.

I’m going to be exploring the planet of love, beauty and art all month – and how she can help us with our relationships. All relationships – with ourselves, our friends, our family, co-workers and yes, even our lovers and spouses.

What about our relationship with our creativity? And with our fans/followers as a Creative? Yep, that too.

The reason I’m discussing the planet of Venus is because she is all about what we love, what we are attracted to, how we relate to others, what brings us joy and what turns us on.

Knowing our soul stats (I call all of the information that astrology, numerology and the cards gives us, our soul stats) – and in this case our Venus stats- (our Venus cards/sign and house) helps us not only with our relationships, but also with our creativity. She is what inspires us and what helps us attract those things we desire into our life.

We each have a Venus card in our birth card spread. That card lets us know more about ourselves in the area of love, attraction, our sociability, what gives us pleasure, what brings us joy and how we connect (or don’t connect) to all the people in our lives.

Relationships, our sensuality, our attraction, how we see beauty and art and all the feminine/receptive aspects of who we are is covered under Venus. We can learn a lot from her about ourselves and those we love by understanding and utilizing our Venus stats.

Instead of dreading this month, why not use it to discover more about yourself and those you love – how to relate to them better and how to enjoy your life more, because when you are enjoying life, more joy comes to you!

How connected are you to your Venus?

Are your passions lying under the weight of familial expectations?

Do you embrace what lights you up – or go along with the projections placed on you by those you love?

Our Venus is there to help us be authentic. To truly understand and embrace that which lets us shine.

There is a lot that She can help us with.

Here are 8 reason why you should awaken your Venus:

Understand, own and embrace your true beauty and genuinely let it show
Magnetizing yourself so you attract your true desires
Owning and enjoying your true erotic and sensual nature (and healing any wounds to those parts)
Know how to let others in your life understand and value what you need, want and desire
Seriously making your needs and pleasures a priority with no guilt attached
Waking up to what inspires you so you can play with and romance your creativity
Heal, restore and enhance all of your relationships
Own, use and be illuminated by your feminine nature

If you don’t know what sign your Venus is in, you can get a free astrological chart here.

If you don’t know your Venus card, you can get my free chart to see what the cards are in your birth card spread here.

I’ll be sharing more details in upcoming posts about each Venus sign and card – so stay tuned!

Aug 28 2015

How Cardology Changed My Life

Within our playing cards is a system to allow us a better understanding of who we are authentically.

I truly believe that when we are in need and we ask for help, we always get an answer.

We’re suddenly drawn to something and it leads us down a path that happens to hold what we need.

Let’s face it – I was a weird kid. I was very shy and always felt that I was in the wrong place – that I didn’t belong.

Add to that was the fact that I grew up on the Navajo reservation and was the only blonde, white girl in my class at school.

I bugged my parents by telling them my dreams each morning and I would gather up all of my Dad’s theology/Bible study books and study. Picture a 6 year old sitting out under a tree with piles of thick bible books all around her.

I had this intense desire to gather information about deep stuff. I also suffered from intense anxiety and depression as a small child. I still have a suicide note from when I was seven.

I’m not telling you this so you’ll feel sorry for me. It is merely to set the scene for what was a very long, lonely journey at trying to figure out who I was and why I felt as I did.

There was a point in my life where I knew I needed to start a spiritual journey that was mine-not what my parents thought best, not what I was raised to do, not what society saw as best, but my own personal journey. Because of my depression, I was searching for anything to help me out of the very dark pit I lived in.

I won’t go into the long story of that journey, but one thing led to another and I began studying my dreams, then creative journaling, the Runes, then the Tarot.

I discovered that metaphysics was my passion. I devoured all the various topics and was the constant seeker.

Studying Astrology and Numerology let me get a glimpse into my soul stats and it helped a lot.

But I noticed that I was very drawn to the deck of regular playing cards. I wasn’t sure why I found them so intriguing (I’m talking about beyond playing fun card games). I actually saw each one as a person with certain traits.

Fast forward many years and I had an online friend who ‘read’ playing cards. It was my first introduction to the art of reading them in the same way someone would read the tarot.

I began to study them by corresponding them to the tarot.

I found my first book about how we each have a birth card and something opened up for me. My study of Astrology and Numerology came together in the system of the cards.

Suddenly, so much made sense. When I looked at my Birth card, the 6♣, and added that to my Life path number 11….I understood why I thought I was so weird!

I won’t bore you with the deets of the core of me, but it all made sense. I could own who I was and see that the very deep, hidden desire I’d had since childhood about being a spiritual teacher was indeed who I am.

Another push of the fast forward button and at another very dark time in my life, I sequestered myself and decided to draw a single card each day and see what message it had for me. This began my work with using the cards to tap into what was really going on at a deeper, spiritual level. I created my own system and exercises to understand what I needed to let go of, heal and change in order to get through the dark space I was in and to create the life I really wanted.

My study of the cards went deeper and I made discoveries about myself that opened new paths, brought new friends into my life, information and opportunities that helped me out of that dark space.

This was prior to learning that we each have a spread of cards that changes on each birthday and is part of a very in-depth ancient system that acts as a guide, a roadmap, a pattern of energies that helps us navigate each year and make the best of it.

I began a new study – I called it Soulmancing, then later discovered others who were Readers and Teachers and that there was even an Association for it and it is being called Cardology . In the system we have a Life Path spread, a Yearly Forecast and even daily cards to navigate, plan and reach our goals. It helped me to understand why certain things were happening, to no longer feel like a victim and to benefit from what was going on.

It changed my life.

It helped me to understand why certain relationships in my life were as they were, why I felt certain challenges and how I could make what seemed like a disaster into something helpful and rewarding.

It reduced my anxiety, gave me skills to combat confusing situations and allowed me to heal things I had been struggling with my whole life.

I no longer suffer from depression or anxiety and I’ve found my path, my purpose and I am genuinely happy!

Not a day goes by that I don’t refer to the cards in some way- by seeing what someone’s birth card is so I get a better understanding of them, to planning my next steps, or even as an inspirational prompt for my creative journaling.

They might seem so simple and insignificant since we all have used them at some point for games, but their history is fascinating and the layers and depth of wisdom within this system is truly amazing!

Within our playing cards is a system to allow us a better understanding of who we are authentically.

This is the key to changing your life and feeling that you’re on the right path and that it has meaning and purpose.

Change always begins from the inside. Living a life with meaning and fulfillment starts when you live as YOU – authentically.

I’m still weird. I love the woo-woo stuff. But now I know that I DO belong and my weirdness is not a curse; I know why I went through the dark times. It has led me here to work I love, to living in a place I love and to knowing how to see life with new eyes.