Little School of Divination: NOTHING WITHOUT INTUITION!

In cartomancy—that is, the practice of divining fate through cards—there are dozens of different methods for laying out and interpreting the cards. Every one of these methods is valid, provided it suits the person performing the reading.

Besides knowing the individual meaning of each card, it is essential to understand how to “connect” neighboring cards, allowing them to complement and enrich the interpretation of unfolding events. In short, these are the fundamental principles of card reading. However, while virtually every book on cartomancy explains card meanings and spreads, almost none of them mention the most important aspect: you must establish a personal connection with every single card before the deck can truly become an effective divinatory tool in your hands.

From the moment you acquire a divination deck until the day it begins to produce meaningful results, some time will inevitably pass. Put simply, owning a deck of cards does not automatically make you a fortune teller, a diviner, or a card reader. Everything requires time, and this is no exception. Experience is what gradually makes each of us better at what we do.

Believe me, every experienced card reader has gone through exactly the same stage:

You have just bought your deck. You are excited and eager to begin reading the cards. You shuffle them carefully, cut the deck into two piles, place the bottom half on top, and lay the cards out before you. Then… silence. You stare at them. You feel confused. Next, you try to interpret the spread by following the meanings in a book. That doesn't seem to work very well either. Eventually, you reach the point where you begin to think that the whole thing is pointless.

In reality, this experience is not a bad sign at all. It simply confirms that you are a beginner at the start of a long journey, so do not allow yourself to become discouraged. Instead, see it as a challenge. With practice, your readings will become increasingly accurate and insightful, while at the same time you will develop your own empirical understanding of the cards. Almost without realizing it, you will gradually leave behind many of the textbook interpretations that you once relied on so heavily and replace them with your own insights—interpretations that better reflect your intuition, experience, and personal approach to card reading.

One rule, however, should never be ignored: never force yourself to read the cards. If you do not feel inspired, if your mind is elsewhere, or if you simply have no desire to perform a reading at that moment, don't do it. If you ignore this golden rule, you will end up saying meaningless things, confusing your client, or even leading them toward false conclusions and misguided beliefs.

Fortune-telling cards, regardless of their type or name, are merely symbolic images whose purpose is to awaken and activate your intuition—that mysterious faculty that defies the laws of science and reaches beyond the boundaries of time.

GOOD AND BAD CARDS – IS THERE REALLY SUCH A THING?

It is interesting how we tend to develop an emotional relationship with our cards. Some become our favorites, while others inspire a certain degree of uneasiness. I must admit that I have a deep affection for my fortune-telling cards. Besides their beautiful illustrations, they bring me a subtle sense of peace, and whenever I look at them, I simply allow my intuition to guide me.

Remember this: whenever you experience a quiet yet deeply reassuring feeling that seems to flow from your mind down to the pit of your stomach—a feeling free from doubt—that is your intuition speaking. Listen to it. However, learn to distinguish it from the deceptive sensation that arises when we mistake our hopes and desires for intuition. That is not intuition; it is self-deception. Intuition cannot be summoned at will, but if you remain focused and genuinely seek its guidance, it will reveal the path in its own time.

For example, there are occasions when I lay out the cards but feel no inspiration to interpret them. In those moments, I simply leave the spread exactly as it is on the table. My mind remembers the arrangement, and sooner or later my intuition awakens naturally—without pressure or force. On other occasions, however, there is no need to wait for inspiration at all. The cards can simply be interpreted according to their meanings. For example: Letter – Bag – Journey – Gain. The prediction would be: after receiving a message, whether written or delivered by telephone, you pack your bag and set off on a journey that brings you benefit, success, or profit.

I have noticed that many people instinctively fear the Misfortune card because they automatically associate its name with every possible negative outcome. Yet this card often represents nothing more than failure in a particular endeavor or reflects the seeker's emotional condition: they feel discouraged, unhappy, or emotionally drained. On the other hand, the Happiness card immediately evokes positive feelings, although it can actually be quite deceptive. More often than not, its role is simply to soften or improve the negative meaning of a neighboring card, and that is often the extent of its contribution to the reading.

I do not subscribe to the belief that there are inherently good or bad cards. A so-called “negative” card, such as Quarrel, cannot truly be considered bad if that disagreement ultimately resolves a long-standing problem or releases pent-up frustrations within a romantic relationship, a family, or the workplace. My advice is not to rush into labeling cards as either positive or negative. Instead, examine each one from different perspectives and through its symbolism. By doing so, you will deepen your understanding of the cards and become capable of offering remarkably accurate, insightful, and meaningful interpretations of a person's destiny.

In the Faletarke deck, my favorite cards are Moon and River. Both cards are fluid and deeply intuitive in their symbolism, each representing the continuous flow of time: the Moon in the sky and the River upon the earth.