Why can some people use playing cards for divination like tarot cards?

Actually, this isn't strange at all, because playing cards and Tarot cards are inherently "relatives." You can think of it this way: the playing cards we use today were actually simplified from Tarot cards.

Tarot cards are divided into the Major Arcana (22 trump cards) and the Minor Arcana (56 suit cards). These 56 Minor Arcana cards include four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles), with number cards from 1 to 10 and four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King) in each suit.

If you look at playing cards, doesn't it seem familiar?

• Four Suits: Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, which perfectly correspond to Tarot's Wands, Cups, Pentacles, and Swords. Their symbolic meanings are also quite similar:

  • Hearts (Hearts) ♥️: Corresponds to Tarot's Cups, representing emotions, relationships, and love.
  • Diamonds (Diamonds) ♦️: Corresponds to Tarot's Pentacles, representing money, material possessions, and work.
  • Clubs (Clubs) ♣️: Corresponds to Tarot's Wands, representing action, energy, career, and creativity.
  • Spades (Spades) ♠️: Corresponds to Tarot's Swords, representing thoughts, challenges, difficulties, and change.

• Number Cards: From A (1) to 10, just like in Tarot, they represent different stages of an event's development. For example, A usually signifies "beginning," and 10 represents "completion" or "a peak."

• Face Cards: J, Q, K also correspond to Tarot's court cards, which can represent people or certain personality traits.

So, the core of divination isn't about how magical the "cards" themselves are, but rather a mature "system of symbolism." Tarot cards have a recognized system of interpretation, and those who practice playing card divination use a similar, simplified interpretive system derived from Tarot.

In essence, both Tarot cards and playing cards are like a "dictionary of symbolic signs." The diviner is the "translator," who, by using the cards you draw (the chosen words) and their order and position (the grammar), "translates" and interprets the "sentence" and "story" of what you want to know.

Therefore, as long as you understand the rules of this "playing card dictionary" and the meaning of each symbol, using them for divination will have the same effect and logic as using Tarot cards. In Europe, cartomancy (divination with playing cards) is also a very old and common tradition.

Hey, that's a really good question, and many people find it quite mysterious. But once you understand the underlying principle, it's not so mystical. Let me give you an analogy: it's like how you might speak Chinese and also understand some simple Japanese Kanji, because they share a common origin.

Playing cards and Tarot cards have this kind of relationship; they are essentially "relatives."

First, playing cards are essentially a "simplified version" of Tarot cards.

You see, a large portion of Tarot cards, known as the "Minor Arcana," has a structure almost identical to that of playing cards:

1. Correspondence of the Four Suits:

   • Tarot's Cups, representing emotions, relationships, and love. — This corresponds to playing cards' Hearts ❤️.
   • Tarot's Wands, representing action, creativity, and career. — This corresponds to playing cards' Clubs ♣️.
   • Tarot's Swords, representing intellect, challenges, and conflict. — This corresponds to playing cards' Spades ♠️.
   • Tarot's Pentacles, representing money, material possessions, and achievements. — This corresponds to playing cards' Diamonds ♦️.

   See? They perfectly align, don't they? Each suit represents a fundamental aspect of life.

2. Correspondence of Number Cards and Court Cards:

   • Both types of decks have cards from 1 (Ace) to 10, representing the progression within the domain symbolized by each suit.
   • For court cards (person cards), playing cards have J, Q, K (Jack, Queen, King). Tarot cards add a "Knight," so they have Page, Knight, Queen, King. Although there's one extra, the basic archetypes are similar, representing people or different facets of human personality.

Therefore, someone familiar with the Tarot system can automatically "translate" when holding a deck of playing cards. Seeing the Queen of Hearts, they might think of the compassionate, emotionally rich female figure represented by the "Queen of Cups" in Tarot.

So, what about the 22 most important "Major Arcana" cards in Tarot (like The World, The Fool, The Magician)?

Playing cards indeed lack this section. However, diviners have ways around it:

• Using the "Joker" as a substitute. The Joker itself is full of uncertainty and infinite possibilities, much like the first card of the Major Arcana — "The Fool," representing new beginnings, the unknown, and potential. Drawing the Joker in a reading usually signifies a significant, unexpected event.
• Focusing on specific matters. Sometimes a reading is just for small, everyday questions, like "Will my business negotiation go smoothly today?" In such cases, the "Minor Arcana" system of playing cards is sufficient, as it focuses more on the details of daily life.

Finally, and most crucially: the core of divination is not the "cards," but the "interpretation."

You can view any deck of cards (whether Tarot or playing cards) as a "dictionary of symbols" that condenses various life situations. The process of divination is you, with your question, using the "random" act of shuffling to pull out a few "keywords" (the cards you draw) from this dictionary.

What's truly powerful isn't any magic inherent in the cards themselves, but the ability of the diviner (or yourself) to interpret these "keywords." They need to combine the symbolic meaning of the cards, the connections between them, and your question, to weave these disparate pieces of information into a coherent story, providing you with an insightful answer.

So, as long as you master the rules of this "symbolic language," whether you use playing cards, Tarot cards, or even a deck illustrated with cats and dogs, the principle remains the same. Because playing cards are ubiquitous, inexpensive, and their inherent symbolic system is closely linked to ancient Tarot cards, they naturally become a very convenient tool for divination.