Combination Reading/Deck

[MissTerry]

I used to do combo readings with three different card decks for the same question. My go-to decks were the RWS tarot deck, the Lenormand, and the Italian Sibilla. I'd ask each deck the same question, and then draw three cards from each. I really liked the answers they gave. Each deck gave an answer to the question from a different angle and perspective, but they very often echoed each other; meaning that they all ended up saying the same thing. 

 

Eventually, to my combo reading with my three go-to decks, I added bone reading... and then lithomancy... and then charm reading... and then cartomancy... and then the Kipper cards... and then Ana Cortez's Playing Card Oracle... and then it all became very impractical and silly to bring out every one of those things just to ask one question! And I couldn't carry every one of those decks, stones, bones, and charms with me, because that would be ridiculous. But I liked the many eyes and voices that those combo readings gave. I needed to figure out how to do those same combo readings... but with one deck. 

 

One day I noticed that the Italian Sibilla [I love that system by the way], the Lenormand, and so on were based on Playing cards. And so... I had a clever idea: Why not make one Poker Card deck which includes all of those! Like separate decks in one. That way, I only need to carry one deck. 

 

And so, I first set out to modify and alter the Lenormand and Kipper cards, because they have fewer cards than a standard deck of poker cards. I learned that the modern so-called Lenormand and the German Kipper cards, and the Piatnik Gypsy cards were all "genetically" related to each other. And so, what I did was I added gypsy cards to the Lenormand and Kipper to bring them up to 52 cards, ending up with what I called the "Gypsy Lenormand" and the "Gypsy Kipper." 

 

The second thing I did was combine my bone reading bones, with the stones of my lithomancy set, with the charms of my charm reading set with what's called the "Witch's Rune" which has 13 runes. I ended up with 52 stones, bones, charms, and runes; and I ended up calling that my "Stones & Bones" for short. And so, in my Stones & Bones set, I ended up having 13 Stones, 13 Bones, 13 Charms, and 13 Witch Runes. I then linked each suit of a poker deck with those stones, bones, charms, and runes. And so Diamonds are the Runes, Spades are the Bones, Hearts are the Charms, and Clubs are the Stones. 

 

Once I had made those alterations, I used MS Word to write the meaning of each card down, and at the bottom I began to include the Key Words and the name of the Stones, Bones, Charms, and Runes, the name of Ana Cortez's Playing Card Oracles, the names of the Gypsy Lenormans, Gypsy Kipper, the Sibilla, etc. I then turned what I had into PDFs, took snap shots of the wall of text on each PDF to make pictures of the text.

 

Then I went to one of those card printing companies and produced for myself my combo Logomantic Deck, which I have been using for 4 years [the same one deck]. This is what the cards basically look like [4 from my deck]:

 

 

Each card [most of them] have a pair of TdM Trumps associated with them which are written in their original French titles. Those TdM Trumps act as my "divider" which divides the meaning of my Logomantic deck, from the extra card decks and Stones & Bones I combined into the deck. The meanings of those other decks and Stones & Bones are never merged together. What I mean is, if I am using my Logomantic deck, only the Logomantic means are used... if I am using that deck as a Sibilla, then only the card's Sibilla meaning are used... if I am using the deck as a Gypsy Lenormand, then the meanings of the cards as Gypsy Lenormand cards are exclusively used. 

 

And so now, when I want to do a combo reading using multiple decks, I tap on the deck three time and consciously make the intention of using the cards as a specific deck. I usually combine my intention and my question into one statement; what I mean is, I'll tap the cards and say: "Sibilla, show me how my day will be today." Then I would shuffle and draw cards, and the cards drawn have the Sibilla meanings only, everything else on the cards is ignored and not relevant. 

 

I got the idea of converting bones and charms and such into cards from the Chinese. In ancient times, the Chinese used bones to make their Mahjong. Then the Mahjong evolved into domino like pieces. And in modern times, those domino Mahjong pieces evolved into the more convenient Mahjong cards [I have a deck, and haven't figured out yet how to squeeze a Mahjong deck into 52 cards]. And so I followed that same germ-line of evolution and developed my 52 stones, bones, charms, and runes into Oracle Cards. So instead of "throwing" or casting those things, I draw random cards [after setting the intention of using the cards as a Deck of Stones & Bones]. I found that laying down random Stone and Bone cards is just as functional as throwing a handful or basket full off stones, bones, charms, and runes... minus the big mess. 

 

To give a combo reading, I start by using my deck as a Logomantic Deck. I then shuffle all the cards and use the deck as a Sibilla deck and ask the same question. I reshuffle and use the deck as a Gypsy Lenormand deck... then as a Gypsy Kipper deck... and so on like that until all of those extra decks and stuff have had a chance to speak and answer my question. I take note of each card that came out. Then I sit quietly and deliberate the entire combined meaning/answer. I've learned that doing these types of combo readings gives you a far clearer picture of what's happening, gives you a better set of answers, and lets you dig very deep into situations and questions. I love it when they all echo each other. 

 

And so, I have all of my favorite decks and systems of cartomancy and bone/stone/charm/rune reading all packed into one deck. To work on my combo reading skills, what I like to do is use this deck to try to solve crimes. When you use divination to solve crimes, the stones [cards in my case] of Logomancy become very insightful because many of the stones are associated with the Astrological Planets, which have each developed a massive body of meaning and correspondences over the centuries. 

 

So that's my Oracle deck. It's a "swiss army knife" of different decks and stuff I like to use all packed into a deck of 52 cards, which fits in your back pocket.

Edited August 19, 2022 by MissTerry