Back in the latter part of the 1970’s I came across Regina Russell’s “Card Reader’s Handbook”, Franklin Enterprises, MA, 1976. at a local budding New age bookstore. At that time I started to incorporate her method into my readings using a standard playing deck. Over the years and through trial & error, new combinations arose which I scribbled into the book. Also the hand me down meanings which originated in Eastern Europe which essentially are the Sibilla style oracle cards are factored into my summary of each card in the deck.

When I read, I do the standard playing cards first. This enables me to tune into the nut & bolts of the person’s current and pending situation. My intuition may kick in before the reading commences, it depends on the heaviness of the energy surrounding the person. I really never know.

Then I proceed to the Tarot or whatever deck I use. By this point I have already established a reliable foundation from the playing cards. I nearly always have 3-4 decks with me. Sometimes I would ask the person to select a deck from the table.

I always request the person select their own Significator card.
If it is a female, I pull all the Queens from the Tarot and ask her to choose her own card.
This tells me a lot. Is she focused on a relationship (Queen cups), work or money (Queen pentacles), coming from a serious or lonely center (Queen swords) or is wound up with nowhere to spin (Queen of wands)

I am deeply fond of Regina’s system and because of the outstanding accuracies of her book meanings I do a weekly reading for myself. I have some amazing stories about the “hits” with her system. A few months ago I saw the 8 and 9 of spades in my layout with no court cards – I knew immediately news of an operation was coming but I did not know who. I’ve had that spade duo many times over the years.

As it turned out it was my aunt. Quite out of the blue. Heart attack, required triple by pass. When I reviewed the layout after I got word of the operation, the 9 of hearts was beside the 9 and 8 of spades. The 2 9’s also intensifies the meaning & gives explanation to the “out of the blue” surprise heart attack.

Interestingly, today I see the same spade duo and once again no court cards. This time the 5 of spades is involved. The 5’s would suggest one of the limbs of the body. According to Regina’s method, this card means the leg area.

I highly recommend Regina Russell’s “Card Reader’s Handbook”. You can buy it directly from her website and she offers the CD as well. The cost is reasonable and well worth it.