When looking back at what I have learned about card reading over the years, so many things remain unexplained. Usually when I would ask, “Why do we do it this way, or that way?” It was generally met with, “Because it has always been done that way!” I think that it’s sad that some of the old traditions that once meant so much are lost to the sands of time.
One of these established practices that I’ve wondered about but never knew the origin of was the cutting of the deck with your left hand. Never-mind which hand is your dominate hand, I was taught that you always cut the deck your left hand. After that, I would then select cards with my right hand and continue with the reading. Well after thumbing through an ancient copy of Professor P.R.S. Foli’s “Fortune Telling by Cards” I found the answer on page 22 of Chapter IV,
“It is always essential to cut cards with the left hand, there being a long-established idea
that it is more intimately connected with the heart than the right. A round table is
generally preferred by those who are in the habit of practising cartomancy. It is a matter
of opinion as to whether the cards speak with the same clearness and accuracy when
consulted by the inquirer without an intermediary. The services of an adept are generally
supposed to be of great advantage, even when people have mastered the rudiments of
cartomancy themselves.”
I admit, the round table is new to me but I’m glad that I’ve found out about why I as taught to cut the deck with my left hand. Do you have any cartomancy traditions that you practice but can’t explain? I’d love to hear about them!
The Seventh Diamond 