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Magpies / Seven Ravens

A Divination Method using Playing Cards

Magpies, or The Seven Raven Divination

A while back, I was looking into systems of divination that use regular playing cards. They vary greatly. Some use a whole deck, and some only use part. One French system uses a 32-card “piquet” deck, for instance. The problem with these systems is a lack of consistency. The interpretations of specific cards do not follow a regular pattern. Most of the ones we saw attributed their origins to the Gypsies.

            My own experience with card divination is mostly with Tarot. I had learned it many years ago. The system I learned was pretty consistent, thought it required memorizing many different meanings. The meanings changed in time as I gained experience. Tarot is a thing unto itself. I enjoy it. Audrey and I have accumulated a small collection of decks, though we only can use a few of them. The rest are art.

            Tarot is not Norse, obviously. Despite claims of Ancient Egyptian beginnings, the cards first appeared in the Mediterranean region of Europe around the 15^th Century CE. They have been interpreted variously by correlation with the Planets, Kabbalah, and several other systems. (The one I learned used the Elements). Though it is not Norse at all, I continue to enjoy it. Contrary to what some hard-line lore hounds claim, using Tarot or other outside systems does not make you any less Heathen.

            I wondered if there could be a way to use playing cards that would use Northern European lore. I did not wonder long.

            There is a very old system of divination that has existed in England since the days of the early Anglo-Saxons. A modern version is called “counting crows.” Earlier ones counted magpies or ravens. There are quite a few of these poems. The number of magpies, ravens or crows you see is a portent. The poem in a mnemonic device to remember the omens for each number.

The most common ones use numbers one to seven, though some go as high as thirteen. Here is a typcial one

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

four for a boy

Five for silver,

six for gold,

seven for a secret never to be told.

This is another minor variant:

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a message,

four for a boy

Five for silver,

six for gold,

seven for a secret never to be told.

This is another way of doing it:

One for sorrow,

Two for mirth,

Three for a wedding,

four for a birth

Five for silver,

six for gold,

seven for a secret never to be told.

The other variants add lines such as

Eight for England,

Nine for France

That is pretty simple.

A deck of cards has four suits. Thought Tarot may assign them to the elements, old playing card traditions give these designations:

Diamonds: wealth, material things

Hearts: Love, relationships

Clubs (scepters): Nobility, rulers

Spades: bad news, bad things.

If we take a deck and remove the 8s, 9,s and 10s, we can use the Raven Count as the basis of our divination. The count will apply differently to each of the four suits.

Diamonds: material possessions, wealth, employment, business

Hearts: Love, romance, relationships, lovers, friends, relatives

Clubs: Society, honor, position ,status, public institutions, government

Spades: Woes, troubles problems, adversaries, difficulties.

The Kings, Queens and Knaves are easy to assigns. Kings and Queens are men and women who are key players in a situation. Knaves or Jacks are minor players, whose role is small, such as messengers, go-betweens, helpers, etc.

How might we symbolize the suits? Let’s go back to the Anglo-Saxons.

Diamonds would be Countrymen or Gentleman Farmers, whose work is to plant, grow and build.

Hearts are the Townsmen, whose lives are lived in the company of others.

Clubs are the Earl and Lady, who administer government and who represent society

Spades are Ogres, trolls and Dragons, who wish ill to people.

Let us chart the cards and their interpreations:

The Symbols of The Four Suits:

Diamonds represent your material possessions. They include your job and your business, and any thing you own. They are symbolized by the Countryman, whose life is involved in growing and harvesting things.

Hearts represent the people in your life. They are represented by Townsfolk ,whose life includes living among many people

Clubs represent the things you do and your status outside the home. They are represented by the Earl of the Manor. He is a leader and protector seeing to the betterment of his realm.

Diamonds are the things that might cause you harm. They are represented by Ogres, Trolls and Dragons which are beings opposed to the well-being of mankind.

The chart below shows the cards and suits, and applies a simple title to each card.

	Diamonds	Hearts	Clubs	Spades
	Countryman	Townsman	Earl	Ogre
One	Ruin	Abandonment	Defeat	Rampage
Two	Profit	Love	Victory	Mischief
Three	Partnership	Marriage	Alliance	Uniting enemies
Four	New project	Birth	New Asset	New troubles ahead
Five	Harvest	Friends	Community	Ward off evil
Six	Gift, expected good	Family	Opportunity	Obsession
Seven	Hidden assets	Secret lover, secret admirer	Skeletons in the closet	Secret enemies, secret plots
King	Farmer	Villager	Earl	Ogre
Queen	Countrywoman	Housewife	Lady	Ogress
Knave	Farmhand	Apprentice	Soldier	Imp

Each card has a core meaning that can manifest in various ways. We can generalize by using the Poem

1s represent a sitaution that causes Sorrow or Regret

2s are situations that cause Joy and Happiness

3s are situations that unite

4s are something new

5s are good that you earn

6s are good that comes of itself, like a gift

7s are secret things that can change a situation

Kings are Men who affect a situation

Queens are Women who affect a sitaution

Knaves are helpers who are incidental to a situation.

The Number Cards

Ones:

Diamonds: RUIN - it can portend anything from the sinking of a sailboat to the failure of a business.

Hearts: ABANDONMENT - this can be the end of a relationship, from loss of a friend or lover to ostracization from a group..

Clubs: DEFEAT - this can portent a loss of place, loss of a competition, capture and imprisonment, or forced retreat. Usually you must give up, yield or cede something.

Spades: RAMPAGE - mindless destruction. This could be results of catastrophic event, or even the personal damage done by an individual who “goes through your life like a tornado.” It is mindless and devastating.

Twos:

Diamonds: PROFIT - gaining something, from a rowboat on up.

Hearts: LOVE - gaining in relationships, a proposal, a lover, a friend

Clubs: VICTORY - overcoming an enemy, gaining, ground, winning, taking, acquittal in criminal legal matters.

Spades : MISCHIEF - random wrongdoing, vandalism, mischief, unexpected problems, badness for no reason

Threes:

Diamonds: PARTNERSHIP - A new business partner, a contract, business agreeement, new employee.

Hearts: MARRIAGE - wedding, engagement, any relationship with commitment. usualyl a wedding.

Clubs: ALLIANCE - an ally, a co-conspirator, one who works with you but is not a partner or friend.

Spades: ENEMIES UNITED - adversaries join forces, a partnership against you, enemies befriend one another. Can also mean making a deal with someone bad, a “deal with the devil.”

Fours:

Diamonds: NEW PROJECT - a new business venture, new location, new job, new enterprise

Hearts: BIRTH - birth of a chikld ,anything dealing with children,

Clubs: NEW ASSET - anything that helps you that is newly acquired.

Spades: NEW TROUBLES - a new problem, perhaps unexpected, new adversary, new trouble. This is entirely now, not the continuation of old woes.

Fives

Diamonds: HARVEST - earned good, payment for goods or services, harvest

Hearts: FRIENDS - friends, acquaintances, people whom you like

Clubs: COMMUNITY - neighbors, co-workers, your employees, staff, townsfolk

Spades: WARD OFF EVIL - repel an opponent or adversaries, keep problems at bay, stall for time, keep back a problem (silver repels evil beings)

Sixes:

Diamonds: GIFT - unexpected good, gift, unearned profit, generous circumstances

Hearts: FAMILY - family, close friends, those whom you love.

Clubs: OPPORTUNITY - chance to expand, improve, better circumstances, an open field, opportunity

Spades: OBSESSION - obsession, fixation, compulsion, fanaticism, greed, lust, insatiability, that which makes a person do insane things.

Sevens (can be good or bad):

Diamonds: HIDDEN ASSETS - found money, hidden assets, discovering assets you forgot ot did not know you had, embezzlement, fraud

Hearts: SECRET LOVE - secret admirer, secret lover, low key relationship, secret affair

Clubs: INTRIGUE - skeletons in the closet, embarrassing secrets, or secret ally

Spades: HIDDEN ENEMY - secret plot against you, secret enemy, enemy posing as friend or acquaintance, conspiracy

The Face Cards

Diamonds are people with whom you have a financial or material connection: employers, employees, bankers, customers, etc.

Hearts are people with whom you have an emotional connection: lovers, family, friends,

Clubs are people with whom you have a Social connection: public officials, club members, military personnel, courts, etc.

Spades are people who are inimical to you: rivals, competitors, enemies, criminals, etc.

Kings are Male, and normally represent individuals who affect the situation at hand.

Queens are Female, and normally represent individuals who affect the situation at hand.

Knaves are either male or females, and represent individuals whose input is incidental to the situation at hand. They are helpers, henchmen and go-betweens rather than key characters.

Readings

Seven Magpies / Ravens is a divinatory system. It has itss ow nway of working. Through trial and error, we have discerned that the readings tend to focus on short-term events.

Take the deck of cards and shuffle them. Allow the querant to cut cards. Now set the cards out in this manner and this sequence. Cards are drawn and placed in a series of passes.

First Pass: draw and place Cards 1 through 6.

Second Pass: draw and place cards 7 through 9

Cards 2, 4 and 6 are the stages of the situation. Card 1 is that which set off the sequence of events. Cards 3 and 5 are minor things that connect 2, 4 and 6.

Cards 7, 8 and 9 are things that affect the cards above them. They help to further describe the situation.

It is easy - just read from 2 to 4 to 6 to follow the progress of the situation. 2,4 and 6 tell you WHAT is happening. 7, 8 and 9 tell you WHY it is happening.

Extra Trick for Face Cards

Face cards tell of individuals who may be involved or who affect the situation. If you want to know what may be motivating them, you can add more cards.

After the Second Pass, you may add cards. If a face card appears in positions 1 through 6 and you want to know more, draw a card a place it above the face card.

If a face card appears in positions 7 through 9, draw a card and place it below the face card.

Cards ABOVE a face card tell you what the person may hope to achieve.

Cards BELOW a face card tell you what is driving, urging or pushing that person.

Magpies / Ravens is a nice little methosd that gioves short-term results.  It does nto appear to go into great depth, not detail anything too far into the future.  The advanatges are obvious: easy to learn ,easy to memorize, and as near as any playing deck..

Runes in a Pinch

If you ever need Runes in a pinch, take a regular playing deck of cards.
Clubs for First Aett, Spades for the Second and Diamonds for the Third. use
the number cards 1 through 8. (If using Anglo-Saxon extended Runes, use Hearts)
Shuffle, cut and read. Voila! Emergency Runes!

There is More!

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