Playing Card Divination: Every Card Tells a Story

by Stephen Ball

Develop your own path of wisdom with a simple deck of cards.

Turn a standard deck of playing cards into a colorful divinatory system filled with inspiration, adventure, insight, and advice.

In Playing Card Divination, each card has a mythic role (such as the Hunter, Lover, or Healer) and an action for that role (Promise, Gambit, Folly, or Triumph). This brings a unique meaning to every combination - the three of hearts becomes “Healer’s Triumph”, representing gratitude, recognition, and teamwork.

With detailed advice, spread ideas, sample readings, and imaginative stories to help deepen your connection to the roles within the cards, each deck is transformed into a rich book of new tales!

Genres: Divination, Reference, Nonfiction, Occult

312 pages, Paperback

Published June 8, 2020

About the author

Stephen Ball is the author of "Elemental Divination: A Dice Oracle" and "Playing Card Divination: Every Card Tells A Story", and has taught and created
systems of divination for over twenty years.

He previously published "The Apple Branch: An English Shamanism" as Stephen Blake, and contributed to Avalonia books and to Steve Drury's "Dice Mysteries". He lives in London.

Reviews

[Carrie (The Butterfly Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a new favorite book for me! I've been wanting to get into reading just plain old playing cards for so long because I just love them so much. Now I can! I also love that each card has a story, just makes it so much richer and easier to remember! Now I just need to go out and buy a really pretty set of cards just for readings.

The writing is easy to understand and rich when it comes to the story of each card. I couldn't have asked for a better book to help me learn playing cards!

A must have for anyone who has ever wanted to know about this subject!

I was given this title in exchange for an honest review.

[ABCme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Ball's previous book, Elemental Divination, receiving an advanced copy of his next book was a great gift. And it did not disappoint.
I spent all day today with Playing Card Divination and a brand new pack of cards. What an amazing journey!
The book starts with the suits and numbers, then moves on to interpreting each card in the deck. I love how each of them is introduced by a two page fictional story, making the meaning so much clearer.
Upon finishing I felt like I'd gone down the rabbit hole and entered this brand new world. Just for fun and to practice what I'd learned, I did a deck interview with my cards (being a tarot reader that's what I do with a new deck), applying the meanings I'd collected from the book. It totally blew me away! I'm absolutely inspired.

Thank you Netgalley and Llewellyn for the ARC.

[Robert Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Playing Card Divination: Every Card Tells a Story," by Stephen Ball (also known as Steven Blake) is a unique book about Classical Cartomancy (more commonly known as Playing Card Divination).

My brand new softcover copy has 286 pages, including end pages.

This is only the second book I have read about Playing Card Divination, and what I enjoyed most about this book is that it is a modern book on the subject, and, can be more relatable and easier to read for people living in the 21st Century.

One of the features of this book that is appealing on so many levels is that every card has a short story (usually, a few paragraphs) that illustrates the nature of the card. Each Card also has key words listed for them.

Personally, what I loved most about each of the chapters of this book was that Mr. Ball's descriptions about the nature of each Card were, at times, philosophical, and at other times, life advice.

For example, here are some passages from Two of Diamonds: "As anyone who has been through it [opening space and one's heart to another] knows, you can only get to the dizzying highs of love if you take risks to get there. At some point you will need to tell the truth about your feelings in a way which could backfire and cost you."

Another example, Three of Hearts: "A bigger prize is the end result of what compassion brings to the person who practices it: an internal change to be happier, stronger, and supported by many friends."

I look forward to continuing to learn from Mr. Ball's books, as well as reading other books about Playing Card Divination. This one I enjoyed very much, and look forward to referencing it often.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I dove into Playing Card Divination by Stephen Bell, I expected to have a fair amount of knowledge on the subject as a tarot reader and thought I would be looking at playing cards as a substitute for tarot. I discovered quickly into the book that the material the author presents is more original in nature and unique to his system. A system, to me, that is not interchangeable with tarot based on traditional card meanings. The author has done a fabulous job at writing a tale that walks the reader through the cards one by one. In this manner, comprehension of these unique meanings is better understood. Many thanks to Llewellyn Publications and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[wonderfullyweird88 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have experience using the Lenormand deck, and this book provided an opportunity to learn to read regular playing cards. The author gives clear, concise advice on layouts and detailed descriptions of each card and their meaning. I had a great time trying out the different layouts with a friend and deciphering their deeper meaning. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in cartomancy.

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's first book of divination offered a stunning new angle for interpreting dice oracles. He has done it again with the humble deck of playing cards.
Assigning each card a name, such as Ace is The Hunter, and 9 is The Dancer, and placing each suit as an action, for example Clubs are Promise. That is, 9 of Clubs is The Dancer's Promise. From that combination, the author offers a compact tale to stir the imagination, and whet the memory to learn these cards quickly.
The convenient inclusion of various charts for quick reference makes this an even easier system to utilize, and adapt to one's style.

[April Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really digging Stephen Ball's take on divination using regular everyday playing cards. He's come up with a really fun system, using stories to help the reader remember what each card means and how it relates to the other cards in the spread. This turned out to be a way more interesting read than I was expected, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone intrigued by card divination!

#PlayingCardDivination #NetGalley

[LK Nesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I use a different system, I love the way this book teaches things! I imagine the stories would make it easier for a beginner to remember what the cards mean in a reading. For me, it was just interesting to read stories instead of complex technical details. I have recommended this book to several people in my personal life.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned to read cards using playing cards and was very curious about this book.
It's interesting and I learned a lot of new things that I will surely try.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Edric Unsane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book extremely. The author set out to create a system of divination for playing cards which would make sense for modern times and, in my opinion, succeeded flawlessly. If you are interested in divining with playing cards, this will come highly recommended from me.

[Seth Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

By far the best way to approach using cards for divination or systematic introspection.

[Oliver Ho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great system. It builds on some traditional elements of playing card divination. It’s a good match to his previous book on dice.

[L.A. Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tear out pages 19-23 to keep and throw out the rest of the book. You don't need it.

[Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, I love this book! I was initially drawn to it because I love playing cards and because I have always felt a strong connection and magnetic pull towards tarot and divination, which I can't explain. I have never actually practiced the art personally, so I was a little unsure at first. There are a lot of pages in this book and the amount of reading does seem a bit overwhelming at first glance, so I decided the best thing to do was to grab a deck of cards and just jump right in.

The author is right, playing cards are so accessible and I of course had a deck on hand. The reading was fantastic. I had the most amazing spiritual experience, I am just blown away! And I never would have had it, had I not picked up this book.

The book ended up being so easy to follow and understand, the layout is great and it makes finding your card a breeze. The writing is descriptive but not too much, so you don't get lost, and it is to the point.

I have always been attracted to playing cards, they have a certain energy and history about them and this book has helped me discover why. I'm not sure how seasoned card readers will view this book, but as a total newbie, I am in love!

***E-Arc received from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.***

[The Starry Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book on everything you need to know about playing card divination. I've always wanted to learn more about this system and this book did not disappoint!

A brief history of this divination, how to do readings, and detailed meanings of each card are also included. I liked that the author included example readings and some spreads because reading playing cards are a little different than reading Tarot or Lenormand cards.

I did some readings for myself and for some others and found the readings to be very deep. They spoke to me on a more emotional level than the Tarot and were to the point and very honest which I really liked.

I look forward to purchasing this book soon and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in cartomancy. It's an easy system to use that will of course take a little bit of practice, but offers a rich and moving experience for both querent and reader.

[Rosemary Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first glance this may be another take on an old tradition, but it’s more of an imaginative reboot for modern times. Along with outlining a good variety of card spreads, Stephen’s descriptions of the pip cards (in numerical order) and the court courts feature a very interesting approach. Each is given a name (e.g., Ace of Clubs: “Hunter’s Promise”) that introduces a narrative that draws the reader into the theme of the card. The card is then followed with thoughtful and oftentimes historical background. The story lines are both symbolic and descriptive, encouraging intuition to unfold. The organization of material is masterful and will be of great use to divination students and practitioners alike.

[Alan D.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part fantasy anthology and part divination manual, this book is an amazing reading for anyone who decides to give it a chance. Enchanting style, balanced description and some historical facts. I loved it!

[elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like it. Not what I’m looking for, though. I find the meanings too rigid.