Learning Cartomancy: The Joker

General Discussion
1

Does the red/black joker have any meaning to them?

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I have the tendency to equate playing cards with tarot card meanings. With the joker, i equate it with “the fool” and i leave both jokers in the deck when doing readings.

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They can have a meaning of course and it depends on the system of Cartomancy you use. When I did Cartomancy (A non-tarot cartomancy system) I left the jokers out.

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4

Oh cool, the joker keeps popping up for me. Thank you.

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Oh okay, can you tell me which system of cartomancy?

And thank you.

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I used a book called ‘The Playing Card Oracles’ by Ana Cortez.

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The Joker :grinning: is the Archetype of Loki. Some people work with the 4 runes to channel the Dark aspect but for the Light aspect is Loptr the 5 runes as he says is his true name. :black_joker:

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I never saw anyone using the jokers. I leave them out.

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Hmm. IME, repeating cards, whether they be playing or tarot/oracle cards, usually have some form of message to it that you may not be getting. It may even be completely unrelated to what you initially want to read about, but you definitely need to hear or pay attention to it, regardless. Have you tried separating the joker from the deck and clarifying/asking why, exactly, is it repeatedly showing up for you?

I don’t use playing cards much, but similar to Deathcrush, I mostly equate The Joker = The Fool from tarot as well. Taking risks, new beginnings, fresh possibilities and all that. However, I’ve also acquired some random/intuitive meanings of The Joker based on older days of having no tarot decks available to purchase. Some of those meanings are the ff:

  • Red Joker representing a strong Yes, Black Joker representing a strong No - Applicable for quick Yes or No questions.

  • The Magician - The Joker card also came up as advice for taking charge of oneself, harnessing the necessary tools within, getting out there and own your individuality/uniqueness for things to change, etc. This was paired up with a spread full of cards, however, that were clearly speaking of the querent’s rigidity and monotony in his/her life, and The Joker popping up as a direct contrast to this, hence the advice.

    Just realized that this description was also similar to The Fool lol.

  • A bit of The Tower - I also got some vibes of The Tower card as well from The Joker that time, as the querent had to let old foundations in his/her life crumble, and both experience and engage in the necessary shake-ups to achieve his/her goal. It’s also interesting how The Tower is usually associated with either Mars or Uranus, which definitely brings forth lots of action, intensity and surprising upheavals… and The Joker, being a card of the wildcard/unknown, can bring upon similar energies as well due to its unpredictability. Bringing me to my next example…

  • The unknown - There were also times this card had no deeper/extra meaning to it. Instead, all it meant were: you’re not supposed to know at this time, ask again when the energies changed, there could be unseen/unknown factors at play, etc. Usually came up for persistent clients who keep on asking too much. I would also randomly see this card in my mind’s eye in association with The Joker, despite not owning, using or feeling pulled to this tarot deck at all:

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  • Deception, trickery, at times even betrayal - An unfortunate side to The Joker, but it did show up with those meanings. There seemed to be a similar theme of being “two-faced” in those betrayals though: never outright, usually done subtly and even unexpectedly, which was quite sad to read about at the time. The person/people behind those betrayals frequently got away with it too, or have little to no regret/guilt to what they have said/done/caused to the querent.

  • Literally, a joke - This might sound silly and very random, but it represented humor/a need to inject playfulness or humor in a situation. However, the one experience that really stood out to me for interpreting it as such is when someone really didn’t have a question, was just “joking around” and “making up/playing with different scenarios and approaches” to secretly test how I am as a reader. Beginner me was wondering why The Joker card constantly flew out from the deck while shuffling + repeating itself in all this person’s different questions. Turns out the whole reading itself was a “joke” and there were no matters or concerns like what he/she asked about at all.

These are just some personal experiences which you could possibly consider for The Joker though, so only take what could resonate and discard the rest. It will still depend on your reading style and intuition, OP.

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