The Raven's Crucible

A blind raven

The Raven’s Crucible

Musings on magic, divination, and the occult.

  • Playing Card Cartomancy VII: The Fives

    Last week we talked about the divinatory meaning of the fours in a deck of playing cards, which are all variations on the theme of stasis. This week we’re talking about the fives. Up until now, the numerology informing our interpretations of the pip cards has been pretty standard. It’s not identical to the meanings…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy VI: The Fours

    Where the divinatory meaning of the threes in a playing card deck are all about plenty, the fours are all about stasis. Numerologically, the fours are very stable – think of the four legs on a table or a stool, preventing it from tipping in any direction. In the context of divination, this stability shows…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy V: The Threes

    Where the divinatory meanings of the twos in a playing card deck are all about polarity, the threes are all about plurality. What started as a singular relationship is multiplied again and again, into a dynamic web of interaction where nothing can be perfectly isolated from anything else. The threes are about bounty, about plenty.…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy IV: The Twos

    Last week we talked about the meanings behind the Aces, now we’re on to the Twos. Where the Aces are the seeds of their respective suits, they are all very unified; the Aces relate to the individual and their circumstances or motivations. Twos are where we start to see division, and the dynamic relationships that…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy III: The Aces

    Last week we covered the meanings of the suits in playing card cartomancy. This week we’re going to dive into the imagery of specific cards, starting with the Aces. In a very broad sense, we can think of the numeric cards as having a story arc that unfolds within their respective suit. This starts as…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy II: The Suits

    Last week we talked about the importance of color in playing card cartomancy. This week we’re getting more specific with an examination of the suits. In the playing card deck we are discussing there are four different suits: diamonds (♦️), clubs (♣️), hearts (♥️), and spades (♠️). For readers coming from a tarot background, it…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy I: The Colors

    Last week we kicked off our series on playing card cartomancy. In this post we’re going to be exploring the first foundational element in cartomantic divination: color. Throughout this series, I’m going to be assuming a standard set of American playing cards, such as those made by Bicycle. Such a deck has fifty-four cards (thirteen…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy: An Overview

    Playing Card Cartomancy: An Overview

    Last month I wrote about how different divination systems have different characters and vocabularies. One of the systems I referenced repeatedly was playing card cartomancy. It’s one of my favorite systems, so I’d like to start a new post series walking through the basics of that. First off, what is cartomancy? Cartomancy is a form…

  • Fire Cider: A Spicy Winter Remedy

    It’s getting to be the time of year where viral illnesses run rampant. As the weather cools off, people spend more time inside. Coupled with travel and large group gatherings around the holidays, this creates the perfect circumstances for germs to spread. Everybody I talk to this week (particularly those with school-aged children) has a…

  • The Vocabulary of Fate

    I’ve written in the past about language and magic. How there are strong parallels throughout history between language, magic, and divination. Apollo, Greek god of the sun, ruled over both poetry and prophecy. Odin, the all-father of the Norse pantheon, presided over poetry, sorcery, and ecstatic trance – and received the runes of the futhark…