Elements
Much like any other 4 suited deck the concept of the elements enters in with standard playing cards. Wii use :
CLUBS – earth; SPADES – air
HEARTS- water; DIAMONDS- fire
The red suits of water and fire are opposite elements and the black suits relate to earth and air being in elemental terms “enemies”.
So using proximity it is easy to “see” two red cards touching is an issue or a cessation in the energy flow as are two black cards next to each other.
Clubs as earth and Hearts as water are “friendly;” as are Spades as air and Diamonds as fire. This passes the energy along the line of drawn cards. Some readers use elemental cues alone to determine what a line of cards means; tweaking the basic card meanings along their best and worst meanings to reach a conclusion.
Face Cards
The advantage of element over reversals is one can “judge” the Face Cards. Face cards are not reversible in the playing card deck as they are “double persons”. Those who use the reversal method with the pips as outlined below can use the directional cues when the Face cards fall together in a line; noting if they look towards or away from one another. Towards each other being seen as positive away as unfriendly or hostile.
Aces
Some people who use the element method also take into consideration the reversed Aces of Spades, Clubs and Hearts emblems because the BIG THREE are a part of Cartomancy folklore and are very easy visually to spot.
Reversals
Reversal depends upon and is determined by the number of emblems being upright to the viewer or reversed in the numeric field of the pip cards. As one will notice Diamond pips are totally “un”reversible due to their shape. Deuces and fours cannot be reversed in any suit. One needs to go through the entire deck and look at each pip card carefully. In practice, pip reversals beyond the six of the suit in Clubs, Spades and Hearts require the keenest eye. For those who are sight challenged marking a small dot in the upper corner of any reversed pip card helps to discern the placement. Keeping the dot small will not draw the attention of the average sitter.
Remember the suits of heart, diamond , spade and club when used in a cartomancy layout are simply a flowchart of the movement or blockage of internal and external energies in and around the sitter.