Originally Posted by cake.ninjak

Ryan opened his deck and shuffled. He pulled out a card. The Hierophant. Hmm...that's an interesting word.

"There are twenty-two cards in the Major Arcana," Ryan said. "They are as follows: The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and The World. As far as the Minor Arcana goes, there are fourteen cards for each respective suit -
Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Page, Knight, Queen, and King. The four suits are wands, coins, stars, and cups. So four times fourteen equals..." He looked toward the ceiling and started doing air math. "Fifty-six."

He turned back to his book and started looking through. "In divination in general, significators are a planet or sign that said to 'rule' specific objects, places, people and diseases. But in cartomancy, a significator is a card that represents the questioner and usually the card chosen is a face card. They can be chosen for one of two reasons. The book here says:
'(1) Sometimes, the reader will give the questioner the significator card to focus on during the shuffling process. This allows the questioner to focus his or her thoughts so that the reader can concentrate on the question being asked.

(2) Often, the significator is chosen and then put back into the deck to shuffle. If it appears in the reading, it suggests the questioner has a good deal of control over the issue at question. It is also important to note where the significator comes up in the reading for further clues to answering the questioner's concerns.'

Typically, Kings are chosen to represent men, Queens women, and Jacks or Knights for young people. Each suit has certain traits and signs with which they are related, which help in the selection of significators."

Whew! What a mouth-full!

Originally Posted by NicoT

Doing as asked, Nicholai shuffled his cards and selected one at random. He glanced at it briefly before raising his hand, "While it isn't necessary to use one, A Significator is a card that can be drawn before certain spreads to help focus the reading on the querent and vice-versa. It is also a good way of getting the 'feel' of a new deck and helps with the energy flow in long-distance readings. There are several methods to choose from in selecting a significator; firstly the card can be chosen at random from the deck by the reader or the querent; this is a good way of telling how 'in-tune' one is with the deck. Alternatively the significator card can be selected based on the personality of the querent, their star sign, date of birth and so forth- thereby helping the other cards to tune in to the querent's personality. Generally a significator is a card from the Major Arcana- but you can also use a coin or some other object that belongs to the querent or even a question written on a piece of paper and the spread placed on top."

Spreading the cloth out, Nico placed his selected card; The Devil, on the desk in front of him before clearing his throat and continuing,

"The other aspect to keep in mind with Significators is whether or not to use it in the spread. If you choose not to use it, while it does provide some influence on the cards drawn; it removes the possibility of that card showing up in the reading. If you choose to replace it in the deck, or place it as the starting point of the spread, the card can still appear in the reading and give further indication of how 'in-tune' the reader is."

He pushed his card straight with the tip of his pinky finger and answered the last part of the question, "The Major Arcana consists of Twenty-two cards and the Minor Arcana consists of fifty-six cards made up with four suits of one to ten plus four court cards per suit."

He frowned at the owl that had appeared and sighed as it left; why couldn't these interruptions come in the ministry approved classes?"