I wanted to break in a new deck of playing cards I got at the end of last year (the deck arrived on my doorstep New Year’s Eve, which is a definite sign), so I thought it would be perfect to use for the Playing Your Cards Right column!

If you’re no stranger to the column, you know that I address questions and situations presented to me, using a deck of playing cards.

With that said, let’s take a look at this situation sent in by a reader…

Heading Back Home: A Pro and a Con

Dear James,

I recently had my divorce finalized and made the decision to move back home, thanks to a great job offer that will allow me to start over.

And, while I’m excited about the job opportunity, I’m also concerned about being able to have a social life. The area that I’m from (and heading back to) doesn’t seem to have a lot of people my age, and so I’m wondering what I can do with the social scene being what it is there.

So, my question is whether or not heading back home would be good for me.

Thanks in advance for any insights you can share!

Hannah

Heading Back Home: What’s in the Cards?

Dear Hannah,

I pulled three cards with the question you stated in mind, and these were the response: 7 of Clubs, Queen of Hearts, and Ace of Diamonds.

When I read with playing cards, I first look at the suits of the cards to determine the emotional outlook of your question.

With the first card being from the suit of Clubs, you might meet your move back home—specifically the lack of a social scene—with a sense of frustration; the second card, being from the suit of Hearts, says that will change to becoming happy and having a sense of optimism; and the last card being from the suit of Diamonds, says that being both patient and persistent will have their own rewards.

The 7 of Clubs represents the situation. The 7 suggests this is a time of self-discovery for you, that it’s a time for you to gain clarity about your direction in life.

The 7 of Clubs is a card that says you have what it takes to overcome any adversities and challenges that come your way, and with that in mind, you’re being encouraged not to throw in the towel.

The message here is to not allow the seeming lack of a social scene be the reason you don’t make the move.

And that word “lack” brings me to the Mouse on the card. Mouse is a symbol of loss, suggesting a gradual decline that can gnaw or eat away at you, if you let it. Mouse can suggest that you’re worried or stressed about this lack of a social scene.

The beautiful thing about Mouse is that this is a small thing to quibble about; the 7 of Clubs is a card of creative input, and says that you can get over this hurdle simply by being creative in your approach to it.

And that word approach is a nice way to segue to the next card.

The Queen of Hearts, as advice and possible courses of action, is a Court or Person card. As such, it can suggest adopting a particular approach that would be helpful to you.

Queens, typically, can suggest keeping an open mind, which is a nice message to follow the bit about being creative with regard to the social scene back home.

The Queen is valued at 12, which reduces to 3 (1 + 2 = 3); 3 is a number of increase, which is saying that there may be more of a social scene that you realize. That’s backed up with another aspect of the 3: it’s a number of being social and social activity.

The Queen of Hearts is the one associated with home and family, so seeing her in your reading is a great sign. The heart on the card brings to mind the expression “home is where the heart is.”

This Queen can be emotional (wearing her heart on her sleeve); with the Queen not facing the 7 of Clubs, I’m getting the sense that there may be moments where you’ll have to stand up for yourself, as the 7 of Clubs is a card of assertion. You may not have been able to do so when you used to live at home (7 of Clubs being the past), but the cards are saying you can do so now.

In terms of the social scene, I’m noticing the Queen is holding a feather, making me think of the expression “birds of a feather flock together,” again, with the idea that there’s more of a social scene for you than you realize—it’s just a matter of you searching for (the Queen is looking at the feather) and connecting with them (she holds the feather in her hand).

There’s a Stork on the card, which is a symbol of positive change and improvement, again suggesting that things have changed in terms of a social scene, and for the better.

Oh—and Stork is a symbol of moving, as storks are birds that migrate.

The Queen of Hearts is facing the last card in your reading, the Ace of Diamonds, in the position of a possible outcome.

Aces represent seeds being planted that will have the potential for long-term growth in the future. Aces suggest the time is right for a new beginning and fresh opportunities.

Diamonds is a suit of the physical and the material, so this card refers to the job opportunity you’ve been presented with. This has the potential to be rewarding for you, as it can help you become financially independent, especially since you’re coming out of a marriage.

Being a card of new ventures that are rewarding and engaging, I see this as making a comment on the social scene back home. With the Queen facing this card, the message here is that, by being patient and persistent (Diamonds), your efforts to find and connect with those “birds of a feather” will be rewarded. You just have to be willing to make the effort—to believe that it’s worth it (Diamonds being about worth and what we value).

There’s a Sun on the card, and this symbolizes success, so Sun says heading back home will turn out successfully for you.

Sun says to be confident that things will turn out well, as well as bringing positive energy (rather than the stress, worry, and lack energy of Mouse) to the situation.

Sun is also a card of illumination, and suggests that, by being confident and positive, you’ll clearly see how much of a social scene there is. Sun says to look “on the bright side.”

Heading Back Home: Adding another Layer

The secondary symbols of Mouse, Stork, and Sun can be combined to offer additional messages:

• Mouse + Stork = stress and worry (Mouse) changes and/or improves (Stork)
• Stork + Sun = a successful (Sun) move (Stork); a successful (Sun) change (Stork); a change and/or improvement (Stork) in confidence (Sun)
• Mouse + Sun = stress and worry (Mouse) declines (Mouse) successfully (Sun) with positive energy (Sun)

So, the combination of Mouse + Stork + Sun offers the message that the stress and worry (Mice) of moving (Stork) changes and improves (Stork) by bringing an energy (Sun) of confidence (Sun) and positivity (Sun) to the situation.

Heading Back Home: The Theme

The theme of the reading is revealed when I take the numbers on the cards and reduce them to a single digit. So, 7 + 12 (Queen) + 1 (Ace) = 20; 2 + 0 = 2.

2 is a number of help, support, and assistance, so you may be heading back home to help your family out in some way, and allowing them to help you. The 2 is a relationship number (and not just the romantic variety), and is also a number of balance.

Remember the emotional outlook we started off with, Hannah: Balance out the moments of frustration and impatience (Clubs) with persistent patience (Diamonds) when you’re relating with family members and potential social buddies.

The 2, being a number of duality, says this: Don’t look at the decision of moving from the lens of what you might be losing (Mouse)—but rather by what you’ll be gaining (Sun). The truth is, any change holds within it both potential losses and gains.

You just have to ask yourself which side holds the greatest value to you, which is worth more to you (Diamonds).

Oh—and I just had to share this: The number 20 is associated with the symbol of Garden—which refers to being social, social events and activities, groups and communities (remember: “birds of a feather”).

I love this because Garden addresses your sole concern for heading back home.

As advice, Garden is a card of networking (both professionally and personally), so it’s a matter of you getting outside (Garden is a card of nature and the outdoors) and being out in public (Garden also about the public and public places).

Garden says you have to be a part of the social scene (your words)—and that there is one for you to be a part of.

Heading Out

Hannah, thank you for sharing your situation with me in this forum. I look forward to you circling back and letting me know how you’re progressing on both the job and social fronts!

And, just as I hope it has been helpful to Hannah, I hope you found it informative as well. I would love to hear what you think. You can share your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you have a question or concern and would like to gain some insight using the playing cards, send me your submission, via e-mail, to james@jameshimm.com, with Playing Your Cards Right in the subject line.

Here to help you play your cards right,