An Introduction to Card Chemistry

This is an introduction to Card Chemistry, which is a branch of Cardology–a system based on the symbols of an ordinary pack of playing cards, detailed in my book: Card Chemistry: The Secret Science of Relationships. Everyone has a Birth Card based on the calendar date on which they were born. The easiest way to find your Birth Card is by using the chart on the About Cardology page of this website. There is also a simple arithmetical method: Take the number of the month you were born and double it by two. Then add the number of the day you were born. Then subtract the sum from 55 and look up the resulting number according to the natural order of the cards: A♥ to K♥ = 1-13; A♣ to K♣ = 14-26; A♦ to K♦ = 27-39, and A♠ to K♠ = 40-52.

For instance, if your birth date is August 16, you would take the number for the month of August, which is 8 and double it to 16, then add 16 to 16 to get 32, and then subtract 32 from 55, which equals 23. The number 23 corresponds to the 10♣, so that is the Birth Card for August 16.

There are no good and bad Birth Cards. Each Birth Card has a complex nature based on a number of other cards associated with it. Card chemistry, however, deals specifically with relationships. For this purpose, we need only interpret the cards based on their suit and face value. While every card has both positive and negative qualities, in this context some cards can be interpreted more positively or auspiciously, others are more neutral, and still others can be interpreted as more negative or cautionary.

Why is this true? To begin with, we can differentiate between odd and even face values. Even face values represent stability, while odd face values represent change, obstacles, and challenges. Odd face values tend to be interpreted more negatively in the context of relationships than even ones. Why? Because the human state of consciousness values stability more than it values challenge and change. Challenges and change are necessary for life, but they are rarely welcomed by the human state of consciousness.

What do we look for in relationships? In general, we look for relationships that will last, that will support us, that will be pleasing to us. We don’t intentionally look for relationships that will be difficult, challenging, or unstable, even if this might benefit us in the long run.

The higher the face value of the card, the more powerful the positive or negative influence. Eights and Tens are the most auspicious face values, Sevens and Nines the most cautionary. Jacks are also highly suspect cards, because they represent spiritual immaturity and are thus often not trustworthy. Spades are the most powerful suit, while Diamonds tend to be the most neutral for relationships.

In general, the meanings of the suits are as follows: Hearts have to do with love, feelings, and emotions. Thus, they are the most pertinent cards in any kind of personal relationship, whether between friends, a married couple, or members of an immediate family.

Clubs generally have to do with the mental realm, which includes learning, teaching, communication, or developing any kind of plan. They will be relevant to any kind of relationship that involves an exchange of knowledge or information. Clubs are not only inquiring, but also competitive, so they also are pertinent to sports.

Diamonds have to do with money, property, finances, and values in general. They are of greatest relevance in relationships that involve either material things, finances, or higher values.

Finally, Spades are the highest suit, and have to do with work, health, or wisdom. They govern relationships with co-workers and health practitioners, but they are also the action suit and are pertinent to any case in which action needs to be taken.

The face values generally follow common-sense associations with the numbers. Aces, as you might suspect, are very independent, with strong leadership qualities. On the negative side, they can be lonely, as well as dogmatic. Twos represent cooperation and partnership, but they also have a certain degree of instability built into them. They represent a delicate balance that can be easily upset, but also easily re-established. Threes represent birth which results from the union of two, and hence also creativity. At the same time, they represent indecisiveness because they are a reaction against the principle of twos. They see duality everywhere, and this means that for them making choices can be difficult.

Fours represent stability. Fives represent change. Sixes represent lack of change, static conditions, and karmic or fated conditions. Sevens represent difficulties, obstacles, faith, and spiritual perspective. Eights represent concentrated attention, hence power. Nines represent conclusions and endings. Tens represent achievement and success.

Jacks represent immature mastery, and are therefore cards that cannot necessarily be trusted. Queens represent intuitive mastery and Kings represent masculine authority.

Since Hearts are the suit of the emotions, they are therefore most relevant in any love relationship. The Ace of Hearts represents the desire for, but not necessarily the achievement of a relationship. The Two of Hearts is the love affair card, par excellence. The Three of Hearts is a card of sociability, ambivalence in love, or a love triangle.

The Four of Hearts is a family card. The Five of Hearts is a card of separation in love, and often a card of divorce. The Six of Hearts is a card of karmic or fated relationships, responsibility in relationships, or lack of change in a relationship. The Seven of Hearts is a card of difficulties or challenges in love, as well as of spiritual love. The Eight of Hearts is a card of passion, which can also turn to hate. The Nine of Hearts is a card of endings in relationships, but also a card of empathy. The Ten of Hearts is a card of universal love, or relationships involving large groups of people.

The Jack of Hearts is the card of a “player” when it comes to relationships. The Queen of Hearts is a card of idealized femininity, motherhood, and sex. The King of Hearts is a card of friendship or paternal love.

There is not enough space here to go through the meanings of the individual cards in the Clubs, Diamonds, and Spades suits, but they follow the same common-sense logical pattern as those in the Hearts suit, but applied to their respective domains of Knowledge, Learning, and Communication, Money, Finances, and Higher Values, and Work, Health, and Wisdom.

There are several methods and techniques used in Card Chemistry, but the simplest and most basic calculation we can make is to find the Composite Card between any two people. We do this by simply adding the Solar Values of their respective Birth Cards together. The resulting Composite Card, which can also be called the Mercury Card, is the most basic way to represent a relationship. It represents the energy or dynamic of the relationship, or the way in which two people communicate with one another.

If, for instance, we wish to calculate the Composite Card for a 10♣ and a 3♠, we add their Solar Values, which are 23 and 42, of which the sum is 65. For any sum over 52, we subtract 52. If we subtract 52 from 65, we get 13. This is the Solar Value of the K♥, so this is the Composite Card. In terms of personal relationships, this is a good card for friendship.

We can go farther and add the value of the Composite Card back to those of the two Birth Cards to get two separate Point-of-View Cards. These represent the point-of-view or perspective of each individual toward the relationship, or how the relationship empowers each of them.

In the case of the relationship between the 10♣ and 3♠, if we add back the value of the Composite K♥ to the 10♣ and the 3♠, and get the 10♦ and 3♥, respectively.

If the relationship in question were one that involved finances, then it would tend to be very beneficial for the 10♣ individual with the 10♦ POV Card. If it was a personal relationship that did not involve finances, the 10♦ POV card would be fairly neutral, since Diamonds tend to be neutral in personal relationships. For the 3♠ individual in a personal relationship, the 3♥ POV card would be a somewhat ambivalent card, which might lead to conflicting feelings over time.

If this were a casual relationship, such as with a friend, a co-worker, an advisor of some type, or even a sibling or parent, this is probably as far as we need to go. However, if we were dealing with an intimate relationship such as a lover or spouse that demanded deeper investigation, we could continue further with this process using the Card Chemistry Calculator system, which assigns interpretations to a number of additional Composite and POV Cards, as follows:

The POV Cards can be added together to create a second Composite Card, also known as the Venus Composite, which represents the force of attraction between the two. This second Composite Card can be added back to the Birth Cards to create a second set of POV Cards known as the Point of Weakness cards, which represent the point of weakness in the relationship.

These cards can be added together to create a third Composite Card, known as the Mars Composite, which represents any conflict that exists between the pair. The Mars Composite can be added back to the Birth Cards to create a third set of POV Cards known as the Conflict Resolution cards, which indicate how the conflict may be resolved.

These cards can be added together to create a fourth Composite Card, known as the Jupiter Composite, which represents the ultimate purpose of the relationship. The Jupiter Composite can be added back to the Birth Cards to create a fourth set or POV Cards called the Ultimate Benefit Cards.

Finally, these cards can be added together to produce a fifth Composite Card known as the Saturn Composite, which represents the final result of the relationship.