The Sabian Symbols As An Oracle

Greetings.
I thought that i had initiated a thread by this same title years ago but a search brought up nothing.
It may have been at another astrology forum that I did post such a thread?

Nevertheless, it is a good time for a review.

I use the 360 symbols much the same way as I use the I Ching.
At one time in my life... for a good number of years... I did utilize the I Ching with regularity but I sometimes found the orientation confusing.
(Orient? Confucius? ... )

Once I mastered the use of divining through the Sabians I have rarely used the I Ching since.

I take a regular deck of fifty two playing cards and I use a new deck, unused, and dedicate them to the sole use of Sabian divination.
I smudge them, cleanse them by a number of sacred methods, and then dedicate them to God's Eternal Light and Will and place them under protective prayer.

Then I shuffle them and cut the cards ...twice.
The first cut will either be a Face Card or one that is numerical.

The Hearts are: King = Aries, Queen = Taurus, Jack = Gemini.
The Diamonds are: King = Cancer, Queen = Leo, Jack = Virgo.
The Spades are: King = Libra, Queen = Scorpio, Jack = Sagittarius.
The Clubs are: King = Capricorn, Queen = Aquarius, Jack = Pisces

The numerical Hearts, A - 10, are the degrees 1 through 10.
The numerical Diamonds, A - 10, are the degrees 11 through 20.
The numerical Spades, A - 10, are the degrees 21 through 30.

If I draw two of the same type of cards I count the first one,
I rarely draw two of the same.

I also leave in the Jokers.
Whenever a Joker comes up I have found to pay particular attention to the message that is given.

Disregard the numerical Clubs but I leave them in so as to retain "integrity" of the deck. They were born unto the world as one and are a dynamic, integrative, energy as a whole deck...much for the same reason I leave the Jokers in the deck.

For Example a draw of Queen of Diamonds and 5 Spades equals the 25th degree of Leo. My M.C. and Part of Fortune... it always brings a smile to my face when I draw those two cards.
I know then that I'm on the right track.

I have also used the cards to indicate direction.
Capricorn points North. Cancer points South. Aries points East and Libra points West.
The Queens to the direct points and the Jacks to the points counterclockwise and the Kings to the points clockwise from.

The idea here is that the Sunrise is represented by the first of Spring and Aries, the Sunset that of Autumn and Libra. The South then has to be that of Summer and Cancer... the North that of Winter and Capricorn.

Now, it has been observed by me that some cultures prefer a slightly different arrangement of the cards.
I do so recommend using them in the manner I have provided here but to each their own.

Here are some more "fun facts" about playing cards and what they mean to other cultures (other than American... anyways.)

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As early as the mid-1500s the jack was called the knave. A knave is a male servant of royalty in this instance. The card came to be known as the jack during the middle of the 19th century, when card manufacturers began to label playing cards to indicate their value with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Kn, Q, K, A. The obvious confusion between "Kn" and "K" led to the renaming of the knave, being out-ranked by the king. However, books of card games published in the third quarter of the 19th century evidently still referred to the "knave".

Playing cards are some how also representative of the 52 weeks in a year (7 xs 52 =364) Each suit is said to represent a season. Hearts the Spring, Diamonds the Summer, Spades the Autumn and Clubs the Winter.
Presently The KIngs of each suit represent the Cardinal Signs,as to the Sidereal Zodiac and always in constant to the Tropical Zodiac (In Tropical Zodiac observance the first day of Spring always corresponds to the 1st degree of Aries, First day of Summer the 1st degree of Cancer, First day of Fall the 1st degree of Libra and the First day of Winter the 1st degree of Capricorn.

The queens represent the four Fixed Signs, Taurus in Spring, Leo in Summer, Scorpio in Autumn and Aquarius in Winter.
The jacks, or knaves as they were once commonly called, represent the Mutable Signs presently, continuously as to the Tropical Zodiac. Gemini in Spring, Virgo in Summer, Sagittarius in Fall and Pisces in Winter.

In the standard English playing card deck, the jack and the other face cards represent no one in particular - this is in contrast to French decks, where each court card represents a named person. The jacks in a French deck are as follows:

Jack of Spades: Ogier the Dane (a knight of Charlemagne and a legendary hero of the chansons de geste) and the Astrological sign Sagittarius
Jack of Hearts: La Hire (French warrior, close comrade of Joan of Arc and famed milltary leader of the Hundred Years War), Astro. Sign, Gemini
Jack of Diamonds: Hector (mythological hero of the Iliad) Astro. Sign, Virgo
Jack of Clubs: Lancelot (fictional hero of the Arthurian legend) or Judas Maccabeus (Jewish priest and son of the priest Mattahias that led the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid empire. The Holiday Hannuakah is associiated with Judah's success in removing the Hellenistic statuary from the Hebrew Temple in 164 B.C.) Astro. Sign, Pisces


* Queen of Spades: Joan of Arc, Astro. Sign, Scorpio
* Queen of Hearts: Judith (Biblical figure) Astro. Sign, Taurus
* Queen of Diamonds: Rachel (Biblical figure) Astro. Sign, Leo
* Queen of Clubs: Argine (an anagram of Regina which is Latin for Queen) Astro. Sign, Aquarius

In the French deck, the kings have traditionally been assigned personalities, though this tradition arose after their design. The most common modern ones are as follows:

* King of Spades: David (a biblical king) Astro. Sign, Libra
* King of Hearts: Charlemagne (Holy Roman Emperor) Astro. Sign, Aries
* King of Diamonds: Julius Caesar (dictator of the Roman Republic) Astro. Sign, Cancer
* King of Clubs: Alexander the Great (king of Macedon) Astro. Sign, Capricorn