Psycards

Psycards
By Maggie Kneen and Nick Hobson
© 1989 Network Ltd. - Published by U.S. Games

The complete name of the Psycards is "Psycards:  The Great Game of the Human Heart," although I do not find the cards to be a "game" in any way.  One can certainly play with the cards and explore them, but I do not use the cards as a game in terms of how one might think of two or more players coming together for a card game.  Berenice Watt's book does offer some interesting "games" that two or more people can play with the cards, however.  It is a personal choice in how one chooses to explore the Psycards.  As a long-time Tarot reader, I enjoy working with the cards in traditional readings for myself and others.  Drawing a card a day from this deck can also give insightful information for the day ahead.  For example, if you draw the "Liar" card, you can anticipate that someone might not be straightforward with you, or they could downright lie to you.  Something is likely not to be honest in the situation, whether it's you or someone else who is being dishonest about something.  Sometimes it's a card that asks you to be a little more honest and objective with yourself and asks you what you are afraid of or what you are hiding from to be wearing the "mask" you've chosen.  So the cards are quite fascinating to use for daily card draws as well as in reading layouts.

The Psycard System is not Tarot, but the 40 cards of this deck do hold some similarities to the Tarot.  Even some of the cards have the same titles as some of the Majors in Tarot with similar meanings.  There is an exception, however, and that is in the Tower card.  The Tower card in the Psycards deck is related to strength and solidity rather than a downfall -- although the LWB (little white book) accompanying the cards indicates that it can presage the pride that goes before a fall.  So with that, there is some relation to the typical Tower tower.  Yet a better card among the Psycards that would relate to the Tarot Tower is the card of Destruction.  In the card scene, there is a Tower in the background that is on fire and a warlike event going on -- seemingly a state of mass destruction.

Of course, there are some very positive cards in the Psycards deck, too -- not just the type of cards that make us think of "doom and gloom."  Each card is intended to evoke a certain feeling from within, based on the images found in the card.  The cards work very well in combinations to tell a story.  Using two or three cards together will take into account all of the energies to bring about a main theme or message to consider.

The cards measure 2-1/2" x 4-3/8."  They are very easy to shuffle and handle.  The art is very well done on these cards, and if the art should happen to feel "familiar" to you, then you might also have seen the Old English Tarot Deck in which Maggie Kneen did the art for that deck as well as the Psycards.

Each of the cards of this deck are assigned to a certain group, as follows.  The Inquirer card seems to stand alone and represents the seeker rather than neatly fitting into any group structure outlined below.

• Inquirer
• Directions: Yes, No, Now, Never
• Fundamentals: Body, Home, Work, Skills, Money, Friends, Fortune
• Archetypes: Father, Mother, Birth, Death, Libido, Destruction, Peace
• Symbols: Sun, Moon, Stars, Tree, Scales, Tower, Wheel
• Characters: Beauty, Warrior, Liar, Stranger, Sage, Fool, Beast
• Happenings: Message, Voyage, Puzzle, Prison, Liberation, Cave, Union

There are two guidebooks available for the Psycards.  The first book that was written by Berenice Watt's is entitled "Language of the Psycards." For a time, that was the only book source of information outside of the LWB (little white book) that comes with the cards.  When U.S. games bought the rights to the cards, a new book was written by Nick Hobson, and is entitled "The Psycards Book:  A Journey into the Psyche."  I actually enjoyed reading both of the books and found them to both be useful and offer similar information but some differing perspectives for the cards.  I think if you had to choose just one book, Nick Hobson's book ("The Psycards Book") would be the preferred choice, as it is a little more indepth than "Language of the Psycards."  But having both of these resources available for my own use has been a great learning experience for these cards.  What I have found, generally speaking, for cards that have more than one book available, each book may point out something different from the other, and combining insights can lead to a greater sense of understanding about the concepts being presented in the cards.

Even though these are not Tarot cards, I have found that having a thorough knowledge of the Tarot does help in relating to and understanding the Psycards.  The Psycards are considered to be psychological in nature rather than divinatory.  However, I've certainly found that they work quite well in divination readings.  They do touch heavily on aspects of gaining emotional insight into oneself and in finding inner peace through this awareness and understanding.  So in working with these cards, you can learn a lot about yourself, your motivations and intentions, and can get a good grasp of what is happening in your life and where you are heading.  The deck even has a card marked "Yes" and a card marked "No" . . . so despite any claims made as to these decks not working for purposes of forecasting, they obviously have the ability for that purpose if we know we could receive an outright "yes" or a "no" response.  Thus, here is a deck in which you could reasonably ask a "yes/no" type of question . . . and you'll certainly get more than just a "yes" or "no" out of your reading.

I very much enjoy working with this set of cards.  I am one who uses reversals for most decks (although not all), but the author indicates that the Psycards are meant to be used upright.  Yet the book also indicates that you should use the cards in a way that feels right for you.  I find that these cards could actually be used with reversals if one chose to do so.  But they work nicely in card grouping layouts even if all laid out upright.  If you are dealing with a reversed card from this deck, I think it's one that you may want to pay close attention to and give it some extra emphasis, even if you are not altering its meaning as a reversed card.  The Psycards will work beautifully and bring you some interesting information upright or reversed -- whichever way you choose to "play."  The bottom line is that there really is no "right or wrong" way to use the cards, as long as you feel comfortable with how you choose to work with them.

In comparing the Psycards to the Tarot, I feel that it's basically an equal comparison in terms of the insight you can be granted, but the Psycards can be more direct and to the point, and sometimes that is just what a reader or a seeker needs.  The pictures on the Psycards are ones that a user can easily relate to.  They will almost always mean something to a seeker on a personal level, whereas the Tarot can be a bit more confusing and complex to someone who's not familiar enough with Tarot to understand its symbolism.

If you are looking for an insightful alternative to Tarot, I can highly recommend the Psycards and the accompanying books that are available for this deck.  I have found that these cards bring out such insightful answers in easy-to-understand language that they also work well if you are in a position of needing to offer quick but insightful readings, such as working at Tarot parties . . . or even giving readings via the radio.  These are the kinds of cards that bring forth an immediate response and an answer to your question.  You can delve into the psychological aspects and answers as deeply as you want to, or just touch the surface and get your main message that the cards want to reveal to you.

Velvet Angel