The Coins of Holy Death: A Tool of Divination and Magick for Santa Muerte Devotees
Digital Web Book by Arnold Bustillo
Buy the paperback at https://amzn.to/4gFqoej
Digital Web Book by Arnold Bustillo
Buy the paperback at https://amzn.to/4gFqoej
Face Up, Follow the Pointer
When we read the coins, we only read the coins that land face-up. Since coins that land face-down are disregarded, I personally remove the face-down coins from the reading surface before I start interpreting the face-up coins. This is an optional step, but one that I find helps reduce unnecessary clutter from the reading surface, and which makes it easier to focus on the coins which you will actually be interpreting (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 - The same reading as Figure 1, with all face-down coins removed.
Next, look for The Pointer coin (the one that looks like an arrow), and determine which way it is pointing. In Figure 2 you can see The Pointer coin is pointing to about the eight o’clock position, or to the southwest. For simplicity, and if you are conducting your reading over a moveable reading surface, you can rotate the entire surface so The Pointer coin points horizontally, to the three o’clock, or east, position (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 - The entire reading is rotated so The Pointer coin points to the three o’clock, or east, position.
Notice that this is the same reading from Figure 1 and Figure 2, except the face-down coins have been removed,
and the entire reading has been rotated so The Pointer coin points horizontally, from left to right.
Notice that this is the same reading from Figure 1 and Figure 2, except the face-down coins have been removed,
and the entire reading has been rotated so The Pointer coin points horizontally, from left to right.
You do not technically have to rotate the reading surface to make The Pointer horizontal and pointing from left to right. Again, this is just something which I find makes it easier to focus on the interpretation of the coins. The main idea you want to remember is to always read the coins in the direction of The Pointer coin.
In the case of the reading in Figure 3, since The Pointer is telling us to read from left to right, the first coin that you would interpret is The Skull, because that is the coin farthest to the left. The next coin you would interpret would be The Tear, because it’s the second farthest coin to the left, followed by The Moon, The Scales of Justice, The Eye, and finally The Flame.
There are a couple of close calls in Figure 3, like The Moon and The Scales of Justice, for example. If we’re interpreting the coins in the direction of The Pointer, which in Figure 3 is pointing horizontally, from left to right, then The Moon and The Scales of Justice might appear to have landed on the same vertical (up and down) line in the pattern. However, this is not actually the case.
One way to determine which coin to interpret first is to hold a straight edge over the reading, perpendicular to the arrow on The Pointer coin. Since the arrow on The Pointer coin is horizontal (from left to right), a perpendicular (up and down) straight edge is placed over the reading. This reveals that, in fact, The Moon is slightly more to the left of The Scales of Justice (Figure 4). Since we interpret the coins in the direction of The Pointer, which in Figure 4 points left to right, then we would interpret The Moon coin before we interpret The Scales of Justice coin.
In the case of the reading in Figure 3, since The Pointer is telling us to read from left to right, the first coin that you would interpret is The Skull, because that is the coin farthest to the left. The next coin you would interpret would be The Tear, because it’s the second farthest coin to the left, followed by The Moon, The Scales of Justice, The Eye, and finally The Flame.
There are a couple of close calls in Figure 3, like The Moon and The Scales of Justice, for example. If we’re interpreting the coins in the direction of The Pointer, which in Figure 3 is pointing horizontally, from left to right, then The Moon and The Scales of Justice might appear to have landed on the same vertical (up and down) line in the pattern. However, this is not actually the case.
One way to determine which coin to interpret first is to hold a straight edge over the reading, perpendicular to the arrow on The Pointer coin. Since the arrow on The Pointer coin is horizontal (from left to right), a perpendicular (up and down) straight edge is placed over the reading. This reveals that, in fact, The Moon is slightly more to the left of The Scales of Justice (Figure 4). Since we interpret the coins in the direction of The Pointer, which in Figure 4 points left to right, then we would interpret The Moon coin before we interpret The Scales of Justice coin.
Figure 4 - At first glance, reading the pattern in the direction of The Pointer coin,
from left to right, The Moon and The Scales of Justice may appear on-line with one another.
By applying a perpendicular straight edge over the reading, we can plainly see
that The Moon is slightly to the left of the Scales of Justice.
from left to right, The Moon and The Scales of Justice may appear on-line with one another.
By applying a perpendicular straight edge over the reading, we can plainly see
that The Moon is slightly to the left of the Scales of Justice.
While a straight edge can be helpful to determine which coins should be interpreted before other coins, you may not always have a straight edge available. Do not worry. If you have a close call, and no straight edge is available, then allow your inner intuition to be your guide, and interpret the pattern in the order that appears most appropriate to your naked eye.