Part 5

After having well shuffled and cut the cards, or, as we have before said, had them cut, deal them out in two packs, containing sixteen cards in each. Desire the person consulting you to choose one of them; lay aside the first card, to form “the surprise;” turn up the other fifteen, and range them in a half-circle before you, going from left to right, placing them in the order in which they come to hand, and taking care to remark whether the one representing the person for whom you are acting be among them. If not, the cards must be all gathered up, shuffled, cut, and dealt as before, and this must be repeated until the missing card makes its appearance in the pack chosen by the person it represents. Now proceed to explain them--first, by interpreting the meaning of any pairs, triplets, or quartettes among them; then by counting them in sevens, going from right to left, and beginning with the card representing the person consulting you; and lastly, by taking the cards at either extremity of the line and pairing them. This being done, gather up the fifteen cards, shuffle, cut, and deal them so as to form three packs of each five cards. From each of these three packs withdraw the topmost card, and place them on the one laid aside to form “the surprise,” thus forming four packs of four cards each.

Desire the person for whom you are acting to choose one of these packs, “for herself” or “himself,” as the case may be. Turn it up, and spread out the four cards it contains, from left to right, explaining their individual and relative signification. Next proceed in like manner with the pack on your left hand, which will be “for the house;” then the third one, “for those who do not expect it;” and lastly, “the surprise.”

In order to render our meaning perfectly clear, we will give another example. Let us suppose that the pack for the person consulting you is composed of the Knave of Hearts, the Ace of Diamonds, the Queen of Clubs, and the Eight of Spades reversed. By the aid of the list of meanings we have given, it will be easy to interpret them as follows:

“The Knave of Hearts is a gay young bachelor--the Ace of Diamonds--who has written, or will very soon write, a letter--the Queen of Clubs--to a dark woman--Eight of Spades reversed--to make proposals to her, which will not be accepted.”

On looking back to the list of significations, it will be found to run thus:

Knave of Hearts.--A gay young bachelor, who thinks only of pleasure.

Ace of Diamonds.--A letter soon to be received.

Queen of Clubs.--An affectionate woman, but quick-tempered and touchy.

Eight of Spades.--If reversed, a marriage broken off, or offer refused.

It will thus be seen that each card forms, as it were, a phrase from an assemblage of which nothing but a little practice is required to form complete sentences. Of this we will give a further example, by interpreting the signification of the three other packs--“for the house,” “for those who do not expect it,” and “the surprise.” The first of these, “for the house,” we will suppose to consist of the Queen of Hearts, the Knave of Spades reversed, the Ace of Clubs, and the Nine of Diamonds, which reads thus:

“The Queen of Hearts is a fair woman, mild and amiable in disposition, who--Knave of Spades reversed--will be deceived by a dark, ill-bred young man--the Ace of Clubs--but she will receive some good news, which will console her--Nine of Diamonds--although it is probable that the news may be delayed.”

The pack “for those who do not expect it,” consisting of the Queen of Diamonds, the King of Spades, the Ace of Hearts reversed, and the Seven of Spades, would signify:

“The Queen of Diamonds is a mischief-making woman--the King of Spades--who is in league with a dishonest lawyer--Ace of Hearts reversed--they will hold a consultation together--Seven of Spades--but the harm they will do will soon be repaired.”

Last comes “the surprise,” formed by, we will suppose, the Knave of Clubs, the Ten of Diamonds, the Queen of Spades, and the Nine of Spades, of which the interpretation is:

“The Knave of Clubs is a clever, enterprising young man--Ten of Diamonds--about to undertake a journey--Queen of Spades--for the purpose of visiting a widow--Nine of Spades--but one or both of their lives will be endangered.”

THE ITALIAN METHOD.

Take a pack composed of thirty-two selected cards, viz., the Ace, King, Queen, Knave, Ten, Nine, Eight, and Seven of each suit. Shuffle them well, and either cut or have them cut for you, according to whether you are acting for yourself or another person. Turn up the cards by threes, and when the triplet is composed of cards of the same suit, lay it aside; when of three different suits, pass it by without withdrawing any of the three; but when composed of two of one suit and one of another, withdraw the highest card of the two. When you have come to the end of the pack, gather up all the cards except those you have withdrawn; shuffle, cut, and again turn up by threes. Repeat this operation until you have obtained fifteen cards, which must then be spread out before you, from left to right, in the order in which they come to hand.

Care must, however, be taken that the card representing the person making the essay is among them; if not, the whole operation must be recommenced until the desired result is obtained. We will suppose it to be some dark lady--represented by the Queen of Clubs--who is anxious to make the attempt for herself, and that the cards are laid out in the following order, from left to right:--Ten of Diamonds, Queen of Clubs, Eight of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds, Ten of Hearts, Seven of Clubs, King of Spades, Nine of Hearts, Knave of Spades, Ace of Clubs, Seven of Spades, Ten of Spades, Seven of Diamonds, Ace of Spades, Knave of Hearts.

On examining them, you will find that there are three Aces among them, announcing good news; but, as they are at some distance from each other, that the tidings may be some time before they arrive.

The three tens denote that the conduct of the person consulting the cards has not always been strictly correct. The two Knaves are enemies, and the three Sevens predict an illness, caused by them.

You now begin to count five cards, beginning with the Queen of Clubs, who represents the person consulting you. The fifth card, being the Seven of Clubs, announces that the lady will soon receive a small sum of money. The next fifth card proving to be the Ace of Clubs, signifies that this money will be accompanied by some very joyful tidings. Next, comes the Ace of Spades, promising complete success to any projects undertaken by the person consulting the cards; then the Eight of Hearts, followed at the proper interval by the King of Spades, showing that the good news will excite the malice of a dishonest lawyer; but the Seven of Spades coming next announces that the annoyance he can cause will be of short duration, and that a gay fair young man--the Knave of Hearts--will soon console her for what she has suffered. The Ace of Diamonds tells that she will soon receive a letter from this fair young man--the Nine of Hearts--announcing a great success--Ten of Spades--but this will be followed by some slight chagrin--Ten of Diamonds--caused by a journey--Ten of Hearts--but it will soon pass, although--Knave of Spades--a bad, dark young man will endeavor--Seven of Diamonds--to turn her into ridicule. The Queen of Clubs, being representative of herself, shows that it is towards her that the dark young man’s malice will be directed. Now take the cards at either extremity of the line, and pair them together. The two first being the Knave of Hearts and the Ten of Diamonds, you may say: “A gay young bachelor is preparing to take a journey--Ace of Spades and Queen of Clubs--which will bring him to the presence of the lady consulting the cards, and cause her great joy. Seven of Diamonds and Eight of Hearts--Scandal talked about a fair young girl. Ten of Spades and Ace of Diamonds--tears shed upon receipt of a letter. Seven of Spades and Ten of Hearts--great joy, mingled with slight sorrow. Seven of Clubs and Ace of Clubs--A letter promising money. Knave of Spades and King of Spades--the winning of a lawsuit. The Nine of Hearts, being the one card left, promises complete success.”

Now gather up the cards, shuffle, cut, and deal them out in five packs--one for the lady herself, one for the house, one for “those who do not expect it,” one for “those who do expect it,” and one for “the surprise,” in the first deal, laying one card aside for “consolation.” The rest are then equally distributed among the other five packs, which will four of them contain three cards, whilst the last only consists of two.

We will suppose the first packet for the lady herself to be composed of the Ace of Diamonds, the Seven of Clubs, and the Ten of Hearts. The interpretation would run thus:

“Ace of Diamonds--a letter will be shortly received--Seven of Clubs--announcing the arrival of a small sum of money--Ten of Hearts--and containing some very joyful tidings.”

The second pack, “for the house,” containing the King of Spades, the Nine of Hearts, and the Knave of Spades:

“The person consulting the cards will receive a visit--King of Spades--from a lawyer--Nine of Hearts--which will greatly delight--Knave of Spades--a dark, ill-disposed young man.”

The third pack, “for those who do not expect it,” composed of the Ace of Spades, the Knave of Hearts, and the Ace of Clubs, would read:

“Ace of Spades--pleasure in store for--Knave of Hearts--a gay young bachelor--Ace of Clubs--by means of money; but as the Knave of Hearts is placed between two Aces, it is evident that he runs a great risk of being imprisoned; and from the two cards signifying respectively ‘pleasure’ and ‘money,’ that it will be for having run into debt.”