Part 6

The fourth pack, “for those who do expect it,” containing the Eight of Hearts, the Queen of Clubs, and the Ten of Diamonds:

“The Eight of Hearts--the love-affairs of a fair young girl will oblige--the Queen of Clubs--the person consulting the cards--Ten of Diamonds--to take a journey.”

The fifth pack, “for the surprise,” consists of the Seven of Spades and the Ten of Spades, meaning:

“Seven of Spades--slight trouble--Ten of Spades--caused by some person’s imprisonment--The Card of Consolation--Seven of Diamonds--which will turn out to have been a mere report.”

PRESENT, PAST, AND FUTURE.

The person wishing to try her fortune in this manner (we will suppose her to be a young, fair person, represented by the Eight of Hearts), must well shuffle, and cut with the left hand, the pack of thirty-two cards; after which she must lay aside the topmost and undermost cards, to form the surprise. There will now remain thirty cards, which must be dealt out in three parcels--one to the left, one in the middle, and one to the right.

The left-hand pack represents the Past; the middle, the Present; and the one on the right hand, the Future. She must commence with the “Past,” which we will suppose to contain these ten cards: The King of Clubs, the Ace of Spades, the Knave of Diamonds, the Nine of Diamonds, the Ace of Hearts, the Knave of Hearts, the Queen of Hearts, the King of Spades, the Knave of Clubs, and the King of Hearts.

She would remark that picture-cards predominating was a favorable sign; also that the presence of three Kings proved that powerful persons were interesting themselves in her affairs. The three Knaves, however, warn her to beware of false friends, and the Nine of Diamonds predicts some great annoyance, overcome by some good and amiable person, represented by the Queen of Hearts. The two Aces also give notice of a plot. Taking the cards in the order they lay, the explanation would run thus:

“The King of Clubs--a frank, open-hearted man--Ace of Spades--fond of gayety and pleasure, is disliked by Knave of Diamonds--an unfaithful friend--Nine of Diamonds--who seeks to injure him. The Ace of Hearts--a love-letter--Knave of Hearts--from a gay young bachelor to a fair, amiable woman--Queen of Hearts--causes--King of Spades--a lawyer to endeavor to injure a clever--Knave of Clubs--enterprising young man, who is saved from him by--the King of Hearts--a good and powerful man. Nevertheless, as the Knave of Clubs is placed between two similar cards, he has run great risk of being imprisoned through the machinations of his enemy.”

The second parcel, “the Present,” containing the Ten of Diamonds, the Nine of Spades, the Eight of Spades, the Queen of Diamonds, the Queen of Clubs, the Eight of Hearts, the Seven of Spades, the Ten of Spades, Queen of Spades, the Eight of Diamonds, signifies:

“The Ten of Diamonds--a voyage or journey, at that moment taking place--Nine of Spades--caused by the death or dangerous illness of some one--Eight of Spades--whose state will occasion great grief--Queen of Diamonds--to a fair woman. The Queen of Clubs--An affectionate woman seeks to console--Eight of Hearts--a fair young girl, who is the person making the essay--Seven of Spades--who has secret griefs--Ten of Spades--causing her many tears--Queen of Spades--these are occasioned by the conduct of either a dark woman or a widow, who--Eight of Diamonds--is her rival.”

The third packet of cards, “the Future,” we will suppose to contain the Eight of Clubs, the Ten of Clubs, the Seven of Diamonds, the Ten of Hearts, the Seven of Clubs, the Nine of Hearts, the Ace of Diamonds, the Knave of Spades, the Seven of Hearts, the Nine of Clubs, which would read thus:

“In the first place, the large number of small cards foretells success in enterprises, although the presence of three sevens predicts an illness. The Eight of Clubs--a dark young girl--Ten of Clubs--is about to inherit a large fortune--Seven of Diamonds--but her satirical disposition will destroy--Ten of Hearts--all her happiness. Seven of Clubs--A little money and--Nine of Hearts--much joy--Ace of Hearts--will be announced to the person making the essay by a letter, and--Knave of Spades--a wild young man--Seven of Hearts--will be overjoyed at receiving--Nine of Clubs--some unexpected tidings. The cards of surprise--viz., the King of Diamonds and the Ace of Clubs--predict that a letter will be received from some military man, and that it will contain money.”

THE STAR METHOD OF CONSULTING THE CARDS.

We will suppose the person making the essay to be a widow, and consequently represented by the Queen of Spades. This card is, therefore, to be withdrawn from the pack, and laid, face uppermost, upon the table. The remaining thirty-one cards are then to be well shuffled, cut, the topmost card withdrawn and placed lengthwise, and face uppermost, above the head of the Queen of Spades. The cards are to be shuffled, cut, and the topmost card withdrawn, twelve more times, the manner of their arrangement being this: The Queen of Spades in the center, the first card lengthwise above her head, the second ditto at her feet, the third on her right side, the fourth on her left, the fifth placed upright above the first, the sixth ditto below the second, the seventh at the right of the third, the eighth at the left of the fourth, the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, at the four corners, and the thirteenth across the center card--the Queen of Spades--thus forming a star.

We will suppose these fourteen cards to be the Queen of Spades, which represents the person making the essay; then--1. The Ace of Hearts; 2. The King of Clubs; 3. The Ten of Clubs; 4. Nine of Diamonds; 5. Queen of Clubs; 6. The Eight of Hearts; 7. The Ten of Spades; 8. The Knave of Clubs; 9. The Seven of Clubs; 10. The Ten of Hearts; 11. The Knave of Diamonds; 12. The Eight of Diamonds; 13. The Nine of Clubs. These being placed at right angles, the person consulting them takes them up two by two, beginning with those last laid down.

The first card, 12, the Eight of Diamonds, and the one in the opposite corner, viz., 11, the Knave of Diamonds, read--“Overtures will be made--Knave of Diamonds--by a fair young man--next two cards, 10 and 9, Ten of Hearts--which will prove unsuccessful--Seven of Clubs--on account of something connected with money. Next two cards, 8 and 7, the Knave of Clubs--a clever, dark young man--Ten of Spades--will be greatly grieved by, 6--Eight of Hearts, a fair girl to whom he is attached. Next two cards, 5 and 4, the Queen of Clubs--A dark woman--Nine of Diamonds--will be annoyed at not receiving, 3--Ten of Clubs--a sum of money--next two cards, 2 and 1, the King of Clubs--which was to have been sent her by a generous dark man, who is fond of obliging his friends--Ace of Hearts--it will at last arrive, accompanied by a love-letter--13th card, placed across the Queen of Spades, Nine of Clubs--and be the cause of unexpected gain to the person consulting the cards.” There is a shorter and simpler way of doing this, by surrounding the card representing the person trying his or her fortune, with a less number of cards.

The cards are shuffled and cut as before described, and the topmost one withdrawn. We will suppose the center card to be the Knave of Clubs, representing a dark young man--the first topmost one proves to be the Ace of Clubs, and this is placed above the head of the Knave--the second, the Eight of Hearts, is placed at his feet--the third, the Knave of Diamonds, at his right side--the fourth, the Queen of Spades, on his left. These read--“Ace of Clubs--You will soon receive a letter, which will give you great pleasure--Eight of Hearts--from a fair girl. Knave of Diamonds--An unfaithful friend--Queen of Spades--and a malicious widow, will seek to injure you on that very account.”

TO KNOW IF YOU WILL GET YOUR WISH.

Shuffle the cards well, and cut, or have them cut, with the left hand. Then deal out thirteen cards. If among these is to be found one or more Aces lay them aside, shuffle and cut the remaining ones, and again deal thirteen; withdraw the Aces as before, and again shuffle, cut, and deal. If, in these three deals, all four aces make their appearance, you will get your wish. If all the Aces come at the first deal, the response is in the highest degree favorable.

THE ENGLISH METHOD OF CONSULTING THE CARDS.

Having described the French and Italian methods of consulting the cards, we will proceed to notice the manner in which the art of fortune-telling is generally practiced in England and Scotland. Hitherto only thirty-two cards have been made use of, but now the whole pack is employed. The significations also slightly differ; therefore we shall first give a complete list of them, and then pass on to describe how the cards are to be arranged, so as to disclose their mystic meanings.

Ace of Clubs.--Wealth, happiness, and peace of mind.

King of Clubs.--A dark man, upright, faithful, and affectionate in disposition.

Queen of Clubs.--A dark woman, gentle and pleasing.

Knave of Clubs.--A sincere, but hasty friend--also a dark man’s thoughts.

Ten of Clubs.--Unexpected riches, and loss of a dear friend.

Nine of Clubs.--Disobedience to friends’ wishes.