Table; festivity; merry making; nutrition; guests; invitation; host; hilarity; good cheer; abundance; joy; gayety; natural pleasure; domestics; sports and pastimes.

ACE OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ It primarily designates _forced_ or _constrained enjoyment_, but more generally it should be taken for _new acquaintances_, whence is derived a secondary significance of _fresh news_, with these synonyms:

Indication; presentiment; new instructions; fresh knowledge; enlightenment; index; augury; forewarning; fore-knowledge; conjecture; oracle; prognostication; prediction; prophecy; divination; second sight; novelty.

Again this card, reversed, means a _disordered household_, and from this comes the secondary idea of _intestine quarrels_, with the following more prominent synonyms:

Misunderstanding; regret; remorse; repentance; internal agitation; irresolution; uncertainty; family feuds; marriage trouble; domestic strife; dissensions.

At times this card represents _family vices_, or extravagance in household expenditures, or any description of crime or folly which renders home unhappy and unendurable.

TEN OF HEARTS--_Upright._ This card ordinarily signifies the _city_, when its secondary capacities are expressed in some one from among the following synonyms:

Metropolis; native land; burgh; village; town; locality; site; town-house; dwelling; habitation; residence; munic.i.p.ality; city government; citizens.

It moreover is accepted to signify _envious people_, as by that term the ancient inhabitants of the rural districts were wont to designate, ironically, dwellers in cities.

TEN OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ This card most generally signifies _an inheritance_, when its synonyms are:

Succession; legacy; donation; testamentary gifts; dowry; dower; dowager; legitimacy; will; patrimony; heir; transmission; to bequeath; to endow.

It is likewise used to signify _relatives_ when its secondary capacity is extended to the widest scope, embracing:

Consanguinity; blood; family; ancestors; father; mother; brother; sister; aunt; uncle; cousin, male or female; Adam and Eve; race; lineage; alliance; relationship; affinity; blood connection; love intrigues.

Another primary signification of this card is _surprise_, generally of a bad origin, with these appropriate synonyms:

Cheat; imposture; knavery; deceit; trickery; mistake; oversight; misunderstanding; trouble; vexation; annoyance; emotion; fright; fear; terror; consternation; astonishment; admiration; alarm; rapture; exhaustion; swooning; fainting; a marvel; phenomenon; miracle; anything wonderful or strange.

Among the ancient cartomancists, this card, with the _nine of hearts_, was regarded as the most difficult of interpretation of any in the pack, but through careful study of the synonyms above given, a true meaning is readily attained.

NINE OF HEARTS--_Upright._ This card is generally regarded as an augury of good fortune, wealth, happiness and worldly advantage.

Its princ.i.p.al signification is _victory_, whence we derive:

Success; good results; advantage; gain; pomp; triumph; trophies; majesty; show; apparel; baggage; luggage; equipage; attire; furniture; rich goods and wares.

Its next princ.i.p.al one is _union_ and _concord_, with the several secondary significations, cognate to them:

Moderation; discretion; continence; temperance; patience; calmness; sobriety; frugality; chast.i.ty; harmony; music; musical tastes; perfect happiness.

It moreover designates _labor_ and _commerce_, in which capacity its signification is expressed in the synonyms:

Studious; application; work; toil; reflection; observation; meditation; occupation; trade; employment; merchant; clerk; trader; laborer; mercantile pursuits.

Still another signification is _a present_, whence we have:

Gift; generosity; benefit; gratification; service.

NINE OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ This card means _ennui_, or weariness, with secondary attributes expressed in these synonyms:

Displeasure; discontent; disgust; aversion; inquietude; lack of spirit; listlessness; trivial sorrow; affliction; uneasiness; complaining; want of energy.

It moreover is employed to signify _curiosity_, whence we have the secondary signification of inquisitiveness; a busybody; a marplot and intruder.

Then again an ordinary signification of this card is _obstacle_ or _hindrance_ with the following synonyms:

Bar; embarra.s.sment; opposition; barrier; contrariety; inconvenience; trouble; difficulty; work; abjection; indisposition; ailment; infirmity; distress; hesitation; vacillation; perplexity; impediment; stumbling-block.

EIGHT OF HEARTS--_Upright._ The primary signification of this card is first, a blonde young lady of great natural abilities, gentle manners, lively disposition and personal beauty, for whom we have synonyms:

Honest girl; virtuous girl; modesty; maidenly grace; bashfulness; timidity; retiring disposition; fear of scandal; apprehension; mildness; suavity of temper.

It moreover signifies _success in expectations_, in those enterprises whereupon the consultant has set his heart, with the secondary significations of:

Success; happy issue; fortunate termination; victory; cure; recovery; accomplishment; end of trouble; discontinuance, termination of pains, torment or labor.

EIGHT OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ When this card comes into the oracle in a reversed position, and is used as the representative of an individual, it designates an unmarried lady, of a light complexion, with chestnut-brown hair, of a natural good disposition, but spoiled by an a.s.sumption of superiority over her companions. From this signification, we have that of _arrogance_, and thence:

Noise; quarreling; dispute; disturbance; difference; contestations; litigation; bickerings; arguments.

But the most general signification of this card reversed is _great joy_, otherwise expressed in these synonyms:

Perfect content; felicity; happiness; rapture; enchantment; ecstasy; entire satisfaction; complete joy; inexpressible pleasure; heavenly inspiration; exhilaration; enthusiasm; the music of the spheres; celestial harmony.

Under other influences this card becomes modified to the signification of the _means of satisfaction_, such as:

Gayety; dancing; the opera; the theater; festival; public rejoicings; family reunions; poetry; romance; joyous visits; pleasant parties; excursions.

SEVEN OF HEARTS--_Upright._ When this card emerges in its natural position, its primary signification is that of _thought_, an _arm_, or a _jewel_.

As thought, it has many secondary significations prominent among them those expressed by the synonyms:

The soul; spirit; intelligence; an idea; memory; imagination; conception; comprehension; extension of ideas; designs; intentions; desires; will; resolution; determination; premeditation; meditation; reflection; opinion; sentiment; philosopher; philosophy; wisdom.

This card is sometimes employed to signify _solitude_, when it obtains a secondary signification:

A desert; seclusion; retreat from society; hermitage; exile; banishment; isolation; abandonment.

SEVEN OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ When this card comes out reversed, one of its primary significations is a _package_, or bundle, present, new clothes, etc., in accordance with the signification of the cards immediately preceding or following it, which can be easily learned by study.

Nevertheless, its most ordinary signification is _desire_, or a strong longing for, or hankering after, some person or thing; but then again the interpretation is qualified by the cards coming near this one, either before or after; reading from the consultant to the right, by a simple change in position of the cards, _desire_ may be changed into _aversion_, and an _attraction_ into _repulsion_.

When its signification is _desire_, its synonyms will be:

Wish; now; will; coveting; cupidity; l.u.s.ting after; concupiscence; unlawful desire; extreme hankering after; jealous; pa.s.sion for good or bad; illusion; craving; appet.i.te; a fancy for a thing; decided inclination.

It will be seen that the term _desire_ is employed as antagonistic to love, or a holy and righteous phase of pa.s.sion.