Still in all these sinister aspects the influence of this card can be materially modified, but never counteracted, through intervention of bright cards.

EIGHT OF SPADES--_Upright._ This card is ordinarily of bad import, as its primary signification is _sickness_, although it is more generally interpreted as _bad news_. This is its acceptation when preceded by the _knave of spades_ or the _knave of diamonds_, or when accompanied by the _ace of diamonds_, and sometimes by the _eight of hearts_, reversed.

When this card signifies _sickness_, its synonyms are:

Illness of the body, soul or mind; bad condition of health or of business; derangement; infirmity; epidemic; gangrene; agony; displeasure; damage; mishap; accidental injury; disaster; indisposition; head-ache; heart-ache; inquietude; melancholy; medicine; remedy; charlatan; empiric; physician; quack; languor.

Sometimes, however, this card is employed to designate _prudence_, whence we have as secondary significations:

Wisdom; reserve; circ.u.mspection; reticence; discernment; foresight; presentiment; prediction; divination; prophecy; horoscope; second sight; clairvoyance.

EIGHT OF SPADES--_Reversed._ Unlike other cards, the reversal of this one brings with it a modification of its primary significations.

Hence, when coming out reversed, it most generally signifies _ambition_, a pa.s.sion for which we have synonyms as follows:

Desire; wish for; search after; cupidity; jealousy; aspiration; onward; higher; illusion; pride.

Another primary signification bestowed upon this card when emerging reversed, is that of a _nun_ or pious woman, whence we derive the secondary signification usually applied to this card and expressed in the synonyms:

Inaction; peace; tranquillity; repose; apathy; inertia; stagnation; rest from labor; pastime, recreation; nonchalance; free from care; idleness; supineness; lethargy; torpidity.

SEVEN OF SPADES--_Upright._ As a general exponent of current events, this card is taken to forewarn the consultant of the loss of a valuable friend, whose death will be a source of a great deal of misery. On this account many interpret this card to signify a _coffin_, which may be the case when coming out in close proximity to the _ace of spades_ or the _nine of spades_.

Its most accepted primary signification, however, among practical cartomancists, is that of _hope_, whence are derived the secondary ones, expressed in the terms:

Trust; confidence; expectation; desire; inclination; longing after; wish; taste for; whim; humor; fancy.

SEVEN OF SPADES--_Reversed._ This card takes a wider and an apparently contradictory scope in its primary significations, when emerging in this manner, being _good advice_, _friendship_, and _indecision_.

From _good advice_ we derive, as secondary attributes:

Wise counsels; salutary warnings; news; announcements; advertis.e.m.e.nts; placards; consultations; admonitions; instruction; advice.

For _friendship_ we have the following synonyms:

Attachment; affection; tenderness; benevolence; well wishing; relation; harmony; correspondence; connection; ident.i.ty; intimacy; agreement with; concordance; concurrence; interest; conformity; sympathy; affinity; attraction; admiration.

For _indecision_, the general synonyms are employed:

Want of resolution; uncertainty; perplexity; inconstancy; frivolity; lightness; variation; diversity; vacillation; hesitation; versatile; unsteady; changeable; whimsical; flexibility in character; unreliable; undetermined.

KING OF CLUBS--_Upright._ As the representative of an individual, this card designates a man of a complexion neither very dark nor exceedingly light, but a person with medium colored brown hair, grayish eyes, and of an easy, plodding disposition. He will be a man humane, honest and affectionate, given to business, and faithful in all his engagements; he will be personally happy in all his relations in life, as father, husband and citizen, and make everyone happy about him.

The primary significations of this card are, in the first instance, a _friend_, and secondly, a _business man_.

As a _business man_ this card has these synonyms:

Merchant; trader; dealer; banker; broker; exchange agent; speculator; calculator; physician; schoolmaster; collegian; geometry; freemason; mathematics; engineer; science; professor.

KING OF CLUBS--_Reversed._ This card, as the representative of an individual, designates a person of middling dark complexion, with chestnut brown hair, who, without being positively wicked, is viciously inclined, and for that reason should not be trusted. Being of a morbid temperament, he will destroy the happiness of others, and render his family miserable through his own viciousness.

A secondary signification is consequently a _vicious man_ or _vice_ itself, expressed in synonyms as follows:

Vice; defect; default; moral blemish; weakness; moral imperfection; unformed nature; irregularity; flightiness of mind; depravation in manners; libertinism; lewdness; licentious speech; ugliness; deformity; corruption; stench; rottenness.

QUEEN OF CLUBS--_Upright._ As a representative of a particular individual, this card designates a brunette lady, of a warm, tender, and sympathetic nature, intellectual, witty and high spirited, of a strongly loving disposition, given to society and social reunions, where she distinguishes herself through her conversational ability.

The most prominent primary signification of this card is _opulence_, which is represented in the following synonyms:

Riches; display; pomp; ostentation; vain show; pageantry; luxury; sumptuousness; a.s.surance; steadiness; confidence; cert.i.tude; affirmation; security; hardihood; self-reliance; liberty; frankness; candor; openness; plain-dealing; freedom.

Another signification of this card is a _parley_ or _conference_, and is expressed by some of the subjoined synonyms:

Discourse; conversation; talk; communication; colloquy; dissertation; deliberation; discussion; speech; p.r.o.nunciation; grammar; dictionary; tongue; idiom; jargon; slang; exchange; commerce; trade; traffic; to speak; to confer; to converse; to tattle.

QUEEN OF CLUBS--_Reversed._ As a representative of an individual, this card, reversed, denotes a lady whose complexion is brunette, with dark hair and black eyes, but not dark enough to be represented by a _spade_. She will be a woman of warm pa.s.sions, of fine personal appearance, given to coquetry and dependent more upon her natural charms than education or intellectual training for conquests in her flirtations.

The general signification of this card, reversed, however, is _ignorance_ in contradistinction to its attributes when in natural position, and therefore can be interpreted as:

Boorishness; unskillfulness; want of experience; untutored; impertinent.

JACK OF CLUBS--_Upright._ As a representative of an individual, this card denotes a young man of middling dark complexion, kind, gentle and docile by nature, sedate and domestic in his habits, and studious through inclination. He is a warm friend and faithful admirer.

Coming out in the oracle of a young lady, this card is the representative of her lover, without respect to his color or other qualifications, denoting simply the person indicated.

The primary signification of this card, divested of its representative character, is a _scholar_ or lover of knowledge, while its secondary attributes are expressed in the synonyms:

Study; instruction; application; meditation; reflection; labor; toil; work; occupation; apprentice; student; disciple; pupil; master.

Another signification of this card, governed according to its surroundings in the oracle, is _prodigality_, whence are derived synonyms as follows:

Profusion; superfluity; luxury; largess; bounty; sumptuousness; magnificence; liberality; benefits; generosity; charity; benevolence; a crowd; a mult.i.tude; depredation; dilapidation; pillage; dissipation.

JACK OF CLUBS--_Reversed._ As a representative of an individual, this card designates a bachelor, a shade darker, and of a more determined character than the young man above described. It may likewise represent that same young man in a state of anger or on a sick bed.

Its especial signification, however, is _delirium_, whence we have as secondary attributes or synonyms:

Frenzy; aberration of mind; wandering of the brain; unseated reason; fury; rage; fever; enthusiasm; imbecility; imprudence; distraction; apathy; delirium tremens; intoxication; brain fever.

ACE OF CLUBS--_Upright._ This card is universally regarded as a most fortunate one, inasmuch as it betokens vast wealth, personal prosperity, physical health, mental tranquillity, marital happiness and longevity.

The princ.i.p.al significations of this card are _a purse of money_ and _riches_, whence we have as synonyms:

For _a purse of money_: Sum of money; a present; capital; princ.i.p.al; treasure; bullion; gold and silver wares; opulence; rare; dear; precious; inestimable; of excessive value.

For _riches_: Wealth; health; prosperity; worldly goods; happiness; felicity; amelioration; improvement; benefit; advantage; profit; blessing; favor; grace; plenty; destiny; chance; speculation; good luck.

ACE OF CLUBS--_Reversed._ When this card emerges to form part of an oracle, in a reversed position, its more popular and current significations are _n.o.bility_, _love_ and _a present_, but in a consultation made for a young unmarried lady it signifies that she will unexpectedly unite herself with a man, probably a widower, who will better her fortunes; hence to a female operative this card is a very good omen.

For _n.o.bility_ we employ as appropriate synonyms: