Then come the nine of clubs and the jack of clubs: "You will certainly receive money through the exertions of a clever dark young man."

Queen of hearts and king of diamonds: "Which comes from a fair man in uniform. This recontre announces great happiness in store for you, and the complete fulfillment of your wishes."

Jack of diamonds and nine of diamonds: "Although this happy result will be delayed some time through a fair young man, not famed for his delicacy."

Eight of hearts and ten of hearts: "Love, joy and triumph."

"The queen of spades, who remains alone, is the widow endeavoring to injure you, and finds herself deserted by all her friends."

The cards that have been in use are now gathered up and shuffled and cut with the left hand. They are then made into three packs by dealing one to the left, one to the middle, and one to the right; a fourth is laid aside to form "a surprise." Then the cards are continued to be dealt to each of the three packs in turn until their number is exhausted, when it will be found that the left hand and middle packs contain each five cards, while the one on the right hand consists of only four.

The person consulting is now asked to select one of the three packs.

Supposing this to be the middle one, and that the cards comprising it are the jack of diamonds, the king of diamonds, the seven of spades, the queen of spades, the seven of clubs; recollecting the previous instructions regarding the individual and the supposed relative signification of the cards, they may be easily interpreted as follows: "The jack of diamonds--a fair young man possessed of no delicacy of feeling, seeks to injure--the king of diamonds--a fair man in uniform--seven of spades--and will succeed in causing him some annoyance--the queen of spades--at the instigation of a spiteful woman--seven of clubs--but by means of a small sum of money matters will be easily arranged."

The left hand pack is next taken up, which is "for the house" the former one having been for the lady herself.

Supposing it to consist of the queen of hearts, the jack of clubs, the eight of hearts, the nine of diamonds and the ace of clubs, they would be read thus: "Queen of hearts--the lady whose fortune is being told is or soon will be in a house--jack of clubs--where she will meet with a dark young man, who--eight of hearts--will entreat her a.s.sistance to forward his interests with a fair girl--nine of diamonds--he having met with delay and disappointment--ace of clubs--but a letter will arrive announcing the possession of money, which will remove all difficulties."

The third pack is "for those who do not expect it," and will be composed of four cards: the ten of hearts, the nine of clubs, eight of spades, and ten of diamonds: "The ten of hearts--an unexpected piece of good fortune and great happiness--nine of clubs--caused by an unlooked for legacy--eight of spades--which joy may be followed by a short sickness--ten of diamonds--the result of a fatiguing journey."

There now remains on the table only the card intended for "the surprise." This, however, must be left untouched, the other cards gathered up, shuffled, cut, and again laid out in three packs, not forgetting at the first deal to add a card to "the surprise." After the different packs have been duly examined and explained as before described, they must again be gathered up, shuffled, etc., indeed the whole operation repeated, after which, the three cards forming "the surprise" are examined, and supposing them to be the seven of hearts, the jack of clubs and the queen of spades, they are to be thus interpreted: "Seven of hearts--pleasant thoughts and friendly intentions--jack of clubs--of a dark young man--queen of spades--relative to a malicious dark woman, who will cause him much unhappiness."

DEALING THE CARDS BY FIVES

Shuffle the 32-card pack thoroughly and cut it twice with the left hand, placing the first cut face downward at the right hand and the second on the left.

Now take off the top card of the middle package and place it aside, and repeat the shuffling and cutting of the balance in a precisely similar manner, and again remove the top card of the middle package.

Repeat shuffling, cutting and discarding until you have in this way taken out five cards. This done, examine if the Consultant be among the number of cards taken from the pack. If it be, shuffle the five cards well, and then deal them in a row, turning their faces up from right to left in this manner:

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

and proceed to read them from the same direction.

If the Consultant be not found among the five cards drawn as above, take it from the pack and subst.i.tute it for one taken by chance from the five cards after shuffling them thoroughly, faces down, so that the card to be discarded shall not be recognized. After placing the Consultant among the other four cards, shuffle well and deal as directed, and you have your oracle of five cards for consultation and explanation, and among which the Consultant will appear in its proper position.

As an example, let us say that the five cards obtained are, from right to left, as follows: Ten of hearts, ten of clubs, Consultant, eight of clubs reversed and ten of diamonds.

The Consultant having behind him the eight of clubs near to the ten of diamonds, these two cards announce to him his residence at a distance in a foreign city, and the two tens which are found placed behind him notifies that he is about to quit his house (ten of clubs) and the city (ten of hearts) where he now lives.

DEALING THE CARDS BY SEVENS

After having shuffled the pack of thirty-two selected cards either cut them yourself or, if acting for another person, let that person cut them, taking care to use the left hand. Then count seven cards, beginning with the one lying on the top of the pack. The first six are useless, so put them aside, and retain only the seventh, which is to be placed face uppermost on the table before you. Repeat this three times more, then shuffle and cut the cards you have thrown on one side, together with those remaining in your hand, and tell them out in sevens as before, until you have thus obtained twelve cards. It is however indispensable that the Consultant card or one representing the person whose fortune is being told should be among the number; therefore the whole operation must be recommenced in case of it not having made its appearance. Your twelve cards being now spread out before you in the order in which they have come to hand, you may begin to explain them as described in the manner of dealing the cards in threes--always bearing in mind both their individual and relative signification. Thus, you first count the cards by sevens, beginning with the one representing the person for whom you are acting, going from right to left. Then take the two cards at either extremity of the line or half-circle, and unite them, and afterwards form the three heaps or packs and "the surprise" precisely as we have before described. Indeed, the only difference between this and the three card method is the manner in which the cards are obtained.

DEALING BY FIFTEENS

After the cards have been well shuffled and cut, they are dealt out in two packs containing sixteen cards in each. The person consulting is desired to choose one of them; the first card is laid aside to form "the surprise," the other fifteen are turned up and ranged in a half circle before the dealer, going from left to right, being placed in the order in which they come to hand. If the card representing the person consulting be not among them the cards must be all gathered up, shuffled, cut, and dealt as before, and this must be repeated till the missing card makes its appearance in the pack chosen by the person it represents. They are explained, 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, and lastly, by taking the cards at either extremity of the line, and pairing them. This being done, the fifteen cards are gathered up, shuffled, cut, and dealt so as to form three packs of five cards each. From each of these the topmost card is withdrawn and placed on the one laid aside for "the surprise," thus forming four packs of four cards each.

The person consulting is desired to choose one of these packs for herself or for himself as the case may be. This is turned up, and the four cards it contains are spread out from left to right, the individual and relative signification ascribed to them being duly explained. In like manner the pack on the left, which will be "for the house," is used; then the third one, "for those who do not expect it;"

and lastly, "the surprise."

In order to make the meaning perfectly clear another example is given.

It is supposed that the pack for the person consulting consists of the jack of hearts, the ace of diamonds, the queen of clubs and the eight of spades reversed.

It will be easy to interpret them as follows: "The jack of hearts--a gay young bachelor--the ace of diamonds--who has written, or who 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:

Jack 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 a.s.semblage of which nothing but a little practice is required to form complete sentences. Of this a further example will be given by interpreting the signification of the three other packs.

"For the house" is supposed to consist of the queen of hearts, the jack of spades reversed, the ace of clubs and the nine of diamonds, which are supposed to read thus: "The queen of hearts--a fair woman, mild and amiable in disposition--jack 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 this news may be delayed."

The pack "for those who do not expect it," consists of the queen of diamonds, the king of spades, the ace of hearts reversed, and the seven of spades: "The queen of diamonds--a mischief-making woman--the king of spades--in league with a dishonest lawyer---ace of hearts reversed--they will hold a consultation--seven of spades--but the harm they will do will soon be repaired."

Last comes "the surprise," formed by, it is supposed, the jack of clubs, the ten of diamonds, the queen of spades and the nine of spades, of which the supposed interpretation is: "The jack of clubs--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 their lives will be endangered."

THE TWENTY-ONE CARD METHOD

After the thirty-two cards have been shuffled and cut with the left hand, the first eleven are withdrawn from the pack and laid on one side. The remainder--twenty-one in all--are to be again shuffled and cut, that being done, the topmost card is laid on one side to form "the surprise," and the remaining twenty are ranged before the dealer in the order in which they come to hand. If the card representing the person consulting be not among them, one must be withdrawn from the eleven useless ones placed at the right extremity of the row, where it represents the missing card, no matter what it may really be. Let us suppose that the person wishing to make the essay is an officer in the army, and consequently represented by the king of diamonds, and that the twenty cards ranged in front of you are: Queen of diamonds, king of clubs, ten of hearts, ace of spades, queen of hearts reversed, seven of spades, jack of diamonds, ten of clubs, king of spades, eight of diamonds, king of hearts, nine of clubs, jack of spades reversed, seven of hearts, ten of spades, king of diamonds, ace of diamonds, seven of clubs, nine of hearts, ace of clubs. You now proceed to examine the cards as they lay, and perceiving that all the four kings are there, you can predict that great rewards await the person consulting you, and that he will gain great dignity and honor. The two queens, one of them reversed, announce the reunion of two sorrowful friends; the three aces, foretell good news; the two jacks, one of them reversed, danger; the three tens, improper conduct.

You now begin to explain the cards, commencing with the first on the left hand: "The queen of diamonds is a mischief-making, under-bred woman--the king of clubs--endeavoring to win the affections of a worthy and estimable man--ten of hearts--over whose scruples she will triumph--ace of spades--the affair will make some noise--queen of hearts reversed--and greatly distress a charming fair woman who loves him--seven of spades--but her grief will not be of long duration. Jack of diamonds--an unfaithful servant--ten of clubs--will make away with a considerable sum of money--king of spades--and will be brought to trial--eight of diamonds--but saved from punishment through a woman's agency. King of hearts--a fair man of liberal disposition--nine of clubs--will receive a large sum of money--jack of spades reversed--which will expose him to the malice of a dark youth of coa.r.s.e manners. Seven of hearts--pleasant thoughts, followed by--ten of spades--great chagrin--king of diamonds--await a man in uniform, who is the person consulting me--ace of diamonds--but a letter he will speedily receive--seven of clubs--containing a small sum of money--nine of hearts--will restore his good spirits--ace of clubs--which will be further augmented by some good news." Now turn up "the surprise" which it is supposed will prove the ace of hearts, "a card that is taken to predict great happiness, caused by a love letter, but which, making up the four aces, is said to show that this sudden joy will be followed by great misfortunes."

The cards are now gathered up, shuffled, cut, and formed into three packs, at the first deal one being laid aside to form "the surprise."

By the time they are all dealt out it will be found that the two first packets are each composed of seven cards, whilst the third contains only six. The person consulting is desired to select one of these, which is taken up and spread out from left to right, being explained as before described. The cards are again gathered up, shuffled, cut, formed into three packs, one card being dealt to "the surprise," and then proceeding as before. The whole operation is once more repeated, then the three cards forming "the surprise" are taken up and their interpretation given.

No matter how the cards are dealt, whether by threes, fives, sevens, fifteens or twenty-one, when those lower than the jack predominate it is considered to foretell success. If clubs are the most numerous, they are supposed to predict gain, considerable fortune, etc. If picture cards, dignity and honor; hearts, gladness, good news; spades, death or sickness.

[Ill.u.s.tration]