THE FORTUNETELLING PYRAMID
A simple way of discovering what kind of luck is awaiting you in the future consists in taking a complete pack of fifty-two cards, shuffling them well, and cutting them with the left hand.
Following this, you place one card on the table, face up. Below it you set out two cards, also face up, and continue with a row of three cards below the two. Other rows follow with four, five, six, seven, eight and nine cards in each, so that the whole forms a pyramid. This accounts for forty-five cards. The surplus of seven are placed on one side when the figure is completed or they may be thrown aside, one at a time, while the figure is being made at any point desired, but it is important that they must be rejected before being seen.
To estimate the amount of luck or good fortune that awaits your future, pick up the last card that was laid down in each row. Naturally, there will now be no card left in the first row, one in the second, two in the third row, and so on until the ninth row will consist of eight cards only. Take the nine cards picked up and sort them into suits. If there are most hearts, you are to be a very lucky person; if there are most clubs, you are to be just lucky; if there are most diamonds you will be passably lucky; but luck will not come your way at all if spades are in the majority.
Should two suits tie for first place the Fates require you to make the pyramid over again.