The French System.
Thirty-two cards are required, rejecting all under the Sevens. They must be shuffled and cut as usual and divided into two packs of 16 each. The inquirer chooses one of the packs, and the first card is laid aside for the “Surprise.” The remaining 15 cards are turned face upward and laid on the table from left to right. A certain card must be selected to represent the inquirer. And this must be in the pack he selects. If not, the division must be gone over again until this card is found in the selected pack.
Method of Reading.
If there are any 2, 3 or 4 of a kind their explanation must first be given. Next start from the card representing the inquirer and count in groups of 7 from right to left. Next, pair the end cards together and read their meaning. After this shuffle the 15 cards again and divide them into three packs of 5 cards each. The top card of each is first removed and placed with the other which has been set apart as the “Surprise.” This will leave three packs of 4 cards each. Inquirer then chooses one of the packs, and the 4 cards are laid out on the table from left to right and their meaning is read. The left-hand pack is “for the house,” the right-hand pack “for those who do not expect,” and the remaining pack is “for the surprise.”
Let us suppose, for example, that the inquirer, being a woman, is represented by the Queen of Clubs. She chooses the middle of the three packs, which contains the Knave of Clubs, Eight of Diamonds (reversed), Eight of Hearts, Queen of Clubs. These will be read as follows: “A clever young man is ardent in his love and is flirting with the inquirer. He has thoughts of marriage in which the inquirer plays a very important part. And the prospects are favorable.”
The next pack, which is “for the house,” may have the following cards: Knave of Spades, Ace of Spades, Knave of Hearts, King of Spades. They are read as follows: There are 3 Spades, which indicate disappointment. Two Knaves coming together indicate loss of goods and other trouble. The Knave of Spades indicates a legal gentleman of not very refined character who is employed by his master, an unscrupulous lawyer, as shown by the King of Spades, and who is an enemy of the inquirer. A young bachelor devoted to pleasure, however, will help the inquirer out of difficulty. The next pack, which is for “those who do not expect,” is, we will say, composed of the Queen of Hearts, Ten of Spades, Ace of Clubs, Nine of Clubs. These indicate that a fair-haired lady, who has had considerable grief, will bring letters relating to money to the inquirer, possibly an unlooked-for inheritance which will change the career of the inquirer. In the case of a merchant, it may mean new customers.
Finally comes the pack “The Surprise,” in which we will find The Ace of Hearts, Queen of Spades, Nine of Diamonds, Ten of Hearts. These are read as follows: “A love letter with the best of news will be received. A dark-haired lady will throw hindrances and trouble into the path of the inquirer, in spite of which happiness and success will be the final outcome.”
An English System of Telling the Past, Present and Future.
We will present an easy and generally accepted method of telling fortunes by means of cards. Thirty-two cards are required, which are shuffled and cut in the usual way. After being cut, the top card of the lower pack and the bottom card of the upper pack are laid aside and form the “Surprise,” then the packs are placed one upon the other. This leaves 30 cards, which are dealt into three equal parts; the pack at the left representing the past, the one in the middle the present, and the one to the right the future.
The man or woman wishing to know what Fortune has in store is called the “Inquirer”; he is represented by a card (supposing him to be a man) which we will say is the Knave of Hearts. Let us now suppose that the ten cards representing the past are as follows: