As, however, the human character is never without more than one of the above named characteristics, the first card signifies the most prominent one, and the cards which lie on the right side and below it are reckoned with it, by which the meaning of the first card is either modified or corroborated.
If the person in question is a lady, and she has, for example, drawn a club, the queen of clubs is herself, the knave of clubs is her intended, the king her father, or uncle, as the case may be. The picture cards of the other black suit are her friends and relations. It is the same if she has drawn hearts or diamonds, only that in this case the picture cards of the other red suit signify her friends and relations. If the person inquiring is a gentleman, it is the same, except that he is the knave of the suit which he has drawn, and his intended the queen.
From this first card, also, you form a judgment of one’s whole future course in life. If its signification is joyful, the person’s life will be a happy one. If, for example, it is the ace of hearts, it indicates that the person will never be without a home, a dear and pleasant home to him; if it is the ace of clubs, he will pass through life enjoying honor and fame; if it is the ten of hearts with a female figure on either side, it signifies two wives; if with a male figure on either side, and the person inquiring is a female, two husbands.
Example of Fortune-Telling with an Euchre Pack of Cards.
Thus much as to general rules. We will now instruct the reader how to explain the cards in detail. We will suppose that it is a lady who inquires of the cards, and endeavor, by means of an example, to give an accurate explanation of the method to be pursued. Spread out the cards before you, and observe carefully the different cards while you read the fortune I shall predict from them. (See Engraving, page 96.)
Ace of Hearts.—The young lady’s character, it seems, is sentimental, melancholic, poetical, which three qualities are found more or less together. If the next card were a heart, it would indicate a temperament inclined to love. As, however, the adjacent cards are clubs and spades, of which two indeed are clubs, we conclude that the lady often displays a cheerful, sanguine disposition, yet can, at times, be very passionate. The main feature of her character, however, is the melancholic.
We will now look around for the lady herself—she is found to be the seventh card on the last row. Her lover, on the other hand, is the eighth card in the second row. As he precedes her, this signifies that she is already acquainted with him, and they seem already to love one another, as a love card lies at his side, and also one at hers; no card, however, lies between them to connect them, except the queen of diamonds. This, however, is not altogether favorable, for a queen between a loving pair signifies a rival (for a gentleman, the knave signifies the same), and can as well indicate a separation as a union, notwithstanding its similarity of color. The general rule is as follows:—If the card which connects the queen and knave is of the same color with them, it indicates a future union between the persons. (Hearts and diamonds form one color, as do clubs and spades.)
One thing more: from the cards which lie next to the knave, we are enabled to judge of the character and occupation of the lady’s intended. In the present case, the cards next to the knave of hearts are two spades, two diamonds, and one heart; his character, therefore, according to the rules already given, is choleric, yet at times melancholic and sentimental. In his daily conduct he is practical and considerate.
As to his occupation, the different colors have the following signification: