A pack of fifty-two cards is taken, shuffled and cut, and divided thus:—Every seven, nine and five are to be removed and put on one side. The six of clubs, the eight and ten of diamonds are to be withdrawn and put in a place by themselves. Then the rest are shuffled and five cards laid out face upwards till the pack is exhausted. It will now be found there are seven rows of five cards each, and two remaining; these two are placed with the nines, sevens and fives, to be used later. These cards are read, counting seven every way from the significator, then gathered together, shuffled and cut, the first group (seven in number) being first of all withdrawn, which must be added to the nines, sevens and fives already withdrawn. There will now be four groups of seven cards each. The first must be read, the second put aside, the third explained, and the fourth laid by. The second and fourth are left out entirely and not used. The nines, sevens and fives and the first group you have withdrawn are shuffled, cut in two packets, and laid out on the table before the dealer. If two red nines appear close together, it is taken to show honor, dignity and joy; if two red sevens and two red fives side by side, great and unexpected good luck, a legacy or money that you don't anticipate; if two red fives and the nine of hearts are near each other, a marriage of affection; if with the seven of diamonds, a moneyed marriage, but of love; if two red fives and two black sevens, a marriage for money which will turn out unhappily; if two red sevens and two red fives, and the nine of hearts appear, it is supposed to be the greatest and happiest prognostic you can have, whether married or single—luck, pleasure, money; if two black sevens and two black fives appear, it is considered very evil, and if accompanied by the nine of spades, unhappiness in marriage, divorce, scandal and sometimes violence caused through drink; if the eight of spades should be amongst those withdrawn and turn up with the aforesaid cards, violent death by murder or accident. It is taken to be the worst combination in the pack. These cards (viz: the nines, sevens and fives, and those which have been withdrawn from the group of fives) are laid in rows of sevens, counting seven every way from the significator; then the extreme ends are taken and paired, being read as they turn up. Next the whole is shuffled, including the six of clubs and the eight and ten of diamonds. These three cards are the index. Wherever they appear they are supposed to show good luck, happiness and prosperity; if they should happen between exceptionally bad cards, the luck is over, or marred through malignity; but as a rule they are taken to import great joy. The evil combination is thus: If the six of clubs is surrounded with spades, or the eight or ten of diamonds are between two black fives and the two black sevens are near, then the best laid scheme will come to nought; but if they are surrounded by the nine of hearts and nine of diamonds, then it is a very good omen. The eight and ten of diamonds are supposed to be extremely good if there are three or four nines to follow them, for then the nine of spades loses its evil significance, and should the seven of diamonds and seven of hearts follow, a good marriage and happiness; or, if the person is married, new prosperity or riches for the husband or sometimes the birth of an heir.
METHOD L.
The pack of fifty-two cards is taken, shuffled and cut, and divided into two equal heaps. One of these is chosen by the consultant. Having decided this, the other heap is left alone; it is not to be used. The person consulting is now desired to shuffle the twenty-six cards remaining, cutting in three, the meanings being read as they turn up. They are now dealt in three packs, which are laid out in rows of eight, the last card to be left out, as that forms "the surprise." Four cards are now counted from the significator, which, should it not be in the pack chosen, must be abstracted and put at the end. When these have been fully explained, the same maneuver is repeated twice, in all three times, one card being always taken out for "the surprise." "The surprise" is turned up when those cards before the dealer have been examined and explained. Then they are all gathered together, and, after being shuffled and cut, they are turned up by fours. If a sequence should come up, such as six and seven, or six, seven and eight of any suit, they are taken out. If four of a suit, the lowest is taken out. This is only to be done once. These are now laid out in a row before the dealer and read from left to right, always taking note that the significator is amongst them, and counting four as above described. Then the two cards are taken from each extremity and each couple explained till all are exhausted.
METHOD M.
A pack of fifty-two cards is taken, shuffled well and cut. Then it is divided into three equal parcels of seventeen cards each, and one over for "the surprise," which is to be laid aside. The first three cards of each packet is taken, and each three is put apart. That will leave fourteen in each group. The first and third packets of fourteen are taken up, the middle one being put aside. These are now laid out in four rows of seven, being sure that the significator is amongst them; or else the card which is supposed to represent the thoughts of the person consulting you, viz: the jack, may be counted from. Six are now counted, beginning from the next card to the significator; and after every sixth card, that card is not counted as one, but the following one. When these have been explained, which must be done till the significator is returned to, they are paired from end to end, and read as arrived at; then they are gathered together, shuffled and cut, and divided again into two groups of fourteen. These are not laid out again, but two being merely extracted from each of these, not forgetting the middle one, and adding them to the three packets of three placed on one side. The middle one is now taken up, shuffled well, and four cards taken from it, two from the top and two from the bottom, and added to the one put aside to form "the surprise." There are now four packs of five cards each:—One for the "consultant" and one for the "house," one for "what is sure to come true," and one for "the surprise." These are laid out in front of the dealer and read from left to right in rotation.
THE PREFERRED ORACLE—WITH 32 CARDS
We now come to the most important and approved method of telling fortunes by cards, the method preferred and practiced in nearly all countries. This widely accepted method requires but 32 cards of the 52 found in the pack, consisting of eight cards of each suit, as follows: Ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight and seven only. To these may be added, in some cases, the Consultant card, concerning which we have spoken earlier in this work.
To enable this oracle to be read with an intelligent and proper understanding it is important that one be fully informed as to all the possible values or interpretations of the cards, singly and in combination. Hence we shall devote a number of pages to these definitions in very complete form before proceeding to elucidate for you the various methods of dealing, laying and reading the cards. We give first the simple and primary meanings, followed in detail by their secondary or synonymical meanings, the whole constituting a valuable work of reference for all who practice the art, enabling them to give a full, fair and wise reading of every possible "fall" of the cards. The primary meanings, while sufficient for the amateur, will soon be seen by the student to be lacking in that completeness and flexibility demanded by the adept. Their natural amplification into their secondary and more extended definitions gives the interpreter the fullest scope to exercise his powers of reading any possible layout of the cards intelligently, and with satisfaction both to himself and to the person consulting the oracle.