CHAPTER XVIII
FORTUNE-TELLING THROUGH THE CARDS
Without in the least crediting that cards that are derived from ancient mysteries are able to reveal the incidents connected with human life, many people consider the trial an interesting amusement.
What were the methods used by the ancients for divining the wishes of the gods? Truly this opens a vast field of inquiry that ranges through every device and symbol ever invented by man.
Within a few years various plans have been suggested for reading the fate through the hand, as is done by the Gypsies, or by the cards, as practised by the priests of Mercury; but these are only a few hundred years old, and probably have but little relation to the actual rites that have left no authentic record and now can only be guessed.
Consultation of the cards serves to amuse the idle, the curious, and the credulous, so a brief recapitulation of the two methods most in vogue may interest readers, who can try for themselves to read what the divining tools say through the interpretations used by two of the most celebrated fortune-tellers of the past century, namely: Etteila and Mlle. le Normand. The latter used modern French cards, while the former required a complete Tarot pack that is not easy for most people to obtain.
Cardmakers have not been unready to invent for their customers various fantastic packs with weird symbols, and to bestow on these modern creations various significances that have no relation whatever to the old Tarots; therefore they are valueless in the eyes of those who believe in the ancient mysteries, which have been implicitly credited for ages, and have a significance that is not difficult to understand, although the different shades of meaning attributed to them by the Initiates have been lost.
The fortune-telling packs issued by the card makers of the day generally bear French pips, since these symbols are the ones familiar to manufacturers in France, England, and America. They have, in addition, badly drawn, inartistic pictures that are foolish and meaningless, since they are neither heraldic nor symbolic, and they are only intended for amateurs, since the true fortune-teller or Gypsy of to-day prefers the cards with the ancient pips of Money, Swords, Rods, and Cups, together with the Atouts.
A pack published in Frankfort-on-Main has the French, not the German, pips, as would seem natural, and the cards are named “Le Normand Karten.” They are great favourites in Europe, where they are used for foretelling the future and describing the past or present by credulous persons who follow the rules laid down in the accompanying book or key, believing that the cards were originally arranged and interpreted by the celebrated French cartomancie, Mlle. le Normand herself, who had wonderful luck in her business and has had many successors.