This is a very old way of divining what the Fates have planned for
yourself, your friends and your enemies. The first thing is to take out
of the pack all the court cards, as well as the twos, threes, fours,
fives and sixes. Thus, all that is left are the cards ranging between
the sevens and the tens--sixteen in all.
The second thing is to take your matching card, as described under the
previous heading, and to place it with the sixteen cards. These are,
then, well shuffled and cut with your left hand.
The next step is to turn over the cards from the pack, one by one,
preserving the order carefully, until the matching card is reached.
When this is found, the cards that have been turned over are placed
at the bottom of the stack that is left in hand and the "lay-out" is
commenced.
[Illustration: No. 23.--The Magic Square, showing the order in which
the cards are to be set out.]
The first card in hand is placed on the table and the eight that follow
are arranged around it to form a square. This square will thus consist
of three rows, each made up of three cards, with the matching card in
the center.
It is very important that the eight cards are placed in definite
positions, as follows: The first is set down to the right of the
matching card; the second to the left of it; the third immediately
above it; the fourth just below it; the four remaining cards are placed
in the upper left-hand corner of the square, the upper right-hand
corner, the lower right-hand corner and the lower left-hand corner,
respectively. (See the diagram.)
All these cards are read in the following manner: The three above the
matching card refer to the past; the card on either side of it to the
present; and the three below it to the future. Next, the three cards on
the left-hand side of the matching card refer to your friends; the card
above and below the matching card refers to yourself; and those on the
right of it to your enemies.
Following this, you must note that a heart stands for very fortunate
things, a club for good things, a diamond for things that are passable,
and spades for things that are no good at all.
Thus, should a heart come in the middle of the bottom row it shows that
you are to be very fortunate in the future; if a diamond fills the same
position in the upper row, it is clear that your past was only passably
happy; and if a spade comes immediately on the right of the matching
card, it is a clear proof that the particular enemy you have in mind is
being harassed by a period of ill-luck. And so on, according to which
suit fills each of the remaining positions.