Take the pack of thirty-two selected cards, shuffle them well, and
either cut or have them cut for you, according to whether you are
acting for yourself or another person. Turn up the cards by threes,
and when the triplet is composed of cards of the same suit, lay it
aside; when of three different suits, pass it by without withdrawing
any of the three; but when composed of two of one suit and one of
another, withdraw the higher card of the two. When you have come to
the end of the pack, gather up all the cards except those you have
withdrawn; shuffle, cut, and again turn up by threes. Repeat this
operation until you have obtained fifteen cards, which must then be
spread out before you, from left to right, in the order in which they
come to hand.
Care must, however, be taken that the card representing the person
making the essay is among them; if not, the whole operation must be
recommenced until the desired result is obtained. We will suppose it
to be some dark lady--represented by the queen of clubs--who is
anxious to make the attempt for herself, and that the cards are laid
out in the following order, from left to right: Ten of diamonds,
queen of clubs, eight of hearts, ace of diamonds, ten of hearts,
seven of clubs, king of spades, nine of hearts, jack of spades, ace of
clubs, seven of spades, ten of spades, seven of diamonds, ace of
spades, jack of hearts.
On examining them, you will find that there are three aces among them,
announcing good news; but, as they are at some distance from each
other, that the tidings may be some time before they arrive.
The three tens denote that the conduct of the person consulting the
cards has not been always strictly correct. The two jacks are enemies,
and the three sevens predict an illness, caused by them.
You now begin to count five cards, beginning with the queen of clubs,
who represents the person consulting you. The fifth card, being the
seven of clubs, announces that the lady will soon receive a small sum
of money. The next fifth card proving to be the ace of clubs,
signifies that this money will be accompanied by some very joyful
tidings. Next comes the ace of spades, promising complete success to
any projects undertaken by the person consulting the cards; then the
eight of hearts, followed at the proper interval by the king of
spades, showing that the good news will excite the malice of a
dishonest lawyer; but the seven of spades coming next, announces that
the annoyance he can cause will be of short duration, and that a gay,
fair young man--the jack of hearts--will soon console her for what she
has suffered. The ace of diamonds tells that she will soon receive a
letter from this fair young man--the nine of hearts--announcing a
great success--ten of spades--but this will be followed by some slight
chagrin--ten of diamonds--caused by a journey--ten of hearts--but it
will soon pass, although--jack of spades--a bad, dark young man will
endeavor--seven of diamonds--to turn her into ridicule. The queen of
clubs, being representative of herself, shows that it is towards her
that the dark young man's malice will be directed. Now take the cards
at either extremity of the line, and pair them together. The two first
being the jack of hearts and the ten of diamonds, you may say: "A gay
young bachelor is preparing to take a journey--ace of spades and queen
of clubs--which will bring him to the presence of the lady consulting
the cards, and cause her great joy. Seven of diamonds and eight of
hearts--scandal talked about a fair young girl. Ten of spades and ace
of diamonds--tears shed upon receipt of a letter. Seven of spades and
ten of hearts--great joy, mingled with slight sorrow. Seven of clubs
and ace of clubs--a letter promising money. Jack of spades and king of
spades--the winning of a lawsuit. The nine of hearts, being the one
card left, promises complete success."
Now gather up the cards, shuffle, cut, and deal them out in five
packs--one for the lady herself, one for the house, one for "those who
do not expect it," one for "those who do expect it," and one for "the
surprise," in the first deal, laying one card aside for "consolation."
The rest are then equally distributed among the other five packs,
which will four of them contain three cards, whilst the last only
consists of two.
We will suppose the first packet for the lady herself to be composed
of the ace of diamonds, the seven of clubs, and the ten of hearts. The
interpretation would run thus:
"Ace of diamonds--a letter will be shortly received--seven of
clubs--announcing the arrival of a small sum of money--ten of
hearts--and containing some very joyful tidings."
The second pack, "for the house," containing the king of spades, the
nine of hearts, and the jack of spades:
"The person consulting the cards will receive a visit--king of
spades--from a lawyer--nine of hearts--which will greatly
delight--jack of spades--a dark, ill-disposed young man."
The third pack, "for those who do not expect it," composed of the ace
of spades, the jack of hearts, and the ace of clubs, would read:
"Ace of spades--pleasure in store for--jack of hearts--a gay young
bachelor--ace of clubs--by means of money; but as the jack of hearts
is placed between two aces, it is evident that he runs a great risk of
being imprisoned; and from the two cards signifying respectively
'pleasure' and 'money,' that it will be for having run into debt."
The fourth pack, "for those who do expect it," containing the eight of
hearts, the queen of clubs, and the ten of diamonds:
"The eight of hearts--the love-affairs of a fair young girl will
oblige--the queen of clubs--the person consulting the cards--ten of
diamonds--to take a journey."
The fifth pack, "for the surprise," consists of the seven of spades
and the ten of spades, meaning:
"Seven of spades--slight trouble--ten of spades--caused by some
person's imprisonment--the card of consolation--seven of
diamonds--which will turn out to have been a mere report."