In the case of consultation upon the subject of marriages in general,
the Consultant should be withdrawn from the pack, inasmuch as it is
necessary that the couple should be of the same color, in order that a
marriage be formed.
Should the young lady be a blonde who consults the oracle upon
questions of marriage, she should pick out the jack of hearts and the
queen of hearts, and taking these two cards from out of the pack,
place them aside; then, let her shuffle the cards well and again pick
out eleven, which are in like manner set aside. Then take up the jack
and queen of hearts and replace them among the remaining cards in the
pack, shuffle them again, place them in succession in a line from
right to left. It is necessary so that the marriage be an accomplished
fact, that a quint, or five cards in hearts, appear in the lay-out,
and, if it be found at the end of the deal at your left, the marriage
will be a certainty; but, should the nine of diamonds or the seven of
spades be placed in front, the marriage will be most certainly
delayed; should the nine of diamonds alone appear, the delay will be
not over serious; but should, in place of these cards, there be found
the king of spades inverted, or three tens, the marriage will never
come off.
If the lady be a brunette she will take the jack of clubs, and, if
very dark, the jack of spades as her representative husband, and
represent herself by a queen of corresponding color, always taking
care that the card ordinarily used as the Consultant be retired from
the pack.
Should a widow desire to contract a second marriage, she represents
herself as the queen of clubs and her future husband as the king of
clubs, which cards should be retired and placed aside. Then the pack
is shuffled well and dealt upon the table, face downward, in five
rows; take these up again in a reversed manner, shuffle them well and
cause the consultant to cut, and to select eleven from the pack, which
are to be put aside. Then retake the king and queen of clubs, and
place them among the remainder of the pack, whence the eleven have
been withdrawn; shuffle well and again let them be cut, and then deal,
placing the first one dealt upon the table directly in front of you in
an isolated position--this is the surprise. Deal the others and place
them in a single line below the surprise card on the table, ranging
from right to left, one by one. Turn over all the cards except the
surprise, which is only to be consulted after the rest. Read the cards
thus placed likewise from right to left, and study their
significations well. It is necessary, in order that the widow's desire
for a second marriage be successful, that the queen of spades come
out inverted, that the king of the same color likewise appear, and
that the jack of spades be at the side of the ace of spades or of
hearts, and under this combination her second marriage is an assured
fact. Should the ace of spades emerge near the jack, it will also be
necessary that the ace of hearts come out to effect an alliance; but,
if the consultant have three tens before her, the marriage will not
occur; and, should the nine of spades come out, it denotes absolute
failure. Again, if instead of these cards the eight of clubs and the
eight of hearts appear, the marriage will be a great success. Great
care should be observed in noticing whether three eights appear behind
the Consultant, for in that instance the marriage will not be a happy
one.
[Illustration: _The Star Method._]