Part 1

Chapter 13,924 wordsPublic domain

Transcriber’s Notes:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.

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HOW TO TELL FORTUNES

CONTAINING Napoleon’s Oraculum, and the Key to Work It

ALSO Tells Fortunes by Cards, LUCKY AND UNLUCKY DAYS, SIGNS AND OMENS.

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HOW TO TELL FORTUNES BY CARDS.

In telling Fortunes by Cards--as in all games in which they are employed--the Ace ranks highest in value. Then comes the King, followed by the Queen, Knave, Ten, Nine, Eight, and Seven; these being generally the only cards used.

The order, and comparative value of the different suits, is as follows:--First on the list stand “Clubs,” as they mostly portend happiness; and--no matter how numerous, or how accompanied--are rarely or never of bad augury. Next come “Hearts,” which usually signify joy, liberality, or good temper; “Diamonds,” on the contrary, denote delay, quarrels, and annoyance; and “Spades”--the worst suit of all--grief, sickness, and loss of money.

We are of course speaking generally, as, in many cases, the position of cards entirely changes their signification; their individual and relative meaning being often widely different. Thus, for example, the King of Hearts, the Nine of Hearts, and the Nine of Clubs, respectively signify, a liberal man, joy, and success in love, but change their position, by placing the King _between_ the two nines, and you would read that a man, then rich and happy, would be ere long consigned to a prison!

SIGNIFICATION OF THE CARDS.

The individual meaning attached to the thirty-two cards employed is as follows:--

THE EIGHT CLUBS.

_Ace of Clubs._--Signifies joy, money, or good news; if reversed, the joy will be of brief duration.

_King of Clubs._--A frank, liberal man, fond of serving his friends; if reversed, he will meet with a disappointment.

_Queen of Clubs._--An affectionate woman, but quick-tempered and touchy; if reversed, jealous and malicious.

_Knave of Clubs._--A clever and enterprising young man; reversed, a harmless flirt and flatterer.

_Ten of Clubs._--Fortune, success, or grandeur; reversed, want of success in some small matter.

_Nine of Clubs._--Unexpected gain, or a legacy; reversed, some trifling present.

_Eight of Clubs._--A dark person’s affections, which, if returned, will be the cause of great prosperity; reversed, those of a fool, and attendant unhappiness, if reciprocated.

_Seven of Clubs._--A small sum of money, or unexpectedly recovered debt; reversed, a yet smaller amount.

THE EIGHT HEARTS.

_Ace of Hearts._--A love-letter, or some pleasant news; reversed, a friend’s visit.

_King of Hearts._--A fair, liberal man; reversed, will meet with disappointment.

_Queen of Hearts._--A mild, amiable woman; reversed, has been crossed in love.

_Knave of Hearts._--A gay young bachelor, who dreams only of pleasure; reversed, a discontented military man.

_Ten of Hearts._--Happiness, triumph; if reversed, some slight anxiety.

_Nine of Hearts._--Joy, satisfaction, success; reversed, a passing chagrin.

_Eight of Hearts._--A fair person’s affections; reversed, indifference on his or her part.

_Seven of Hearts._--Pleasant thoughts, tranquillity; reversed, ennui, weariness.

THE EIGHT DIAMONDS.

_Ace of Diamonds._--A letter, soon to be received; and, if the card be reversed, containing bad news.

_King of Diamonds._--A fair man--generally in the army--but both cunning and dangerous; if reversed, a threatened danger, caused by machinations on his part.

_Queen of Diamonds._--An ill-bred, scandal-loving woman; if reversed, she is to be greatly feared.

_Knave of Diamonds._--A tale-bearing servant, or unfaithful friend; if reversed, will be the cause of mischief.

_Ten of Diamonds._--Journey, or change of residence; if reversed, it will not prove fortunate.

_Nine of Diamonds._--Annoyance, delay; if reversed, either a family or a love quarrel.

_Eight of Diamonds._--Love-making; if reversed, unsuccessful.

_Seven of Diamonds._--Satire, mockery; reversed, a foolish scandal.

N. B.--In order to know whether the Ace, Ten, Nine, Eight and Seven of Diamonds are reversed, it is better to make a small pencil-mark on each, to show which is the top of the card.

THE EIGHT SPADES.

_Ace of Spades._--Pleasure; reversed, grief, bad news.

_King of Spades._--The envious man, an enemy, or a dishonest lawyer, who is to be feared; reversed, impotent malice.

_Queen of Spades._--A widow; reversed, a dangerous and malicious woman.

_Knave of Spades._--A dark, ill-bred young man; reversed, he is plotting some mischief.

_Ten of Spades._--Tears, a prison; reversed, brief affliction.

_Nine of Spades._--Tidings of a death; reversed, it will be some near relative.

_Eight of Spades._--Approaching illness; reversed, a marriage broken off, or offer refused.

_Seven of Spades._--Slight annoyances; reversed, a foolish intrigue.

The Court cards of Hearts and Diamonds usually represent persons of fair complexion; Clubs and Spades, the opposite.

SIGNIFICATION OF DIFFERENT CARDS OF THE SAME DENOMINATION.

_Four Aces_, coming together, or following each other, announce danger, failure in business, and sometimes imprisonment. If one or more of them be reversed, the danger will be lessened, but that is all.

_Three Aces_, coming in the same manner.--Good tidings; if reversed, folly.

_Two Aces._--A plot; if reversed, will not succeed.

_Four Kings._--Rewards, dignities, honors; reversed, they will be less, but sooner received.

_Three Kings._--A consultation on important business, the result of which will be highly satisfactory; if reversed, success will be doubtful.

_Two Kings._--A partnership in business; if reversed, a dissolution of the same. Sometimes this only denotes friendly projects.

_Four Queens._--Company, society; one or more reversed, denotes that the entertainment will not go off well.

_Three Queens._--Friendly calls; reversed, chattering and scandal or deceit.

_Two Queens._--A meeting between friends; reversed, poverty, troubles, in which one will involve the other.

_Four Knaves._--A noisy party--mostly young people; reversed, a drinking bout.

_Three Knaves._--False friends; reversed, a quarrel with some low person.

_Two Knaves._--Evil intentions; reversed, danger.

_Four tens._--Great success in projected enterprises; reversed, the success will not be so brilliant, but still it will be sure.

_Three tens._--Improper conduct; reversed, failure.

_Two tens._--Change of trade or profession; reversed, denotes that the prospect is only a distant one.

_Four nines._--A great surprise; reversed, a public dinner.

_Three nines._--Joy, fortune, health; reversed, wealth lost by imprudence.

_Two nines._--A little gain; reversed, trifling losses at cards.

_Four eights._--A short journey; reversed, the return of a friend or relative.

_Three eights._--Thoughts of marriage; reversed, folly, flirtation.

_Two eights._--A brief love-dream; reversed, small pleasures and trifling pains.

_Four Sevens._--Intrigues among servants or low people, threats, snares, and disputes; reversed, that their malice will be impotent to harm, and that the punishment will fall on themselves.

_Three sevens._--Sickness, premature old age; reversed, slight and brief indisposition.

_Two sevens._--Levity; reversed, regret.

Any picture-card between two others of equal value--as two tens, two Aces, etc.--denotes that the person represented by that card runs the risk of a prison.

It requires no great efforts to commit these significations to memory, but it must be remembered that they are but what the alphabet is to the printed book: a little attention and practice, however, will soon enable the learner to form these mystic letters into words, and words into phrases; in other language, to assemble these cards together, and read the events, past and to come, their pictured faces pretend to reveal.

There are several ways of doing this; but we will give them all, one after another, so as to afford our readers an ample choice of methods of prying into futurity.

DEALING THE CARDS BY THREES.

Take the pack of thirty-two selected cards (viz., the Ace, King, Queen, Knave, Ten, Nine, Eight, and Seven of each suit), having before fixed upon the one you intend to represent yourself, supposing always you are making the essay on your own behalf. If not, it must represent the person for whom you are acting. In doing this, it is necessary to remember that the card chosen should be according to the complexion of the chooser, King or Queen of Diamonds for a very fair person, ditto of Hearts for one rather darker, Clubs for one darker still, and Spades only for one very dark indeed. The card chosen also loses its signification, and simply becomes the representative of a dark or fair man, or woman, as the case may be.

This point having been settled, shuffle the cards, and either cut them or have them cut for you (according to whether you are acting for yourself or another person), taking care to use the _left_ hand. That done, turn them up by _threes_, and every time you find in these triplets _two of the same suit_, such as two Hearts, two Clubs, etc., withdraw the highest card and place it on the table before you. If the triplet should chance to be all of the same suit, the _highest_ card is still to be the only one withdrawn; but should it consist of three of the _same value_ but _different suits_, such as three Kings, etc., they are to be all appropriated. We will suppose that, after having turned up the cards three by three, you have been able to withdraw six, leaving twenty-six, which you shuffle and cut, and again turn up by threes, acting precisely as you did before, until you have obtained either _thirteen_, _fifteen_, or _seventeen_ cards. Recollect that the number must always be uneven, and that the card representing the person for whom the essay is made must make one of it. Even if the requisite thirteen, fifteen, or seventeen have been obtained, and this one has not made its appearance, the operation must be recommenced. Let us suppose the person whose fortune is being read to be a lady, represented by the Queen of Hearts, and that fifteen cards have been obtained and laid out--in the form of a half circle--in the order they were drawn, viz., the Seven of Clubs, the Ten of Diamonds, the Seven of Hearts, the Knave of Clubs, the King of Diamonds, the Nine of Diamonds, the Ten of Hearts, the Queen of Spades, the Eight of Hearts, the Knave of Diamonds, the Queen of Hearts, the Nine of Clubs, the Seven of Spades, the Ace of Clubs, the Eight of Spades. Having considered your cards, you will find among them two Queens, two Knaves, two tens, three sevens, two eights, and two nines; you are, therefore, able to announce:

“The two Queens before me signify the reunion of friends; the two Knaves, that there is mischief being made between them. These two tens denote a change of profession, which, from one of them being between two sevens, I see will not be effected without some difficulty; the cause of which, according to these _three_ sevens, will be illness. However, these two nines promise some small gain, resulting--so say these two eights--from a love affair.”

You now begin to count _seven cards, from right to left_, beginning with the Queen of Hearts, who represents the lady you are acting for. The seventh being the King of Diamonds, you may say:

“You often think of a fair man in uniform.”

The next seventh card (counting the King of Diamonds as _one_) proves to be the Ace of Clubs; you add:

“You will receive from him some very joyful tidings; he, besides, intends making you a present.”

Count the Ace of Clubs as “one,” and proceeding to the next seventh card, the Queen of Spades, you resume:

“A widow is endeavoring to injure you on this very account; and” (the seventh card, counting the Queen as one, being the Ten of Diamonds) “the annoyance she gives you will oblige you to either take a journey or change your residence; but” (this Ten of Diamonds being imprisoned between two sevens) “your journey or removal will meet with some obstacle.”

On proceeding to count as before, calling the Ten of Diamonds one, you will find the seventh card proves to be the Queen of Hearts herself, the person for whom you are acting, and may therefore safely conclude by saying:

“But this you will overcome of yourself, without needing any one’s aid or assistance.”

Now take the two cards at either extremity of the half circle, which are, respectively, the Eight of Spades and the Seven of Clubs, unite them, and continue:--

“A sickness, which will lead to your receiving a small sum of money.”

Repeat the same maneuver, which brings together the Ace of Clubs and the Ten of Diamonds:--

“Good news, which will make you decide on taking a journey, destined to prove a very happy one, and which will occasion you to receive a sum of money.”

The next cards united, being the Seven of Spades and the Seven of Hearts, you say:--

“Tranquility and peace of mind, followed by slight anxiety, quickly succeeded by love and happiness.”

Then come the Nine of Clubs and the Knave of Clubs, foretelling: “You will certainly receive money through the exertions of a clever dark young man--Queen of Hearts and King of Diamonds--which comes from a fair man in uniform; this rencounter announces some great happiness in store for you, and complete fulfillment of your wishes. Knave of Diamonds and Nine of Diamonds--Although this happy result may be delayed for a time, through some fair young man, not famed for his delicacy--Eight of Hearts and Ten of Hearts--love, joy, and triumph. The Queen of Spades, who remains alone, is the widow who is endeavoring to injure you, and who finds herself abandoned by all her friends!”

Now gather up the cards you have been using, shuffle and cut them with the left hand, and proceed to make them into three packs by dealing one to the left, one in the middle, and one to the right; a fourth is laid aside to form “a surprise.” Then continue to deal the cards to each of the three packs in turn, until their number is exhausted, when it will be found that the left-hand and middle packs contain each five cards, whilst the one on the right hand consists of only four.

Now ask the person consulting you to select one of the three packs. We will suppose this to be the middle one, and that the cards comprising it are, the Knave of Diamonds, the King of Diamonds, the Seven of Spades, the Queen of Spades, and the Seven of Clubs. These, by recollecting our previous instructions regarding the individual and relative signification of the cards, are easily interpreted, as follows:

“The Knave of Clubs--a fair young man, possessed of no delicacy of feeling, who seeks to injure--the King of Diamonds--a fair man in uniform--Seven of Spades--and will succeed in causing him some annoyance--the Queen of Spades--at the instigation of a spiteful woman--Seven of Clubs--but, by means of a small sum of money, matters will be finally easily arranged.”

Next take up the left-hand pack, which is “for the house”--the former one having been for the lady herself. Supposing it to consist of the Queen of Hearts, the Knave of Clubs, the Eight of Hearts, the Nine of Diamonds, and the Ace of Clubs, they would read thus:

“Queen of Hearts--the lady whose fortune is being told is, or soon will be, in a house--Knave of Clubs--where she will meet with a dark young man, who--Eight of Hearts--will entreat her assistance to forward his interests with a fair girl--Nine of Diamonds--he having met with delays and disappointment--Ace of Clubs--but a letter will arrive announcing the possession of money, which will remove all difficulties.”

The third pack is “for those who did not expect it,” and will be composed of four cards, let us say the Ten of Hearts, Nine of Clubs, Eight of Spades, and Ten of Diamonds, signifying:

“The Ten of Hearts--An unexpected piece of good fortune and great happiness--Nine of Clubs--caused by an unlooked-for legacy--Eight of Spades--which joy may perhaps be followed by a slight sickness--Ten of Diamonds--the result of a fatiguing journey.”

There now remains on the table only the card intended for the “surprise.” This, however, must be left untouched, the other cards gathered up, shuffled, cut, and again laid out in three packs, not forgetting at the first deal to add a card to “the surprise.” After the different packs have been duly examined and explained, as before described, they must again be gathered up, shuffled, etc., indeed, the whole operation repeated, after which the three cards forming “the surprise” are examined; and supposing them to be the Seven of Hearts, the Knave of Clubs, and the Queen of Spades, are to be thus interpreted:

“Seven of Hearts--pleasant thoughts and friendly intentions--Knave of Clubs--of a dark young man--relative to a malicious dark woman, or widow, who will cause him much unhappiness.”

DEALING THE CARDS BY SEVENS.

After having shuffled the pack of thirty-two selected cards--which, as we before stated, consist of the Ace, King, Queen, Knave, Ten, Nine, Eight, and Seven of each suit--either cut them yourself, or, if acting for another person, let that person cut them, taking care to use the _left_ hand. Then count seven cards, beginning with the one lying on the top of the pack. The first six are useless, so put them aside, and retain only the seventh, which is to be placed face uppermost on the table before you. Repeat this three times more, then shuffle and cut the cards you have thrown on one side, together with those remaining in your hand, and tell them out in sevens as before, until you have thus obtained twelve cards. It is, however, indispensable that the one representing the person whose fortune is being told should be among the number; therefore, the whole operation must be recommenced in case of it not having made its appearance. Your twelve cards being now spread out before you in the order in which they have come to hand, you may begin to explain them as described in the manner of dealing the cards in threes--always bearing in mind both their individual and relative signification. Thus, you first count the cards by sevens, beginning with the one representing the person for whom you are acting, going from _right_ to _left_. Then take the two cards at either extremity of the line or half-circle, and unite them, and afterwards form the three heaps or packs and “the surprise” precisely as we have before described. Indeed, the only difference between the two methods is the manner in which the cards are obtained.

DEALING THE CARDS BY FIFTEENS.

After having well shuffled and cut the cards, or, as we have before said, had them cut, deal them out in two packs, containing sixteen cards in each. Desire the person consulting you to choose one of them; lay aside the first card, to form “the surprise;” turn up the other fifteen, and range them in a half-circle before you, going from left to right, placing them in the order in which they come to hand, and taking care to remark whether the one representing the person for whom you are acting be among them. If not, the cards must be all gathered up, shuffled, cut, and dealt as before, and this must be repeated until the missing card makes its appearance in the pack chosen by the person it represents. Now proceed to explain them--first, by interpreting the meaning of any pairs, triplets, or quartettes among them; then by counting them in sevens, going from right to left, and beginning with the card representing the person consulting you; and lastly, by taking the cards at either extremity of the line and pairing them. This being done, gather up the fifteen cards, shuffle, cut, and deal them so as to form three packs of each five cards. From each of these three packs withdraw the topmost card, and place them on the one laid aside to form “the surprise,” thus forming four packs of four cards each.

Desire the person for whom you are acting to choose one of these packs, “for herself” or “himself,” as the case may be. Turn it up, and spread out the four cards it contains, from left to right, explaining their individual and relative signification. Next proceed in like manner with the pack on your left hand, which will be “for the house;” then the third one, “for those who do not expect it;” and lastly, “the surprise.”

In order to render our meaning perfectly clear, we will give another example. Let us suppose that the pack for the person consulting you is composed of the Knave of Hearts, the Ace of Diamonds, the Queen of Clubs, and the Eight of Spades _reversed_. By the aid of the list of meanings we have given, it will be easy to interpret them as follows:

“The Knave of Hearts is a gay young bachelor--the Ace of Diamonds--who has written, or will very soon write, a letter--the Queen of Clubs--to a dark woman--Eight of Spades reversed--to make proposals to her, which will not be accepted.”

On looking back to the list of significations, it will be found to run thus:

_Knave of Hearts._--A gay young bachelor, who thinks only of pleasure.

_Ace of Diamonds._--A letter soon to be received.

_Queen of Clubs._--An affectionate woman, but quick-tempered and touchy.

_Eight of Spades._--If reversed, a marriage broken off, or offer refused.

It will thus be seen that each card forms, as it were, a phrase from an assemblage of which nothing but a little practice is required to form complete sentences. Of this we will give a further example, by interpreting the signification of the three other packs--“for the house,” “for those who do not expect it,” and “the surprise.” The first of these, “for the house,” we will suppose to consist of the Queen of Hearts, the Knave of Spades _reversed_, the Ace of Clubs, and the Nine of Diamonds, which reads thus:

“The Queen of Hearts is a fair woman, mild and amiable in disposition, who--Knave of Spades reversed--will be deceived by a dark, ill-bred young man--the Ace of Clubs--but she will receive some good news, which will console her--Nine of Diamonds--although it is probable that the news may be delayed.”

The pack “for those who do not expect it,” consisting of the Queen of Diamonds, the King of Spades, the Ace of Hearts _reversed_, and the Seven of Spades, would signify:

“The Queen of Diamonds is a mischief-making woman--the King of Spades--who is in league with a dishonest lawyer--Ace of Hearts reversed--they will hold a consultation together--Seven of Spades--but the harm they will do will soon be repaired.”

Last comes “the surprise,” formed by, we will suppose, the Knave of Clubs, the Ten of Diamonds, the Queen of Spades, and the Nine of Spades, of which the interpretation is:

“The Knave of Clubs is a clever, enterprising young man--Ten of Diamonds--about to undertake a journey--Queen of Spades--for the purpose of visiting a widow--Nine of Spades--but one or both of their lives will be endangered.”

THE ITALIAN METHOD.

Take a pack composed of thirty-two selected cards, viz., the Ace, King, Queen, Knave, Ten, Nine, Eight, and Seven of each suit. 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 highest 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.