Part 4
To a married woman, or widow, it is a warning that some unscrupulous individual, under garb of friendship, contemplates her injury, which will be followed by almost immediate desertion, if near the _ace of spades_.
Consequently, in a secondary capacity, it is taken to mean _evil desires_ or _longing_, when it has synonyms of this character:
Attraction; passion; flattery; cajolery; adulation; lechery; or declivity; precipice; fall.
ACE OF HEARTS--_Upright._ The first and primary signification of this card is _the house_, and as such obtains a secondary capacity of a most extensive nature, expressed in the following synonyms:
Household; home; house-keeping; economy; saving; dwelling; domicile; habitation; manor; lodge; lodging; hotel; palace; shop; store; barracks; building; vessel; vase; archives; castle; cabin; cottage; tent; pavilion; inn; hostelry; tavern; religious house; monastery; convent; burial; long home; grave; stable; extraction; family; race; lineage; posterity; ancestry; retreat; asylum.
This card likewise designates a _repast_ or _feasting_, when, secondarily, it assumes synonyms of the following nature:
Table; festivity; merry making; nutrition; guests; invitation; host; hilarity; good cheer; abundance; joy; gayety; natural pleasure; domestics; sports and pastimes.
ACE OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ It primarily designates _forced_ or _constrained enjoyment_, but more generally it should be taken for _new acquaintances_, whence is derived a secondary significance of _fresh news_, with these synonyms:
Indication; presentiment; new instructions; fresh knowledge; enlightenment; index; augury; forewarning; fore-knowledge; conjecture; oracle; prognostication; prediction; prophecy; divination; second sight; novelty.
Again this card, reversed, means a _disordered household_, and from this comes the secondary idea of _intestine quarrels_, with the following more prominent synonyms:
Misunderstanding; regret; remorse; repentance; internal agitation; irresolution; uncertainty; family feuds; marriage trouble; domestic strife; dissensions.
At times this card represents _family vices_, or extravagance in household expenditures, or any description of crime or folly which renders home unhappy and unendurable.
TEN OF HEARTS--_Upright._ This card ordinarily signifies the _city_, when its secondary capacities are expressed in some one from among the following synonyms:
Metropolis; native land; burgh; village; town; locality; site; town-house; dwelling; habitation; residence; municipality; city government; citizens.
It moreover is accepted to signify _envious people_, as by that term the ancient inhabitants of the rural districts were wont to designate, ironically, dwellers in cities.
TEN OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ This card most generally signifies _an inheritance_, when its synonyms are:
Succession; legacy; donation; testamentary gifts; dowry; dower; dowager; legitimacy; will; patrimony; heir; transmission; to bequeath; to endow.
It is likewise used to signify _relatives_ when its secondary capacity is extended to the widest scope, embracing:
Consanguinity; blood; family; ancestors; father; mother; brother; sister; aunt; uncle; cousin, male or female; Adam and Eve; race; lineage; alliance; relationship; affinity; blood connection; love intrigues.
Another primary signification of this card is _surprise_, generally of a bad origin, with these appropriate synonyms:
Cheat; imposture; knavery; deceit; trickery; mistake; oversight; misunderstanding; trouble; vexation; annoyance; emotion; fright; fear; terror; consternation; astonishment; admiration; alarm; rapture; exhaustion; swooning; fainting; a marvel; phenomenon; miracle; anything wonderful or strange.
Among the ancient cartomancists, this card, with the _nine of hearts_, was regarded as the most difficult of interpretation of any in the pack, but through careful study of the synonyms above given, a true meaning is readily attained.
NINE OF HEARTS--_Upright._ This card is generally regarded as an augury of good fortune, wealth, happiness and worldly advantage.
Its principal signification is _victory_, whence we derive:
Success; good results; advantage; gain; pomp; triumph; trophies; majesty; show; apparel; baggage; luggage; equipage; attire; furniture; rich goods and wares.
Its next principal one is _union_ and _concord_, with the several secondary significations, cognate to them:
Moderation; discretion; continence; temperance; patience; calmness; sobriety; frugality; chastity; harmony; music; musical tastes; perfect happiness.
It moreover designates _labor_ and _commerce_, in which capacity its signification is expressed in the synonyms:
Studious; application; work; toil; reflection; observation; meditation; occupation; trade; employment; merchant; clerk; trader; laborer; mercantile pursuits.
Still another signification is _a present_, whence we have:
Gift; generosity; benefit; gratification; service.
NINE OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ This card means _ennui_, or weariness, with secondary attributes expressed in these synonyms:
Displeasure; discontent; disgust; aversion; inquietude; lack of spirit; listlessness; trivial sorrow; affliction; uneasiness; complaining; want of energy.
It moreover is employed to signify _curiosity_, whence we have the secondary signification of inquisitiveness; a busybody; a marplot and intruder.
Then again an ordinary signification of this card is _obstacle_ or _hindrance_ with the following synonyms:
Bar; embarrassment; opposition; barrier; contrariety; inconvenience; trouble; difficulty; work; abjection; indisposition; ailment; infirmity; distress; hesitation; vacillation; perplexity; impediment; stumbling-block.
EIGHT OF HEARTS--_Upright._ The primary signification of this card is first, a blonde young lady of great natural abilities, gentle manners, lively disposition and personal beauty, for whom we have synonyms:
Honest girl; virtuous girl; modesty; maidenly grace; bashfulness; timidity; retiring disposition; fear of scandal; apprehension; mildness; suavity of temper.
It moreover signifies _success in expectations_, in those enterprises whereupon the consultant has set his heart, with the secondary significations of:
Success; happy issue; fortunate termination; victory; cure; recovery; accomplishment; end of trouble; discontinuance, termination of pains, torment or labor.
EIGHT OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ When this card comes into the oracle in a reversed position, and is used as the representative of an individual, it designates an unmarried lady, of a light complexion, with chestnut-brown hair, of a natural good disposition, but spoiled by an assumption of superiority over her companions. From this signification, we have that of _arrogance_, and thence:
Noise; quarreling; dispute; disturbance; difference; contestations; litigation; bickerings; arguments.
But the most general signification of this card reversed is _great joy_, otherwise expressed in these synonyms:
Perfect content; felicity; happiness; rapture; enchantment; ecstasy; entire satisfaction; complete joy; inexpressible pleasure; heavenly inspiration; exhilaration; enthusiasm; the music of the spheres; celestial harmony.
Under other influences this card becomes modified to the signification of the _means of satisfaction_, such as:
Gayety; dancing; the opera; the theater; festival; public rejoicings; family reunions; poetry; romance; joyous visits; pleasant parties; excursions.
SEVEN OF HEARTS--_Upright._ When this card emerges in its natural position, its primary signification is that of _thought_, an _arm_, or a _jewel_.
As thought, it has many secondary significations prominent among them those expressed by the synonyms:
The soul; spirit; intelligence; an idea; memory; imagination; conception; comprehension; extension of ideas; designs; intentions; desires; will; resolution; determination; premeditation; meditation; reflection; opinion; sentiment; philosopher; philosophy; wisdom.
This card is sometimes employed to signify _solitude_, when it obtains a secondary signification:
A desert; seclusion; retreat from society; hermitage; exile; banishment; isolation; abandonment.
SEVEN OF HEARTS--_Reversed._ When this card comes out reversed, one of its primary significations is a _package_, or bundle, present, new clothes, etc., in accordance with the signification of the cards immediately preceding or following it, which can be easily learned by study.
Nevertheless, its most ordinary signification is _desire_, or a strong longing for, or hankering after, some person or thing; but then again the interpretation is qualified by the cards coming near this one, either before or after; reading from the consultant to the right, by a simple change in position of the cards, _desire_ may be changed into _aversion_, and an _attraction_ into _repulsion_.
When its signification is _desire_, its synonyms will be:
Wish; now; will; coveting; cupidity; lusting after; concupiscence; unlawful desire; extreme hankering after; jealous; passion for good or bad; illusion; craving; appetite; a fancy for a thing; decided inclination.
It will be seen that the term _desire_ is employed as antagonistic to love, or a holy and righteous phase of passion.
KING OF SPADES--_Upright._ Employed as a representative card, this one designates a man of very dark complexion, with black eyes and hair, passionate and proud, ambitious, and successful in most of his aspirations, but a person whom the reverse of fortune would utterly crush into obscurity.
Divested of this personal and destructive character, this card, when coming upright in an oracle, designates a professional man of eminence, a lawyer, judge, advocate, counselor, senator, practitioner, attorney, confidential agent, jurist, orator, statesman, pleader, diplomat, doctor of laws or in medicine, or a learned physician.
When the consultant be an unmarried lady, this card assures her that her admirer is a man of excessive probity and of honorable intentions, that is, if the _king of diamonds_ likewise comes out upright. To a married woman it denotes that her property or honor will be in the keeping of a lawyer or agent of rectitude, who will rescue her from the machinations of enemies or spoliators. To a widow it shows that her second marriage will be to a man of eminence, who will render her after life most happy.
KING OF SPADES--_Reversed._ This card signifies a widower, a man in anger or difficulty, also one given to inebriety. But taken in a general acceptation, this card represents a _wicked man_, and, through induction, _wickedness_. In that case, its secondary significance can be gleaned from the synonyms, used to give expression to it, as follows:
Bad intentioned; innate wickedness; perversity; perfidy; crime; cruelty; inhumanity, and atrocity.
This card is likewise regarded as an unfortunate one, as it forewarns you of the utter wreck of your expectations, wrought by some one of the following causes:
Reverses; prejudice; theft; violence; corruption; elopement; libertinage; debauchery; slander; malice; exposure of secrets; disorder in morals, or calumny.
QUEEN OF SPADES--_Upright._ As the representative of an individual this card designates a dark lady, with dark eyes and black hair, naturally of an open and generous disposition, but who will change her nature through flattery and her position in society. Should she be possessed of beauty, her innocence will be in perpetual danger, and only saved through the exercise of a strong will, or through motives of self-respect.
This card likewise, when emerging upright, designates a _widow_, without respect to color or social position, and is also taken to signify the condition of widowhood, to be interpreted, as the oracle demands, by these synonyms:
Privation; abstinence; absence; scarcity; sterility; poverty; indigence; famine; deprivation.
Frequently this card is employed to denote a _well-founded distrust_, when its secondary significations will be:
Just suspicion; legitimate fear; merited doubts; conjectures; surmises based on fact; conscientious scruples; timidity; bashfulness; reluctance; retirement.
QUEEN OF SPADES--_Reversed._ As a representative of an individual, this card, coming out in the oracle reversed in position, denotes a widow, desirous of contracting another marriage. It moreover designates a dark woman of amorous propensities, who does not hesitate to disregard the conventionalities of society.
But as a general thing, this card is assumed to signify a _crafty evil-minded woman_, and can be interpreted as:
Malignity; malice; finesse; artifice; cunning; craft; dissimulation; frolic; pranks; wildness; hypocrisy; bigotry; prudishness; wantonness; shamelessness.
When coming reversed in a consultation upon marriage, this card denotes that difficulties and impediments, generally originating with a female, will be interposed to prevent the desired nuptials.
JACK OF SPADES--_Upright._ As the representative of an individual, this card, coming out upright, designates a dark complexioned unmarried man, an obliging fellow, who does not hesitate to accommodate his friends at serious disadvantage to himself, if occasion require.
The primary signification of the card is, however, _messenger_, an envoy, or person, charged with bearing of intelligence, most generally employed as a go-between in intrigues, or in a capacity of trust.
Sometimes this card is used to designate a _critic_, or a critical position; a moment of impending danger; an awkward predicament; a decisive instant; an unfortunate situation; a delicate circumstance; a threatened calamity; a crisis; or a perplexing misstep.
JACK OF SPADES--_Reversed._ This card is one of evil omen to lovers, as it forewarns a betrayal of their secrets, or the exposure of their plans by a corrupt messenger, or through the intervention of some intermeddler.
Its primary signification, when the card is reversed, is that of a _Paul Pry_, or spy, whence we have the secondary ones of inquirer, spectator, watcher, overseer, as well as the result of such a man's investigations. Hence applied more generally, the card signifies scrutiny; examination; reports; remarks; notations, and commentaries.
Another secondary signification of this card is _traitor_, from which we readily obtain the following synonyms:
Deception; duplicity; stratagem; disguise; prevarication; disloyalty; breach of trust; conspiracy; tale bearing; imposture; black heartedness; perfidy; falsehood; dissimulation and breach of confidence.
The card is, moreover, used to forewarn lovers that there is danger of their being pursued in event of elopement.
ACE OF SPADES--_Upright._ This card, coming out in natural position, and intervening between the representative cards of a male and female, relates wholly to love affairs. When accompanied by the _ten of spades_ it shows that an intrigue will be accompanied with a deal of sorrow and affliction, and will ultimately end in abandonment under most disastrous circumstances.
One of the primary significations of this card is a _paper_ or document, chiefly appertaining to law matters, such as warrants for arrest, writs, subpoenas and legal pleadings.
Another is that of a _ship_, or other means of conveyance by water, particularly when accompanied by the _eight of clubs_, reversed, which betokens the consultant to be on the eve of a sea voyage, or other journey over water of some description.
ACE OF SPADES--_Reversed._ When in the oracle of a married consultant, this card appears reversed, and near to her representative, its primary signification is _pregnancy_, which in her case can be expressed by the following synonyms:
Conception; maternity; accouchement; childbirth.
From this we derive a secondary signification, applicable to other things, for which we employ correspondent synonyms:
Enlargement; engenderment; fecundity; fertilization; production; composition; increase; augmentation; multiplication; deliverance; parturition; growth; addition.
When reversed and accompanied by the _knave of clubs_, likewise reversed, this card is a premonitor of _death_.
The general secondary signification of this card, when reversed and in the body of the oracle, is a _fall_, whence we have:
Decadence; decline; discouragement; dissipation; ravage; ruin; demolition; destruction; bankruptcy; error; fault; overwhelming sorrows; perdition; an abyss; precipice; gulf; waterfall; disgrace; shame.
TEN OF SPADES--_Upright._ The general signification of this card is _jealousy_, particularly when accompanied by the _knave of clubs_, which denotes that the consultant, either male or female, is jealous of his or her sweetheart to such a degree that their friendly relations are in danger of being broken off, which will assuredly be the case, if the _nine of spades_ should likewise appear in the oracle.
The other primary signification of this card is _tears_, whence we derive a series of secondary significations, as:
Sighs; groans; weeping; complaints; lamentations; griefs; sadness; heart-sickness; affliction; mental agony.
TEN OF SPADES--_Reversed._ This card, emerging reversed, has, for a general signification, a _loss_, either moral or physical, as the surrounding cards designate. Thus, with the _nine of hearts_ intervening between the consultant and this card, it announces that he or she will lose a situation or employment. When it comes preceded by the _ten of clubs_, it betokens the loss of money or valuables. Should the consultant be an unmarried female, and this card comes out reversed near to a knave, likewise reversed, it foretells the ruin of her reputation through calumny. But if in place of one of the knaves the _seven of clubs_ should appear, the loss of her character will be brought about through some indiscretion.
Another primary signification of this is _the evening_, as a designation of points of time; still this general term of night has given rise to the application of important secondary significations, of which the sense can be taken from the synonyms:
Shades; obscurely; nocturnal; mysterious; secret; masked; concealed; undiscovered; clandestine; occult; veiled; allegorical; hidden meaning; in secrecy; obscure hints; double meaning; on the sly; to conceal from sight; nocturnal meetings.
NINE OF SPADES--_Upright._ This is justly regarded to be the most unfortunate card in the pack, as it portends maladies, malignant diseases, family dissensions, defeat in enterprises, constant disappointment, and even death. The primary significations of this card, when in its natural position, are a _priest_, _mourning_ and _disappointment_.
The secondary significations, derived from these sources, are:
From the _priest_: Pastor; church; church services; ritual; sanctity; piety; devotion; religious ceremonies; celibacy.
From _mourning_: Regret; desolation; affliction; sadness; sorrow; calamity; grief; heart-pain; funeral; burial; tomb; grave; church-yard; loss of relatives; wailing.
From _disappointment_: Obstacles; hindrance; delay; disadvantage; contrarieties; misfortunes; suffering.
NINE OF SPADES--_Reversed._ When this card appears in the oracle reversed its evil influence is augmented two-fold, although its primary significations are modestly expressed as _failure_, _abandonment_ and _delay_. The secondary significations are of the most disastrous character.
The synonyms employed for these terms, in this instance, are:
Misery; indigence; famine; necessity; need; poverty; adversity; misfortune; deep affliction; disagreements; correction; chastisement; punishment; reverses; disgrace; imprisonment; detention; arrest; captivity.
But when this card, reversed, comes before the consultant and the _eight of spades_, in the same oracle, it signifies _mortality_, with the following synonyms:
Death; decease; last sigh; end; finish; extinction; annihilation; destruction; utter ruin; abjection; humiliation; prostration; depression; alteration; poisoning; corruption; putrefaction; paralysis; lethargy.
Still in all these sinister aspects the influence of this card can be materially modified, but never counteracted, through intervention of bright cards.
EIGHT OF SPADES--_Upright._ This card is ordinarily of bad import, as its primary signification is _sickness_, although it is more generally interpreted as _bad news_. This is its acceptation when preceded by the _knave of spades_ or the _knave of diamonds_, or when accompanied by the _ace of diamonds_, and sometimes by the _eight of hearts_, reversed.
When this card signifies _sickness_, its synonyms are:
Illness of the body, soul or mind; bad condition of health or of business; derangement; infirmity; epidemic; gangrene; agony; displeasure; damage; mishap; accidental injury; disaster; indisposition; head-ache; heart-ache; inquietude; melancholy; medicine; remedy; charlatan; empiric; physician; quack; languor.
Sometimes, however, this card is employed to designate _prudence_, whence we have as secondary significations:
Wisdom; reserve; circumspection; reticence; discernment; foresight; presentiment; prediction; divination; prophecy; horoscope; second sight; clairvoyance.
EIGHT OF SPADES--_Reversed._ Unlike other cards, the reversal of this one brings with it a modification of its primary significations. Hence, when coming out reversed, it most generally signifies _ambition_, a passion for which we have synonyms as follows:
Desire; wish for; search after; cupidity; jealousy; aspiration; onward; higher; illusion; pride.
Another primary signification bestowed upon this card when emerging reversed, is that of a _nun_ or pious woman, whence we derive the secondary signification usually applied to this card and expressed in the synonyms:
Inaction; peace; tranquillity; repose; apathy; inertia; stagnation; rest from labor; pastime, recreation; nonchalance; free from care; idleness; supineness; lethargy; torpidity.
SEVEN OF SPADES--_Upright._ As a general exponent of current events, this card is taken to forewarn the consultant of the loss of a valuable friend, whose death will be a source of a great deal of misery. On this account many interpret this card to signify a _coffin_, which may be the case when coming out in close proximity to the _ace of spades_ or the _nine of spades_.
Its most accepted primary signification, however, among practical cartomancists, is that of _hope_, whence are derived the secondary ones, expressed in the terms:
Trust; confidence; expectation; desire; inclination; longing after; wish; taste for; whim; humor; fancy.
SEVEN OF SPADES--_Reversed._ This card takes a wider and an apparently contradictory scope in its primary significations, when emerging in this manner, being _good advice_, _friendship_, and _indecision_.
From _good advice_ we derive, as secondary attributes:
Wise counsels; salutary warnings; news; announcements; advertisements; placards; consultations; admonitions; instruction; advice.
For _friendship_ we have the following synonyms:
Attachment; affection; tenderness; benevolence; well wishing; relation; harmony; correspondence; connection; identity; intimacy; agreement with; concordance; concurrence; interest; conformity; sympathy; affinity; attraction; admiration.
For _indecision_, the general synonyms are employed:
Want of resolution; uncertainty; perplexity; inconstancy; frivolity; lightness; variation; diversity; vacillation; hesitation; versatile; unsteady; changeable; whimsical; flexibility in character; unreliable; undetermined.