As this is my most popular post, I'll leave a note here to let you know that this blog has now moved to Judy Reads Cards. I hope you'll join me there.
13-Apr-18: I have finally uploaded my "expanded" meanings.
My grandmother Helene, from Niedersachsen/Lower Saxony in
Germany, told fortunes with coffee grounds, Swedenborg cards and Skat cards,
i.e. a 32-card deck of playing cards, also known as a Piquet deck: sevens up to
Kings plus Aces. When she learned that I was interested in such things, she
sent me a deck with her meanings written on the cards and a brief note of how
she read them.
Lene, as she was called, though I would never have dreamt
of calling her anything but Oma, only read the cards upright. Sadly, I don’t
speak more than a smattering of German, so with the help of Google Translate
and reference to a couple of online Skatkarten sites I’ve translated her notes
as well as I am able. They were written on the cards in ballpoint pen and some
are quite difficult to make out. If you are familiar with German and/or
Skatkarten, and spot any misinterpretations, please let me know.
Update: November 2013
I have since corresponded with my aunt Edith, Lene’s
youngest daughter and, luckily, she was taught how to read the cards. Edith was
able to provide a bit more detail, which I have worked into the information
given below.
| Clubs: | | |
| Ace | Neuigkeit, Geschenk | news, gift |
| King | Arzt oder Beamter | Doctor or Official |
| Queen | falsche Dame, böse Gesinnung | false woman, evil alignment
(way of thinking) |
| Jack | Glück, Botschaft | luck, message |
| 10 | Reise, großes Haus, Krankenhaus | travel, big (official) house,
hospital |
| 9 | güte Veränderung | good change |
| 8 | Sorgen über (einen kleinen) Weg | Worry over a small way (for a
short time) |
| 7 | Tränen, Trennung, Hindernis | tears, separation, obstacle |
| Hearts: | | |
| Ace | Haus | house |
| King | Er | He |
| Queen | Sie | You |
| Jack | Liebe | love |
| 10 | Einladung | invitation |
| 9 | große Freude oder gütes Ereignis | Great joy or Good event |
| 8 | frohes Wiedersehen | happy reunion |
| 7 | Liebe in Aussicht | prospect of love |
| Spades: | |
| Ace | Schrak, Krankheit | Fright, sickness |
| King | Älterer Herr | older gentleman |
| Queen | Dunkle Dame böse, Witwe oder allein | dark evil woman, widow or
single |
| Jack | falscher Freund | false friend |
| 10 | Beruf | profession |
| 9 | Verleumdung, Falschheit in nächster Zeit | slander, falsehood in the near
future |
| 8 | Gefahr, Krankheit, Ärger | danger, illness, anger |
| 7 | Kummer, Verlust, Streit, Unannehmlichkeit | grief, loss, strife, inconvenience |
| Diamonds: | |
| Ace | Brief | letter |
| King | jünger Mann | younger man |
| Queen | Mädchen oder Frau | girl or woman |
| Jack | Glück | Happiness |
| 10 | Geld, Gewinn | money, profit |
| 9 | Vorteil geschäftlich | business advantage |
| 8 | Neuigkeit geschäftlich | news of business |
| 7 | Geld oder Kind | Money or Child |
I should point out here that other German sources tend to
assign negative meanings to the Clubs, but you’ll see from the above list that,
for Lene, the “worst” cards are the Spades.
Lene’s reading instructions were, as I mentioned, quite
brief – essentially shuffle, cut, lay out, read. The fact that she didn’t think
it necessary to provide any details on “how” to read them suggests that she
felt her method was so commonplace as to not require explanation. I have found
meanings similar to hers on Kartenlegen mit Skatkarten (KmS), so I’m guessing their method of
breaking down the layout and combining the cards is likewise similar. I’ll go
into more detail below. To begin:
Herzdame in die mitte legen.
Karten mischen. Mit der linken
Hand 3 Haufen zum Herzen legen.
Die mittleren Haufen auf die
letzten legen dann beide Haufen auf die ersten legen.
Die ersten 3 Karten von jedem
Haufen haben eine Bedeutung.
Dann die Karten von oben so um
die Herzdame legen:
Dann kombinieren was einem die
Karten sagen...
The same steps as described by Edith:
Herz Dame in die Mitte legen.
Karten mischen. Mit der linken
Hand 3 Haufen zum Herzen legen, den mittleren Haufen nehmen, die 1.drei
Karten nachsehen sie haben eine
Bedeutung, dann die Karten auf den letzten Haufen legen, und wieder die 1.drei
Karten ansehen, dann alle auf den 1.Haufen legen und wieder die 1.drei Karten
ansehen.
Die Karten von oben so um die
Herz-Dame legen.
Dann sehen was einem die
Karten sagen...
· Place the Queen of Hearts (Herzdame) in the
middle. {Note that Lene only mentions the Queen as a significator. Presumably
all her “clients” were female, but if you are reading for a man use the King of
Hearts, or select a card that represents your area of concern, for example the
10 of Spades for work.}
· Shuffle the cards. With the left hand, lay 3
piles “to the heart”, i.e. towards you (confirmed by Edith). {What does “to
the heart” mean here? Perhaps, like KmS – “2 Stapel zu sich hin abheben”, you
are meant to cut towards yourself, towards your heart.}
· Put the middle pile on the last pile, then put
the two on the first pile.
· The first 3 cards of each pile have a meaning. {I’m
uncertain if she meant 3 cards from each
pile or just the 3 exposed cards. KmS uses just the 3 exposed cards. Either
way, check them before you recombine the piles} Here Edith made it quite
clear – you look at the bottom three cards of EACH pile, combining them to give
you a meaning, before placing that pile on the next one.
· Then place the cards from the top around the
Queen of Hearts:
· Then combine what the cards say.
KmS uses a simple 9x4 layout, but despite Lene’s fancy
Star arrangement, I think the breakdown would be much the same: first read the
central cross - cards 1, 3, Significator, 4 and 2, combining the cards in
sentence fashion. Then read the row – 11, 3, S, 4, 12, then the column – 9, 1,
S, 2, 10, and finally the diagonals. Card 17 gives an overview of what’s
occurring on the home front.
Update: April 2015
I’ve been studying other
“large star” spreads recently and have found that the various “arms” were given
different meanings, eg. past/future, obstacle/aid, etc. I have yet to decide how I want to approach
reading Oma’s star.
Now that I know we should be reading the bottom three
cards of each cut, it occurs to me that, unless the middle pile (which will now
be on the top) contained more than 16 cards, at least one if not all of the
cards from the bottom of that pile will appear somewhere in the spread and may
be worth paying particular attention to.
Lene then continues:
Vom übrigen Haufen, 5 Karten
ziehen.
Die dann auf die Karten legen
was man näher wissen möchte.
Zum Beispiel - Herzdame, fürs
Haus, Liebe, Reise, und so weiter.
And Edith:
Vom übrigen Haufen 5 Karten
ziehen,
und so auf die Karten legen
z.B auf Dich (Herz -Dame )and
so on, um zu wissen, was in der nächsten Zeit passiert.
· From the remaining pile, draw 5 cards.
· Then lay the cards on what you want to know in
more detail, or as
Edith put it, to know what is happening in the near future.
for example
– (on the) Queen of Hearts, for the home, love, travel, and so on.
We then proceed to a second spread.
Lene:
Zuletzt alle Karten mischen.
9 Karten ziehen und so
auslegen:
Wieder kombinieren was sie
sagen.
Edith:
Alle Karten wieder mischen,
Herz -Dame bleibt auf dem Tisch liegen.
Karten ziehen und so auslegen
dann wieder sehen was die
Karten sagen.
· Last shuffle all the cards. Edith adds: the Queen of Hearts stays on the table.
·
Draw 9 cards and lay out as follows:
·
Again combine what they say.
And that is all I have been told. Oma passed away in
1998, at the age of 95.
Edith has been very patient with my questions and
requests for clarification, so I’ll leave her in peace for a while, but at some
point I’d like to ask her how she combines the cards and reads the Star layout.
Update: June 2014
Sadly, Tante Edith has no more
information in this regard, or perhaps doesn’t have sufficient confidence in
her English to attempt an explanation. Bearing in mind my paltry German skills,
this is a feeling with which I can very much sympathise.
I would love to hear from anyone who recognises any
aspects of this method, or can elaborate on what I have presented.
Labels: decks, meanings, method, Oma, playing cards, skat cards, skatkarten
