Art Deco Fortune Telling Cards

alteredego said:

There is very little information available on this deck in English.
If you are familiar with or are able to find any information about interpreting the Italian silbilla decks, you will know how to use this deck; the concept is the same as are the card meanings.

This is a cartomancy deck. The Gipsy and Biedermeier decks are also cartomancy cards - the Gipsy deck is based on Lenormand's style of reading and the Biedermeier is based on the romany tradition of a reduced 32 card pack.

Glad to see someone post about this deck. I think that it's complexity lies in its simplicity, lol.

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I am a complete and utter novice and I am only fluent in English, so those are two handicaps. I will see what I can dig up, though.

Astrea, what do you mean about the clouds and the directions the figures are facing? What do they tell you?

~Mercy

When interpreting these cards, you draw meaning from the surrounding cards and also their proximity to the card which represents the person being read for (if applicable). The symbols and people on the cards help with the interpretation. If there is a person on the card, what card are they facing and what does that card mean?

If you're more used to tarot, it can be awkward at first. I am still getting used to these decks myself

MercyMe said:

Astrea, what do you mean about the clouds and the directions the figures are facing? What do they tell you?

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Hi, MercyMe. About a year ago (maybe longer!) there were several threads in which Diana offered to do readings with her Lenormand deck -- there was quite a bit of interest at the time in how to actually read with the cards, and she indicated that (for example) a card depicting clouds might indicate trouble brewing; if the clouds appeared on the same side of the card as the significator in a spread, and close to the significator -- a nuance Alteredego mentions, and which I'd forgotten completely -- it could mean that the trouble was close at hand. If cards depicting people were around the significator, their orientation toward the signficator (i.e., facing or turned away) could show people's attitudes. The closer a card was to the center of the spread or significator, the more quickly an event might transpire; the more peripheral the cards, the farther away the drama. I think that is the kind of the thing we ought to look for.

Like you, I speak only English fluently, but my understanding is that none of these cartomantic Lenormand-style decks come with lengthy instructions in any language -- they seem to rely on one's sense of playfulness and intuition, if I'm understanding Alteredego correctly. Thank you for your insights into these cards, Alteredego!

Ok, so for this deck, who would one use as a significator? For a man, "a young man?" or "an old man?" There is only one for a woman, "a maid" meaning a young woman. There is no "old woman" card. I imagine if one is an older man or woman who is divorced or widowed, one could use the "widow" and "widow(er)" cards. Or would the significator be drawn at random as it sometimes is in tarot?

I like the means of interpreting using the various elements in the pictures on the cards and their proximity to the significator. That means tuning into those intuitive vibes and tapping into one's creativity and visual cues. Fun!

~Mercy

MercyMe said:

Ok, so for this deck, who would one use as a significator? For a man, "a young man?" or "an old man?" There is only one for a woman, "a maid" meaning a young woman. There is no "old woman" card. I imagine if one is an older man or woman who is divorced or widowed, one could use the "widow" and "widow(er)" cards. Or would the significator be drawn at random as it sometimes is in tarot?

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I'd like to know the answer to these questions, too -- I was hoping that there would be a clue in the German-text cards that came with the deck (along with information about a suggested way to lay out the cards).

It's nice to see this deck talked about. It's available everywhere here. We've also seen several old versions of it, some with slightly different illustrations. However, antique shops here seem to charge a fortune for these, so I only have some incomplete copies of the old versions that I found in junk shops. I do, however, have a copy of the modern Piatnik reproduction.

Baba, it really is a charmer and the older versions (which I was not aware of) must be delightful. I am so glad that MercyMe started this discussion, I'd not thought of the Art Deco deck in a long while. It is such a happy set of cards, one feels that it could deliver even bad news with a smile.

Kurze Erklärung des Bilder-Aufschlagspiels

Dieses aus 52 Bildern bestehende Spiel übernimmt einer aus der Gesellschaft, welcher der Aufschlager genannt wird und bestimmt diejenige Person, für welche die Bilder aufgeschlagen werden dann gemischt, von der betreffenden Person abgehoben und in 4 Reihen zu 13 Blättern untereinander aufgedeckt. Geht das Spiel einen Herrn an, so wird er durch den Herzkönig vorgestellt, eine Dame aber durch die Herzdame. Die Blätter, welche nun der Person (Herzkönig oder Herzdame) am nächsten liegen, geben Veranlassung zu einer scherzhaften Auslegung, welche der Aufschlager erteilt, und wobei er Gelegenheit hat, seinen ganzen Witz zu zeigen.

Ist z. B. der Geistliche nahe, so wird auf eine baldige Heirat geschlossen. Der Richter in der Nähe, deutet auf einen Prozess hin. Der große Herr wird ihnen seine Gnade oder Freundschaft schenken. Steht der Offizier neben der Herzdame, so sind seine Gedanken auf sie oder die ihrigen auf ihn gerichtet; steht er neben dem Herzkönig, so sucht er seine Freundschaft, oder ist sein Nebenbuhler. Die Katze deutet auf Falschheit.

Alle übrigen Blätter werden dem Gegenstande angemessen ausgelegt.

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Brief explanation of this Oracle Card Game.

This game consisting of 52 Cards is played for one of the people out of the group, who is called the Querent and the cards drawn will be about him/her, for whom the cards are drawn or pulled? by the appropriate person (Reader), in the form of 4 Rows with 13 Cards under each.
If the game is for a Man, then he will be represented by the King of Hearts?!, and a lady will be represented by the Queen of Hearts?!.
The Row which is the closest to the Queen or King of Hearts need to be laid out, by the Reader. Whom will read the Cards.

Z.B. is somebody who is near to the Divine, and closed to marriage.
The Judge being near means a Trail? or Process, is near.
The Large gentleman will give you either friendship or mercy.
If the officer is near the Queen of Hearts, then somebody thinks of her or she thinks of him.
Is the officer near the King of Hearts, then he is looking for friendship or he is ? (I think the word means Neighbour, not sure).
The Cat points at falsehood.

All Cards left are being explained in the next Sheet.


I tried my best, but don't have dictionaries here. I hope it helps.
It's a free-fall translation, so it might not be helpful.

Kahlie, this is wonderfully helpful! It explains key questions about significators and layout and conveys the playful sense of how a reading might proceed -- thank you so very, very much!

Astraea said:

Kahlie, this is wonderfully helpful! It explains key questions about significators and layout and conveys the playful sense of how a reading might proceed -- thank you so very, very much!

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You guys are welcome. I don't know the deck, nor much of this Oracle Tradition, so I had the feeling it didn't make any sense!

If you guys have the second card up, sent me a PM ok? I might miss the thread, like I did before!!
I already have many subscriptions so I didn't subscribe to this thread. I am doing Readings on the forum, and I wanted to keep my subscriptions clean so that when I get a mail through my messenger I know what it's for!

Kahlie