Madame Indiras fortune telling cards.

Lillie

Hi

I got these the other day.On a whim, because they were cheap and colourful.
Though they are old, and the box is battered.
They seem to be based on ordinary playing cards (Ace,7,8,9,10, and four courts. The usual Knave, Queen, King, and an extra one, the Maiden)
They also have hands on, with palmistry lines.
I like palmistry, and have donea little hand reading for fun.
But the lines on the hands on the cards seem to bear no relation to what is being said in the booklet.
However, the deck is by Grimaud, and english is the second language in the booklet, so maybe it is a faliue of translation?
Otherwise they seem to be using a totally different system to the oe I know.

But they are nice. They are huge, and very colourful.
They are a very interesting thing to see, if only to puzzle over the palmistry lines!

Does anyone else have them?
If so, do you use them?
 

catlin

Hi Lillie,
I was toying around with getting these cards but what put me off on the scans was that the palmistry indications does not correspond to the system of palmistry I know.

Now I am wondering if there is someone around who knows what palmistry system is given in the Indira cards or if it is just a self made one.
 

Alissa

Is there any way to see scans of this deck? I've never heard of it... only of Madame Endora's, which are not meant to correspond with palmistry, of course.

I'd be curious!! :)
 

Alissa

Thanks zorya, silly me, why didn't I think of that?

A glimpse at them tells me they're not for me. I'm with you catlin, I don't know what palmistry method is being shown here, but it's not one I'm familiar with. As such, the illustrations leave me pretty flat.

Edited to add: I noticed the same search brought up a deck called the Tarot Hindou (de Madame Indira) in tarotgarden's collection also. If the deck is based on Hindu palmistry, that's a method I've heard of but never learned myself. From what I've been told of Hindu palmistry, it varies greatly from the "Western" palmistry tradition as set forth by the Victorian palmist, Cheiro.
 

catlin

Thanks, Alissa, for the comment on Hindu palmistry. I think I will post in the divination section to find out if there is someone into that kind of palmistry.
 

room

I just received this deck of 36 cards. I notice that it is based on 32-card decks, which I see listed quite often on Somerville's site for reproduction decks. In this Madame Indira deck, an extra court card, similar to a female Page in Tarot has been added.

There are only 1, 7, 8, 9, 10 which I assume is the pattern with older 32-card packs. What kind of game is played with this kind of deck and how did it come to be condensed in such a manner?

I don't see what difference the palmistry method in this deck uses since the interpretations for this method are included in the instructions.

The cards are so big, they feel really neat in the hand.
 

room

I found it--Piquet--not being European, I always wondered what that was. I believe I've seen tables designated as Piquet tables. And German Skat uses 32 cards as does a variety of Euchre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piquet
 

room

Samudrik Shastra means "the ocean of knowledge" and deals with astrology but contains Hindu palmistry as a sub-system.

One web page says "It is believed that the science of reading the hand originated in India." East Indian references to palmistry are found pre-dating the Bible.

"Centuries ago, the sages of India established a system of knowledge
stemming from the Vedas, the earliest sacred Hindu writings."

"Even though India and Egypt have both been credited as the seat of palmistry, speculation has honored India as the actual cradle for Western Palmistry."

In the western Middle Ages, astrology played a large part in palmistry--I'm wondering if the astrological base is where the difference lies in the two palmistry methods, Indian astrology being different in calculations and having a more complicated breakdown of factors.

If palmistry has been used for centuries in both western and eastern traditions, who decided an imaginative Victorian celebrity was the expert to listen to? I am repelled by how readily we take the word of celebrities over ancient traditions, and easily dismiss what is obviously a well-practiced system from India.

It's like viewing pop singer Madonna as THE expert on Kabbalah. If she wrote a popular book on Kabbalah, does this mean she is an expert on the subject and society should imitate her interpretations and tradition?

We would laugh at such a thing.

I find the contemplation of the practiced, older tradition of Indian palmistry much more interesting, and hopefully the Indira cards will further knowledge on the subject.