I covered the correspondence between Lenormand cartomancy and traditional German cartomancy in The Fox and the Snake. At the request of a friend, I have also translated the fortune-telling keywords on a German piquet deck published by Duremouri in 1793 [British Museum number 1896,0501.501]. I believe in getting the maximum benefit for all from from my work so I am sharing it here. These keywords are by no means standard German playing card meanings, although some cards seem to have a fairly universal meaning (e.g. the Queen of Acorns representing an unfaithful woman). An interesting feature of this deck is that each card has an upright (U) and a reversed (R) meaning. I have listed my English translation of the German keywords together with their equivalent French playing card and Lenormand card below. [Note that one can request a higher resolution image of the cards from the museum for private study and research but it may not be used on any electronic media so I cannot share it here.]
A♠ (Woman): U) Travel R) Distrust
K♠ (Lily): U) Poverty R) Minister/clergy
Q♠ (Bouquet): U) Friendly worldly girl R) City girl
J♠ (Child): U) Sovereign/ruler R) Cicisbeo (male escort or lover of a married woman)
10♠ (Ship): U) Jurist (judge/lawyer) R) Annoyance in the home
9♠ (Anchor): U) Fulfilment of main desire R) Litigation/lawsuit
8♠ (Garden): U) Fire R) Fear/fright
7♠ (Letter): U) Failing love R) Failing love [same as upright meaning]
A♥ (Man): U) Sensitive/tender heart R) House and farm/garden/yard
K♥ (House): U) Elderly man R) Confirmed/old bachelor
Q♥ (Stork): U) Country girl R) Innocent virtuous woman, brunette
J♥ (Heart): U) Faithful friend, lover R) Lord of the manor
10♥ (Dog): U) Sincerity R) New acquaintance
9♥ (Rider): U) Large feast/banquet R) Beginning of a love
8♥ (Moon): U) Pleasant, seductive evening R) Giving birth to girl(s)
7♥ (Tree): U) Gift R) Enthusiasm, imagination
A♣ (Ring): U) War R) Arrival
K♣ (Clouds): U) Jealous husband R) Petit-Maitre (dandy/fop)
Q♣ (Snake): U) An unfaithful wife R) Beautiful woman
J♣ (Whip): U) Military officer R) Insincere lover
10♣ (Bear): U) Bankruptcy R) Merchant/businessman
9♣ (Fox): U) Illness R) Confinement (bed rest related to childbirth)
8♣ (Mountain): U) Bad weather R) Duel, strife, discord
7♣ (Mice): U) Night time R) Day
A♦ (Sun): U) Wedding R) Giving birth to a girl [again?]
K♦ (Fish): U) Old miser R) Ungrateful young man
Q♦ (Crossroad): U) Pride R) Gentlewoman
J♦ (Scythe): U) Man of rank R) Of nobility
10♦ (Book): U) Scholar R) Peace, tranquillity, contentment
9♦ (Coffin): U) Ball/party, merry-making R) City/town
8♦ (Key): U) Fertility R) Money in gold
7♦ (Birds): U) Money in silver R) Marriage
[Warning, rant ahead:
Please don't ask me to do any more translations, it is time-consuming finicky work and I am pursuing other interests now. I first have to decipher the German handwriting/script and then translate it, and some of the words are archaic and no longer in dictionaries. Sometimes I have to make educated guesses. I would not have agreed to do this if it was anything more than keywords as I have already invested two years of my life in such research, but it still took me a whole day. I could spend the rest of my life doing this but I don't want to. Places to go, people to see, other things to do, yada yada.
Rant over.]
