Random Reading - #111

As part of a discussion over on the Tarot Forum the other day, about reading majors-only Tarots, I happened to mention that I had a deck that consisted of only 12 cards. One thing led to another, and here we are. 🙂

Because this tiny layout is so Near/Far dependent, I decided ahead of time that I'd read for whichever significator was the least centrally-located. And the Lady obligingly appeared in the very first position.

⁘  The main cards in play are Snake, Letter, and Gentleman. The Lady has received a Letter (communication) from the Gentleman (a person she has a connection with; with so few cards and no context, I have to allow for any gender) that will cause trouble – Snake touching Clouds.

The Gentleman is under Snake – not to be trusted, and over Book – they're hiding something.

Even though the Heart is next to the Gentleman, it's under Clouds' influence. And the "saving grace" card, Flames, is the furthest from the Lady it can be.

Summary – Don't believe everything you hear. You're not getting all the facts.  ⁘

I could go deeper, with rows, columns, diagonals…, but that would be the whole spread. So I'll stick with those immediately Near the Significator, Clouds (always look for where the Clouds are), and those around the other "person" card only if it's near the Significator.

As for Clouds, I choose to ignore "when near… means luck". Clouds are never lucky, sorry. And because the image is pretty evenly dark, I've designated left as the "dark" side.

The deck itself is just labelled "Fortune Telling Cards" and, although in English, was made in Germany. No date, no publisher info. The card titles suggest it was based on a "Gypsy Witch" type deck. The 'cards' are in fact pieces of construction paper, as is the wrapper, and measure only 4.5 cm x 6.5 cm / 1¾" x 2½". 

One small clue, spotted by someone more observant than myself (thank you, M) is that the Hand in Hand card refers to Rocks. As there is no Rocks card, it would seem to imply that this deck is actually an abridged version of a larger one. I know decks with Mountain cards, but not Rocks. So...?   

As ever, if you know more about this deck, or you recognise the images from somewhere else, or you know the source of a Rocks card, please tell all!