10 interesting facts about playing cards - Use for patter

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Postby monker59 » Jun 5th, '07, 19:58



mark lewis wrote:Try this:
Spell A-C-E then T-W-O-then T-H-R-E-E dealing one card for each letter. Keep going until you get to J-A-C-K, Q-U-E-E-N and K-I-N-G. You will be amazed to find that it works out exactly.


I just did that and I freaked out! Very neat little coincidence. :)

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Postby Jae » Jun 5th, '07, 20:10

Thankfully nobody has mentioned Max Bygraves yet. DOH!!! :oops:

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Postby mark lewis » Jun 5th, '07, 23:10

When I read playing cards for my psychic clients I point this fact out to them and explain that there is some strange mystery about playing cards.

I do find it very mysterious. That and the well known calendar thing seems to perhaps indicate that there is something very odd going on metaphysically that we do not know about.

I know I am talking baloney but it does make one wonder sometimes.

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Postby themagicwand » Jun 5th, '07, 23:13

mark lewis wrote:When I read playing cards for my psychic clients I point this fact out to them and explain that there is some strange mystery about playing cards.

I do find it very mysterious. That and the well known calendar thing seems to perhaps indicate that there is something very odd going on metaphysically that we do not know about.

I know I am talking baloney but it does make one wonder sometimes.

Mark - would you say that playing cards are derived from the tarot? And have you ever had psychic clients question the authenticity of playing crads for readings in comparison with the tarot?

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Postby mark lewis » Jun 6th, '07, 03:25

One is certainly derived from the other but I always forget which comes first. I think playing cards came first and the Tarot later but I could be wrong. I have it written down somewhere. However they are definitely connected.

Nobody ever questions the use of playing cards when doing readings. In fact it is a recognised divination system called Cartomancy. However I don't use playing cards that often and far prefer the Tarot since you have the big advantage of the major arcana which can expand the scope of your reading very much indeed.

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Postby Marcus » Jun 6th, '07, 05:24

my favorite fact about cards

well one of them, i like pretty much all of em, lol

but if u spell out every card. ace to king.

a, c, e, t, w, o. blah blah blah, and count off the cards as each letter goes by, u will get to the 52nd card on the g of the king

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Postby themagicwand » Jun 6th, '07, 07:33

Marcus wrote:my favorite fact about cards

well one of them, i like pretty much all of em, lol

but if u spell out every card. ace to king.

a, c, e, t, w, o. blah blah blah, and count off the cards as each letter goes by, u will get to the 52nd card on the g of the king

Marcus, please read above posts by the Rev Mark Lewis. It's only polite.

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Postby themagicwand » Jun 6th, '07, 16:21

After many minutes of research, I can now reveal that indeed the playing card came before the tarot card. The tarot deck is an adaption of the playing card deck, or rather the minor arcana is. The major arcana was probably added to a deck of playing cards, and the first ever tarot decl was created.

Lots and lots of useful info about this at www.wopc.co.uk (World of Playing Cards). A very interesting read.

As for the names of the cards, I'm a bit pushed for time now so can only provide links to the relevent web pages. Again, very interesting. Please try and check out:
http://www.woodenhorsebooks.com/Playing-Card-Names.html for the origins of the royal cards in a playing card deck.
http://www.geocities.com/cartedatrionfi ... Busca.html for the origins of the royal cards from an early tarot deck.

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Postby Renato » Jun 6th, '07, 17:07

Thanks for the link Paul, just what I was looking for!

("It could be witches, some evil witches...") :wink: :D

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Postby IAIN » Jun 6th, '07, 17:09

so really, there's more mystique behind the standard playing cards than the tarot...blimey...

to The Tower with them! :twisted:

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Postby mark lewis » Jun 6th, '07, 18:49

As a postcript to the 1812 thing I hate to break it to all our American friends but the British WON that one. The Yanks tried to invade Canada but we British beat them back and kicked them out. You could say that Canada beat America with British help and I find that concept particularly amusing.

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Postby monker59 » Jun 6th, '07, 20:15

If you look on wikipedia.com, an international website, it says this:

The war started badly for the Americans as their attempts to invade Canada were repeatedly repulsed by General Isaac Brock commanding a small British force, composed largely of local militias and Native American allies. The American strategy depended on use of militias, but they either resisted service or were incompetently led. Military and civilian leadership was lacking and remained a critical American weakness until 1814. New England opposed the war and refused to provide troops or financing. Financial and logistical problems plagued the American war effort. Britain possessed excellent finance and logistics but the ongoing war with France had a higher priority, so in 1812-1813 they adopted a defensive strategy. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 they were able to send veteran armies to invade the U.S., but by then the Americans had learned how to mobilize and fight as well. At sea the powerful Royal Navy instituted a blockade of the majority of the American coastline (allowing some exports from New England, which was trading with Britain and Canada in defiance of American laws.) The blockade devastated American agricultural exports, but helped stimulate local factories that replaced goods previously imported. The American strategy of using small gunboats to defend ports was a fiasco, as the British raided the coast at will. The most famous episode was a series of British raids on the shores of Chesapeake Bay which included an attack on Washington D.C. that resulted in the burning of the White House, the Capitol, and other public buildings. This was later called "Burning of Washington". The American strategy of sending out several hundred privateers to attack British merchant ships was more successful, and hurt British commercial interests, especially in the West Indies. Although few in number compared to the Royal Navy, the American Navy's heavy frigates prevailed in several one-on-one naval battles against British ships. The decisive use of naval power came on the Great Lakes and depended on a contest of building ships. Ultimately, Americans won control of Lake Erie and thus neutralized western Ontario and cut the native forces off from supplies. The British controlled Lake Ontario, preventing any major American invasion. The Americans controlled Lake Champlain, and a naval victory there forced a large British invasion army to turn back in 1814. The Americans destroyed the power of the native people of the Northwest and Southeast, thus securing a major war goal. British trade restrictions and impressment had both long since ended removing another root cause of the war. Both nations eventfully agreed to a peace that left the prewar boundaries intact. In January of 1815 after the Treaty of Ghent was signed but before the US Congress had received a copy to ratify, the Americans succeeded in defending New Orleans, and the British captured Fort Bowyer before news of the treaty reached the US south coast. The war had the effects of both uniting Canadians and also uniting Americans far more closely than either population had been prior to the war. Canadians remember the war as a victory by avoiding conquest, while Americans celebrated victory in a "second war for independence" personified in the hero of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson.


Not only did Americans win with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, but it was at the end of the war that Britain began to lose it's grip on Canada. So here's how I figure the war went for both sides:

__________________________________________________________
America:

*Won the war
*Succeded in establishing themselves as a world power by defeating another one

Britain:

*Lost the war
*Had less money to fund their war with France
*Began to lose their final grip on their Canadian territories
__________________________________________________________

Yeah, the British really handed it to the Americans. :roll:

Last edited by monker59 on Jun 6th, '07, 20:30, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Renato » Jun 6th, '07, 20:28

Oi vey!

I hate it when interesting threads get bogged down like this, with 'my country's better than yours' oneupmanship... does it really matter?

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Postby monker59 » Jun 6th, '07, 20:30

I was just stating facts. Mr. Lewis incorrectly stated that the British won the War of 1812. I was just setting him straight. I don't there's anything wrong with that. :wink:

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Postby chryles » Jun 6th, '07, 20:32

from wikipedia
Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers

not quite the bias free place some think.

and from historycentral.com an american site

The War of 1812 is one of the forgotten wars of the United States. The war lasted for over two years, and while it ended much like it started; in stalemate; it was in fact a war that once and for all confirmed American Independence. The offensive actions of the United States failed in every attempt to capture Canada. On the other hand, the British army was successfully stopped when it attempted to capture Baltimore and New Orleans.


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