Fortune card meanings and how to lay them out — 40 symbols

Symbol 01

Bell

News is on its way that will set stalled matters in motion. After it you will have to decide, and there will be no sense in waiting any longer.
You will hear a warning. Do not wave it away just because at first it seems unimportant.
Too much talk, rumour and other people’s opinions surround you. Not everything you hear is worth believing.
What has long been left unsaid will soon come to light. The truth may be unwelcome, but it will dispel your doubts.

Symbol 02

Sphinx

A mystery will open before you that cannot be understood at once. Its meaning will become clear only after some time.
Life will set you a difficult task. The usual solutions will not do here – you will have to look deeper.
You may deceive yourself into thinking you already know the answer. What seems obvious may be only an illusion.
Sometimes the wisest thing is not to hurry. The answer will come once you stop forcing it out.

Symbol 03

Heart

A strong feeling is entering your life, one that may change how you see love and closeness.
Feelings alone will not be enough. The worth of a bond is shown by what you are both willing to do for it.
Beware of an attachment that makes you suffer, feel jealous or fear losing the other person.
The heartache you have known will not be in vain. It will help you understand what you truly want from love.

Symbol 04

Clock

The right time is coming to begin what you have long put off. The opening may be brief.
Do not rush yet. Some things must ripen on their own, and a decision made too early can complicate everything.
You live too much in what was or what is yet to be. What matters most now is not to miss what is happening before your eyes.
The event you await will happen, but not when you want it to. Patience will matter more here than pressure.

Symbol 05

Sibyl

This time intuition may tell you more than long deliberation. Pay attention to your first inner feeling.
A recurring dream, sign or coincidence may be more important than it seems.
Fear is easily mistaken for intuition. Do not let anxiety build a future that does not yet exist.
What you do not understand now will later settle into a clear picture.

Symbol 06

Knot

Separate events are beginning to connect. Soon you will understand why everything unfolded just as it did.
You will solve the problem only by finding where it began. Do not try to fix everything at once.
You are still held by an old promise, a guilt or a bond whose time has passed.
One thing can still be untangled, another will have to be cut. The main thing is not to confuse the two.

Symbol 07

Ring

A firm union, agreement or bond is approaching, one you will be able to rely on.
A promise will be tested. Only then will it become clear what it is really worth.
The same circle keeps repeating. Until you change your behaviour, the situation will return in another guise.
A bond can last only when both people in it remain free and respect each other.

Symbol 08

Coffin

One chapter of your life is ending. There is no need to prolong it, even if the farewell is hard.
It is time to let go of a person, a job, a place or a belief that has already played its part.
The greatest obstacle now – the wish to hold on to what in truth ended long ago.
Once the old door is closed, there will be room for what until now could not enter your life.

Symbol 09

Ship

A journey into the unknown begins. You may change your place, your work or the whole direction of your life.
Prepare well before setting out. Courage alone will not be enough – you will also need a clear goal.
You may be sailing not in the direction you chose, but wherever circumstances or other people’s decisions carry you.
At the journey’s end you will be a different person from the one who set out.

Symbol 10

Iron shackles

You will begin to see what truly limits your freedom. Until now this dependence may have been almost invisible.
Ask yourself whom you have let decide for you – a person, a fear, money or someone else’s opinion.
In seeking to control another, you may become a prisoner of that bond yourself.
You will break free only when you stop waiting for someone else to give you permission to be free.

Symbol 11

Dove

After tension comes a time of peace and reconciliation. A conflict may end more gently than you expected.
Peace sometimes needs truth. A problem kept quiet does not go away just because no one speaks of it.
Too much meekness may encourage others to overstep your boundaries.
Calm will become your strength if you learn to be gentle without losing your firmness.

Symbol 12

Viper

A dangerous experience will bring knowledge that later helps you guard against similar mistakes.
Be careful with secrets and words. What is said to the wrong person may turn against you.
Envy, deceit or a person whose true intentions are hidden is at work nearby.
The time has come to shed the old skin – to change a habit or a relationship that has long been poisoning you.

Symbol 13

Angel

Help will come just when it seems you must resolve everything alone.
A good idea or a strong intuition will demand action. Believing alone will not be enough.
Beware of feeling more righteous or better than others. Pride can hide even behind good intentions.
What you ask of others, you may first have to do yourself.

Symbol 14

Moon

Dreams, intuitions and old memories may reveal what the mind refuses to admit.
The situation is not yet as clear as it seems. Wait until you can see more.
You may confuse your wishes with reality and see what you want to see.
By accepting your fears and weaknesses, you will regain part of the strength they used to take from you.

Symbol 15

Chalice

Something is entering your life that can fill it with joy, love or abundance.
To make room for the new, you will have to let go of old grievances and disappointments.
Pleasure can become a trap if you use it to forget the real problems.
You will learn to accept both the good and the hard gifts of life without losing your inner balance.

Symbol 16

Letter

News will reach you, after which the present situation will look quite different.
What matters most may be what is left unsaid in the letter or the conversation.
Do not rush to conclusions from a single message or someone else’s words. The information may be incomplete.
The answer you receive will end the waiting and finally make you decide.

Symbol 17

Clouds

The situation is changing, but it is not yet clear where it will lead.
For a while you will have to live without a clear answer. That is not failure – simply not everything has been revealed yet.
With your fears you may create a bigger problem than the one that really exists.
The mist will begin to lift only once you move forward.

Symbol 18

Money

An opportunity opens to improve your material situation or put your abilities to profitable use.
Prosperity will come through order, work and wise decisions, not through chance luck.
The wish to have ever more may hide a very different lack – of security, respect or love.
Money will give you more freedom only if you do not become dependent on it yourself.

Symbol 19

Road

A new direction in life is opening. You will not yet see where it leads, but you will feel that the old road has ended.
There will be plenty of advice, but the final choice will have to be your own.
You may keep changing direction simply because you fear settling and taking responsibility.
Only the road you have travelled will show why you had to choose that very one.

Symbol 20

Lightning

You will suddenly grasp what you long could not understand. One moment can change the whole picture.
After an unexpected discovery you will need to act fast. A second chance like this may not come.
What long seemed solid, yet in truth stood on weak foundations, may collapse.
The shock will open your eyes and in the end become an important turning point.

Symbol 21

Anchor

You will find a person, a place or a pursuit that gives you firm ground.
In hard times it will become clear what truly holds you and whom you can rely on.
Security can become a trap if, for its sake, you fear any change at all.
With firm support beneath you, you will be able to step more boldly where you did not dare before.

Symbol 22

Key

A solution will appear that opens a door long closed.
Before looking for the key, first understand why that door was locked at all.
You may learn something you are not yet ready to accept. Not every secret is worth opening out of mere curiosity.
The greatest obstacle lies within you. Once it is overcome, what seemed out of reach will open too.

Symbol 23

Candles

Two people may join their lives or begin an important work together.
The bond will last only if both take equal care to protect it.
One person may give too much of themselves to hold on to a bond that is already fading.
From the union of two people something greater may be born – a family, a creation or a shared purpose in life.

Symbol 24

Themis

The situation will be settled by deeds, not by fine words.
Before blaming another, look at your own share of responsibility too.
You may confuse the wish to restore justice with the wish for revenge.
Peace will return only when the truth is acknowledged and what can still be put right is put right.

Symbol 25

Wreath

Long work will be brought to a successful end and noticed by others.
The victory will be real, but do not claim all the credit for yourself alone.
Past achievements may hold you back if you keep living on old glory.
The greatest worth of your success will show when it becomes useful to others too.

Symbol 26

Banner

People who believe in the same goal may gather around your idea.
Ask yourself whether you are truly fighting for your own convictions and not someone else’s.
Too strong an attachment to one idea may keep you from hearing the other side.
People will believe in you when your deeds match what you proclaim.

Symbol 27

Book

Look for the answer in knowledge, learning or an experience you once undervalued.
Reading will not be enough – what you learn will have to be tested in life.
You may cling too tightly to old rules and fail to notice that circumstances have already changed.
It will soon be clear whether you have learned the earlier lesson, or whether life will have to repeat it.

Symbol 28

Seal

A decision, agreement or promise will be finally confirmed.
Do not reveal some of your plans yet. They need time to grow strong.
By guarding yourself too much, you may shut out even the people who wish you well.
A word once given will have consequences, so do not promise what you cannot keep.

Symbol 29

Stars

A clearer direction will emerge and you will again understand where you want to go.
Among many possibilities you will have to choose the one goal that matters most.
Beware of fine glitter, a famous name and promises without firm foundations.
When your wishes and your deeds begin to align, circumstances will become more favourable.

Symbol 30

Horn of plenty

A fruitful period is approaching – money, opportunities, creativity or good connections may multiply.
Use what you receive and share it. Abundance held back loses its worth over time.
Excess can spoil you and tempt you to squander what you gathered with such effort.
True prosperity will come when you know not only how to receive, but how to use wisely what you have.

Symbol 31

Sunrise

After a hard period, a new beginning is starting to show.
An opportunity is opening, but you will have to seize it yourself.
The first improvement is not yet the final victory. Do not be too quick to relax.
A chapter begins in which you will be able to live differently than before.

Symbol 32

Grim Reaper

The time has come to finish what has long been asking for an ending.
The longer you cling to something that has ended, the more strength it will take from you.
The fear of loss can be greater than the loss itself and keep you from enjoying what you still have.
The ending will make room for a new chapter. What matters most will not vanish with the old form.

Symbol 33

Old man

This time experience and patience will serve you better than a quick decision.
It is worth listening to the advice of someone older or someone who has seen much.
Old rules can become an obstacle if you keep them only because it has always been so.
The experience you have gathered will gain its true worth when you can pass it on to another.

Symbol 34

Crossroads

A choice is approaching, after which your life may turn in a quite different direction.
Do not decide only by what is easier today. Think about where each road will lead later.
Waiting too long may close off some of the possibilities. Sometimes not choosing is a choice.
Clarity will come only after the first step. You cannot see the whole road in advance.

Symbol 35

Fortitude and calm

In this situation you will gain more by calm than by force.
Do not answer a provocation at once. By waiting you will see more and choose better.
Outwardly you may seem calm while anger builds inside. You will not be able to hide it for long.
True strength will show in the ability to stay firm while keeping your humanity.

Symbol 36

Crown

You may receive recognition, a higher position or greater influence.
The more power you gain, the more important it will be to master your pride and weaknesses.
The wish to be the most important may ruin what you have long been building.
A high position will be worth something only when you use it responsibly, not for your own gain alone.

Symbol 37

Swords

The time is coming to make a clear and resolute decision.
Not every problem needs to be solved by fighting. Sometimes you gain more by waiting.
Being constantly ready to defend yourself may make you see an enemy even in a person who wishes you no harm.
Resolve will help you protect what truly matters to you, but use force only when it is needed.

Symbol 38

Fire

A hard trial will reveal what in your life is real and what held on only out of habit.
A strong passion can become a driving force if you manage to master it.
Anger, envy or blind zeal may destroy more than you intended.
After this trial only what was strong enough and worth keeping will remain.

Symbol 39

Shield and axe

You will have to defend clearly your boundaries, your name or what belongs to you.
Protect yourself first, and only then answer the attack.
Too much suspicion may make you defend yourself even when no one is attacking you.
By showing clearly what you will not allow, you will later avoid a far greater conflict.

Symbol 40

River

Life is beginning to flow in a new direction. The change may be slow, but it has already begun.
Adapt to circumstances, but do not let them decide for you.
Strong emotions or other people’s decisions may carry you where you never meant to go.
Once you let go of what was left on the old shore, a new season of life will begin.

How to lay out the cards and the meanings of the 40 symbols

Shuffle, cut, divide — and lay them out.

If the picture has formed…