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Ye Witches’ No.62 Fortune Cards

Published March 04, 2013 Updated June 08, 2024

Ye Witches Fortune Telling Cards published by the United States Playing Card Co., 1896. 52 cards + Joker + extra card in box.

1896 USA United States Playing Card Co. Cartomancy Oracle Transformation

Ye Witches’ No.62 Fortune Cards

This late nineteenth century fortune-telling deck has illustrated pip cards suggesting their divinatory meanings. In some instances the pips are actually part of the design, which makes “Ye Witches” a partial Transformation Fortune-Telling deck. Some of the period dresses in the illustrations are interesting. An accompanying booklet contains the rules for interpreting the cards and how to use the deck in more detail. The court cards are standard except that their hair is filled in black. The Joker has an image of a horseshoe, rabbit's foot, three four leaf clovers and a broken wishbone. Click here to see the 2019 facsimile

Ye Witches Fortune Telling Cards published by the United States Playing Card Co., 1896 Ye Witches Fortune Telling Cards published by the United States Playing Card Co., 1896

Above: Ye Witches Fortune Telling Cards published by the United States Playing Card Co., 1896. 52 cards + Joker + extra card in box. Available with plain or gold edges and a variety of different back colours. The back shows a coven of witches with a steaming cauldron, surrounded by interlacing dragons and bats. The divinatory interpretations are not printed on the cards, so it was necessary to memorise them, or to improvise. The illustrations are suggestive enough so as to give a hint as to the meaning. Images from the collection of Rod Starling.


Rules courtesy of Adam West-Watson


Additional Images

NOTE: "Ye" is pronounced "the". The 'y' in 'ye' is not the modern letter 'y' found in 'you', but a mis-translation of the old runic symbol equivalent to the modern letter pair 'th' found in words such as 'the'.

REFERENCES

Dawson, Tom & Judy: The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, U.S. Games Systems Inc., 2000

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By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.

1 comment

Larry Snow's Avatar'

Looking for a Jack of Spades in the Ye Witches c1896 deck with Blue and Orange Back.


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