Jack of Diamonds

The other day, as I was climbing down from the cab of my parent’s massive Toyota Tacoma (more like I had to lower a rope and repel down), I noticed something lying on the ground.

It was a playing card. A Jack of Diamonds, to be exact.

Now, this may not seem noteworthy to you, but there were a couple of reasons why I paid attention. First of all, there were no other cards to be found in the vicinity. It wasn’t as though someone had dumped a deck and they’d scattered about, there was only this lone Jack, face up. And, you know, cards aren’t really the type of thing you find lying around parking lots in Durham. Pabst cans, an old Indy Weekly, Kay Hagen signs, yes…Jack of Diamonds, no.

On top of that, I come from possibly one of the most superstitious families under the heathen sun. I throw salt over my shoulder, knock wood like I have OCD, and whenever I meet someone new, I have to train them not to split poles. Because if you split a pole, you have to say “bread and butter,” while the other person responds “come to supper.” I don’t know why, it’s just what you do if you ain’t tryin’ to bring down the wrath of the Universe upon your head.

Any road, I look at this Jack and think, “Hm. This clearly belongs to me,” so I snatch it up and stick it in my wallet.

Later on, I am telling the story to one of my best friends, who rummages around in her memory and dredges out some information about how each card in the deck corresponds to a birth date. Apparently the deck is based on an ancient system similar to Tarot, go fig, which makes perfect sense. I did a little research, and here’s what I discovered about my little Jack:

~ It corresponds to the birthdays Jan.16, Feb. 14, March 12, April 10, May 8, June 6, July 4th, and Aug. 2nd.

~ The 4 suites of cards also represent the 4 seasons and 4 elements in astrology, so Diamonds – Earth – Fall . This is totally appropriate considering that I, as a Taurus, am an Earth sign and it just happens to be Fall…

~ The Diamond suites is characterized by:

“Practical, down-to-earth, analytical, materialistic, resourceful. Diamonds are the suit of the physical, material world. They assess the world around them on the level of the five senses. They can be overly attached to money and to possessions. In order to find value in life, they look at things, people, and situations in terms of how useful they are.”

~ And Jacks are:

“Jacks are youthful, charming, mischievous, romantic, witty, and creative. They have unusually clever minds, and some can be given to using their ingeniousness to "get their way". They have good people skills, much enthusiasm, and multiple talents (think "jack of all trades"). However, they may try to get out of taking responsibility for their lives and they can lack clear goals.”

Hm. Clearly this is not referring to me, because I have to be one of the most overly-responsible and goal-oriented people you have the agita-inducing pleasure to meet.

And so the mystery continues…