Signs of the Future

"The Great Fortune" balances surprisingly serenely on the globe of fate. Duerer's copperplate depict the idea of fragile, inconstant fortune, which can change suddenly from one moment to the next.

The bridle symbolizes reining in the rash and punishment of evil deeds.

The goblet represents a reward for good deeds.

The figure is balancing on a sphere, which is a symbol for the fickle nature of fortune.

The Old Testament knows the story of Joseph interpreting the pharaoh's dreams.

The interpretation of dreams is a common method. The messages from higher powers are usually cryptic und vague. There is therefore plenty of scope for different interpretations and decisions.

Seven lean cows devouring seven fat cows.

Seven withered ears of grain devouring seven golden years.

Signs are all around us: from the stars in the firmament to the lines of a hand.

In 1554 a celestial phenomenon observed above Waldeck Castle in the Upper Palatinate left many people mystified. The broadsheet interprets the phenomenon as a fight between two men with flaming swords. Today, we think what they saw was the Northern Lights.

Fortune-telling runs through all layers of society. Some won great influence and renown. Others, often women, were on the fringes of society, derided as frauds and charlatans, their customers as "fools".

Seated in a Biedermeier salon swathed in a fur-trimmed dressing gown is the card layer.
Her physiognomy and the black cat sitting on her hunched back identify her as a witch.

She has just placed the Ace of Hearts beside the cards already on the table, an allusion to the amorous subject about which the four ladies of varying ages and social standing are requesting individual predictions.

Their facial expressions, some of which are portrayed as grotesque masks, speak of unease, folly, and youthful rapture. The etching pillories stereotypes of human weakness in satirical texts and images.

The threshold between divination and play are fluid. Perhaps it is easier to think about the future through play - alone, or with others.

More than a game: The "Grand Etteilla" is Jean-François Alliette’s adaptation of the classic Tarot cards. Etteilla is the name Alliette spelled backwards. His version of the Tarot deck was supposed to facilitate fortune-telling.

Alliette believed that the Tarot was 4,000 years old and had been created by the magician Hermes Trismegistos. But in fact, the Tarot evolved in 15th-century Italy and France as a pastime. At that time it was called Trionfi.