Star Sign Soulmates

This is another fantastic trick to perform for a couple, as it uses their star signs to create a very personal and puzzling coincidence effect.

The primary handling uses a regular deck of playing cards. However, I’ve included a few different ways to perform this with a different kicker ending and as a standalone packet trick.

JUMP AHEAD

On This Page

Effect
Background & Credits
Requirements & Preparation
Method & Presentation
Cleanup & Reset
Performance Tips & Additional Ideas
Final Thoughts

Effect

You remove the twelve court cards and hand them to a spectator to shuffle. The packet is then “programmed” with the couple’s star signs. For example, if the bride’s star sign is Taurus, you deal six cards into a pile on the table, one for each letter in the word. The remaining cards are shuffled by the bride and placed on top of the deck. A “deal or switch” mix is used to randomise the order of the cards further.

The exact process is used with the groom as well. For instance, if his star sign is Sagittarius, then eleven cards are dealt into a pile. The rest are shuffled by the groom and placed on top. Another “deal or switch” mix is used to give the cards a final shuffle. The cards are then dealt into two piles, one for the bride and the other for the groom.

Both participants perform a “Love Me Not” elimination “love ritual”, leaving the bride and groom with a single card each. The bride ends up with the King of Hearts and the groom the Queen of Hearts! You pick up the discarded cards and say, “Do you want to know the secret to a happy marriage? All you need is love, and lots of it!” The remaining cards are dealt face-up on the table—they’ve all transformed into Heart spot cards!

Background & Credits

This routine leverages the core concept from “The Nine Card Problem” by Jim Steinmeyer and combines it with Paul Curry’s Swindle Shuffle and the Down-Under Deal (Duck and Deal).

The “Nine Card Problem” was invented by Jim Steinmeyer and first published in MAGIC Magazine. It appeared in Richard Kaufman’s “Inner Workings” column in May of 1993 (page 56) and was later reprinted in Jim’s 2002 book Impuzzibilities.

The underlying principle is related to the trick “Remote Control”, also created by Jim Steinmeyer and published in The New Invocation (No. 43) in February 1988. While “Remote Control” requires eighteen cards, not nine, it uses a very similar method.

The Swindle Shuffle, or “Deal or Switch” mixing procedure, was devised by Paul Curry and first published as part of a trick called “A Swindle of Sorts” in his 1974 book Paul Curry Presents.

The phrase “She loves me, she loves me not” was utilised by John Guastaferro to eliminate cards in his charming packet trick “Love Me Not” in his 2014 self-published notes, 7 Wonders. Robert Neale has also used the same idea in his routine “S/He Loves Me” in Life, Death and Other Card Tricks (2000, Hermetic Press).

Requirements & Preparation

You will need a standard deck of playing cards. Remove the Ace, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Queen, and King of Hearts from the deck. Arrange these twelve cards in the following order (with H representing any Heart card): H-H-KH-QH-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H. Place these cards on top of the deck. You are now ready to perform. Note: The King is third from the top, and the Queen is fourth.

Method & Presentation

Spread through the face-up deck and upjog the ten court cards as you reach them. Stop spreading when you hit the first Heart spot card, thus concealing the twelve-card setup on top of the deck.

Strip out the upjogged cards and hand them to the bride to shuffle. Once she has done this, have her hand the cards to the groom and ask him to do the same.

As this is happening, casually spread through the face-down deck and catch a break below the top twelve cards. Regrip the deck from above, transferring the break to your right thumb. Swivel cut the cards above the break into left-hand dealer’s grip, then immediately drop the remaining cards onto them, maintaining a little-finger break between the packets.

(Alternatively, you can perform the Duvivier Double Cut. This technique is similar to a standard Double Undercut, but enables you to maintain control of the twelve cards as they are cut to the bottom by holding a break above them.)

Replace the deck in right-hand end grip, transferring the break to your right thumb. Take back the shuffled packet in your left hand and immediately execute a Swivel Jinx Switch (see video below for full details), swapping the court cards with the twelve-card prearrangement.

The Swivel Jinx Switch by Blake Douglass. Video Credit: Blake Douglass via YouTube.

Shuffle the cards remaining in your hands and say, “We don’t need the rest of the deck.” Drop the cards into your jacket pocket or put them into the card box.

Situation Check: There is a small pile of cards on the table. Your audience believes these to be the twelve court cards (the four Jacks, Queens and Kings). In reality, this is your prearranged packet (H-H-KH-QH-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H).

Ask the bride for her star sign. If she says she is a Leo, deal three cards onto the table (two Heart spot cards and the King), then shuffle the remaining cards, displacing the Queen of Hearts to the bottom of the packet. Drop these cards onto those on the table.

If, on the other hand, she tells you she is any of the other eleven star signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces), get her to deal and shuffle the cards; the King and Queen of Hearts will always end up ninth and tenth from the top of the packet (or third and fourth from the bottom).

Perform Paul Curry’s Swindle Shuffle to reverse the order of the packet. Hold the packet in your left hand and inform the spectator that you will deal through the cards, offering them the choice of how they are mixed. Ask them if they want to, “Deal or switch?” If they choose “deal”, deal the top card onto the table in the usual manner. If they decide to “switch”, take the two top cards and swap their positions before dropping them, as a pair, onto the table, adding them to the pile. Keep doing this, following the pair’s instructions, creating a messy heap on the table. (The Swindle Shuffle is a bluff shuffling technique that appears to mix the packet but actually only reverses the order of the cards.)

Now perform this entire sequence with the groom, concluding with another Swindle Shuffle. This ensures that the King and Queen stay in the same relative positions as they began (third and fourth from the top of the packet).

Hand the cards to the bride and instruct her to deal them into two piles, giving the first pile to the groom. Guide the bride and groom through a Down-Under Deal. The first card goes to the bottom as the bride and groom say, “He loves me…” or “She loves me…” as appropriate, then the next card is dealt to the table as they recite, “He loves me not…” or “She loves me not…” Both continue this until they are each holding a single card: the bride will have the King of Hearts and the groom the Queen of Hearts. Turn to the couple and say, “It looks like you have both found your soulmate!”

Finish the routine by saying, “Do you want to know the secret to a happy marriage? All you need is love…” Remove the Ace of Hearts and drop it on the table. Then say, “…and lots of it!” as you rapidly drop all the Heart spot cards onto the table in sequential order.

Cleanup & Reset

To reset the trick in front of an audience, simply gather the cards while casually chatting. Pick up any two spot cards first, then the King and Queen of Hearts, and finally the remaining eight spot cards.

This returns the packet to the required order (two random Hearts, the King, the Queen, and the remaining Hearts). Place this packet into your pocket. When you return the deck to your pocket, simply add the packet to the top of the deck.

The self-working nature of the trick only requires the King and Queen to be in the third and fourth positions. It does not require specific spot cards to be in fixed places. This makes the reset incredibly quick—you don’t need to arrange the cards in numerical order.

Note: Because of the switch used in the routine, the original court cards will be clumped together in the deck somewhere. If you intend to repeat the effect immediately, give the bottom three-quarters of the deck a quick shuffle to redistribute them before you begin.

Performance Tips & Additional Ideas

Since you are asking the spectators for their star signs, use this opportunity to incorporate a brief “cold reading” into the routine. For instance, if the bride says she is a Libra, you might comment on her sense of balance and fairness. If the groom is a Taurus, mention his loyal and reliable nature. This small addition of texture makes the routine feel less like a card puzzle and more like a personality or compatibility test, reinforcing the premise that the cards are “programmed” by their specific traits.

If you want to perform this routine as a self-contained packet trick, you can certainly do so. In this case, I’d be inclined to swap the Ace through Ten of Hearts with ten duplicate Aces of Hearts or blank-faced playing cards (saying something like, “When you find your soulmates, all the other options just fade away. They disappear”). This will strengthen the trick’s surprise element. Stack the packet in the following order from the top down: eight Aces (or blanks), Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts, and finally two Aces (blanks). Introduce the packet, mention something about the twelve signs of the zodiac, and deal the twelve cards onto the table as you proceed to go straight into the spelling/dealing part of the routine.

Another interesting idea is to replace the ten court cards (JK, KC, QC, JH, JS, QS, KS, JD, QD, KD) with blank-faced playing cards, randomly distributed throughout the deck. Put a subtle mark, such as a small pencil dot, on the back of the King and Queen of Hearts, so that you can identify them when they’re face down.

Begin by removing the deck and upjogging the blank-faced cards, along with the King and Queen of Hearts. Strip out the cards (without letting your audience see their faces). Spread the rest of the deck face up across the table and say, “Did I get them all?”

As you display the deck, casually mix the twelve-card packet in your hands, and as you do so, reposition the marked cards to lie third and fourth from the top (the marks enable you to do this without looking at the faces of the cards). Then continue with the trick. The idea is that your audience will assume the cards were all court cards because you ostensibly removed them from the deck, even though they never actually saw their faces. This psychological subtlety makes the final transformation into blank-faced cards even more startling and avoids the need for a switch entirely.

Final Thoughts

I’m particularly fond of how this trick uses the zodiac as a thematic device. Astrology is often associated with love, romance, and destiny, making it a natural hook for a wedding or couple’s trick. By using the bride and groom’s actual star signs to “program” the packet, the routine feels far more personal than a standard “pick a card” effect. It transforms an abstract puzzle into a demonstration of their unique compatibility as a couple.

The routine is structured to build momentum. It begins with an apparent fair and chaotic mixing procedure (the shuffling and the Swindle Shuffle), moves into a ritualistic elimination (the Down-Under Deal), and concludes with a surprising double climax (finding the soulmates and the transformation of the remaining cards). This structure—chaos turning into order—is a powerful metaphor for marriage itself!

Despite the layers of shuffling and dealing, the method is almost entirely self-working. This allows you to focus entirely on your interaction with the couple. Don’t rush the “Love Me Not” phase—let the anticipation build. The final image of the couple holding their respective Heart court cards, surrounded by a field of Hearts, is a perfect photo opportunity and a memorable souvenir of their special day.