Cowboy's Meaning Of A Deck Of Cards

Mom often spoke of a song that she always held close to her heart being clueless when she would open up a card game she would explain to us as children which each card meant. Having believed she was nuts we were brought up believing that each card symbolized God's purpose and understanding. The other day we were having a discussion about the deck of cards and she told me there was a song about it and when she was a young mother she memorized those words took the meaning to heart and shared the story of the "Deck Of Cards" that was written and told by a famous cowboy named Copas. Every last song appears to be on youtube nowadays so I typed it in and looked it up there was the song Deck of Cards told and sung by Cowboy Copas. This song was written and based on a true story about a cowboy who was working on a round-up of cattle in the earlier years of America's frontier and it had been suggested that seemingly since they had all made it to the end of the drive safely they attend church and give thanks, everyone brought a Bible except one cowboy who brought a deck of cards. The foreman was livid because during that time having cards in a church was a sin. The cowboy proceeded to explain why he had the cards and so the story goes something like this;

A: Means there is but One God

2: Means it is divided into two parts; the old and the new testament

3: Means the father, the son and the holy spirit

4: Represents 4 evangelists who preached the Gospel: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

5: Virgins who trimmed the lamb 5 were wise and saved, 5 were foolish and not allowed in

6: God Made Heaven and Earth

7: On the 7th day God rested

8: Means the 8 righteous people who were saved; Noah and his wife 3 sons, 3 wives

9: represents 9 leper's that were cleansed and 9 out of 10 did not Thank him

10: represents the 10 commandments that God had Moses write on stone tablets

K: represents there is one God in Heaven ; God almighty himself

Q: One blessed Virgin who is Mary

J: represents the Devil

When the number of places are counted on the card there are 365 days in a year;

52 cards which equal the amount of weeks in a year;

13 tricks number of weeks in a quarter;

4 suits the number of weeks in a month;

12 picture cards the number of month's in a year ;

those Deck of cards served this young cowboy as an almanac, Bible and prayer book hearing this from my mother growing up and finally listening to the song recited by Cowboy Copas makes me appreciate that playing cards is not a sin but a mere symbol of what the purpose of the deck of cards really means. This song was written as a tribute to Cowboy Copas' grandfather who was the young cowboy at that time, although others have had permission to sing it the words coming straight from the grandson who sings it is astounding. The next time you look at a deck of cards not only will you have fun playing cards but you will have learned something from them.

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