Cartomancy

Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were introduced into Europe in the 14th century. Practitioners of cartomancy are generally known as cartomancers, card readers, or simply readers.

Quotes

• It might sound strange to turn to fortune-telling when matters are […] complex, but talking about a situation with another person while being prompted to look at it from different angles by the cards can be very helpful.
  • Stephen Ball, "The Power of Using Playing Cards for Divination", Llewellyn (May 25, 2020)

• For many years, I did close-up magic every Sunday at the leading hotel in my city. I enjoyed going from table to table, making jokes and interacting with the guests. However, there was one problem. Whenever I produced a deck of cards, people would ask me for a reading. Invariably, they would rather receive a card reading than see a trick in which the four aces miraculously appeared. I am not sure if they intuited my interest in divination, or if every close-up magician experiences this. Of course, once I read the cards at one table, the guests at the other tables also wanted a reading. In fact, the card readings were much more popular than the magic ever was.
  • Richard Webster, "Fortunetelling With Playing Cards", Llewellyn (September 1, 2002)

See also

• Tarot

External links

• Media related to Cartomancy on Wikimedia Commons
• Encyclopedic article on Cartomancy on Wikipedia
• The dictionary definition of cartomancy on Wiktionary