From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Type of divination using cards
The Fortune Teller
(1895) by
Art Nouveau
painter
Mikhail Vrubel
, depicting a cartomancer
The Cartomancer fortune-teller (c. 1508,
Lucas van Leyden
)
Cartomancy
is
fortune-telling
or
divination
using a deck of cards.
[1]
Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after
playing cards
were introduced into
Europe
in the 14th century.
[2]
Practitioners of cartomancy are generally known as
cartomancers
,
card readers
, or simply
readers
.
Cartomancy using standard playing cards was the most popular form of providing fortune-telling card readings in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The
standard 52-card deck
is often augmented with
jokers
or even with the blank card found in many packaged decks. In France, the 32-card
piquet
stripped deck
is most typically used in cartomantic readings, although the 52 card deck can also be used. (A piquet deck can be a 52-card deck with all of the 2s through the 6s removed. This leaves all of the 7s through the 10s, the
face cards
, and the
aces
.)
In English-speaking countries, the most common form of cartomancy is generally
tarot card reading
. Tarot cards are almost exclusively used for this purpose in these places.
[3]
Methods
[
edit
]
The most popular method of cartomancy using a standard playing deck is referred to as the
Wheel of Fortune
.
[3]
[4]
Here, the reader removes cards at random and assigns significance to them based on the order they were chosen.
[3]
Though the interpretation of various cards varies by region, the common significators for the future are as follows:
Most common interpretations in cartomancy
[3]
Card
|
Significance
|
King of Hearts
|
An adult man with sandy, dark blond, or light brown hair, with brown, blue, or hazel eyes. Usually a family member or other loved one. Paternal and family-oriented.
|
King of Diamonds
|
An adult man with red or light blond hair with blue, green, or gray eyes. Usually a wealthy man in an authority position.
|
King of Clubs
|
An adult man with medium or dark brown hair, with brown, blue, or hazel eyes. Usually a married businessman (although business could have a sexual, rather than commercial, interpretation.)
|
King of Spades
|
An adult man with dark brown to black hair, and dark brown eyes. Usually a widower or divorced man, or a man from a foreign country. Ambitious and powerful, can be arrogant and deceptive.
|
Queen of Hearts
|
An adult woman with sandy, dark blond, or light brown hair, with brown, blue, or hazel eyes. Usually a family member or other loved one. Maternal and family-oriented.
|
Queen of Diamonds
|
An adult woman with red or light blond hair with blue, green, or gray eyes. Usually a wealthy woman in an authority position.
|
Queen of Clubs
|
An adult woman with medium or dark brown hair, with brown, blue, or hazel eyes. Usually a businesswoman or social butterfly.
|
Queen of Spades
|
An adult woman with dark brown to black hair, and dark brown eyes. Usually a widow or divorced woman, or a woman from a foreign country. Ambitious and intelligent, can be cold, calculating, or spiteful.
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Look up
cartomancy
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.