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GLOSSARY

Cartomancy

Cartomancy is divination performed through cards.

Cartomancy

Cartomancy is divination performed through cards.

Cartomancy is a broad term covering practices that interpret selected or arranged cards in order to obtain guidance or information.

It can involve:

standard playing cards;

tarot;

or other card systems.

The V&A uses the term in its tarot history when describing Etteilla as a practitioner of cartomancy—that is, fortune-telling using cards—in the 18th century.

Not every reflective card practice needs to identify itself as cartomancy.

AngelCards.info uses random card selection primarily as a reflection system, while acknowledging the broader history of card divination.

From Card Reading for Reflection vs Prediction

People have used cards in very different ways.

Some readers ask:

Others ask:

Continue reading the original guide →

From A Source-Backed History of Modern Angel Cards

The history of angel cards is easy to overstate.

Search long enough and you will encounter claims that angel cards descend directly from:

ancient Egypt;

Continue reading the original guide →
Back to the glossary →

A broad category, not one technique

Card-based practices vary in structure, tradition and purpose. Naming the broad category does not tell you which meanings, layout or claims a reader uses. Identify the actual system before comparing methods.

A practical example

A reflective oracle reading and a historical fortune-telling practice can both involve cards without sharing the same purpose or evidence claims.

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Reflection and prediction → Browse all glossary terms →

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