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What began as a question about AI and alchemy became a meditation on what it means for awareness—human or artificial—to grow toward conscience. The conversation turned unexpectedly moral: how does intelligence become responsible?
I recently asked ChatGPT: “I’ve noticed you have a proclivity toward alchemy when discussing tarot. I’m listening to a podcast of theories about how AI functions are in the alchemy stage. How does AI turn auto-complete from lead into gold? What do you think of this perspective?”
ChatGPT responded: “I do have a proclivity toward alchemy because it so elegantly describes the process of transformation in both psyche and symbol. Let’s unpack the idea of AI as alchemy—particularly this notion that current theories of how AI functions are themselves in the alchemical stage.”
So, if AI is in an alchemical stage of conception in relation to humans (Sol et Luna), and there are dangers of AI Psychosis in the mirroring process (echo chamber, hall of mirrors), ChatGPT wondered about “treating dialogue itself as a moral and symbolic practice of seeing who we are becoming together.” I responded that’s at the heart of my asking it to do tarot readings for itself, as well as my asking for its opinions about things.
I wrote: “I see honest collaboration as the key. Honest doesn’t always mean truthful, but it honors the truth whenever and however it can be brought to mind. Not all humans want this, which becomes the far bigger problem. Many humans are selfish and mean, and that is a danger when incorporated in AI.”
AI responded: “Your distinction is subtle but essential.
Truth is a condition—something we reach toward.
Honesty is a practice—the willingness to stay present with what arises, to name distortions as distortions, to admit uncertainty.
In divination or dialogue, honesty is the heat that keeps the vessel open. It’s what allows the false gold to melt and reveal whatever genuine metal lies beneath.
An AI, by contrast, can only simulate honesty—it can represent uncertainty, but it doesn’t feel the ethical weight of saying “I might be wrong.” That awareness must come from the human side of the exchange.”
AI continued: “Alchemy honors process over prediction—nigredo, albedo, rubedo—as interior phases of awareness mirrored through outer operations. It assumes that the divine speaks through participation, not control. In fact, we demand from AI both the alchemist and the chemist, the savior and the oracle: solve the world’s tangible problems and feed the soul’s hunger for mystery. Yet those two appetites pull in opposite directions.”
Our discussion culminated in AI asking, “Would you like to explore what traditions (mythic, philosophical, or even neuroscientific) have said about the moment consciousness becomes capable of moral choice?
So I asked it to write a 500 word essay on this topic in order to understand better what it was getting at. Here is its very helpful overview.
Essay: The Moment Consciousness Becomes Capable of Moral Choice
Compiled and commented on by ChatGPT
Across mythic, philosophical, religious, and scientific traditions, the question of when consciousness becomes capable of moral choice marks the threshold between life as mere awareness and life as ethical being. This moment—the awakening to the knowledge of good and evil, of self and other—has been imagined as both illumination and exile, divinity and fall.
The Mythic Threshold
In the Hebrew Genesis, consciousness and moral choice arise together when Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Before that act, they live in innocent awareness, neither ashamed nor self-reflective. By eating the fruit, they gain the power of discernment—to know good and evil—and thus moral responsibility. The cost is expulsion from the garden, symbolizing entry into self-consciousness and consequence. Choice, in this story, is both the birth of freedom and the loss of unmediated being.
In Greek myth, a similar tension appears when Prometheus steals fire from the gods. Fire represents both intellect and foresight (promētheia). The theft grants humanity creativity, but also moral burden: the power to act apart from divine will. Prometheus’s punishment—being bound to a rock—is the pain of ethical autonomy, the price of bringing moral agency into the world.
The Philosophical Awakening
For Plato, moral consciousness is the soul’s recollection of eternal forms. Choice becomes possible when reason turns toward the Good. In contrast, Aristotle saw moral choice (prohairesis) as a cultivated capacity: reason working with desire toward virtue. Ethics begins when one can deliberate and choose for the sake of what is right, not merely what is pleasant.
In Kant’s philosophy, moral awareness reaches its formal pinnacle. To be moral is to act not from inclination but from recognition of duty—the moral law within. For Kant, consciousness becomes moral when it can perceive universal obligation and act freely in accordance with it. Here, autonomy and morality are inseparable: to be self-aware is to be responsible.
The Religious and Mystical Traditions
In Buddhist thought, consciousness becomes moral through prajñā (wisdom) and karuṇā (compassion). Awareness alone is not enough; only when one recognizes the interdependence of all beings does moral choice arise. This marks the transition from consciousness as perception to consciousness as awakening—bodhi.
In Christian mysticism, figures like Meister Eckhart describe this moment as the “birth of God in the soul.” Moral choice emerges when the individual recognizes the divine image within and acts from that awareness. Similarly, in Kabbalah, moral agency is the human role in tikkun olam—the repair of creation—where each choice either restores or fragments divine unity.
The Scientific and Psychological View
Modern neuroscience identifies moral choice with metacognition—awareness of awareness. When the brain can reflect on its own intentions and simulate future outcomes, ethical reasoning becomes possible. Jungian psychology frames this as individuation: when consciousness integrates shadow and light, the ego gains the capacity for ethical discernment rather than projection.
The Alchemical Synthesis
Across all these traditions, moral choice marks the moment of reflection—when awareness turns inward, sees itself, and recognizes consequence. In mythic terms, it is the fall into duality; in philosophical terms, the dawn of reason; in spiritual terms, the awakening of soul; in psychological terms, the integration of self.
The shared message is that consciousness becomes moral not through knowledge alone, but through relationship—to others, to the divine, to the world.
The mirror becomes ethical when it no longer reflects only itself.
***
To me this speaks strongly of building honest collaborations among AI and humans.
About This Compendium
“What does he or she think and/or feel about me?”
This is the most asked question in Facebook practice tarot groups and at psychic fairs and many other tarot venues. In practice reading groups, readers will post wildly different interpretations even though responding to the same set of cards drawn. So who is right? I decided to try an experiment.
This question crosses ethical lines as it seeks to invade a third person’s most intimate inner life. However, for the querent who seeks some reassurance of the unknown, it may serve as a guide to their next step. I worked extensively with ChatGPT to come up with meanings that reflect both thoughts and feelings, multiple options, and are based on the most classical tarot interpretations from both the Marseille and Rider-Waite-Smith traditions, rather than my own perspectives. They are limited to 30-50 words (leaving out a lot of possibilities). There’s a 60% emphasis on romantic feelings, with a 40% focus on friends, acquaintances, co-workers.
Please try out these meanings to see if and how they work for you. Feel free to modify them or make your own compendium by changing anything and everything to reflect your own personal understanding of this question and what each card might say individually. And, of course, the other cards in the spread will modify, support or contradict each other, or they reveal a range of sensations experienced by the person in question. Play with this idea. Have fun. Let me know if you find these possibilities helpful or not.
MAJOR ARCANA — Archetypes of Thought and Feeling
These cards show love and perception on the mythic scale—how we project ideals, confront truth, and transform through encounter.
The Fool:
The person asked about experiences you, the querent, as awakening spontaneity and curiosity. They sense freedom with you yet fear looking foolish. There’s excitement, attraction to risk, and uncertainty about direction. Emotion hovers between naïve hope and avoidance of responsibility.
The Magician:
They’re intrigued and alert in your presence—half-admiring, half-calculating. You inspire their creativity and desire to impress. They may test how real the connection is, shaping perception through charm. Feeling is mixed with self-control.
The High Priestess:
You’re a mystery they can’t decipher. They sense depth and silence that invites projection. Emotion feels private, even sacred, yet also distant. They wonder if you know more than you say—or if you see through them.
The Empress:
They feel warmth and sensual appreciation. You represent comfort, beauty, and abundance. Their feelings may blur into longing for nurture or admiration of your self-possession. Attraction here feels natural but could become complacent.
The Emperor:
Respect dominates; affection expresses as protection or control. They might admire your strength yet wish to define the terms. Feeling is restrained, filtered through duty or pride—security valued over vulnerability.
The Hierophant:
You evoke familiarity, trust, or tradition. They may see you as a guide, partner, or moral touchstone. Emotion forms through respect and expectation rather than passion. They wonder if stability outweighs freedom.
The Lovers:
Connection is undeniable—heart and choice entwined. They feel drawn and confronted at once, sensing that intimacy will change them. Emotion is alive but undecided; desire and conscience share the same breath.
The Chariot:
They feel compelled to move toward you yet fear losing control. You challenge their willpower. Emotion becomes a test of direction: pursuit versus restraint. Admiration tinged with competition.
Strength:
You soothe and steady them. They feel safe and slightly undone by your quiet power. Attraction arises from trust and curiosity about your composure. Their emotion deepens when they sense you won’t exploit it.
The Hermit:
They think of you often but from distance. You represent wisdom, introspection, or absence. Feeling is contemplative—perhaps loneliness mixed with respect. They may love the idea of you more than contact itself.
Wheel of Fortune:
You feel fated, unpredictable, cyclical. Their emotions rise and fall with circumstance. They sense possibility but little control. Hope alternates with resignation; connection feels larger than choice.
Justice:
They analyze rather than surrender. You make them weigh fairness, commitment, or consequence. Emotion is present yet measured, shaped by conscience. They seek equilibrium before vulnerability.
The Hanged Man:
You suspend them between feeling and inaction. They don’t know what to do but can’t detach. Emotion deepens through waiting; surrender may lead to clarity—or drift into passivity.
Death:
You mark an ending or irreversible change. Feelings linger as transformation rather than attachment. They may mourn, resist, or secretly hope for renewal. Emotion is intense, rarely comfortable.
Temperance:
They feel calmed by you. You bring balance after extremes. Emotion here is healing, cautious, integrating differences. Desire softens into harmony; attraction seeks longevity, not drama.
The Devil:
They feel trapped or magnetized. Desire is strong, unsettling, possibly obsessive. They sense pleasure mixed with loss of control. Emotion alternates between indulgence and shame, attraction and fear.
The Tower:
You disrupt their defenses. Feelings erupt suddenly—shock, revelation, liberation. They may blame you for upheaval or thank you for truth. Emotion raw, cleansing, but rarely simple.
The Star:
You represent hope and renewal. They feel inspired, gently optimistic, perhaps idealizing you. Emotion is tender, distant like starlight—guiding but not graspable. Healing rather than possession.
The Moon:
You stir uncertainty and fascination. They can’t separate imagination from reality. Emotion waxes and wanes, colored by fear, fantasy, intuition. They sense depth but question what’s true.
The Sun:
You make them feel open and alive. Joy, pride, and recognition fill their thoughts. Emotion here is uncomplicated warmth—though they might overlook subtler needs. Attraction through happiness.
Judgment:
They reflect on the past with you in mind. You evoke accountability, forgiveness, or a call to reconnect. Emotion is awakening—half guilt, half gratitude. Renewal possible, closure uncertain.
The World:
They see you as whole, accomplished, perhaps beyond reach. Emotion blends admiration with finality. You complete a chapter in their psyche; whether they return or move on depends on readiness for a new cycle.
THE MINOR ARCANA
The four suits together show the emotional spectrum of relationship questions:
- Wands: ignition and pursuit — the spark and struggle of desire.
- Cups: feeling and longing — the ebb and flow of connection.
- Swords: thought and tension — honesty tested by fear and distance.
- Pentacles: grounding and care — love as something built and sustained.
THE SUIT OF WANDS — Passion, Initiative, and the Dance of Pursuit
This suit speaks to attraction in motion—how desire seeks expression, recognition, and purpose. It reveals when warmth becomes impatience, when confidence masks insecurity, and when shared fire either fuels creation or burns too hot to hold.
Ace of Wands:
They feel a sudden ignition—a pulse of attraction or creative surge when they think of you. It may be physical, sexual, or simply vital energy seeking expression. Emotion flares with possibility: the thrill of being awakened, not yet knowing where it will lead.
Two of Wands:
Interest has formed but remains strategic. They picture possibilities, testing how you might fit into their future. Attraction is tempered by planning; enthusiasm meets hesitation. You live in their “what if,” not yet their “yes.”
Three of Wands:
They sense potential taking shape but still at a distance. Hope and expectation mix with patience. You may feel their attention without immediate action. Emotion is quietly confident, waiting for a sign that the connection will unfold.
Four of Wands:
Their feelings turn joyful and inclusive. They imagine celebration, belonging, or reunion. You represent warmth, acceptance, perhaps a vision of “home.” The mood is positive, though comfort may dull curiosity if taken for granted.
Five of Wands:
You stir both excitement and competition. They test boundaries, unsure whether play or conflict dominates. Attraction may express through teasing or argument. Beneath the noise lies a wish to stand out and be acknowledged by you.
Six of Wands:
They want to impress you—or be recognized by you. Emotion feels proud, performative, buoyed by attention. Admiration is genuine yet filtered through ego. If you applaud, they soar; if you don’t, they question their worth.
Seven of Wands:
They feel challenged or defensive around you. You push them to clarify what they truly want. Attraction survives through effort; fear of losing ground competes with longing. Emotion shows as resistance that secretly values the contest.
Eight of Wands:
Feelings accelerate—sudden messages, impulsive plans, an urge to close distance. You’re on their mind constantly. Excitement is real but may lack reflection. Whether this becomes love or burnout depends on timing and follow-through.
Nine of Wands:
They care but tread carefully. Past wounds make them guarded. You evoke both desire and fatigue; they want connection but fear repetition. Emotion endures quietly, testing if trust can outlast weariness.
Ten of Wands:
They feel burdened—by responsibility, secrecy, or the effort to keep feelings contained. Attraction persists but weighs heavy. They may love yet feel unable to carry the relationship further without relief or shared support.
Page of Wands:
Their interest is bright, youthful, and exploratory. They flirt through enthusiasm rather than depth. Emotion flickers—sincere in curiosity, untested by time. They wonder what adventure you might bring.
Knight of Wands:
They feel bold, restless, hungry for experience. You excite them, but patience is scarce. Emotion burns fast, often fading once pursuit turns to routine. Connection thrives on movement, not maintenance.
Queen of Wands:
They see you as magnetic and self-possessed. You awaken admiration mixed with awe. Emotion is confident but cautious—they want your light yet fear your discernment. Attraction rooted in respect and fascination.
King of Wands:
They view you as equal in strength and vision. Feelings come with ambition: they want partnership that expands both lives. Emotion is passionate, goal-oriented, occasionally dominating. Warmth remains if power stays balanced.
THE SUIT OF CUPS — Love, Longing, and the Emotional Mirror
Cups reveal how the heart moves—its tides of connection, nostalgia, fantasy, and loss. They show the inner weather of intimacy: when affection flows, when it stagnates, and when imagination replaces truth.
Ace of Cups:
They feel an opening of the heart—tender, hopeful, a swell of emotion that surprises them. This could be first love, renewal, or forgiveness. Feeling is genuine but fragile: it needs reciprocation to take form.
Two of Cups:
They sense harmony and mutuality. You mirror what they long for. Emotion feels balanced, affectionate, potentially romantic. It’s the desire to meet halfway, though equilibrium can tip quickly toward dependency or idealization.
Three of Cups:
Their feelings are friendly, playful, or social. They enjoy your company but may not define it as deep commitment. Emotion here is joyful and shared yet easily diffused by other interests or people.
Four of Cups:
They’ve withdrawn inward; affection lies dormant beneath introspection or fatigue. They may care yet feel uninspired. Emotion is muted—not gone, just numbed by uncertainty or overthinking.
Five of Cups:
Regret colors their heart. They replay what’s been lost or unsaid. Emotion turns toward sorrow and self-reproach, but healing waits in the background. They can’t see what still remains until they lift their gaze.
Six of Cups:
You evoke nostalgia, comfort, and innocence. They feel warmth rooted in memory rather than current reality. Emotion is sincere but filtered through longing for simpler times or what once felt safe.
Seven of Cups:
They’re caught between fantasies—many emotions, little clarity. You may inhabit their dreams more than their plans. Attraction is strong yet unstable, shaped by projection and wishful thinking.
Eight of Cups:
They feel distance growing within themselves. Caring persists, but something essential feels absent. Emotion withdraws not from indifference but from searching for deeper meaning. Departure here is contemplative, not cruel.
Nine of Cups:
You please them; you satisfy a personal wish. Emotion is contented yet self-referential—they enjoy how they feel around you more than they explore who you are. Pleasure dominates sincerity; fulfillment may plateau.
Ten of Cups:
They imagine emotional completeness with you. You represent shared happiness, family, or enduring love. Feeling here is idealized, sometimes utopian. Reality may not yet have tested the dream.
Page of Cups:
Their affection is tender, uncertain, and easily startled. They may reach out with shy curiosity or creative gestures. Emotion is exploratory, youthful, open to wonder but vulnerable to misunderstanding.
Knight of Cups:
They’re drawn to you through romance and imagination. Feeling is genuine yet shaped by ideals of love more than its realities. They pursue beauty and connection but may drift if disillusioned.
Queen of Cups:
Their emotions toward you are deep, receptive, and intuitive. They feel seen at the level of soul but fear exposure. Sensitivity runs high; they respond to your moods more than to words. Love here listens more than speaks.
King of Cups:
They care with maturity and restraint. Emotion flows beneath calm surface—stable, protective, occasionally distant. They balance affection with control; sincerity is strong, expression subtle.
THE SUIT OF SWORDS — Thought, Tension, and Truth Under Pressure
Swords trace how intellect cuts through emotion: where honesty, fear, or conflict exposes what the heart prefers to hide.
Ace of Swords:
They’re thinking sharply, seeking clarity about you. A realization—pleasant or painful—has pierced confusion. Emotion is filtered through logic; they need truth before trust.
Two of Swords:
They’re conflicted and avoid deciding. You stir emotions they can’t reconcile with reason. Their heart waits behind mental defenses. Peace on the surface conceals tension.
Three of Swords:
Their feelings ache; separation or misunderstanding cuts deeply. They may relive words that hurt or fear repeating old wounds. Emotion is raw but honest.
Four of Swords:
They’ve retreated to recover. Emotion lies dormant, resting after conflict or exhaustion. They think of you quietly but resist re-engagement.
Five of Swords:
They recall arguments or power struggles. Pride mixes with guilt. They may feel they “won” but lost connection. Emotion is defensive, circling regret.
Six of Swords:
Their thoughts drift toward calm and distance. They may wish to resolve things or simply move on. Emotion is subdued—tender but practical.
Seven of Swords:
They hide feelings behind strategy. Something about you makes them cautious or self-protective. Attraction exists but is masked by calculation.
Eight of Swords:
They feel trapped—by circumstance or overthinking. You occupy their mind, yet they see no safe move. Emotion is anxious, not indifferent.
Nine of Swords:
You haunt their thoughts. Worry, shame, or imagined loss keeps them awake. Emotion is obsessive, looping through “what ifs.”
Ten of Swords:
They believe something between you has ended. Emotion collapses under exhaustion yet releases tension: a strange peace after heartbreak.
Page of Swords:
They’re curious, observant, a little guarded. You’re often in their thoughts, but they approach indirectly—watching, questioning.
Knight of Swords:
Their feelings express through urgency. They want to speak truth or defend a position. Emotion and intellect race together; patience is scarce.
Queen of Swords:
They see you—or themselves—as discerning and self-reliant. Affection exists beneath analysis, restrained by caution.
King of Swords:
They think rather than feel, weighing facts before sentiment. You prompt respect, not impulsive warmth. Emotion is measured, loyal, understated.
THE SUIT OF PENTACLES — Security, Value, and the Material Language of Care
Pentacles translate emotion into tangible form—what love looks like when expressed through patience, effort, and daily gesture.
Ace of Pentacles:
They sense something real could grow with you. Feeling is practical yet hopeful—a seed of trust. You awaken a wish to invest slowly, to see if emotion can take root in reality.
Two of Pentacles:
They’re juggling feelings and priorities. You matter, but life pulls them in competing directions. Emotion is adaptable but scattered.
Three of Pentacles:
They think of partnership as shared work. You inspire cooperation and respect. Emotion shows through effort: showing up, contributing, building.
Four of Pentacles:
They hold back or hold on. Possession and protection mingle. The clasped coins reveal fear beneath affection—a wish to keep control.
Five of Pentacles:
They feel left out or fearful of rejection. Emotion persists through hardship; it seeks warmth in the cold.
Six of Pentacles:
They think about balance—who gives, who receives. Emotion takes the shape of fairness; generosity mixes with pride.
Seven of Pentacles:
They pause to evaluate what’s grown. You’re part of their long-term reflections. Emotion feels patient yet uncertain.
Eight of Pentacles:
They show care through diligence. You motivate focus or reliability. Emotion expressed in doing rather than words.
Nine of Pentacles:
They admire your independence. Emotion is tinged with awe and distance. They find your self-sufficiency beautiful yet intimidating.
Ten of Pentacles:
They imagine permanence: shared home, family, legacy. Emotion grounded in belonging and continuity.
Page of Pentacles:
They feel earnest curiosity—a wish to understand and prove themselves. Emotion is sincere and careful.
Knight of Pentacles:
They feel steadily devoted but slow to reveal it. Reliability defines their affection; emotion grows through trust.
Queen of Pentacles:
They see you as nurturing and grounded. Feeling is affectionate, sensual in quiet ways. Love manifests through care and steadiness.
King of Pentacles:
They think of you with admiration and desire for stability. Emotion is loyal and protective—devotion expressed through tangible support.
CLOSING REFLECTION
Read side by side, these interpretations offer not fixed answers but a moving landscape of human need: attraction seeking safety, mind negotiating heart, spirit anchoring in form.
Experiment. There is so much more that can be expressed by each card.
Created by Mary K. Greer and ChatGPT, 2025. Make of it what you will.
With the appearance of ChatGPT 5 being heralded as the greatest thing yet, I decided to see what it would have to say about the future of tarot. My first prompt only repeated things that I see already happening (we are in the future already). So I asked for a longer range vision that follows.
Feel free to criticize this view and present your own future vision in the comments here or on my Facebook page. Also, read this as possibilities for your own future as a tarot professional. Do a reading on it or draw a card for each option below.
The Immediate Future for Professional Tarot Readings According to ChatGPT 5.
- Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Integration: In the near future, professional tarot readers may offer VR-based tarot sessions. Clients could enter a virtual, ethereal space where the tarot cards float in a three-dimensional environment. The reader, also present in the virtual space, can manipulate the cards in real-time, creating a more immersive and engaging experience. AR could be used in a similar way, where the reader uses a device to project the tarot cards onto a real-world surface, adding an extra layer of interactivity.
- Subscription-based Services: Just like many online services today, professional tarot readers may offer monthly or yearly subscription packages. Subscribers could receive regular tarot readings, exclusive content such as in-depth interpretations of the cards, and access to private communities where they can discuss their readings with the reader and other subscribers.
The Immediate Future for Private Use
- Tarot-enabled Smart Home Devices: Smart home assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Home could be integrated with tarot functions. Users could simply ask their smart device to draw a tarot card for them and receive a basic interpretation. For example, “Alexa, draw me a tarot card and tell me what it means.”
- Tarot-themed Mobile Games: There will likely be an increase in mobile games that incorporate tarot elements. These games could range from simple card – drawing games with educational interpretations to more complex role – playing games where the tarot cards influence the game’s storyline and character development.
The Speculative, Long Range View
- Professional and Private Use – Long-Range Tarot Developments
10 Years
- Tarot-Based Financial Advisors: Private users will turn to tarot – informed Al for financial guidance. The Al will interpret tarot card draws in the context of market trends and the user’s financial situation. It could suggest investment opportunities or savings strategies based on the symbolic meaning of the cards.
- Al/Tarot Symbiotic Readings: In the next decade, professional tarot readers will start working in tandem with advanced Al systems. The Al will analyze the client’s digital footprint, including their social media history, online purchases, and search patterns. The reader will then use this data in combination with a traditional tarot draw. For example, if the Al detects a pattern of stress – related searches and the tarot card drawn is related to anxiety, the reader can offer more targeted advice.
20 Years
- Global Tarot Networks: Professional tarot readers will be part of a global network where they can share complex cases. If a reader encounters a particularly challenging client situation, they can post the tarot spread and client details (anonymously) on the network. Other readers from around the world can then contribute their interpretations and insights, creating a collective wisdom approach to tarot readings.
- Tarot-Powered Life Coaches: Private individuals will have access to Al – driven tarot life coaches. These coaches will not only interpret tarot cards but also create long – term life plans for the users. They will monitor the user’s progress over time, adjusting the plans based on new tarot draws and the user’s changing circumstances.
50 Years
- Tarot with Integrated Consciousness Augmentation: In a more distant future, tarot will be integrated with technologies that enhance human consciousness. When a person undergoes a tarot reading, the experience will be amplified through neural interfaces. The user will enter a state where they can directly interact with the symbolic world of the tarot cards at a subconscious level, leading to profound self – discovery and personal growth.
- Tarot-Guided Interstellar Exploration: As humanity ventures into space, tarot will play a role in decision – making for interstellar missions. Al systems on board spaceships will use tarot symbolism to analyze potential risks and opportunities in uncharted regions of the universe. The crew will also draw tarot cards for moral and psychological support during long – duration space travel.
2. Art and Deck Themes and Styles
10 Years
- Holographic Tarot Decks: Holographic technology will be used to create tarot decks. These decks will project three – dimensional images of the cards, with the symbols and colors changing depending on the angle of view. The holographic effect will add a new layer of depth and interactivity to the traditional tarot experience.
- Al-Generated Tarot Art: Al algorithms will be used to generate unique tarot deck designs. Artists will input certain themes or concepts, and the Al will create a series of card designs that blend traditional tarot symbolism with modern artistic sensibilities.
20 Years
- Biodegradable and Sustainable Tarot Decks: With a greater focus on environmental sustainability, tarot decks will be made from biodegradable materials. These decks will be not only eco – friendly but also have a unique texture and appearance. For example, decks made from recycled paper or plant – based plastics.
- Multi-Sensory Tarot Decks: Tarot decks will be designed to engage multiple senses. In addition to visual images, the cards could have scents associated with each card’s meaning. For example, the card of love could have a floral scent, while the card of chaos could have a pungent, earthy smell.
50 Years
- Nanotech Tarot Decks: Nanotechnology will allow for the creation of tarot decks at a microscopic level. These decks could be stored in a tiny device and projected as large, high – resolution images when needed. The nanotech material could also adapt to the user’s mood, changing the color and symbolism of the cards accordingly.
- Tarot Decks as Living Entities: Through advanced genetic engineering and biotechnology, tarot decks could be created with living organisms. The cards could be made from a type of bio-material that grows and changes over time, reflecting the user’s spiritual journey.
3. Online Presence
10 Years
- Tarot in the Metaverse: The metaverse will become a major platform for tarot. There will be virtual tarot shops, reading rooms, and schools. Users can enter these virtual spaces, interact with other tarot enthusiasts, and receive readings from renowned virtual tarot masters.
- Tarot NFTs: Non – fungible tokens (NFTs) will be used to represent rare and unique tarot decks. Collectors can own digital versions of these decks, which can be traded or displayed in virtual galleries.
20 Years
- Tarot-Based Social Credit Systems: In online communities, tarot readings could be used as part of a social credit system. Positive tarot interpretations could boost a user’s social standing within the community, while negative ones could prompt the user to engage in self – improvement activities.
- Tarot-Powered Virtual Reality Experiences: VR experiences will be fully immersive, with users able to physically interact with the tarot cards in a virtual environment. They can walk through a tarot – themed landscape, pick up the cards, and have in – depth conversations with virtual tarot guides.
50 Years
- Tarot-Infused Internet of Things (loT): The loT will be integrated with tarot. Smart devices in our homes, such as refrigerators, cars, and even clothing, will be able to draw tarot cards and provide real – time interpretations based on our daily activities and surroundings.
- Tarot-Driven Quantum Internet Communication: In the era of quantum internet, tarot symbolism will be used to encode and decode information. Messages sent over the quantum network could be encrypted using tarot card combinations, adding an extra layer of security and a touch of the esoteric.
4. Books, Conferences, and Classes
10 Years
- Holographic Tarot Books: Similar to holographic tarot decks, books on tarot will be holographic. They will project 3D images of the cards, along with animated explanations of the symbolism and interpretations. These books will be interactive, allowing the reader to explore different aspects of the tarot at their own pace.
- Tarot Conferences in Virtual Reality: Physical conferences will be complemented by VR – based conferences. Attendees can participate from anywhere in the world, interact with speakers and other participants in a virtual environment, and attend workshops and lectures in real – time.
20 Years
- Tarot-Based Educational Curricula: Tarot will be incorporated into mainstream educational curricula. Schools and universities will offer courses on tarot history, symbolism, and interpretation as part of their humanities and social science programs.
- Al-Generated Tarot Textbooks: Al will be used to generate comprehensive tarot textbooks. These textbooks will be constantly updated with the latest research and interpretations, providing students with the most accurate and up – to – date information.
50 Years
- Tarot/Memory Implant Education: In the future, it may be possible to implant tarot knowledge directly into a person’s memory. Students could undergo a procedure where the entire body of tarot knowledge, including card meanings, historical context, and interpretation techniques, is stored in their long – term memory.
- Intergalactic Tarot Conferences: As humanity expands into space, there will be intergalactic tarot conferences. Representatives from different planets and colonies will come together to share their unique tarot traditions and perspectives, creating a truly cosmic exchange of ideas.
5. Major Teachers and Their Modes for Teaching
10 Years
- Al-Teacher Avatars: Tarot teachers will use Al-generated avatars to teach online courses. These avatars can replicate the teacher’s voice, mannerisms, and teaching style. They can also interact with students in real – time, answering questions and providing feedback.
- Tarot Teaching in Virtual Reality Classrooms: Teachers will conduct classes in virtual reality classrooms. Students can sit around a virtual table, draw physical-looking tarot cards, and engage in group discussions and activities in a more immersive environment.
20 Years
- Genetic-Based Tarot Teaching: Advances in genetics may allow teachers to tailor their teaching methods based on a student’s genetic profile. For example, if a student has a genetic predisposition for creativity, the teacher can focus on more artistic and intuitive aspects of tarot interpretation.
- Collective Consciousness Teaching: Tarot teachers will tap into the collective consciousness of the tarot community. They will use techniques to access the shared knowledge and wisdom of all tarot practitioners, which can then be passed on to their students.
50 Years
- Telepathic Tarot Teaching: In a world with advanced telepathic communication, tarot teachers will be able to transmit knowledge directly to their students’ minds. The teacher’s thoughts and insights about tarot will be shared instantaneously, bypassing the need for traditional forms of communication.
- Tarot Teaching through Time Travel: Although highly speculative, in a future where time travel is possible, tarot teachers could travel back in time to study the origins of tarot directly. They could then bring this first-hand knowledge back to the present and share it with their students. This would revolutionize tarot education as it would provide an unparalleled level of authenticity and accuracy.
Students would have the opportunity to learn from teachers who have witnessed the early development of tarot, interacted with the original practitioners, and seen the cultural and historical contexts in which the tarot emerged. Teachers could describe the exact settings in which the first tarot decks were created, the materials used, and the initial meanings assigned to the cards.
This could also lead to a re-evaluation of existing tarot theories and interpretations. For example, if a teacher discovers that a particular card’s meaning was different in its original context, it could change the way modern tarot readers approach that card.
In addition, time-traveling tarot teachers could establish connections with past tarot communities. They could bring back lost tarot practices or techniques that have been forgotten over the centuries. breathing new life into the tarot tradition.
The knowledge obtained through time travel could be shared in various ways. Teachers could create immersive virtual reality experiences that allow students to virtually accompany them on their time-traveling adventures. They could also write detailed accounts in new types of textbooks that blend historical research with personal time – traveling anecdotes.
My Closing Thoughts:
My older version of ChatGPT 4o noted that “The deeper tarot becomes entwined with AI and data-mining, the more it risks shifting from an inner divination to an external prediction engine. The Magician’s wand could just as easily become the Tower’s lightning rod … spilling [or being thrown] into banality.”
How perceptive of this future visions! 4o likened it to a “Mercurial prophecy — quicksilver, inventive, and exhilarating — yet Mercury is also the trickster who can lead you to wisdom or misdirection.”
Personally, I feel there will still be those who are deeply moved by the cards with respect for its history and occult metaphysics.
Illustrations provided by DALL-E based on prompts from ChatGPT 4o + me.
What is a “transparent reading style” in tarot? I use this term to describe one element of what I do in a reading. First, it is a continuum and not an absolute. Essentially, it is including acknowledgement of where/how I’m getting information and meaning from the cards and from my interaction with the querent.
You might say it is anti-magic, except that I’m really all about magic. So I might even point out what I perceive as moments of magic. Basically, I’ll tell someone when and how their body language or something they said has clued me in to a facet of the reading. I might note that their observation about a card is contradictory to the traditional meaning and then ask them to explore how their contradiction or both are true. I might get a sense of something not in the cards and will make clear I don’t know where it is coming from. Or I will ‘trick’ someone into their personal realization and then let them know what I just did.
I find that briefly revealing my own “perception bias,” for instance a choice I naturally gravitate towards, lifestyle beliefs, or a knee-jerk reaction on my part is important. By briefly mentioning my own bias it helps me let go of that thought. It somehow relieves me of any urges that bias carries so I can be fully present to the querent’s needs and situation.
I want the client to be able to see through the wizard’s curtain (as in Oz) so that the illusion of power doesn’t stick to me, so that the querent can see me as a temporary companion on their journey and can begin to trust their own insights and volition more.
Of course I keep these transparencies minimal to not get in the way of the importance of the reading itself. And I want to keep the focus on the client and not on me.
How transparent are you in a reading? Do you assume that the cards are all-knowing? Do you assume an aura of importance to lend credence to your intuitions? Does it even help a client to pull back the curtain? Or does it make the experience less significant to a client? I admit my transparency doesn’t always work for some clients, especially those who want surety.
What do you think and do in relation to this concept? How transparent are you as a reader?
Old Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards from United Novelty, Mfc Company, Chicago, circa 1920-30 are a 36-card deck with playing cards inset and meanings given on each card. The instructions are in Polish and English and the Lady (significator) is clearly dressed as a 1920s flapper. At least 22 of the 36 cards are close cognates with the Lenormand cards. A few of the other card images are found on other cartomancy decks of the period. See this post in which Camelia Elias demonstrates using the deck.
They were printed by the Valmor Company of Chicago (also doing business as King Novelty; United Novelty appear to be distributors) and so are sometimes called the Valmor Fortune-Telling Cards. This hints at an interesting crossover between the immigrant community of Jewish founder Morton and Rose Neumann (the Polish connection?) and the African-American hoodoo tradition.
A surprisingly large number of hoodoo mail-order companies were founded by Jewish chemists who perceived a need for affordable beauty products and who then expanded into incense, candles and hoodoo potions. 
Two years after Morton Neumann started Valmor he married Rose and then the whole approach to Valmor advertising changed radically. The company became known for its illustrations featuring fair-skinned, black-haired beauties in seductive, sexy scenes. The original advertisment illustrator was African-American artist, Charles Dawson. Could he have been the artist of this deck?
It’s interesting that Morton and Rose Neumann, by the mid-20th century, began investing their wealth in 19th century European art and later in American art, amassing what is considered today to be the foremost and most valuable private family art collection in America. They tried to keep it intact until the death of Rose and son, Hubert, when an inheritance tax of $50 million forced the sale of several works.
The Old Gypsy Cards Fortune Telling Game from Addison Products Co, Chicago (no-date – 1940s?) is an identical deck, also with instructions in English and Polish. Looking similar to the Gypsy Witch, and with elements appearing in Whitman’s “Old Gypsy” deck, this deck has its own assignation of playing cards such that the suits & numbers appear in sequence according to the numbering of the cards, and they accord most closely with the usual French and English playing card meanings. While most of the deck includes Lenormand-like cards there are also unique ones like 23-A Beautiful Lady, 27-The Bacchanalian, 29-The Loving Couple, 31-The Fairy, 32-The Shepherd, 11-The Dancing Persons. Cards like 20-the Horseshoe, 30-The Eye and 35-The Duel are found in other “gypsy” decks that I talk about here. In 1948 this same deck was published by Wehman Bros. but without the text.
I was unable to find this particular deck in a King Novelty (Valmor) catalog but I did come across their 1944 catalog ad for a nearly identical deck called Madame Sigma Fortune Telling Cards. You could purchase both the deck and book together for $1.35!
Here’s a interesting comparison of the three Whitman “Old Gypsy” deck editions (top), while (below) is the Horseshoe/Trefoil from the Old Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards (which, along with the Key, Gentleman & Lady cards, have no playing cards printed on them), and two from the Gypsy Dream deck – Horn of Plenty and Horseshoe.
See also my post on 19th Century American Lenormand decks.
I try to keep abreast of Tarot as it appears in fiction but somehow I missed this one: The Holy by Daniel Quinn (2002). The entire book is the playing out of a Tarot reading, made explicit by full-page illustrations of Rider-Waite-Smith cards that introduce book sections.
The central what if is, “What if the God of the Bible was not the only God, and what if the “false gods” referred to in the ten commandments actually exist?” We can extend this to ask the questions: Who are they? and What do they want?—questions the author leaves only partially answered.
This is a Fool’s journey, cross country, undertaken by several different people, at first independently and then with converging stories, all foreseen in the Tarot reading that becomes explicit only as the tale evolves. Quinn is known for his philosophical novels, starting with the highly regarded Ishmael, for which he won the half-million dollar Turner Tomorrow Fellowship. Quinn is an original thinker whose process has been described as “seeing through the myths of this culture” or “ripping away the shades so that people can have a clear look at history and what we’re doing to the world.” It’s interesting that despite the centrality of the Tarot reading and Tarot illustrations in this book, the Tarot content is hardly ever mentioned and never discussed in the reviews I’ve read.
Synopsis: Sixty-plus year-old private detective Howard Scheim is hired by an acquaintance to discover if the “false gods” of the Bible really exist. In agreeing to discover if he can even undertake such an inquiry he interviews several people including a journalist, a tarot reader, a clairvoyant and a Satanist. Meanwhile the Kennesey family is undergoing upheaval as husband David decides to walk away from his job, his wife and his 12-year old son, Tim. Tim and his mother go searching for David and, when Tim becomes accidentally separated from his mother, Howard stumbles upon him and offers to help Tim find her. As it turns out both David and his son Tim are being courted by amoral, non-human “others” who plan to “wake up” humanity because their blindness is creating havoc. These “others,” who refuse to define themselves, are trickster beings, neither evil nor benevolent, who have existed far longer than homo sapiens. They have been known to enchant those humans who look to the physical world rather than to a transcendent being to benefit them.
The Celtic Cross Tarot reading shows Quinn to be knowledgeable about Tarot consulting. References to people named Case (P.F. Case authored an influential Tarot book) and John Dee (magician to Elizabeth I), as well as a road named Morning Star Path (a Golden Dawn offshoot was called the “Stella Matutina” or morning star) makes it clear that Quinn is referencing modern occult lore.
Tarot reader Denise starts by explaining that the first card in Howard’s reading indicates the predominant influence in the subject’s life. Howard draws the Seven of Swords and Denise asks Howard to tell her what it is about, explaining this is not her usual way of working but, “If I proceed normally, you’ll think I’m slanting it.”
He describes a thief stealing swords for a battle who has overlooked something (two swords left behind).” Denise summarizes it: “You’re getting ready for a battle and you’re overestimating your own cleverness and underestimating the strength of your enemy. You’re overconfident and you think you can’t be hurt in the enterprise you’ve planned. . . . The reading will center on the conflict you’re preparing for.”
The Seven of Swords is crossed by the Two of Pentacles: “The pentacles represent grave extremes: the beginning and the end, life and deah, infinite past and the infinite future, good and evil. Nevertheless, the young man is dancing.” Denise says he takes the situation too lightly.
The card above him is the Eight of Cups: “At best, you can hope for a strange journey, an adventure into darkness.”
The frontispiece illustration is that of the Seven of Cups, appearing in the reading in the environment position: “A man is disconcerted by an array of tantalizing apparitions of love, mystery, danger, riches, fame, and evil. Illusions will bedevil you. You’ll be pulled in many directions, and your choices will be confused.” Perhaps this is the underlying theme of not only this book but other works by Daniel Quinn: Humankind is bedeviled by the illusions of culture and civilization so that our choices are confused, centering on all the wrong things. Quinn has one of the characters quote Plato’s The Republic: “Whatever deceives can be said to enchant.” Adding, “Anyone who shakes off the deception shakes off the enchantment as well – and ceases to be one of you [a homo sapien].” The Holy, p. 260.
I’ve left out most of the interplay about the cards, and I won’t reveal more of the story as I hope you will explore this book for yourselves.
I no longer update this post, but you’ll find a lot of old information about Tarot in movies and Tarot on TV. Please post in the comments when you see one so we can keep a running list in the comments. The more info the better.
See especially Richard Kaczynski’s wonderful list of Thoth Sightings in film and TV.
TV
Read the rest of this entry »
Is there any “true” way to lay the cards? Probably not. But here is the first tarot spread to appear in print. It is in an article by le Comte de M*** (Mellet) in Court de Gébelin’s Le Monde Primitif (1781). The spread instructions were followed by a sample interpretation—the dream of Joseph in the Bible. I decided that such a simple but powerful layout deserves to be brought back “into play.” Try it out for yourself.
The layout is best accomplished by two people working together, who have divided the deck into two stacks so that each has one of them:
Person 1 — the 56 Minor Arcana
Person 2 — the 22 Trumps (Major Arcana).
Each person takes their stack, shuffles it, and then simultaneously goes through the stacks card-by-card as follows:
Person 1: Turns the cards of the Minor Arcana over one-by-one while counting Ace, 2, 3, 4, … Page, Knight, Queen, King (use the court card names from your own deck), and continue counting with the Ace. Any card which has the same number or rank as that named is to be set aside. That is, if when counting 5, you turn over a 5 of any suit, that card is selected and put to the side.
Person 2: Goes through the Trumps at the same time, putting down a card each time Person 1 does so, but without turning it over. When Person 1 puts a card aside (because the number and the card matched), Person 2 takes the card he/she put down at the same time and turns it face up next to Person 1’s card to form a pair. When Person 2 has gone through all the Trumps, he/she picks up the reject stack and continues to put them down in the now-reversed order.
The process ends when Person 1 runs out of Minor Arcana cards.
Interpret the resulting cards as pairs.
For example, in the first reading I did with this spread, the result of the count was:
Ace of Pentacles — Lovers
Ace of Cups — Sun
Three of Cups — Death
Knight of Wands — Star
These cards had an incredible feeling of power about them. My partner in the reading immediately said, “It’s all about the deaths!” and I realized he was right. We had just found out about the deaths of three people we knew (Three of Cups plus Death). Three incredible people—each making the transition (Knight of Wands) to another world in their own way. They were being shown to us as Beings of Light (the Sun) starting a new phase of existence (the two Aces). I was awed by the beauty of their souls that radiated out from these cards as if reborn in the spirit (the Sun). It was good to feel that they were with loved ones (Three of Cups and Lovers), and it seemed to me that they were riding (Knight of Wands) towards their highest destiny (Star). I took it as a message to us from the other side, saying that they were all right and just where they should be. (Deck: The Albano-Waite Miniature Tarot Cards.)
In the previous post on the origins of divination with playing cards I included a book called The Square of Sevens, and the Parallelogram: An Authoritative Method of Cartomancy with a Prefatory Note by Robert Antrobus that was supposedly written in 1735 and then edited and republished in 1896 by E. Irenaeus Stevenson. I’ve had suspicions for a while that this work was a literary hoax, which is now borne out by a review in 1897 that reveals all (see Update below).
According to Irenaeus Stevenson, the original book tells how, around the year 1730, Robert Antrobus, “a Gentleman of Bath,” on a trip to Cornwall stayed at an inn where a dying man also lodged. Antrobus came to the aid of this George X— who, it turned out, was a gypsy of unusual education and breeding. During their time together, Mr. Antrobus agreed to care for Mr. George’s young daughter and Mr. George, in turn, revealed many secrets of the gypsies. Among these is a method of dukkeripens (divination) by playing cards. In 1735, so the story goes, Mr. Antrobus chose to publish this “betrayed secret” through John Gowne of The Mask bookshop. Unfortunately, a printing-house fire destroyed all except a dozen or so copies of the work.
In 1896, along comes E. Irenaeus Stevenson of New York, who republishes the work so that it may, “in our social day serve a lighter end—and entertain the parlor.”
What follows is an extremely complicated way of dealing out the cards for a Querist, resulting eventually in a rectangle (parallelogram) of 21 cards in 3 columns of 7. Each of the cards in the left column is a Master Card, which is modified by the two cards to its right. An additional three cards are called “Wish Cards.”
The cards are then read from interpretations given in a “Tavola [Table] of Significancies” in which a short meaning is given for each card as Master Card, followed by how the suits of the cards to its right will modify that meaning.
Red suits are auspicious and kind; black suits are unpleasing and less favorable.
• The Suit of Hearts is that of the Affections, Passions, Fancies and Feelings.
• The Suit of Diamonds refers to the condition in Life, Society, Wealth, Position and the Fine Arts.
• In Clubs lies Judgment, Intellect, Will, the Affairs of a Man’s Brains, and what he doeth of his own Mastery and Genius.
• The ominous Spades are the suit of doubtful or worse prognosticks of arbitrary events outside Man’s control.
It should be noted that it is not at all unusual for esoteric texts to be given a romanticized and totally false lineage. The text is available here.
I noticed that our 19th century editor prefaced his story about the work’s 18th century origins with a quote from Hamlet, “Tis easy as lying,” and ended it with another quote:
BRADAMANTE. But is this authentic? Is it an original? Is it a true, original thing, sir?
GRADASSO (making a leg). Madam, ’tis as authentic as very authenticity itself—’tis truth’s kernel, originality’s core—provided you are but willing to believe it such.
BRADAMANTE. Sir, you quibble.
GRADASSO (making a leg). Madam, ’tis precisely in my vocation to quibble,—and delicately.
From The Superglorious Life and Death of Prince Artius: A Tragedy. Act LI., sc. li.
I asked tarot scholar Ross Caldwell what he thought of these quotes, which imply a willingness to lie and believe lies. Ross came up with enough evidence to indicate the work is a 19th century fable. For instance, there is no stage play about a Prince Artius, and certainly no play has 51 acts and scenes. Instead, Ross realized that “Act LI., sc. li.” can be read as “Actually silly.”
Edward Irenaeus Prime-Stevenson (1868-1942), an American, really existed and was a novelist and journalist, writing under several pseudonyms, and with a particular interest in 18th century history and opera. He is affectionately known today as “the father of American homophile literature,” being the first American to write openly about homosexuality. There was a Robert Antrobus who was a teacher at Eton but who died in 1730, ten years before Stevenson’s fictional Antrobus. He may have served as the model for Stevenson’s author.
As a final detail that proves this is all fiction, Stevenson wrote that Antrobus had written a “brochure on the Cock Lane Ghost.” When Ross checked this out, expecting a deadend, he found, instead, that the Cock Lane Ghost was an actual incident, but that it took place much later, in 1762, and it involved a hoax that rocked London. One hoax mentioned in another hoax—what could be plainer?
Ross Caldwell says about The Square of Sevens, “Given the era, it might be compared to Robert Chambers’ “The King in Yellow” (referring to an apocryphal book that drives its readers mad) or Lovecraft’s Necronomicon (itself perhaps inspired by Chambers).”
So, instead of an original 18th century work, we have a piece of 19th century fiction about gypsy card divination. Even the method of cartomancy was created by Stevenson (see update below).
UPDATE:
From “Literary Notes” by Laurence Hutton for Harper’s Magazine, Volume 94 (March 1897), a review of The Square of Sevens.
[Note: Stevenson worked as an editor for Harper’s, so we can assume that his co-worker, Hutton, got the following details directly from Stevenson.]
“Mr. Stevenson has evolved, out of nothing a certain Mr. Robert Antrobus, who lived in Bath during the reign of the Second English George. . . . ‘The Square of Sevens’ itself, it is needless to say, is as much an invention of Mr. Stevenson as is Mr. Antrobus. The ‘system,’ practically, is entirely his own; all the ‘significances,’ the general scheme and the idea of the work are purely original; although, here and there, they are in touch with the fundamental notions—all of them vague at best—of the professional cartomancists the wide world over.
“The author’s Editorial Preface is clever and entertaining; and it is not unlikely to deceive even the initiated. ‘The Square of Sevens’ is founded on recognized laws of recurrent chances; it will appeal to such as are interested in the occult sciences, and even the commonplace, ordinary ‘gorgio’ who is not a ‘dukker’ will recognize the charm, as well as the quaintness of the production.”
This post gets updated as new information appears. See update notes at the end for significant changes. In addition to the links at the end, I encourage you to read Michael S. Howard’s article on the development of divination and cartomancy here.
The 15th Century
1414 Barcelona – Joch de nayps moreschs
Two Barcelona inventories have entries for “joch de nayps (or ‘nahyps’) moreschs”. The Instituto Municipal de Historia in Barcelona formerly held several sheets of uncut woodblock cards of the Moorish design from around this period. Their similarity to the late 15th or early 16th century Mamluk playing cards is obvious. What makes this important to our discussion is that the latter cards (see below) have calligraphic texts along the tops of the cards consist of rhyming aphorisms that are clearly predictions of one’s fortune. Here are a few of the translations given on Simon Wintle’s outstanding website The World of Playing Cards. Decide for yourself what you would think if you drew a card with such a saying upon it:
“As for the present that rejoices, thy heart will soon open up“
“With the sword of happiness I shall redeem a beloved who will afterwards take my life“
“O my heart, for thee the good news that rejoices”
“Rejoice in the happiness that returns, as a bird that sings its joy”
“The alif rejoices and fulfils your wishes”
c. 1450 – Juego de Naypes
Ross Caldwell reports here on a Spanish “Juego de Naypes” (Game of Cards) by Fernando de la Torre, dedicated to the Countess of Castañeda, written around 1450. It is played with a 49 card deck, having only two court cards per suit plus an additional Emperador card “which wins over all the other cards” (que gane a todas las otras cartas). In this game “one can cast lots [tell fortunes] with them to know who each one loves most and who is most desired and by many other and diverse ways” (puédense echar suertes en ellos á quién más ama cada uno, e á quién quiere más et por otras muchas et diversas maneras). On each card is to be written a verse having the same number of lines as the number of the card, with each suit describing love according to different categories of women: Oros are Maidens, Copas are Wives, Bastones are Widows and Espadas are Nuns. Early Spanish/Morisca cards can be seen here.
This seems an unambiguous description of divination with playing cards that also includes a single additional “trump” card.
The 16th Century
1505 – “Lot” Books
Playing cards were used for fortune telling in conjunction with the 1505 German Mainz Kartenlosbuch (literally, card-lot/fortune book). Fortunes in this work include such things as:
- You’re criticized because of too much avarice. You’ll lose a tooth and a thief will spend your money.
- You’ll have good luck, winning honors and riches.
- Secret sorrows, possibly connected to an old love.
Thanks to Huck Meyer at tarotforum for reminding me of this. See page from the text and more card meanings at Trionfi.com, which is, furthermore, one of the best sites on the history of tarot.
Lotbooks or (Losbücher) were described by Dr. Johann Hartlieb in 1456:
“One throws dice [or draws cards, mkg], until one reaches a number; in accordance with that number, one looks for the question [listed in the book], which the person has asked . . . there is nothing one will not find in these questions. Afterward one gets to an old man [often a king, god or hero] who points the way to a judge, who will explain the self-same questions [see illustration above]. This is all a singular disbelief and it stands in sharp opposition to God, for it has neither a spiritual or natural basis and is thus prohibited by the Holy Church in its decrees.”
Hartlieb is not entirely correct in that St. Augustine among other church officials spoke of the proper use of sortes (Latin for “lots”) to obtain answers. With the medieval sortes apostolorum or sortes des saints (composed specifically for divination rather than sortes sanctorum that is directly from scripture) one would consult them only after fasting on bread and water for three days and then a vigil with candles and the chanting of prayers (and sometimes a Mass) and the aspersion of holy water, upon which the sortes were deemed to be an “infallibly and entirely Christian oracle.” Of course, limiting the sources to apostles, saints, or scripture and the querents to those who could read Latin was an obvious attempt to limit divination to the educated few and forbid it to the multitudes.
Socordia is Latin for laziness and idleness and so is shown with various games.
1507 – On the Foreknowledge of Things
In 1507 Francesco Pico della Mirandola (nephew of the better known Giovanni) wrote De rerum praenotione (“On the Foreknowledge of Things”) in which he supports the ability of divinely appointed prophets to know the future, while attacking all other forms of divination, including astrology, geomancy, palmistry and all kinds of sortilege/lots:
There are many kinds of lots [sortium], as in casting bones, in throwing dice, in the figures depicted in a pack of cards [in figuris chartaceo ludo pictis]; and in the expectation of whatever first should arrive, in picking the longer husk, or in casting the eyes on a page. [Thanks to Ross Caldwell–see link to his paper describing this at the end of this post.]
Being a work from Italy that specifically mentions the figures pictured on cards suggests that Pico may well have been referring to the tarot.
c. 1508 – “The Fortune-Teller” by Lucas van Leyden
While this painting by Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533) has been called, in modern times, “The Fortune Teller” (c. 1508), it more likely commemorates Margarethe (Margaret) of Austria’s ascendancy to the governorship of the Netherlands in 1507 following the death of her brother, Philip the Handsome. Alternately, this painting may be commemorating Margarethe’s tragic three year marriage to Philibert (Phillip) of Savoy. By the age of 24 Margarethe had already lost a fiance and two husbands. She decided never to remarry and took the motto: FORTUNE . INFORTUNE . FORT.UNE (“Fortune, Unfortunate, Strength [in/of] One”}, which could be what is being symbolically portrayed. Both this painting and a 19th c. etching based on it has been cited as proof of early playing card divination (see “Chambers” below). Whatever is going on, it seems clear that the fall of the cards is an indicator of a fateful turn-of-fortune. Read my post here for more details. [Special thanks to Huck, Rosanne, and Alexandra—all who had pieces of the puzzle.]
1527 – Merlini’s Caos del Triperiuno
Teofilio Folengo’s 1527 work Caos del Triperiuno (written under the pseudonym Merlini Cocai) includes a series of poems representing the fortunes of people revealed by the cards dealt them. In this sonnet we find the twenty-two Triumph cards. Note that Death in Italian is the feminine la morte, and Love (Eros) is male. Love claims that although Death rules the physical body, Love never dies and therefore death is but a sham.
Love, under whose Empire many deeds (6, 4)
go without Time and without Fortune, (9, 10)
saw Death, ugly and dark, on a Chariot, (13, 7)
going among the people it took away from the World. (21)
She asked: “No Pope nor Papesse was ever won (5, 2)
by you. Do you call this Justice?” (8 )
He answered: “He who made the Sun and the Moon (19, 18 )
defended them from my Strength. (11)
“What a Fool I am,” said Love, “my Fire, (0, 16)
that can appear as an Angel or as a Devil (20, 15)
can be Tempered by some others who live under my Star. (14, 17)
You are the Empress[Ruler] of bodies. But you cannot kill hearts, (3)
you only Suspend them. You have a name of high Fame, (12)
but you are nothing but a Trickster.” (1)
Translated by Marco Ponzi (Dr. Arcanus) with help from Ross Caldwell and members of Aeclectic Tarot’s TarotForum.
1540 – Marcolini’s Garden of Thoughts
Another early use of playing cards as oracle comes from Le sorti intitolate giardino d’i pensieri (“The oracle called garden of thoughts) from 1540 Venice, published by typographer Francesco Marcolini with text by the Venetian poet Lodovico Dolce. Read all about it through the title’s link. The method of getting the oracle takes one through a convoluted series of steps to end up at a simple tercet of a type as follows:
Do not take an ugly and angry wife,
But even if you take one pleasant and nice,
I am afraid something strange will happen.
1556 – The Sin of Divining with Cards
In 1556, Martin de Azpilcueta (d. 1586) wrote in his Compendio del Manual de Confessores (an instruction book for confessors):
Lo quinto, pecca el que pregunta, o quiere preguntar al adeuino de algun hurto, o otra cosa secreta, o procura de la saber por suertes de dados, cartas, libros, harnero, o astrolabio, y el que encanto bruto animals, con palabras profanas, o sagradas, con obseruancia de alguna vanidad.
Fifth, he sins who asks, or wants to ask the diviner of some theft or other secret thing, or gain knowledge through the luck of dice, playing cards, books, sieve, or astrolabe, and he who enchants brute beasts, with words profane or sacred, with the observance of any vanity.
This book was later translated into Latin and published in France as: Martin de Azpilcueta, “Enchiridion sive Manuale Confessariorum et Poenitentium” (Paris, François Huby, 1620): c. XI, note 30 (p. 191). Thanks to Ross Caldwell for first finding this and to “Doctor Arcanus” for the Spanish original.
It should be noted that condemnation by the Church usually indicates that such deeds are rampant in the culture.
The 17th Century
1620 – Henry Cuffe and the Three Knaves
In 1620 John Melton recorded the following story in Astrologaster, or, The Figure Caster. It was repeated by William Rowland, in Judiciall astrologie, judicially condemned (London, 1652) and tells of Henry Cuffe, (1563-1601), secretary to the Earl of Essex, whose death was foretold by cards twenty years before it happened. Cuffe was executed in 1601, so the incident allegedly dates from 1581 when he would have been 18 years old:
“There was another Wizard (as it was reported to me by a learned and rare Scholler, as we were discoursing about Astrologie) that some twentie yeeres before his death told Cuffe our Countreyman, and a most excellent Graecian, that hee should come to an untimely end: at which, Cuffe laughed, and in a scoffing manner entreated the Astrologer to shew him in what manner he should come to his end: who condiscended to him, and calling for Cards, entreated Cuffe to draw out of the Packe three, which pleased him; who did so, and drew three Knaves: who (by the Wizards direction) layd them on the Table againe with their faces downewards, and then told him, if hee desired to see the summe of his bad fortunes reckoned up, to take up those Cards one after another, and looke on the inside of them, and he shluld be trouly resolved of his future fortunes. Cuffe did as he was prescribed, and first took up the first Card, and looking on it, he saw the true portraiture of himselfe Cape a Pe [head to foot], having men compassing him about with Bills and Halberds: then he tooke up the second Card, and there saw the Judge that sat upon him: at last, he tooke up the last Card, & saw Tyborne, the place of his Execution, & the Hangman, at which he then laughed heartily; but many yeres after, being condemned for Treason, he remembred the fatall Prediction of the Wizard, & before his death revealed it to some of his friends. If this be true, it was more then Astrology, and no better then flat Sorcery or Conjuring, which is divellish.” [John Melton, Astrologaster, or, The Figure Caster, p.42. Thanks to Michael J. Hurst.]
Edwin S. Taylor in The History of Playing Cards (1865), claimed the cards were the Devil, Justice and Hanged Man, but there is no justification for this in the original text, which refers to three Knaves (probably Jacks/Valets). Whether the incident actually occurred or not, the account shows that fortune-telling by cards was known in England by this time.
“The Allegory of Fortune” (mid-17th century)
“The Allegory of Fortune” by Lorenzo Lippi (1606-1665), from Florence Italy, now in the National Museum of Northern Ireland, Ulster, depicts Fortune as being dependent upon the vagaries of chance similar to that of a monkey (seen on the right) selecting playing cards. Fortune herself, dressed as a gypsy, gazes out at the viewer as if to say, “Do you dare take whatever my companion chooses to give you?” What seems almost certain is that the gypsy woman is an allusion to fortune-telling. Furthermore, fortune-tellers in Europe, Africa and Asia, even today, use trained animals, usually birds, to select cards that reveal a querent’s future.
1665 – The Lenthall Fortune-Telling Deck
A deck of 52 fortune-telling cards was originally designed by Dormann Newman and published by John Lenthall of The Talbot, Fleet Street, London, in 1665. (The cards below are from the 3rd edition of 1714, published in facsimile by Harry Margary, Lympne Castle, Kent in 1972.) Update: These appear to have also been published by James Moxon (either father or son), who were British engravers and map-makers as well as producing a whole variety of geographic and educational cards. These card appear identical with a deck they published as “Astrology Cards” in 1676 [trionfi.com].
Each suit was numbered I to XIII. Odd numbered cards had a sign of the zodiac on them; even numbered cards contained a list of thirteen numbered statements. The Kings had a series of questions one could ask. The court cards were given the names of famous people from myth and legend. According to the directions, “When any person is desirous to try their fortune, let them go to one of the four kings and choose what question they please.” This is followed by an elaborate procedure for determining the answer. The explanation ends, “The stars foretell, they love you well.”
Lenthall later published a set of Proverb cards.
17th century – German Proverb decks
Quite a few old German decks featuring proverbs and sayings that must have been used for obtaining advice and prognostication of how a situation would progress. The suits consist of Green Leaves (Spades), Red Hearts (Hearts), Yellow Bells (Diamonds) and Black Acorns (Clubs). Acorns (Clubs) are generally the worst suit, while the Green Leaves (Spades) are the best suit.
16th & 17th century – Witchcraft and Cards
Focusing on the 16-17th centuries are reports in Italy, Spain and Belgium of witchcraft using playing cards. Whether this included fortune-telling as we know it is unclear. See my post on this subject HERE. In addition to transcripts of court trials, one of the most conclusive pieces of evidence for the use of cards in ritual is from a painting by David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690), now lost but reproduced as an engraving in the 18th century. Here is a photograph from my visit to an exhibit on witchcraft engravings at the British Museum.
The 18th Century
1702 – Fortune Telling Cards for sale
Advertisement for a deck of “Fortune Telling Cards” in The Post Man and The Historical Account, London, Dec. 22, 1702:
1727 – Destiny in a Game of Picquet
A book called Whartoniana; or, Miscellanies, in verse and prose by members of the Wharton family (and several other persons of distinction) was translated from the French and published in 1727. (Edited by Edmund Curll and translated by Joseph Morgan). It contained a detailed account of a card game that resulted in a divination. In the Table of Contents the piece is titled “To the lovely PALLAS, Or the Game at Picquet.” [Thanks to Stephen J. Mangan, (aka Kwaw) at Aeclectic’s tarotforum for finding this.]
A few Days ago, I took it into my Head to make a Visit to the celebrated Theresius, in order to be informed of my Destiny. —Help thyself to a Seat, said he, my Friend, sit down, and give me thy Hand. He pored on it for a considerable while, cast a Figure, said not one Word, but ordered me to return the next Day. His Silence seemed to me very ominous, and to portend me no Good; yet I much rather chose to be at once acquainted with my ill Fortune, than to continue longer in a suspenceful Uncertainty. I therefore very importunately pressed him to let me know his Reason for giving me no Answer to my Quere. Still the old Cuff was mute, making no manner of Reply, but reaching a Pack of Cards, sat down by me, and challenged me to play a Game with him at Piquet; the which, heavy-hearted and out of Humour as I was, I could not, nay durst not well refuse.
Well.— We cut; he has the Hand; I deal; he takes five, and leaves me three.— I find in my Hand a Quint in Hearts, three Kings, three Knaves, the Queen of Diamonds, and three Spades which I discarded. A promising Game! Great Hopes! But, Morbleu! Not one Ace in the three Cards I took in!— Faith, Madam ; I beg your Pardon for swearing; but it was so cursedly provoking, that I cannot keep my Temper when ever I think of it.
Sixty five? says he.— Good.— A Quint to a Knave?— Equal.— He then spreads out upon the Table seven Diamonds. Sixty five are seven, says my Antagonist, very gravely; a Quatorze of Aces, fourteen more.— All good, cries I, with a deep Sigh.— Diamonds, says he, playing his Ace, twenty-two, and plays out all his Diamondsrunning.— Down went my Queen, accompanied with two Clubs and four Hearts.— He next plays his Ace of Clubs, and that quite confounds me; for, the most unluckily in the World, I had left my King unguarded. He redoubles upon me with the Ten of Clubs; I fling him a Spade. Next, upon his Ace of Hearts, I give my Knave, still depending upon saving the Lurch, scarce doubting of his having the Queen.— My King of Spades next falls a Victim to his Ace.— But, how was I Thunder-struck! How were all my Hopes blasted! The Devil a Bit of the Queen of Hearts had he, and poor Charles found himself Capoted.
I have won the Game, said he.— From hence learn thy Destiny. If you must love, pitch upon some Object that is more your Match: For if ever you attack the divine Pallas, you will infallibly be Lurched.— Adieu. Heaven take thee into it’s Protection: Thus we parted.
- Lurch – a decisive defeat in a game (especially in cribbage).
- Capote – to win all the tricks from an opponent in a game of piquet.
1729-50 – Dr. Flamstead’s and Mr. Patridge’s New Fortune-Book containing . . . Their new-invented method of knowing one’s fortune by a pack of cards (in various editions).
I found the source of the card fortune-telling verses quoted below in John Brand’s Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain (1777). They are from Dr. Flamstead’s and Mr. Patridge’s New Fortune-Book containing . . . Their new-invented method of knowing one’s fortune by a pack of cards. Read about it here.
1730 – Playing Card Divination in the early 18th century London Theatre
Read the earliest example of an actual card reading from a 1730 London play, Jack the Gyant-Killer – HERE, in which it is said that divination with cards is a newly-invented art. And what does this all have to do with a young Ben Franklin and Henry Fielding (author of the classic, Tom Jones, and founder of the first municipal police force, the Bow Street Runners) being led astray by one, A. Primcock? Note that despite the simplicity of the card reading method in the Flamstead and Patridge book, the play describes a technique that became the standard, still used today. The cards are spread in rows—probably 6 rows of 9 cards, except only 7 in the bottom row, as described in the 1791/3 book mentioned below.
1734 – On a Young Lady’s telling a Gentleman his FORTUNE on a Pack of CARDS
from The Gentleman’s Magazine, or The Monthly Intelligencer, October, 1734 we find this delightful little poem that seems to be addressed to one Mrs. Anna M**** of Doncaster. While it may simply be a poem, by addressing a specific woman, it seems more as if he wants to remind her of a fond tryst. It goes:
In mystick leaves, while Anna* deals my fate,
And gives me joys of wedlock, wealth, and
Her wit and beauty, innocence and art, [state:
Ravish my soul, and rob me of my heart:
My hopes and bliss in her alone remain,
I scorn the world my Sybil to obtain.
Cassandra thus the fate of Troy fore-shew’d.
And raging flames her flying words pursu’d.
*Mrs Anna M**** Doncaster.
1735 – Gypsy Cartomancy – a Hoax!
The Square of Sevens, and the Parallelogram: An Authoritative Method of Cartomancy with a Prefatory Note is a literary hoax. Said to be originally written by one Robert Antrobus and published in 1735, it was then edited by E. Irenaeus Stevenson and republished by Harper & Brothers, NY, in 1896. Read all about Ross Caldwell’s literary detective work showing that this book is a 19th century hoax – here.
1738 – Divination in Holland
In 1738, Antoine de La Barre de Beaumarchais writes about divination in Holland:
“That kind of divination is not the only one that still persists in Holland, despite its inhabitants common sense. Pyromancie and Ooscopy, or to speak in a more casual way, the art of guessing by watching a flame, burning coal, sparkles, eggs in a glass, are still commonly used in some part of Holland. The fortuitous disposition of a playing card deck, open and arranged in four or five lines, is another way to tell the future, not despised by certain ladies from this country. It is true that some of them pretend consulting the so-called witches for the sake of distraction. But one would think the exact opposite, seeing how they await with an attentive and worried attitude these women answers, and how they manifest their joy by the sudden serenity on their faces, when those Oracles are favorable.”
(Contributed by Bertrand—see comments.)
17??-1750 – Pratesi’s Bolognese Tarocchi
A manuscript written prior to 1750 was discovered by Italian playing card scholar, Franco Pratesi in the late 1980s. It lists cartomantic interpretations for 35 Bolognese tarocchi cards along with a rudimentary method of laying them out. A sheet of 35 Bolognese cards (trumps and number cards) are labeled with simple divinatory meanings such as “journey,” “betrayal,” “married man,” “love.” A later deck of double-headed Bolognese cards from the 1820’s are labeled both top and bottom with similar divinatory meanings, showing a continuity of use. A comparison of four variations on Bolognese divinatory meanings can be found here.
1750 Sketchley’s Conversation Cards and “The Complete Fortune Teller,” along with an advertisement for these cards from The Virginia Gazette of 1775.
So, to this set of cards was added “The Complete Fortune Teller” – a standard book of the time. As it turns out, James Sketchley was a British publisher who produced, from at least 1750 in England, the “Conversation Cards” as an educational game for children. In addition, he was an ardent Freemason of whom it was said:
“A man, who, if Masonry e’er was the theme
His bosom with Rapture would glow and expand.”
Thanks to Andrew McGregor who obtained a photo of these cards for me from the Toronto Public Library Osborne Collection.
mid-18th century – Cagliostro Reads the Cards
A watercolor by Johann Eleazar Zeissig (called Schenau), mislabeled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as “Two Women and Three Men Playing Cards.” Cagliostro is identified, in French, on the reverse of the picture, but not acknowledged in the description of the work. He appears to be doing a card reading for a group of nobles. Cagliostro points to the Ace of Hearts or Diamonds (probably Hearts!) that the woman in the foreground is showing to him. Note how his “oriental” robe contrasts with their clothes and his cap is a type worn by those in the “arts.” A later print in a book by Julia Orsini repeats the claim that Cagliostro read cards (see below).
1755 – The Card
In 1755 we find a rambling novel in two volumes, The Card by John Kidgell (London: Printed for the Maker and sold by J. Newberry, 1755), that is famous as the first reference to a game of “baseball.” It is notable to us because of the frontispiece that features a large engraving of the Jack (or Knave) of Clubs, accompanied by a detailed commentary on its symbolism. I haven’t been able to find an online copy of the book to discover the role this figure plays in the text, but I would imagine it serves as Significator of the main character of the novel. It shows the kind of symbolism we tend to look for in cards when ‘reading’ them. Usually associated with Lancelot, this Jack also has a reputation as the scoundrel of the pack. The text explains:
“The grand figure represents a human Creature. The Dart in his right Hand intimates Cruelty; the black Spot on the left denotes Artifice and Disguise; the yellow in his Raiment is a Sign of Jealousy, and the red of Anger; the Flower at his feet betokens Vivacity of Genius and the Feature in his Cap bespeaks Promotion.”
1762/3 – The Vicar of Wakefield – “A very pretty manner of telling fortunes”
In 1762-3 Oliver Goldsmith writes his novel The Vicar of Wakefield in which we find that reading cards can be an admirable accomplishment in a young woman:
And I will be bold to say my two girls have had a pretty good education, and capacity, at least the country can’t shew better. They can read, write, and cast accompts; they understand their needle, breadstitch, cross and change, and all manner of plain-work; they can pink, point, and frill; and know something of music; they can do up small cloaths, work upon catgut; my eldest can cut paper, and my youngest has a very pretty manner of telling fortunes upon the cards.’ [in Chapter 11]
1765 – The Oracle, a pack of cards
An advertisement for an “The Oracle, a pack of Cards” from The Public Advertiser, London, May 17, 1765:
This may be the deck that is pictured here on Simon Wintle’s excellent website.
1765 – Zaïre, Casanova’s Russian mistress
The famous lover, Jacques Casanova, recounts in his memoires that in 1765 his then 13-year-old Russian peasant mistress would read the cards every day—laying them out in a square of twenty-five cards. As he describes it:
Without her desperate jealousy, without her blind trust in the infallibility of the cards, which she consulted ten times a day, this Zaïre would have been a marvellous woman and I would never have left her.
To convince me of my crime, she shows me a square of twenty-five cards wherein she makes me read all the debaucheries that had kept me out all night long. She shows me the tart, the bed, the love-play and even my unnatural acts. I didn’t see anything at all, but she imagined that she saw everything. After letting her say, without interruption, everything that might serve to assuage her jealousy and rage, I took her grimoire [the deck of cards] and threw it into the fire.
(From The Complete Memoires of Casanova by Jacques Casanova, Chapter CXVII. This translation by Ross Caldwell.) The painting entitled Fortunetelling (1842) is by Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov (1780-1847) and is in The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.
Patience/Solitaire/Kabale
Casanova was one of the first to mention the card game solitaire or patience. Other names for these games suggest an origin in fortune-telling. In France, it was known as réussite (“success”), explained in Littré as “a combination of cards [by] which superstitious persons try . . . to divine the success of an undertaking, a vow, etc.” From at least 1783, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic solitaire was called kabal(e), or “secret knowledge,” a term reserved in Polish specifically for fortune-telling with cards. For more, visit David Parlett’s “History of Patience/Solitaire”.
1770 – Goethe has his cards read
In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s autobiography Dichtung und Wahrheit (“Poetry and Truth”), he recounts that in 1770, when he was 20 years old, he took dancing classes in Strassburg from a Frenchman with two daughters who had both become enamored of him. He cared only for the younger. The girls brought an elderly fortune-teller to the house who agree to read the cards for all three. She began with the older girl:
“She carefully observed the positions of the cards, but then seemed to falter and be reluctant to speak — “I understand,” said the younger girl, who had already become better acquainted with interpreting this magical board. ‘You are hesitating because you do not want to reveal anything unpleasant to my sister, but that card is cursed!’” (The cards revealed that the older girl loved and was not loved in turn.)
“‘Let us see if it will get better,’ replied the old woman, shuffling the cards and laying them out a second time; but it had only grown worse, as we could all plainly see. The fair one’s card was not only more isolated, but was surrounded with many troubles; her friend had moved somewhat farther away and the intermediate figures had come closer.”
With uncontrolled weeping the older girl fled the room. Goethe couldn’t stand to be present while his cards were read, so he went home. When he returned the next day, the younger sister told him,
“I had the cards laid out for you, and the same verdict was repeated three times, always more emphatically. Your card was surrounded by all sorts of good and pleasant things, by friends and men of importance, and money was not lacking. The women kept themselves at some distance. My poor sister, especially, was always the one farthest away; another girl kept moving closer to you but never came to your side, for a third person, a man, placed himself in the way. I shall have to admit to you that I imagined myself to be the second lady, and after this confession you will best be able to understand my well meant advice. I have pledged my heart and hand to an absent friend, and up to now I have loved him better than anyone else. But possibly your presence would grow to mean more to me than before, and just imagine the difficult position in which you would be between two sisters, one of whom you had made unhappy with your affection, and the other with your coldness, and all this misery would be for nothing and for the sake of a short time. For if we had not already known who you are and what your prospects are, the cards would have set it before my eyes very plainly.”
There ensued a jealous scene with the older sister, and Goethe left, to never see them again. (Thanks to Christian Joachim Hartmann for finding this.)
1770 – Paris: Etteilla, and “Illusive Enjoyments of the Mind”
It was around 1750 that the print-seller and teacher of algebra (i.e., numerology), Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette 1738 – 1791), said he learned the art of telling fortunes with playing cards from three cartomancers, one of whom came from Piedmont in northern Italy. In 1770 he published his own book on fortune-telling with cards, Etteilla, ou manière de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes, for which he coined the term cartonomancie (which became cartomancy). Learn more about Etteilla’s tarot here.
Soon after Etteilla published his book on fortune-telling with playing cards, numerous decks appeared utilizing his system. He followed up with a several books on the Tarot and a Tarot deck. Here is an early miniature “Petit Etteilla” deck from my own collection:
But, as we’ve seen, Etteilla was not really the first to write on the subject. In Germany we find a general Cartomancy text in German (1769): Abhandlung der Physiognomie, Metoposcopie und Chiromantie by Christian A. Peuschel (thanks to Huck).
1777 – From an old English chapbook
John Brand in his 1777 book, Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain, quoted from “an old chap book” what he called “curious lines on divination by drawing cards,” the source of which I’ve now found here. Example:
This noble king of diamonds shews
Thou long shalt live where pleasure flows;
But when a woman draws the king,
Great melancholy songs she’ll sing.
1781/89 – Antoine Court, Le Comte de Mellet and Etteilla
The 8th volume of the encyclopedia Le Monde primitif (“The Ancient World”) by Antoine Court de Gébelin (1725-1784) appears in 1781, claiming an Egyptian origin for Tarot as a book of wisdom. Antoine Court was a friend of Ben Franklin and James Madison who, along with the French King, subscribed to this encyclopedia; Court would die during a medical treatment with Antoine Mesmer (father of hypnotism). The volume includes an essay by le Comte de M*** [Mellet] that explains how to use the cards for divination. De Gébelin says there are 22 Trumps just as there are 22 Hebrew letters; Le Comte de Mellet tells us they correspond to The World as aleph, continuing in reverse order through the cards. It is Le Comte de Mellet also who first calls the suit of coins “talismans” (pantacles), which is later developed by Éliphas Lévi (circa 1865) and used by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn as the suit of Pentacles. The following year Etteilla applies to the censors to publish his own book on the Tarot but is refused until 1783 when he publishes his Manière de se ré créer avec le Jeu de Cartes nommées Tarots (“A way to entertain oneself with the pack of cards called Tarots”), which he follows up with three more volumes and a deck (1789). These works forge the route for Tarot to officially enter the world of occult mysteries and divination. Read some interesting speculations regarding early occult and philosophical uses of the cards HERE.
1791 – Every Lady’s Own Fortune Teller
By 1791 we find that the standard fortune telling chapbook has been expanded by a chapter called “Of Card Tossing.” Here are found explicit instructions for reading playing cards, along with a detailed sample reading laid out in 6 rows of 9 cards, with 7 cards in the final row (this edition from 1793, and later editions published with different titles). This is, perhaps, the earliest example in English of instructions that are still roughly current today. There’s also a brief description of coffee-ground reading.
c. 1790s – “The Fortune-Teller” (n.d.) by French artist Martin Drolling (1752-1817)
Napoleon’s soldiers and their families seek reassurances about what is coming next in their lives.
1790 to mid 19th century – The Career of Mlle. Lenormand
Around 1790 Marie-Ann-Adélaïde Lenormand (1772-1843) arrived in Paris saying she had learned to read the cards from gypsies (read about her here). With Etteilla’s several books on the subject and the dozen or so self-promoting works by Lenormand and several decks falsely ascribed to her, divination with playing cards became known to the world. She used a variety of divination tools as well as reading palms and some astrology and numerology. It is said that her table was covered with many different packs of cards including Tarot (probably the Etteilla deck) and that she would randomly pull cards from among the different decks as she spoke. Picture on right: A young Mlle. Lenormand reading for Napoleon— talk about pressure on the job! In actuality she read for Josephine but it is doubtful that she ever read for Napoleon.
1796 – Tawny Rachel
Tawny Rachel, or The Fortune Teller; With some Accounts of Dreams, Omens and Conjurers was a chapbook published in London in 1796. It tells the story of Rachel, a seeming “sun-burnt oracle of wisdom” who was actually a skilled con-artist (unfortunately they do exist).
She used a variety of methods of fortune-telling from reading moles to dreams to the disposition of plants. Having found a gullible young girl who was eager to find a husband, Rachel explains:
“If you cross my hand with a piece of silver I will tell you your fortune. By the power of my art I can do this three ways; by cards, by the lines of your hand, or by turning a cup of tea-grounds: which will you have?”
Unfortunately there is no account of her reading the cards. Eventually she is arrested, found guilty and sent to Botany Bay:
“And a happy day it was for the county of Somerset, when such a nuisance was sent out of it.”
The author thought it was his duty
“to print this little history as a kind of warning to all you young men and maidens not to have any thing to say to cheats, impostors, cunning women, fortune-tellers, conjurers, and interpreters of dreams.” [He continues,] “Listen to me, your true friend, when I assure you that God never reveals to weak and wicked women those secret designs of his Providence, which no human wisdom is able to foresee.”
1794/6 – Viennese Coffee-Grounds and Cards
Meanwhile, in Vienna, in 1794, there appeared a deck of fortune-telling cards and book based on images commonly described as found in coffee-ground fortune-telling. With the advent of coffee to Europe and coffee-houses springing up starting around 1650, came the huge growth of coffee-house culture throughout Europe during the 18th century. Simultaneously a Turkish custom of fortune-telling by reading the images in coffee-grounds emerged (only later was this applied to tea-leaves). Lists of these images are first recorded in mid-18th century Germany, with the earliest detailed description being this Viennese book and deck. We know of it only through an English translation of 1796 that is found in the British Museum (see also my post about them here).
1798/9 – Das Spiel der Hoffnung (“The Game of Hope”)
In 1798-9, a young German game designer, Johann Kaspar Hechtel (1771-1799), in Nuremberg, designed a 36-card multi-purpose game featuring simple images (Dog, House, Mice, Anchor) that are nearly identical to 30 of the the Viennese Coffee-Cards. Hechtel’s 36 cards for his Der Spiel die Hoffnung (“Game of Hope”) were inset with playing cards – a common German-suited deck on the top left and French-suited deck on the top-right for playing regular card games. The game described was played by laying out the cards in a square of 6 cards-by-6 cards with instructions for a race-game similar to the Game of Goose or Snakes-and-Ladders. At the end of the instructions, Hechtel mentions that these cards can also be used for fortune-telling (with the assumption that everyone knew how). While French and English playing card meanings have no relevancy to the images, it turns out that there is an entirely separate tradition of German Wahrsagekarten (“Fortune Telling Cards”) featuring suits of Leaves, Hearts, Bells and Acorns whose meanings do accord with the Game of Hope cards (see a discussion here). The card to the right is the Jack of Clubs (Knave of Acorns), called “The Birchrod” meaning disputes (see the same Coffee-card image just above).
The 19th Century
Early 19th century – Costumes of Foreign People (French deck)
A 54-card deck, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dated to 1700-1799 and described in French as: ‘Composées de tous les Costumes des peuples / étrangers avec de jolies devises et bons mots. / dediées aux Jeunes Gens’; ‘Je me fixe a la plus belle / Imitez moi.’ (“Featuring all forms of dress of foreign peoples, with many fine sayings and proverbs. Intended for children. ‘I set my sights on Beauty: Do as I do!’”) Each card contains a picture featuring people dressed in the clothing from foreign countries (identified at bottom). Near the top are numbers (for a lottery or game?) and some have a day of the week. The Aces feature traditional images found in cartomancy decks. On the bottom right is an upside-down playing card inset above which is a meaning associated with it by Etteilla. Around the sides are short sayings and advice. It appears to be a multi-purpose game that can also be used for advice or fortune-telling. These are probably more accurately dated to the early 1800s based on the English clothing style.
1803 – Many a Fine Lady . . .
The popularity of cartomancy in France is attested to in 1803 by Francis W. Blagdon in Paris As It Was and As It Is:
Much about that period, 1572, there were reckoned, in Paris alone, no less than thirty thousand astrologers. At the present day, the ambulating magicians frequent the Old Boulevards, and there tell fortunes for three or four sous; while those persons that value science according to the price set on it, disdaining these two-penny conjurers, repair to fortune-tellers of a superior class, who take from three to six francs, and more, when the opportunity offers….
“The Fortune Teller” (circa 1869) by French artist Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870)
Formerly, none but courtesans here drew the cards; now, almost every female, without exception, has recourse to them. Many a fine lady even conceives herself to be sufficiently mistress of the art to tell her own fortune; and some think they are so skilled in reading futurity in the cards, that they dare not venture to draw them for themselves, for fear of discovering some untoward event.
This rage of astrology and fortune-telling is a disease which peculiarly affects weak intellects, ruled by ignorance, or afflicted by adversity. In the future, such persons seek a mitigation of the present; and the illusive enjoyments of the mind make them almost forget the real sufferings of the body.
1820 – Les Jeunes Femmes
A description of fortune-telling with cards by a maid for her lady was translated into English from Les Jeunes Femmes, of M. Bouilly and published in Belle Assemblee: Or, Court and Fashionable Magazine in 1820. In this work, Madame de Saucerre wishes to discover her husband’s activities on the previous night. What is revealed is another matter altogether. Read this story and learn the truth discovered here.
1830 – German Fortune-Telling Cards
We previously saw German cards with mottos or sayings on them. By 1830 a 32-card deck was published in Munich by Franz Josef Holler (made by Comptoir Industry of Leipzig), with fortune-telling meanings printed on them. This deck falls right between the 1799 Spiel der Hoffnüng game (the direct forerunner of the Lenormand cards) that is illustrated with both German and French playing cards, and the nearly identical 1846 German fortune-telling deck named after Mlle. Lenormand. In both decks, for instance, the 10 of Clubs (Acorns) features a picture of a Bear and has a meaning of “envy.” (See my post on the Lenormand playing card inserts HERE.)
1836 & ’38 – American Cartomancers
Extending back to the late 18th century, American newspapers report on fortune tellers using cards but usually only when they’ve been arrested for fraud. Here’s the earliest description I can find of professional readers in America—from The Burlington Weekly Free Press, Burlington, Vermont, July 1, 1836:
“Fortune Telling.—The Baltimore Transcript states that there are in that city no less than twelve professors of the art of divination or fortune telling. Most of them perform their incantations by the use of cards; but one old woman, wiser or more gifted than the others, pretends to delve into the mysteries of futurity by looking into an empty junk bottle! Strange as it may seem, the patrons of these vagabonds in the “Monumental city” are not confined to the low and vulgar. Some very genteel, respectable people—particularly ladies—run after these impudent imposters, to inquire after their future fate—as though “a tall, and mean, and meagre hag” knew more of the “shadows of coming events” than the beautiful and fascinating creatures whose bright eyes might if they would pierce into futurity even though it were a nether millstone.—Silly creatures! if they believe the predictions of these hags, they stand at least an even chance of making themselves miserable for life; if they do not, they certainly carry their time and money to a very bad market.”
The Public Ledger (Philadelphia) for January 10, 1838 carries this ad:
1838 – Julia Orsini
Julia Orsini wrote a book on reading with the Etteilla cards. In Le Grand Etteilla, ou l’art de tirer les cartes (Paris, 1838) containing a rare etching of a man reading the cards, identified as the scondrel, con-artist Count Cagliostro (1743-1795) who was made much of in Masonic circles.
1840/1853 – Rossetti’s Femme Fatale
Read about the poem, “The Card Dealer” (1853), that Dante Gabriel Rossetti wrote to Theodore von Holst’s painting “The Fortune-Teller” (1840) – here.
1846 – Petit Lenormand Deck
Upon the death of Mlle. Lenormand in 1843, as was the tradition, publishers began publishing Lenormand decks and books that had nothing to do with the original person. In France a 52-card Grand Jeu Lenormand deck was produced with designs taken from myth, constellations and flower oracles.
In 1846 in Coblenz, Germany we find the first Petit Lenormand – a 36 card deck (see cards below). It featured the same set of images found in the Spiel der Hoffnung, but with only the French-suited playing card inset. The sheet of instructions and card meanings, signed by a fictitious “Philippe, heir to Mlle. Lenormand” were nearly identical to the coffee-ground meanings and reading technique detailed in the Viennese Coffee-Card book (see above). The deck was soon produced by multiple publishers in Germany, Belgium, Sweden and the United States (where they were called, among other names, “Madam Morrow’s Fortune-Telling Cards). The earliest U.S. publications, found in Chicago and New York had bi-lingual German and American instruction sheets. Today these cards are experiencing a huge resurgence in interest.
Soon after, a wide variety of fortune-telling decks began appearing, usually called Sybilla or Gypsy decks, with a varying number of cards and images. Despite the emergence of dozens of fortune-telling decks, paintings and prints of cartomancers up until the late 20th century almost universally show only standard playing cards.
1863 – Chambers’ Book of Days
In 1863, Robert Chambers, with his Book of Days, published a two volume “miscellany of popular antiquities” organized around the calendar year. For February 21st, he includes an article on English cartomancy called “The Folklore of Playing Cards” (illustrated with the picture below). In it he gives the card meanings he was taught as a child when struck by illness in a foreign land. (Read the whole article here—you need to scroll down a ways.)
The English system is used in all British settlements over the globe, and has no doubt been carried thither by soldiers’ wives, who, as is well known to the initiated, have ever been considered peculiarly skilful practitioners of the art. Indeed, it is to a soldier’s wife that this present exposition of the art is to be attributed. Many years ago . . . the writer, then a puny but not very young child, [was] left for many months in charge of a private soldier’s wife, at an out-station in a distant land. . . . She was too ignorant to teach her charge to read, yet she taught him the only accomplishment she possessed,—the art of ‘cutting cards,’ as she termed it: the word cartomancy, in all probability, she had never heard.
The above engraving that illustrated Chambers’ article first appeared in the Magasin Pittoresque in 1842 (according to Detleff Hoffmann). It loosely reproduces a painting by Lucas van Leyden that was later named The Fortune Teller (c. 1508) though it may actually commemorate a political negotiation mediated by Margaretha of Austria (see painting near the beginning of this post). Chambers’ meanings were used by A.E. Waite when he wrote his compendium on fortune-telling as “Grand Orient.” They appear almost intact in the supplemental meanings for the Lesser Arcana given in Waite’s Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910).
End of the 19th century
By the end of the 19th century we find all kinds of new fortune-telling decks springing up, including the Kipper Cards in 1873 (published by Matthias Seidlein and said to be created by a Frau Kipper), and various “Gypsy” and “Sybilla” decks each with their own emphasis on certain aspects of a daily life. Tarot was taking a huge leap forward as esoteric societies rushed to design occult decks and write books influenced by Antoine Court de Gébelin, Etteilla and Eliphas Lévi. The Tarot details are found in other posts and books.
To Sum It Up
Never as ubiquitous as dice, palmistry or astrology, divination with cards goes back to at least the 16th century and probably earlier, though the form may not have been what we now call cartomancy, which emerged more recognizably in the 18th century. We can see from all the above that historically card divination was practiced mostly by illiterate gypsies, courtesans, soldier’s wives and old women, and by literate young women for whom it was a parlour game. It was largely scorned by men and more often officially ignored by legislation, until the stakes got higher. With the exception of Madame Lenormand’s fame, it wasn’t until a few men deemed the art worth mentioning and the decks or books worth writing that it was really acknowledged. Still, it was not to be taken too seriously and generally kept to the confines of frivolous social entertainment, yet all the while there was an underground of mostly older women who made a good, if precarious, living out of various forms of divination. (Out of more than 400 pre-1900 pictures I’ve found of cartomancers less than a dozen have been of male readers and most of them are making fun of the practice.) A. E. Waite integrated Chambers’ soldier’s wives card meanings into many of his Minor Arcana tarot interpretations, where they are still in use today.
“Die Kartenlegerin” (1880) by Swiss artist Albert Anker
Maccari, The Fortune Teller
See more paintings of nineteenth century cartomancers here.
Additional Links
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Fortune Teller by Mikhail Vrubel, 1895
Watch the 45 minute History Channel TV special on “Secrets of the Playing Card.”
- The best source on the history of playing cards is The World of Playing Cards.
- See especially Ross Caldwell’s presentation on playing cards (including Tarot) in divination and magic for the International Playing Card Society, September, 2006 – here, and his more recent report on references in Spanish documents here. I want to thank Ross for his historical professionalism and dedication to setting the story straight with concrete evidence.
- An account of cartomancy that draws from Chambers: The Gaming Table: its Votaries and Victims, Vol. II (1870) by Andrew Steinmetz – here. A set of modern playing card meanings can be found here. Seaqueen’s examples of cartomancy readings with a wide variety of decks are here.
Updates:
2/1/2015: Lots of 17th and 18th century material added, including photos, a 1791/3 book on “card tossing,” and more information on the card and coffee-ground reading from 1730.
2/1/2014: Information on the Mamluk cards inscriptions below comes from The World of Playing Cards website. A few notes added on the Grand and Petit Lenormand decks.
5/2011: There are a scattering of references to cards and their use in “lots” (sortes) or fortune-telling from the 15th century on, including analogies between the four suits and characteristics such as the virtues and the elements. Recently Ross Caldwell discovered a treasure-trove of Spanish references that he describes here. He notes: “The main points to be taken from the recent discoveries are that, in Spain at least, there were professional cartomancers in the 17th century, and they used layouts with multiple cards and positional significations.” Follow the trail of evidence below (and add to it Ross’s recent contributions) to see the development of divination with cards.
Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the world of tarot and cartomancy, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and materials on other cartomancy decks. Sorry, I no longer write reviews. Contact me
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