On this page you will find all the information about carthomania that you need to understand it, from its origins and history to how it works and the different types of carthomania that exist and can be found all over the world.
In addition, you can also find several very useful tips on how the card game works and the different processes to be followed in detail to practice the card game correctly and reliably, such as how to read the different reels correctly and how to clean the energy from the cards once they have been used.
What is card reading?
Card reading is a word that comes from the union of two parts, the cart (which refers to the cardboard or cards) and the mancia (which refers to any type of divination, whether with cards, coins or by any other means).
Therefore, when we talk about cardomania, we are talking about any kind of divination that is done with any type of card or deck of cards, or that can also be done by other similar means, that is, even if it is not necessarily a deck of cards, this divination is done by means of pieces of cardboard or cards (there are other methods that are puzzle-like and that, even if they are not necessarily decks of cards, are also part of cardomania).
In summary, therefore, we can say that clairvoyance is a form of supposed divination, omen or prediction of the future through a deck of cards or other types of cards such as tarot. The most common forms or variants of Carthomania are the 78-card tarot, the Spanish deck of cards and the 36-card Little Lenormand.
History of Carthomania
The history of fortune-telling cards begins with the invention of playing cards in China in the 7th century. These cards, derived from dice, were only used for play, then later for oracles and finally for cardomancy.
At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries, playing cards appeared in Europe where they met with strong opposition from the Church, which saw them as "the devil's work". But the cards are known to the aristocracy, and are then accepted in the salons of the West.
It is only a matter of time before playing cards are used for divinatory purposes. It was the nomadic peoples of the East who practised card-carding and imported them from the East to Europe.
However, it was the Parisian salons of the 18th century that brought fortune-telling into society, where famous fortune-tellers such as Antoine Court (his artist name was Antoine de Gébelin) or Marie-Anne Lenormand (known as the Sybille of Paris) had their entrance. Marie-Anne Lenormand, whose letters bear her name, is the most famous clairvoyant of all time. Her clientele included such illustrious figures as Marat and Robespierre, Napoleon, Empress Josephine and even the Tsar of Russia, Alexander I. It was when he predicted the death of Marat and Robespierre and the fall of Napoleon that his reputation and destiny grew.
How does fortune-telling work?
Traditional card reading begins when the fortune teller shuffles the cards, places them on the table in a certain way, an act popularly known as "throwing the cards" and interprets them according to the doubts or questions formulated by the person assisting him, according to his astronomical vision and knowledge and the meaning of each card. Contrary to popular belief, it is the person who chooses the cards who consults, so it is important that the user focuses on them and on the questions for which he wants answers.
In short, to consult a medium is to receive advice through the cards to solve various problems or doubts, based on the own energies of the people who transmit them to the game. The interpretation of the "game" will only reveal what is inside the cards, but which at that moment cannot be seen without the help of the expert clairvoyant, who is the one who reads the cards.
This interpretation is very important and can vary considerably depending on the knowledge of the clairvoyant and the mode of carthomania used. In tarot, for example, there are multiple systems for "throwing" cards, the most common being the Italian way, the great star, the cross of Saint Andrew, the Flemish, the great pyramid and the enchanted circle.
Tips for reading cards
There are different ways of reading the letters or interpreting their meaning. Nevertheless, in all formats, the basic element will be to understand the meaning of each of the cards in the game we use. In this section, you will find different tips to help you read tarot cards correctly.
- Buy a good book. A well-written book that helps you understand the basics of Tarot and read the cards correctly will be extremely useful in your beginnings as a Tarot interpreter. Some will take you through a process that focuses on memory and others on practice. Choose the book that best suits your learning style.
- Transfer your energy to the deck. The best way to do this is to hold the cards. Shuffle the cards again and again and sort them. Holding the cards helps them become an extension of you. It is also important to focus on the question or answer you want to get and try to find out when this connection between you and the game occurred.
- Don't cross your feet, hands, fingers, etc. This is a very important element to take into account because when we cross certain members of the body, we also cross our polarity and this can also change our energy and therefore the energy that we transmit to the game and we can create a kind of short circuit so that the throw would not be valid or the interpretation and reading of the cards would be more difficult. You should also try not to let the consultant do this because the effect can be the same or similar.
- It creates a calm and serene environment. It is important that when throwing the cards, we can be calm and relaxed to leave the mind empty and capture the energy of the game. You can create this atmosphere by dimming the lights, using candles and also relaxing incense. The most important thing is to avoid any interruption during the rotation.
- Clean the cards well. It is important that the cards are well cleaned before we start playing them, which means that we must clean them from the previous rolls as these could interfere in the following ones. It is not necessary to do a deep cleaning, but it is necessary to do the maintenance, since it is assumed that the deep cleaning has been done a few days or weeks before. On this page we will also give you tips on how to clean the cards.
How to clean the cards?
As we have already mentioned, it is important that the cards and the deck of cards are clean, otherwise it could interfere with reading. To clean the tarot cards, we have several means at our disposal, there is no single way, so you can choose the one that gives you the best results.
These are the most popular and well-known ways to clean cards:
- Put the cards in the bag. This is the easiest and most comfortable method. It consists of doing the same thing, putting the cards next to the quartz or carnelian stones and leaving them overnight. The stones will absorb any hint of negativity as they release the cards.
- Pour salt on the cards. This method is a bit more expensive because you have to put them face up, spread them out on the table and pour the salt on them. Also, if you want it to be more effective, you can also place the quartz stones on the cards. Like the previous method, you must leave them overnight.
- Pass the cards through candles or incense. Between the cards, you can light the cards together or one by one, using incense or the heat of candles. If the previous roll has had a lot of energy, it is advisable to pass the cards one by one, or at least in small groups.
- Clean the cards with the 4 elements. This is the most traditional way to clean tarot cards, and one of the most efficient but also the most expensive and slowest. We pass the entire deck, or card by card, through the air element represented by incense, the earth element represented by earth, the water element represented by water and the fire element represented by a lit candle. In any case, they must be carried out with the will to want to clean them, to want to discharge all the negativity they have accumulated during the sessions. If you don't do it this way, it won't work, we release the energy, and it is fought with more energy and the sincere will to want to do it.
