Since ancient times man has strived to search out the unknown. His pursuit of knowledge of the future has led to the creation of many different methods of fortune telling such as astrology, numerology, palmistry etc. Card Reading or Cartomancy, as it is also known, is one such method that can also claim to have helped penetrate into the mysteries of fate from ancient times to the modern day. It is impossible to trace the prehistoric beginnings of cardlore, as divination by the cards is of great antiquity. One theory holds that Europe obtained the cards from the East, notably India and China. Another theory separates the cards of the West entirely from those of the East and holds that Western cards were originally made in Europe around the fourteenth century.

The earliest cards found in Europe were the Tarot. These symbolical, numerical cards, forming a pack of 78 cards are the immediate predecessors of our own modern day playing cards. Divination by these cards is credited mainly to the Jewish astrologer and cabbalist, Jacque Gringonneur. The Tarots helped the earliest catromancers develop their art, later on in Spain, Italy and France methods of cartomancy requiring only 32 and 52 cards were developed, while the remaining cards were discarded.

The word Tarot is believed to have been derived from tarotee, meaning cross, in reference to the diagonally crossed lines on the rear of the cards. The advent of numerical representation saw the evolution of card games such as Tarochi or Triumphs as it is also known. Just like contemporary playing cards the Tarot pack also consists of four suits, namely Cups, Wands, Swords and Pentacles. Today there are many variants of the Tarot pack, some with upto 97 cards. Though one does suspect that some may also be the invention of todays marketing geniuses, trying to satisfy the ever growing demands of the consumer, not to mention profit hungry corporate bosses.

Divination by the 32 card pack is just as accurate as the Tarot Pack, owing to their common ancestry, though Tarot readings maybe somewhat more detailed. There are many methods of divination using the 32 card pack, however they are mostly similar in character. Though their layouts are easier to learn than those of the Tarots, the 32 card pack never gained mass appeal. As up till now ordinary numerical cards had been used for this purpose and as one card can have up to eight different meanings depending on its position, deciphering readings was a tedious and difficult business. Thus this method only remained the preserve of accomplished Cartomancers. However, today modern printing allows not only the meanings of the cards to be printed on the card face, but also pictorial descriptions. This makes the cards easy to read and self explanatory. The pack of 32 has three simple layouts, well suited to those untrained in the art of Cartomancy. For instance, a sample pack may use the following procedure:

In the first layout the enquirers question is answered by randomly selecting 13 cards from the pack. The enquirer can solicit more information on any five of the 13 selected cards by choosing five more cards from the remaining pile. This form of divination is carried one step further and the thoughts and desires, the household and the fate in general of the enquirer are read from the eighteen selected cards. The third layout is perhaps the most interesting and allows the enquirer to know if a particular wish or desire will be realised in the future, simply by shuffling the cards and laying out nine cards in a particular spread.

Now to practical experiences: Mrs.G has been using the Power Fortunes pack for sometime now and reads the cards frequently. Recently, for example, she kept getting Man in Uniform and at the time there was no connection, but much to her surprise an old acquaintance from the armed forces, who she had not been in contact with for sometime, called to see her, quite unexpectedly. Although this person lived more than 1500 miles away.

Ms Haindl in London, England has also been using the Power Fortunes Pack for sometime. In the spring of this year the cards repeatedly predicted upheavals along with the Ten of Clubs, meaning Change of Occupation. Sometime later, she left her job under trying circumstances, but almost immediately found a more prestigious and lucrative position elsewhere.

Mrs.G did a reading for a friend, who picked up 4 Kings, which represents, Honors, Promotions and Wealth. Such a condition seemed too remote for friend or family, but suddenly there was an upheaval in her friends husbands job and much to their surprise this is exactly what happened.

Reason tell us that cards are merely printed pieces of cardboard. It would be quite absurd for us to expect them to convey anything intelligible, let alone the future. However, all those who come into contact with the cards discover an inexplicable pattern, relevant to their lives. In fact, so uncanny are these revelations, that their accuracy cannot be explained away as a matter of sheer chance. It is for this reason that people have consulted the cards since ancient times, while the cards have in turn faithfully guided their masters through lifes uncertainties. Considering one doesnt have to rely on anybody elses fortune telling talents except ones own, it would seem like a good choice.