Cartomancy was the practice of divining by use of playing cards. It is unclear when cards first began to be used for fortune telling, though cartomancy was well-known by the eighteenth century. Prior to the sixteenth century, playing cards were imported to England from abroad, typically from Germany. From 1550, England began to produce its own cards, and foreign imports were banned in 1684.

Early modern card decks commonly contained between 36 and 52 cards, with four suits and courtly figures as in the modern pack. In early fifteenth-century Italy, additional trump cards were added to the deck, including the Magician, the Emperor, Justice and Death. They were initially used for games such as Bridge rather than for fortune telling.

Depending on the deck of cards, cartomancy worked in different ways. In a plain pack of cards, the number and suit of the card bore meanings, and trump cards (if included) had their own unique message. Oracle cards were designed specifically for the purpose of fortune telling; each card was inscribed with a ‘prophecy’ or message. In eighteenth-century England, manuals were published offering guides on how to interpret playing cards.