Noelle
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UNNUMBERED "CARTOMANCY" AND "GYPSY" ORACLE CARD DECKS
In the late 19th century, a third system of card reading arose in Europe, using unnumbered emblematic cards. Although many of the images in these decks derive from Lenormand style decks, the cards are not set-numbered and they do not contain insets of playing cards. They generally come in packs of 36, 48, or 52 cards. Although They are sometimes sold under names like "Gipsy Cards," or "Cartomancy Cards." Despite the name "Gipsy" in the title, these Oracle Cards should not be confused with the Lenormand style 52-card Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards described above.
In these "Cartomancy" or "Oracle Card" decks, the cards are not numbered or ordered in any way. They do not contain inset the pip or court cards from a regular deck of playing cards, nor do they include a special trump suit like Tarot cards. However, they still feature many of the images that were devised by Lenormand and her successors -- figures such as the Widower, the Letter, the House, and the Thief. The images on these cards are both allegorical and direct: Hope is a woman with an anchor, Love is enacted by Cupid, Malady shows a woman sick in bed, and Falseness is still the Fox of Lenormand's devising.
Unnumbered decks of this type are without a doubt among the most beautifully illustrated of all the non-Tarot cards used for fortune telling. Many of them seem to have originated in Austria. The oldest of the unnumbered Austrian "Cartomancy" sets contain 32 cards, like the original Lenormand Euchre decks, but as time went on, more cards were added to cover more of life's conditions, so there are decks with 32, 36, and 52 cards.
Examples of these sets include the 32-card so-called Biedermeier Fortune Telling Cards (the title is modern and simply refers to the Biedermeier art style of the cards), the early 20th century 36-card Gipsy Fortune Telling Cards (Zigeuner Warsagekarten -- not be confused with the 52-card Gypsy Witch Playing Cards), and the 52-card so-called Art Deco Fortune Telling Cards (the name again is simply a descriptor of the 1930s-era painted artwork).
These however are numbered. They are also beautifully illustrated - to my eyes(Huck):In the late 19th century, a third system of card reading arose in Europe, using unnumbered emblematic cards.
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In these "Cartomancy" or "Oracle Card" decks, the cards are not numbered or ordered in any way..
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Unnumbered decks of this type are without a doubt among the most beautifully illustrated of all the non-Tarot cards used for fortune telling. Many of them seem to have originated in Austria. The oldest of the unnumbered Austrian "Cartomancy" sets contain 32 cards,....