Paper Tools for Broken Hearts: Fortune-telling with Cards in France, c.1803-1937

Fortune telling using cards became increasingly popular in France in the late eighteenth century. But the history of cards as tools for divination has been overshadowed by myths spun by occultist writers, who claimed Tarot were the only cards truly suited to fortune telling, because they encoded secret magical truths that dated back to ancient Egypt. This article turns from these myths to alternative sources that show cards in action: criminal prosecutions of fortune-tellers, popular card-reading manuals, and surviving cards from the period. Not only Tarot, but cards of all kinds, from playing cards to decks designed for divination became flexible tools for negotiating relationships among a broad range of the French population. As images, texts, and objects to be manipulated, cards unlock common structures of emotion in nineteenth-century France, from the sense of order implied by suits, to the importance of juxtapositions and chance, and of turning things over to uncover their true, hidden meaning.