Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact or interaction with supernatural agencies such as spirits, gods, god-like-beings or the "will of the universe".
Tarot is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, tarot-playing cards spread to most of Europe, evolving into a family of games that includes German Grosstarok and modern games such as French Tarot and Austrian Königrufen. In the late 18th century French occultists made elaborate, but unsubstantiated, claims about their history and meaning, leading to the emergence of custom decks for use in divination via tarot card reading and cartomancy. Thus, there are two distinct types of tarot packs in circulation: those used for card games and those used for divination. However, some older patterns, such as the Tarot de Marseille, originally intended for playing card games, are occasionally used for cartomancy.
The Minor Arcana, sometimes known as Lesser Arcana, are the suit cards in a cartomantic tarot deck.
The Rider–Waite Tarot is a widely popular deck for tarot card reading, first published by the Rider Company in 1909, based on the instructions of academic and mystic A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, both members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Also known as the Waite–Smith, Rider–Waite–Smith, or Rider Tarot, the deck has been published in numerous editions and inspired a wide array of variants and imitations. Estimates suggest over 100 million copies of the deck circulate across 20 countries.
The Magician (I), also known as The Magus or The Juggler, is the first trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in game playing and divination; in the English-speaking world, the divination meaning is much better known.
Minchiate is an early 16th-century card game, originating in Florence, Italy. It is no longer widely played. Minchiate can also refer to the special deck of 97 playing cards used in the game. The deck is closely related to the tarot cards, but contains an expanded suit of trumps. The game was similar to but more complex than tarocchi. The minchiate represents a Florentine variant on the original game.
The tarot refers to a pack of playing cards used from the mid-15th century to play games and, later, also for cartomantic packs of cards used for divination.
Lotería is a traditional Mexican board game of chance, similar to bingo, and is played on a deck of cards instead of numbered ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ignored. Each player has at least one tabla, a board with a randomly created 4 x 4 grid of pictures with their corresponding name and number. Players choose a tabla to play with, from a variety of previously created tablas, each with a different selection of images.
A psychic reading is a specific attempt to discern information through the use of heightened perceptive abilities; or natural extensions of the basic human senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and instinct. These natural extensions are claimed to be clairvoyance (vision), clairsentience (feeling), claircognisance and clairaudience (hearing) and the resulting statements made during such an attempt. The term is commonly associated with paranormal-based consultation given for a fee in such settings as over the phone, in a home, or at psychic fairs. Though psychic readings are controversial and a focus of skeptical inquiry, a popular interest in them persists. Extensive experimentation to replicate psychic results in laboratory conditions have failed to find any precognitive phenomena in humans. A cold reading technique allows psychics to produce seemingly specific information about an individual from social cues and broad statements.
Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. They formulate a question, then draw cards to interpret them for this end. A traditional tarot deck consists of 78 cards, which can be split into two groups, the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. French-suited playing cards can also be used; as can any card system with suits assigned to identifiable elements.
Avantika Vandanapu, is an American actress. Starting with Brahmotsavam (2016), she worked in several films in India's Telugu film industry. She had her first lead role in the Disney Channel original movie Spin (2021) and subsequently starred in Netflix’s Senior Year (2022). She is best known for her portrayal of Karen Shetty in the musical comedy Mean Girls and found further commercial success in the horror film Tarot.
Justice Elio Smith is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019), All the Bright Places (2020), and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023), as well as the 2022 video game The Quarry.
Paxton is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Jacob Batalon is an American actor. Batalon achieved international recognition playing Ned Leeds in five Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero films, beginning with a supporting role in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), cameos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), and further supporting roles in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), also appearing in the web series The Daily Bugle (2019–2021). He also played Keon in the Netflix film Let It Snow (2019), and the titular character in the Syfy television series Reginald the Vampire (2022–present).
Elysa Koplovitz Dutton is a veteran film producer and production executive, currently serving as Executive Vice President of the feature film division of Alloy Entertainment, a creator and producer of youth-oriented content in books, television, and film. The Los Angeles and New York-based production company officially became part of Warner Bros. Television in 2012, which later evolved into WarnerMedia. She is the author of the Penguin/Random House children's book Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole, illustrated by Manu Montoya, which publishes in October 2024.
Spenser Cohen is an American screenwriter, film producer, and director best known for his work on Extinction (2018) and Moonfall (2022).
Fly Me to the Moon is an upcoming American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Greg Berlanti and written by Rose Gilroy. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Nick Dillenburg, Anna Garcia, Jim Rash, Noah Robbins, Colin Woodell, Christian Zuber, Donald Elise Watkins, Ray Romano, and Woody Harrelson. Its plot follows the relationship between a marketing specialist and a NASA director during the 1960s Space Race.
Magazine Dreams is a 2023 American drama film written and directed by Elijah Bynum. The film stars Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, Mike O'Hearn, Harrison Page, and Harriet Sansom Harris.
Harriet Marston Slater is an English actress. On television, she is known for her roles in the DC Universe series Pennyworth (2019–2022) and the MGM+ period drama Belgravia: The Next Chapter (2024). She was named a 2023 Bright Young Thing by Tatler.
