Lexicon

Glossary of Divination

648 words from tarot, oracles, astrology, numerology and the reading itself. What the traditions say, with no promises — and what is worth knowing before a reading.

648 words

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3114Readings and ethics: 3114 is France's national suicide prevention number, free and available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, since October 2021.
32-card deckOracles and cartomancy: The 32-card deck, or piquet deck, is the historical basis of French cartomancy: in each suit it contains the ace, king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight and seven.
52-card deckOracles and cartomancy: The 52-card deck is the standard deck of four suits of thirteen cards, from ace to king, which part of the cartomancy tradition, especially in English-speaking countries and Italy, uses for divination.
78-card deckTarot: The 78-card deck is the complete composition of the tarot: twenty-two Major Arcana and fifty-six Minor Arcana, the latter divided into four suits of fourteen cards each, ten pip cards and four court cards.

A

Abuse of weaknessReadings and ethics: Abuse of weakness is the offense, under French law, of taking advantage of a person's ignorance or vulnerability, whether due to age, illness, mental state or psychological subjection, to lead them into an act that…
AceTarot: The Ace is the first pip card of each suit of the Minor Arcana, shown as a single, often monumental suit symbol.
Ace (cartomancy)Oracles and cartomancy: In cartomancy with ordinary playing cards, the ace is the highest card of each suit, marking an important event, a beginning or a central place.
Ace of CupsTarot: The Ace of Cups is the first card of the suit of Cups, depicted in the Tarot de Marseille as a large ornate cup resembling a building or a chalice.
Ace of HeartsOracles and cartomancy: In French cartomancy with ordinary playing cards, the ace of hearts is the card of the home: it represents the house, the family, the place where one lives and, by extension, domestic happiness.
Ace of SpadesOracles and cartomancy: The ace of spades is the most dreaded card in cartomancy with ordinary playing cards, associated by tradition with ordeals, breakups, painful decisions and, in older readings, bereavement.
Active numberNumerology: The active number is the reduced sum of the letters of the everyday first name alone.
Advice positionSpreads: The advice position is the place that suggests an attitude, a course of action or a state of mind in response to the question asked.
AeromancyDivination arts: Aeromancy is divination by observing phenomena of the air: the shape and movement of clouds, the direction of the winds, halos, lightning or meteors.
ÆttDivination arts: An ætt (plural ættir) is one of the three groups of eight runes that make up the Elder Futhark.
Affirmation cardsOracles and cartomancy: Affirmation cards are decks in which each card carries a positive statement written in the first person, drawn so that its message can be kept in mind throughout the day.
AfterlifeEsotericism and spirituality: The afterlife refers to what may exist after death, or, depending on one's beliefs, to the world of spirits and the departed.
Age of AquariusAstrology: The Age of Aquarius is the great astrological era said to follow the Age of Pisces, as the vernal point, through precession, moves from the constellation Pisces into Aquarius.
AI psychic readingReadings and ethics: An AI psychic reading refers to card readings or interpretations produced by an artificial intelligence program, most often a language model that comments on cards or a natal chart.
Air signsAstrology: The air signs are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius.
Akashic recordsEsotericism and spirituality: According to some esoteric currents, the Akashic records are an immaterial universal memory in which everything ever thought, said or experienced is inscribed.
AlchemyEsotericism and spirituality: Alchemy is a body of practices and speculations, both technical and symbolic, aimed at transmuting metals into gold and at seeking an elixir of long life, two powers attributed to the philosopher's stone.
Aleister CrowleyTarot: Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was a British occultist who passed through the Golden Dawn before founding the religious movement he called Thelema.
AmuletEsotericism and spirituality: An amulet is an object worn or kept on one's person for protection against misfortune, the evil eye or harmful influences.
Angel numbersNumerology: Angel numbers are sequences of repeated digits, such as 111, 444 or 777, that some people notice on a clock, a license plate or a receipt and interpret as messages from angels or the universe.
Angel oraclesOracles and cartomancy: Angel oracles are card decks depicting angels, archangels or heavenly messages, designed to offer gentle, kindly guidance rather than to predict events.
Animal oracleOracles and cartomancy: An animal oracle is a modern oracle in which each card depicts an animal carrying a symbolic quality or teaching: the patience of the tortoise, the vision of the eagle, the adaptability of the fox.
Antoine Court de GébelinTarot: Antoine Court de Gébelin (c.
AquariusAstrology: Aquarius is the eleventh sign of the zodiac, covering roughly January 20 or 21 to February 18 or 19 in tropical astrology.
Arcana pairsTarot: Arcana pairs are connections drawn by tarot readers between two Major Arcana that echo each other through their theme or number: The High Priestess and The Hierophant, The Empress and The Emperor, The Sun and The…
ArcanumTarot: An arcanum is a tarot card considered in terms of its hidden meaning.
ArchetypeTarot: For the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, an archetype is a universal symbolic form of the collective unconscious, such as the Mother, the Wise Old Man or the Shadow.
AriesAstrology: Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, covering in tropical astrology the period from about March 21 to April 19 or 20.
Arthur Edward WaiteTarot: Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942) was a British occultist and author, a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, who devised the symbolic program of the tarot published in 1909 and known as the Rider-Waite-Smith.
AstragalomancyDivination arts: Astragalomancy is divination by casting knucklebones, known as astragali, or by extension marked dice.
Astral bodyEsotericism and spirituality: In occultism and Theosophy, the astral body is one of the subtle bodies of the human being, believed to be the seat of emotions and desires.
Astral travelEsotericism and spirituality: Astral travel refers to the experience, reported by some practitioners, of a consciousness that would leave the physical body to explore other places or other planes.
AstrologerReadings and ethics: An astrologer is a practitioner who interprets the positions of the celestial bodies at the moment of a birth or an event, using a natal chart calculated from the date, time and place.
Astrological aspectsAstrology: An aspect is a significant angle formed between two planets or points in the chart, measured in degrees along the zodiac.
Astrological chartAstrology: The astrological chart is the circular diagram that depicts the state of the sky at a given moment and for a given place: zodiac signs, houses, planets and aspect lines.
Astrological compatibilityAstrology: Astrological compatibility refers to assessing the affinities between two people based on their signs or charts.
Astrological correspondences of the tarotTarot: The astrological correspondences of the tarot are the associations drawn between the arcana and the planets, the signs of the zodiac and the elements.
Astrological elementsAstrology: The astrological elements are the four families, fire, earth, air and water, among which the twelve signs are divided, three signs to each element; they are also called triplicities.
Astrological housesAstrology: The astrological houses are the twelve sectors of the natal chart, each representing an area of life: identity, resources, communication, family, and so on through to inner life.
Astrological modalitiesAstrology: The astrological modalities, or quadruplicities, divide the twelve signs into three groups of four according to how they act: cardinal, fixed and mutable.
Astrological planetsAstrology: In astrology, the word “planets” refers to the moving bodies taken into account in a chart: the Sun and the Moon, known as the luminaries; Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, known since antiquity; then Uranus,…
Astrological spreadSpreads: The astrological spread arranges twelve cards in a circle, each placed on one of the twelve houses of the natal chart, sometimes with a thirteenth card in the center as a synthesis.
AstrologyAstrology: Astrology is a symbolic system that links the positions of the heavenly bodies, as seen from Earth, with temperaments, life stages or human events.
AudiotelReadings and ethics: In France, Audiotel is the everyday name for paid telephone services reached through special numbers, whose cost is added directly to the phone bill.
AugurDivination arts: In Rome, an augur was a priest belonging to an official college, charged with interpreting the signs sent by the gods, chiefly the flight and song of birds, to learn whether they approved of a decision.
AuraEsotericism and spirituality: According to esoteric traditions, the aura is a halo of energy said to surround the body of every living being and to reflect its emotional, mental and spiritual state.
Automated online readingSpreads: An automated online reading is a reading carried out by a website or an app, in which a program shuffles a virtual deck using a random number generator and then displays cards along with pre-written or generated…
Automatic writingDivination arts: Automatic writing consists of letting the hand write without conscious control, in a state of relaxation or trance.

B

BabalawoDivination arts: The babalawo, literally “father of secrets” in Yoruba, is the priest-diviner of Ifá.
Barnum effectReadings and ethics: The Barnum effect is the tendency to accept as accurate and personal a description that is in fact vague enough to fit almost anyone.
Belline oracleOracles and cartomancy: The Belline oracle is a French divination deck of 52 illustrated cards, completed in some editions by a unique card called La Bleue, and organized under the aegis of the seven bodies of traditional astrology.
Belline planetary cardsOracles and cartomancy: The Belline planetary cards are the families of cards in the Belline oracle, each linked to one of the seven traditional heavenly bodies: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Besançon TarotTarot: The Besançon Tarot is a variant of the Marseille pattern, made mainly in Alsace, Switzerland and Franche-Comté in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
BibliomancyDivination arts: Bibliomancy is divination by opening a book at random and reading a passage as an answer to the question asked.
Birth cardTarot: The birth card is the Major Arcana card associated with a person through their date of birth, by adding up the day, month and year and then reducing the total to a number within the range of the twenty-two cards.
Birthday numberNumerology: In numerology, the birthday number is the day of the month on which a person was born, from 1 to 31, interpreted as a number in its own right.
Black magicEsotericism and spirituality: Black magic refers to ritual practices reputed to aim at harming, coercing or dominating others, or at summoning malevolent forces.
Black Moon LilithAstrology: In astrology, the Black Moon, often called Lilith, is a calculated point rather than a celestial body: it usually corresponds to the apogee of the Moon's orbit, the point where the Moon is farthest from the Earth.
Blank runeDivination arts: The blank rune is a stone or tile bearing no sign at all, added to the twenty-four runes of the Elder Futhark in many divination sets.
Book of ThothTarot: The Book of Thoth is the name given, ever since Court de Gébelin in 1781, to the hypothesis that the tarot was a work of secret wisdom devised by the priests of ancient Egypt and attributed to the god Thoth.
BotanomancyDivination arts: Botanomancy is divination by plants: burning leaves or twigs, listening to them crackle, plucking petals or drawing plant parts by lot.
Bottom cardSpreads: The bottom card is the card at the very bottom of the deck once it has been shuffled and cut.
Business numerologyNumerology: Business numerology applies name and date calculations to a company, a brand or a project: expression number of the trade name, date of incorporation, compatibility with the person running it.

C

CancerAstrology: Cancer is the fourth sign of the zodiac, covering in tropical astrology the period from about June 21 or 22 to July 22.
CandlesEsotericism and spirituality: In spirituality and magic, candles serve as a focus for an intention, a prayer or a ritual: the flame stands for light, presence and transformation.
CapnomancyDivination arts: Capnomancy is divination by smoke, from the Greek kapnos.
CapricornAstrology: Capricorn is the tenth sign of the zodiac, covering in tropical astrology the period from about December 21 or 22 to January 19 or 20.
CardTarot: Card is the English rendering of lame, the French esoteric word used as a synonym for a tarot card.
Card combinationSpreads: A card combination is the pairing of two or more cards whose joint meaning goes beyond the sum of their individual meanings.
Card of the daySpreads: The card of the day is a single card drawn in the morning to shed light on the day ahead, as a theme, a piece of advice or something to watch for.
Cardinal signsAstrology: The cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, each of which opens a season: spring, summer, fall and winter.
CardmakerTarot: A cardmaker is a craftsman who produces playing cards.
Career spreadSpreads: A career spread is a reading focused on working life: employment, projects, career changes, relationships with colleagues or management.
CartomancerReadings and ethics: A cartomancer is a practitioner who interprets cards drawn during a consultation: a 32- or 52-card deck, tarot or oracle cards.
CartomancyOracles and cartomancy: Cartomancy is the divinatory art of interpreting cards drawn from a deck to shed light on a question or a situation.
CatoptromancyDivination arts: Catoptromancy is divination by gazing into a mirror, from the Greek katoptron, “mirror.” The practitioner stares at the reflective surface, often in dim light, waiting for images to appear.
Celtic CrossSpreads: The Celtic Cross is a ten-card spread made up of a central cross of six cards and a column of four cards placed to its right.
Celtic oracleOracles and cartomancy: Celtic oracle refers to modern oracles inspired by Celtic imagery: sacred trees, Irish and Welsh deities, mythical animals, seasonal festivals such as Samhain or Beltane.
CeromancyDivination arts: Ceromancy is divination by melted wax, from the Greek kēros, “wax.” Liquid candle wax is poured into a bowl of cold water, where it sets instantly into shapes that are interpreted as symbols.
ChakraEsotericism and spirituality: A chakra is, in the yogic and tantric traditions of India, a center of subtle energy located along the axis of the body.
Chaldean chartNumerology: The Chaldean chart is the conversion grid specific to Chaldean numerology, which assigns letters according to their supposed sound value rather than their alphabetical order.
Chaldean numerologyNumerology: Chaldean numerology is a system of correspondences between letters and numbers that uses only the values 1 to 8 and reserves 9, considered sacred, for interpretation.
ChallengesNumerology: In numerology, challenges are four numbers said to point to the difficulties to be worked on over the course of a life.
Changing lineDivination arts: In the I Ching, a changing line is a line of the hexagram considered unstable, on the verge of turning into its opposite.
ChannelingDivination arts: Channeling is a practice in which a person, called a channel, claims to transmit messages from an outside source: a spirit guide, an entity, a being of light, a collective consciousness.
The ChariotTarot: The Chariot is Major Arcanum VII of the tarot.
Chart anglesAstrology: The angles are the four cardinal points of a natal chart: the Ascendant, the Imum Coeli, the Descendant and the Midheaven.
Chinese astrologyAstrology: Chinese astrology is the astrological tradition that grew out of ancient China, based on the lunisolar calendar, yin and yang and the five elements.
Chinese five elementsAstrology: The five elements of Chinese thought, or Wu Xing, are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, understood as phases of transformation rather than as substances.
ChirologyDivination arts: Chirology is the study of the hand as a whole (its shape, texture, finger length and flexibility) in order to infer character traits.
ChironAstrology: Chiron is a small celestial body discovered in 1977 by Charles Kowal, orbiting between Saturn and Uranus in about fifty years.
ClairalienceDivination arts: Clairalience is the claimed ability to perceive smells that have no physical source, which some mediums associate with the presence of someone who has died (a perfume, tobacco, a familiar scent).
ClairaudienceDivination arts: Clairaudience is the claimed ability to hear sounds, words or messages that come from no physical source and that only the person concerned perceives.
ClaircognizanceDivination arts: Claircognizance is the claimed ability to know something immediately and with certainty, without having seen, heard or deduced it.
ClairsentienceDivination arts: Clairsentience is the claimed ability to perceive information through feeling: emotions that are not one’s own, physical sensations, the atmosphere of a place or a person’s inner state.
ClairvoyanceDivination arts: Clairvoyance is the claimed ability to perceive information about a person’s past, present or future without going through the ordinary senses or through reasoning.
ClairvoyanceDivination arts: In the vocabulary of psychic practice, clairvoyance is the perception of images or scenes that do not come through the eyes: inner visions, symbols, places or faces.
Clarifier cardSpreads: A clarifier card is a card drawn in addition to a reading to shed light on an ambiguous card or a position that is hard to interpret.
Cleansing the cardsOracles and cartomancy: Cleansing the cards is a ritual by which a practitioner aims to “clear” a tarot or oracle deck of accumulated energies, when it is first used or after many readings.
CleromancyDivination arts: Cleromancy is divination by casting or drawing lots, from the Greek klēros, “lot” or “share.” It involves throwing or drawing at random pebbles, beans, sticks, knucklebones, dice or shells, then interpreting the result.
Closed questionSpreads: A closed question is a question that can be answered with yes or no, such as “Will I get this job?”.
Clubs (cartomancy)Oracles and cartomancy: In cartomancy with an ordinary deck, clubs are the suit of success and support: work, projects brought to completion, material security, reliable friendships, backing.
Coffee groundsDivination arts: Coffee grounds are the residue left after brewing coffee, and the medium of coffee-ground reading.
Coffee-ground readingDivination arts: Coffee-ground reading is divination by the grounds left in a coffee cup, a particular form of tasseography.
Coin methodDivination arts: The coin method is the most widespread way of consulting the I Ching.
Cold readingReadings and ethics: Cold reading is a set of techniques for giving the impression of knowing a great deal about a stranger without any prior information.
Combination readingOracles and cartomancy: Combination reading is the method of interpretation that gives meaning to cards read together, like the words of a sentence, rather than to each one in isolation.
Communication with the deceasedEsotericism and spirituality: Communication with the deceased refers to practices through which a medium says they receive messages from people who have died: images, sensations, words or memories passed on to the querent.
Composite chartAstrology: The composite chart is a single chart built from two natal charts by calculating, for each planet and each point, the midpoint between the two positions.
Compound numberNumerology: In numerology, a compound number is a total of two or more digits read before its final reduction, such as the 29 that precedes 11 and then 2.
Confirmation biasReadings and ethics: Confirmation bias is the tendency to remember what confirms what we believe or hope, and to forget what contradicts it.
ConjunctionAstrology: The conjunction is the aspect formed when two planets or points occupy the same degree of the zodiac, or are very close to it.
CornerstoneNumerology: In numerology, the cornerstone is the first letter of the first name, credited with an influence on how new situations are approached.
Court cardsTarot: The court cards are the sixteen Minor Arcana cards that depict figures: Page, Knight, Queen and King in each of the four suits.
Court cards in cartomancyOracles and cartomancy: The court cards in cartomancy are the kings, queens and jacks of the standard deck, which traditionally represent people around the querent.
Cowrie shellsDivination arts: Cowrie shells are small seashells, once used as currency in Africa and Asia, that serve as a divinatory tool in many African and African diaspora traditions.
Cross spreadSpreads: The cross spread is a four-card method in which the cards are laid out in the shape of a cross, often completed by a fifth synthesis card placed in the center.
Crown chakraEsotericism and spirituality: The crown chakra, Sahasrara in Sanskrit, is the seventh and last of the main chakras, located at the top of the head.
Crystal ballDivination arts: The crystal ball is a transparent sphere, of rock crystal or glass, used for crystallomancy.
Crystal cleansingEsotericism and spirituality: In crystal healing, crystal cleansing is the ritual meant to rid a mineral of the energies it has supposedly absorbed, before “recharging” it.
Crystal healingEsotericism and spirituality: Crystal healing is a practice that attributes beneficial properties to stones and crystals for a person’s body, emotions or energy.
Crystal oracleOracles and cartomancy: A crystal oracle is a modern oracle in which each card depicts a stone or mineral linked to a quality or a symbolic message, such as calm, clarity or protection.
CrystallomancyDivination arts: Crystallomancy is divination by prolonged gazing at a transparent or shining surface, most often a crystal ball.
CupsTarot: Cups are one of the four suits of the Minor Arcana, depicted as cups or chalices in both the Tarot de Marseille and the Rider-Waite-Smith.
Curse claimReadings and ethics: A curse claim is when a so-called psychic tells someone they are the victim of a spell, the evil eye or a blockage, usually in order to sell them a curse removal, a cleansing or a talisman afterward.
Curse removalEsotericism and spirituality: Curse removal is the ritual meant to free a person from a hex, a spell or an evil influence.
CuspAstrology: The cusp is the starting point of an astrological house, that is, the boundary between two houses; in most house systems, the cusps of the 1st and 10th houses are the Ascendant and the Midheaven.
Customer reviewsReadings and ethics: Customer reviews are the testimonials and ratings that clients post about a psychic or a platform.
Cutting the cardsSpreads: Cutting the cards means, after shuffling, splitting the deck into two, or sometimes three, piles and putting it back together in a different order.
Cutting the deckTarot: Cutting the deck means splitting the pack into two or more piles after shuffling, then putting them back together in a different order.

D

DeathTarot: Death is Major Arcanum XIII of the tarot, the name it bears in the Rider-Waite-Smith and other decks.
DecanAstrology: A decan is one of the three 10-degree divisions of a zodiac sign, making thirty-six decans in all.
DeckOracles and cartomancy: Deck is the usual word in card reading for a complete set of cards, whether a tarot or an oracle.
DescendantAstrology: The Descendant is the point of the zodiac that was setting on the western horizon at the moment of birth, exactly opposite the Ascendant.
DetrimentAstrology: A planet is in detriment, or in exile, when it sits in the sign opposite its domicile, such as Venus in Aries or Mars in Libra.
The DevilTarot: The Devil is Major Arcanum XV of the tarot.
DharmaEsotericism and spirituality: Dharma is a central notion of the religions born in India, with many meanings: cosmic order, moral law, the duty proper to each person and, in Buddhism, the Buddha’s teaching.
Diamonds (cartomancy)Oracles and cartomancy: In cartomancy with ordinary playing cards, diamonds are the suit of movement and exchange: news, mail, errands, travel, money in circulation, social life.
DivinationDivination arts: Divination is the art of seeking to know what is hidden, distant or yet to come by interpreting signs.
Divination deckOracles and cartomancy: A divination deck is a set of cards designed or used for the symbolic interpretation of a question, a period or a situation.
Divination diceDivination arts: Divination dice are dice used to obtain an answer or an omen, a practice sometimes called cubomancy.
Divination toolReadings and ethics: A divination tool is the object or method that serves as an anchor for a session: cards, tarot, oracle deck, pendulum, crystal ball, coffee grounds, runes, natal chart, or even a photo and a date of birth.
Divinatory artsDivination arts: The divinatory arts are the full range of techniques through which people seek to shed light on a question, a hidden past or a possible future.
DivinerDivination arts: A diviner is a person who practices divination, that is, who interprets signs or claims to be inspired to reveal what is hidden or yet to come.
Divining rodDivination arts: The divining rod is the traditional tool for finding underground water: a forked branch, often of hazel, held by its two ends, which jerks up or down above a presumed source.
Dog (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Dog is the eleventh animal of Chinese astrology.
DomicileAstrology: A planet is in domicile when it occupies the sign it rules, such as Mars in Aries or Venus in Taurus.
Dominant cardSpreads: The dominant card is the card that sets the tone of a whole reading through its symbolic weight, its position or its links with the other cards.
Dominant suitSpreads: A dominant suit is the predominance, in a reading, of cards belonging to the same Minor Arcana suit: Wands, Cups, Swords or Pentacles (Coins in the Tarot de Marseille).
Doreen VirtueOracles and cartomancy: Doreen Virtue is an American author born in 1958, known for creating and popularizing many angel oracle decks and New Age spirituality books from the 1990s onward.
DowserDivination arts: A dowser is a person who claims to be able to locate underground water using a rod or a pendulum.
DowserReadings and ethics: A dowser is a practitioner who uses a pendulum or a rod to obtain, according to their practice, answers to questions or to locate an object, a water source or a person.
Dragon (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Dragon is the fifth animal of the Chinese zodiac and the only mythical creature in the cycle.
Drawing the cardsSpreads: Drawing the cards means taking from the deck the cards that will make up the reading, either by choosing them from a fanned-out spread or by taking them from the top of the pile.

E

Earth signsAstrology: The earth signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.
Edmond BillaudotOracles and cartomancy: Edmond Billaudot, known as the Mage Edmond (1829-1881), was a Parisian psychic of the Second Empire credited with creating the cards that became the Belline oracle.
EgregoreEsotericism and spirituality: In occultism, an egregore is an entity or psychic force said to arise from the thoughts, emotions and intentions of a group sharing a common goal, and to act back upon its members.
Egyptian tarotTarot: Egyptian tarot refers to decks whose imagery is inspired by ancient Egypt, which appeared in the wake of Court de Gébelin’s theory of the Book of Thoth and developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, notably…
Eighth houseAstrology: The eighth house is the eighth sector of the natal chart, associated with deep transformation, crisis and rebirth, sexuality, shared resources, inheritance and death, usually understood in a symbolic sense.
Elder FutharkDivination arts: The Elder Futhark is the oldest known runic alphabet, used by the Germanic peoples from around the second century to the eighth century.
Elemental correspondencesTarot: Elemental correspondences are the associations drawn by the occult tradition between the four tarot suits and the four elements.
Elemental dignitiesTarot: Elemental dignities are a reading method derived from the Golden Dawn in which reversed cards are not used: each card is strengthened or weakened by the element of the cards next to it.
Eleventh houseAstrology: The eleventh house is the eleventh sector of the natal chart, associated with friendships, networks, groups, collective projects and hopes.
Éliphas LéviTarot: Éliphas Lévi, the pen name of Alphonse-Louis Constant (1810-1875), was a French occultist whose Dogme et rituel de la haute magie (Dogma and Ritual of High Magic, 1854-1856) matched the twenty-two Major Arcana with…
Email psychic readingReadings and ethics: An email psychic reading is a deferred session: the client sends a question in writing, then receives a written answer, often accompanied by the spread that was drawn.
Emerald TabletEsotericism and spirituality: The Emerald Tablet is a short text attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, regarded as a foundation of alchemy and Hermeticism.
The EmperorTarot: The Emperor is Major Arcanum IV of the tarot, numbered IIII in the Tarot de Marseille.
The EmpressTarot: The Empress is Major Arcanum III of the tarot.
EnergyEsotericism and spirituality: In spiritual vocabulary, energy refers to a subtle life force said to animate living beings and flow between them, distinct from the energy measured by physics.
Energy cleansingEsotericism and spirituality: Energy cleansing refers to rituals meant to free a person, an object or a place from energies considered heavy or stagnant: smoke cleansing, salt, the sound of bells or singing bowls, prayers, airing out.
Energy healingEsotericism and spirituality: Energy healing refers to any practice that claims to act on a person’s subtle energy in order to rebalance it: laying on of hands, chakra work, Reiki, magnetic healing.
Energy protectionEsotericism and spirituality: Energy protection covers practices meant to shield a person or a place from influences considered negative: visualizing a bubble of light, prayer, wearing a stone or an amulet, smoke cleansing.
Environment positionSpreads: The environment position is the place that describes the outer context of the question: the people around, family, colleagues, the social climate or material circumstances.
EphemerisAstrology: An ephemeris is a set of tables giving, day by day, the calculated positions of the Sun, the Moon and the planets, along with other points such as the lunar nodes.
EsotericismEsotericism and spirituality: Esotericism refers to the body of doctrines and knowledge presented as reserved for initiates, as opposed to teaching open to all, known as exoteric.
EtteillaTarot: Etteilla, an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1738-1791), was a Parisian cartomancer regarded as the first professional tarot reader.
Evil eyeEsotericism and spirituality: The evil eye is the belief, widespread around the Mediterranean and in the Middle East, that a gaze charged with envy or jealousy can bring misfortune.
ExaltationAstrology: Exaltation is an essential dignity: a planet is exalted in a sign where, according to tradition, it expresses itself in a particularly honored way, like a guest of honor.
The ExcuseTarot: The Excuse is the name given, in the trick-taking game of tarot, to the unnumbered card that corresponds to Le Mat in the Tarot de Marseille, known as The Fool in other decks.
Expression numberNumerology: The expression number is the reduced sum of all the letters of the full birth name, vowels and consonants alike.
Extrasensory perceptionDivination arts: Extrasensory perception refers to the hypothesis that information can be acquired without passing through any of the five senses.

F

FaDivination arts: Fa is the divination system practiced mainly by the Fon and neighboring peoples of Benin and Togo, a close relative of Yoruba Ifá.
Face-down cardSpreads: A face-down card is a card laid so that only its back shows, keeping its image hidden.
Fairy oracleOracles and cartomancy: A fairy oracle is a modern oracle illustrated with fairies, elves and nature spirits, inspired by European folklore, especially Celtic.
FallAstrology: A planet is in its fall when it sits in the sign opposite the one of its exaltation, for example the Sun in Libra or Saturn in Aries.
False guaranteesReadings and ethics: False guarantees are promises of a certain result that no divinatory practice can deliver: a lover's return within seven days, assured success, a lottery win, a cure.
False urgencyReadings and ethics: False urgency is a sales technique that consists of making someone believe a decision or a payment must happen immediately: an astral window about to close, an imminent danger, an offer that expires tonight.
Fanned deckSpreads: A fanned deck is a spread of face-down cards laid out in an arc, each card slightly overlapping the next.
Fate lineDivination arts: In palmistry, the fate line, or Saturn line, is the vertical line that rises from the base of the palm toward the middle finger.
Favorable positionSpreads: The favorable position is the place that shows what supports the querent in their undertaking: resources, allies, qualities or helpful circumstances.
Fifth houseAstrology: The fifth house is the fifth sector of the natal chart, the domain of creativity, pleasure, play, leisure, budding romance and children.
Fire signsAstrology: The fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.
First houseAstrology: The first house is the first sector of the natal chart, beginning at the Ascendant, the degree of the rising sign.
First name vibrationNumerology: In numerology, the vibration of a first name refers to the symbolic quality attributed to a first name based on the value of its letters.
Fixed signsAstrology: The fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, which occupy the heart of each season.
The FoolTarot: The Fool is the unnumbered Major Arcanum of the Tarot de Marseille, where it is called Le Mat, and is numbered 0 in the Rider-Waite-Smith and the Thoth.
The Fool’s JourneyTarot: The Fool’s Journey is a reading of the Major Arcana as a story of initiation, in which the Fool (Le Mat in the Tarot de Marseille) passes in turn through the twenty-one numbered cards until reaching The World.
Fortune-tellingOracles and cartomancy: Fortune-telling refers, in everyday language, to the popular prediction of destiny by cards, palm lines or other means, especially at fairs and in the street.
Fortune-telling solitaireOracles and cartomancy: Fortune-telling solitaire is a one-player card game laid out with an intention, in which success or failure is taken as the answer to a question.
Fourth houseAstrology: The fourth house is the fourth sector of the natal chart, beginning at the Imum Coeli in the usual house systems.
FraudReadings and ethics: Fraud (escroquerie, in French law) is the offense of deceiving a person, through a false name, a false status or fraudulent maneuvers, in order to obtain money or property from them.
Free first readingReadings and ethics: A free first reading is a commercial offer that grants a few minutes or a first question at no cost to attract new clients.
Free psychic readingReadings and ethics: Free psychic readings cover automated online readings and offers presented as free of charge, from complimentary minutes to the free question by email.
Free readingSpreads: A free reading is a reading offered at no charge, usually online and automated, sometimes by a reader as an introduction.
Free willReadings and ethics: Free will is a person's capacity to decide on their own actions.
Frieda HarrisTarot: Frieda Harris (1877-1962) was a British painter who created the paintings for the Thoth Tarot under the direction of Aleister Crowley between 1938 and 1943.
Full moon ritualEsotericism and spirituality: The full moon ritual is a spiritual practice performed when the Moon is fully lit, a phase that tradition associates with fulfillment, gratitude and letting go.

G

Game of HopeOracles and cartomancy: The Game of Hope (Das Spiel der Hoffnung) is a German parlor game published in Nuremberg around 1799, designed by Johann Kaspar Hechtel, and the direct ancestor of the Petit Lenormand.
Gaze directionSpreads: Gaze direction is the way the figures depicted on the cards are facing, used as a key to reading a spread.
Gaze of the figuresTarot: In tarot reading, the gaze of the figures refers to the attention paid to the direction in which the characters on the cards are looking.
GematriaNumerology: Gematria is an interpretive method from the Jewish tradition that calculates the numerical value of a Hebrew word by adding up the values of its letters, from aleph, worth 1, to tav, worth 400.
GeminiAstrology: Gemini is the third sign of the zodiac, covering in tropical astrology the period from about May 21 or 22 to June 20 or 21.
GeomancyDivination arts: Geomancy is a divinatory art based on sixteen figures made of single or double dots, originally obtained by making random marks in sand or earth.
Geomantic chartDivination arts: The geomantic chart, sometimes called the shield, is the array of figures built from a geomancy reading.
Geomantic figureDivination arts: A geomantic figure is one of the sixteen combinations of four rows, each marked with either one dot (odd) or two dots (even).
Gérard BarbierOracles and cartomancy: Gérard Barbier is a French author and cartomancer, creator of the Oracle Gé, a divination deck widely distributed in France.
Goat (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Goat, also called the Sheep or the Ram depending on the translation, is the eighth animal of Chinese astrology.
Goddess oracleOracles and cartomancy: A goddess oracle is a type of modern oracle in which each card depicts a female deity from a mythology: Greek, Celtic, Egyptian, Hindu, Norse or Native American.
Golden DawnTarot: The Golden Dawn, or Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, was an initiatory society founded in London in 1888 that made the tarot a pillar of its teaching.
Grand Jeu de Mlle LenormandOracles and cartomancy: The Grand Jeu de Mlle Lenormand is a French 54-card divination deck published in 1845, two years after the cartomancer’s death, and its attribution to her is a publishing legend.
Grand TableauOracles and cartomancy: The Grand Tableau is the most complete Petit Lenormand spread, in which all 36 cards are laid out on the table, in four rows of nine or in four rows of eight completed by a line of four.
Great WorkEsotericism and spirituality: In alchemy, the Great Work is the process meant to culminate in the philosopher’s stone.
Grief readingReadings and ethics: A grief reading is a session in which a bereaved person turns to a medium to receive, according to the practice, contact or a message from a loved one who has died.
GrimaudOracles and cartomancy: Grimaud is a French playing-card company founded in Paris in the mid-19th century by Baptistin-Paul Grimaud, which became the leading publisher of divination decks in France.
GroundingEsotericism and spirituality: Grounding refers, in spirituality, to connecting with the earth and with one's body to regain stability, calm and presence.
Guardian angelEsotericism and spirituality: In Christian tradition, the guardian angel is an angel assigned to each person to protect and guide them; the Catholic Church celebrates guardian angels on October 2.
Guidance cardsOracles and cartomancy: Guidance cards are cards, most often from modern oracle decks, whose message aims to advise or encourage rather than describe a future event.
GuidebookOracles and cartomancy: The guidebook is the small book sold with an oracle or tarot deck, which gives the meaning of each card and suggests spreads.
Gypsy oracleOracles and cartomancy: The term Gypsy oracle refers to several divination decks, mostly German, of 36 cards showing scenes from life and characters, sold as “Gypsy” fortune-telling cards.

H

The Hanged ManTarot: The Hanged Man is Major Arcanum XII of the tarot.
HaruspicyDivination arts: Haruspicy is the divinatory art of examining the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the liver, to read the will of the gods.
Head lineDivination arts: In palmistry, the head line is the line that crosses the palm between the heart line and the life line, often starting from the same point as the latter.
Health questions in psychic readingsReadings and ethics: A health question in a psychic reading is a request concerning an illness, a diagnosis, the outcome of a treatment or a pregnancy.
Heart chakraEsotericism and spirituality: The heart chakra, Anahata in Sanskrit, is the fourth main chakra, located in the center of the chest.
Heart lineDivination arts: In palmistry, the heart line is the highest horizontal line on the palm, starting at the edge of the hand below the little finger and running toward the index or middle finger.
Hearts (cartomancy)Oracles and cartomancy: Hearts are, in cartomancy with a standard deck, the suit of emotional life: love, friendship, family, the joys of home and shared feelings.
Hereditary numberNumerology: The hereditary number is the reduced sum of the letters of the family name at birth.
HermeticismEsotericism and spirituality: Hermeticism is the current of thought derived from the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a mythical figure blending the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth.
The HermitTarot: The Hermit is Major Arcanum IX of the tarot, numbered VIIII in the Tarot de Marseille.
HexEsotericism and spirituality: A hex is a magical operation meant to act on a person from a distance in order to subdue, charm or harm them.
HexagramDivination arts: In the I Ching, a hexagram is a figure of six stacked lines, each either solid (yang) or broken (yin).
Hidden passion numberNumerology: The hidden passion number is the digit that appears most often in the inclusion chart of a name; French-language numerology calls it the “dominant number.” Numerologists see in it a marked talent, a readily available…
The HierophantTarot: The Hierophant is Major Arcanum V of the tarot, known as The Pope (Le Pape) in the Tarot de Marseille.
The High PriestessTarot: The High Priestess is Major Arcanum II of the tarot, called La Papesse (The Popess) in the Tarot de Marseille.
Hopes and fears positionSpreads: The hopes and fears position is the place that reveals what the querent expects or dreads regarding their question.
HoroscopeAstrology: A horoscope, in today's usage, is a general astrological forecast written for each sun sign, on a daily, weekly or yearly basis.
Horse (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Horse is the seventh animal of Chinese astrology.
Horseshoe spreadSpreads: The horseshoe spread usually lays out seven cards in an open arc, like a horseshoe turned up or down.
Hot readingReadings and ethics: Hot reading consists of gathering information about a person before the consultation, then presenting it as if it had been perceived through clairvoyance.
House numberNumerology: The house number is the reduction of a home's street number, sometimes combined with the apartment number, to which numerology attributes a particular atmosphere: a 4 favoring stability, a 5 movement, a 6 family life.
Humanistic astrologyAstrology: Humanistic astrology is a school developed in the 20th century, notably by Dane Rudhyar, that sets aside the prediction of events in favor of self-understanding and personal growth.
HydromancyDivination arts: Hydromancy is divination by water: observing its surface, its reflections and its movements, the ripples caused by an object dropped into it, or the circles that form.

I

I ChingDivination arts: The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is a Chinese classic of divination and wisdom whose core dates back to the Western Zhou dynasty, at the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
IfáDivination arts: Ifá is the divination system of the Yoruba, a people of Nigeria and Benin, placed under the authority of Orunmila, the deity of wisdom.
Imum CoeliAstrology: The Imum Coeli is the point of the natal chart opposite the Midheaven, at the lowest point of the wheel.
In-person readingReadings and ethics: An in-person reading is a psychic session held face to face, at the practitioner's place of work.
IncenseEsotericism and spirituality: Incense originally refers to an aromatic resin, frankincense, obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, and by extension to any substance burned for its fragrance.
Inclusion chartNumerology: The inclusion chart is a table that counts how many times each number from 1 to 9 appears among the letters of a person’s full birth name.
InitiationEsotericism and spirituality: Initiation is a rite or a journey through which a person is admitted into a group, a tradition or a body of restricted knowledge, often presented as a symbolic death followed by rebirth.
InterpretationSpreads: Interpretation is the work through which the reader gives meaning to the drawn cards, taking into account their symbolism, position, orientation and relationships.
IntuitionEsotericism and spirituality: Intuition is the immediate knowledge of something without going through conscious reasoning.
Intuitive readingSpreads: Intuitive reading is a way of interpreting the cards based on the immediate impressions they evoke: a detail of the image, a color, an emotion, an association of ideas.
IsopsephyNumerology: Isopsephy is the ancient Greek practice of adding up the numerical values of the letters in a word, since the Greeks used their alphabet to write numbers.

J

Jack (cartomancy)Oracles and cartomancy: In cartomancy with an ordinary deck, the jack is the court card that traditionally represents a young man, someone close, an intermediary or a messenger, and sometimes a thought that occupies the mind.
Jean DodalTarot: Jean Dodal was a master cardmaker from Lyon in the early eighteenth century, the author of a Marseille-type tarot dated roughly between 1701 and 1715.
Jean NobletTarot: Jean Noblet was a Parisian cardmaker responsible for one of the oldest Marseille-type tarots to survive complete or nearly so, dated to the mid-seventeenth century, around 1650.
Jodorowsky-Camoin Tarot de MarseilleTarot: The Jodorowsky-Camoin Tarot de Marseille is a restoration published in 1997 by the filmmaker and author Alejandro Jodorowsky and Philippe Camoin, heir to the Marseille card-making house that had taken over the Conver…
Johann Kaspar HechtelOracles and cartomancy: Johann Kaspar Hechtel (1771-1799) was a Nuremberg merchant and game designer, creator of the Game of Hope from which the Petit Lenormand derives.
Joker in cartomancyOracles and cartomancy: The joker is, in cartomancy with a 54-card deck, the extra card that originated in the United States in the 19th century for certain trick-taking games, and which most divination methods remove from the pack.
JudgementTarot: Judgement is Major Arcanum XX of the tarot, renamed Aeon in the Thoth deck.
Jumper cardOracles and cartomancy: A jumper card is a card that flies out of the deck while a tarot or oracle deck is being shuffled.
Jumping cardSpreads: A jumping card is a card that slips out of the deck during shuffling and lands on the table or the floor.
Jupiter (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, Jupiter symbolizes expansion, confidence, luck, generosity, wisdom, faith and a sense of justice.
JusticeTarot: Justice is Major Arcanum VIII in the Tarot de Marseille and XI in the Rider-Waite-Smith, which swaps it with Strength; the Thoth deck calls it Adjustment.

K

KabbalahEsotericism and spirituality: Kabbalah is the mystical tradition of Judaism, which seeks the hidden meaning of Scripture and the nature of God.
Kabbalah and tarotTarot: Kabbalah and tarot refers to the system of correspondences that matches the twenty-two Major Arcana with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the paths of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
Kabbalistic numerologyNumerology: Kabbalistic numerology is an approach inspired by the Jewish mystical tradition, in which each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value.
KarmaEsotericism and spirituality: In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, karma is the law whereby every action produces consequences that return to the one who performed it, in this life or another.
Karmic astrologyAstrology: Karmic astrology is a modern school that reads the natal chart as the expression of a soul’s journey over several lifetimes, relying mainly on the lunar nodes, Saturn and Pluto.
Karmic debtNumerology: In numerology, a karmic debt is flagged when the numbers 13, 14, 16 or 19 appear before reduction in an important calculation, such as the life path or the day of birth.
Key cardTarot: In tarot reading, the key card is the card in a reading that the reader considers decisive for understanding the whole: often a Major Arcana card, a card placed at the center or one that answers the question directly.
KeywordsTarot: Keywords are short lists of ideas associated with each tarot card, such as “transformation” for Death or “hope” for The Star, used as memory aids.
KingTarot: The King is the highest court card of each suit in the Minor Arcana, shown crowned, seated or in majesty.
King (cartomancy)Oracles and cartomancy: In cartomancy with an ordinary deck, the king is the highest court card, traditionally representing an adult man, a figure of authority or protection, a spouse, a superior or an advisor.
KipperOracles and cartomancy: The Kipper is a German 36-card divination deck that appeared at the end of the 19th century, whose illustrations depict people and scenes of everyday life: marriage, letter, journey, illness, gift, false person… Its…
KnightTarot: The Knight is the tarot court card shown on horseback, ranked between the Page and the Queen and absent from ordinary playing cards.
KnucklebonesDivination arts: Knucklebones are small ankle bones, the astragali, usually from sheep or goats, used since antiquity both as a game of skill and as a divination tool.
KundaliniEsotericism and spirituality: In tantric and yogic traditions, kundalini is a spiritual energy described as a coiled serpent lying dormant at the base of the spine.

L

La Bleue (Belline)Oracles and cartomancy: La Bleue is the card set apart in the Belline oracle, entirely blue and bearing no planetary symbol, added to the deck’s 52 cards.
Law of attractionEsotericism and spirituality: The law of attraction is the idea that a person’s thoughts and emotions would draw to them events of the same nature: positive thinking would attract positive outcomes.
LecanomancyDivination arts: Lecanomancy is divination by observing a basin filled with water into which oil, flour or other substances are poured, their shapes and movements then being read.
Legal status of clairvoyance in FranceReadings and ethics: In France, clairvoyance is a lawful activity: since the new Criminal Code came into force in 1994, making a living from fortune-telling is no longer an offense.
LemniscateTarot: The lemniscate is the curve shaped like a sideways figure eight that serves as the symbol of infinity.
Lenormand cardsOracles and cartomancy: The Lenormand cards are the 36 images of the Petit Lenormand, numbered in a fixed order: 1 Rider, 2 Clover, 3 Ship, 4 House, 5 Tree, 6 Clouds, 7 Snake, 8 Coffin, 9 Bouquet, 10 Scythe, 11 Whip, 12 Birds, 13 Child, 14…
Lenormand housesOracles and cartomancy: The Lenormand houses are the 36 positions of the Grand Tableau, each carrying the meaning of the card with the same number in the deck’s classic order.
Lenormand significator cardsOracles and cartomancy: The Lenormand significator cards are the Man (card 28) and the Lady (card 29), which represent in a reading the person consulting or the person the question is about.
LeoAstrology: Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac, covering in tropical astrology the period from about July 23 to August 22 or 23.
LibraAstrology: Libra is the seventh sign of the zodiac, covering in tropical astrology the period from about September 23 to October 22 or 23.
Life cyclesNumerology: In numerology, life cycles are the three major periods of a lifetime, each governed by a number drawn from one part of the date of birth: the month for the first cycle, the formative one; the day for the second, the…
Life lineDivination arts: In palmistry, the life line is the line that starts between the thumb and the index finger and curves down around the Mount of Venus toward the wrist.
Life path numberNumerology: The life path number is the number derived from the full date of birth, regarded as the most important in a numerology chart.
Line of three (Lenormand)Oracles and cartomancy: The line of three is the basic Petit Lenormand spread, in which three cards are laid side by side and read like a short sentence.
Line spreadSpreads: A line spread consists of laying several cards side by side, in one or more rows, and reading them like a sentence, from left to right.
LithomancyDivination arts: Lithomancy is divination by stones.
Lo Shu squareNumerology: The Lo Shu square is a three-by-three magic square containing the digits 1 to 9, arranged so that every row, column and diagonal adds up to 15.
Love spreadSpreads: A love spread is a layout devoted to questions of the heart, in which certain positions stand for the querent, the other person and the relationship that binds them.
The LoversTarot: The Lovers is Major Arcanum VI of the tarot, called L'Amoureux (The Lover) in the Tarot de Marseille.
LuminariesAstrology: The luminaries are the Sun and the Moon, the two brightest bodies in the sky, which astrology sets apart from the other planets because of their importance.
Lunar cyclesEsotericism and spirituality: The lunar cycle, or lunation, is the succession of the Moon’s phases, from new moon to full moon and back to new moon, in a little over twenty-nine and a half days.
Lunar nodesAstrology: The lunar nodes are the two points where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic, always exactly opposite each other: the North Node, or Dragon's Head, and the South Node, or Dragon's Tail.

M

Madame IndiraOracles and cartomancy: Madame Indira is a French psychic, creator of the Persian Tarot that bears her name, published in 1980.
Madame Indira's Persian TarotOracles and cartomancy: Madame Indira's Persian Tarot is a 55-card oracle published in 1980 by Grimaud and designed by the psychic Madame Indira.
The MagicianTarot: The Magician is Major Arcanum I of the tarot, called Le Bateleur (The Juggler) in the Tarot de Marseille.
Magnetic healingEsotericism and spirituality: Magnetic healing refers to the practice of a magnétiseur, a healer who claims to transmit a soothing fluid or energy through the hands.
Major ArcanaTarot: The Major Arcana are the twenty-two allegorical picture cards of the tarot: twenty-one numbered I to XXI, and the Fool, which bears no number.
Major Arcana deckTarot: A Major Arcana deck refers to tarot practice reduced to its twenty-two Major Arcana, without the fifty-six minors.
Majority of Major ArcanaSpreads: A majority of Major Arcana refers to a reading in which Major Arcana cards outnumber Minor Arcana cards.
-mancy (suffix)Divination arts: The suffix “-mancy” names a divination technique after the medium it uses.
Mantegna TarocchiTarot: The Mantegna Tarocchi are an Italian series of fifty engravings from the fifteenth century, around 1465, depicting the conditions of humanity, the Muses, the arts, the virtues and the celestial spheres.
MantraEsotericism and spirituality: A mantra is a sacred syllable, word or formula repeated aloud or silently, originating in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
MaraboutEsotericism and spirituality: In the Maghreb and West Africa, a marabout is a holy man or Muslim religious teacher; the word comes from the Arabic murābiṭ.
Marcel BellineOracles and cartomancy: Marcel Belline was a highly publicized 20th-century French psychic and medium who gave his name to the Belline oracle.
Marie-Anne LenormandOracles and cartomancy: Marie-Anne Adélaïde Lenormand (1772-1843) was a French cartomancer, the most famous of her time, born in Alençon and settled in Paris on the rue de Tournon.
Mars (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, Mars symbolizes energy, action, desire, courage, self-assertion, combativeness and sexuality.
Master numbersNumerology: Master numbers are compound numbers made of two identical digits that numerology chooses not to reduce: 11, 22 and, depending on the school, 33 or even 44.
Maturity numberNumerology: The maturity number is obtained by adding the life path and the expression number, then reducing the result.
MeditationEsotericism and spirituality: Meditation is a practice of attention training that consists of focusing the mind on an object, such as the breath, a sound or an image, or simply observing whatever arises.
MediumReadings and ethics: A medium is a person who presents themselves as an intermediary able to perceive information from beyond the ordinary senses and, in particular, according to the spiritualist tradition, to communicate with the dead.
MediumshipDivination arts: Mediumship is the ability that mediums claim to have to communicate with the dead, with guides or with spiritual entities.
Mercury (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, Mercury symbolizes practical intelligence, thought, speech, writing, exchange, trade and travel.
Mercury lineDivination arts: In palmistry, the Mercury line is a secondary line, often slanting, that rises toward the little finger.
MetoposcopyDivination arts: Metoposcopy is the divinatory art that claims to read a person’s character and destiny in the lines of their forehead.
MidheavenAstrology: The Midheaven is the point where the ecliptic crosses the meridian of the birthplace, at the top of the natal chart.
MindfulnessEsotericism and spirituality: Mindfulness is a form of meditation that consists of paying deliberate, non-judgmental attention to the present moment: sensations, thoughts, emotions.
Minor ArcanaTarot: The Minor Arcana are the fifty-six tarot cards divided into four suits (Coins, Cups, Swords and Wands), each with ten pip cards from Ace to Ten and four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen and King.
Mirror hoursNumerology: Mirror hours are clock times whose hours and minutes show the same digits, such as 11:11, 14:14 or 22:22.
Mirror readingSpreads: Mirror reading is a technique that links cards placed symmetrically in a spread, for example the first and last cards of a line, or the two arms of a horseshoe.
Misleading commercial practiceReadings and ethics: A misleading commercial practice is, under the French Consumer Code, a communication or offer that misleads the consumer about the nature, price or results of a service.
Missing numbersNumerology: Missing numbers are the digits from 1 to 9 that do not correspond to any letter of the birth name, as revealed by the inclusion chart.
MiviludesReadings and ethics: The Miviludes, the Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances, is the French public body set up in 2002 to monitor cult-related abuses, inform the public and support victims.
Modern oracleOracles and cartomancy: Modern oracle refers to the large family of divination card decks created since the late twentieth century, each built around a theme: animals, goddesses, fairies, the moon, plants, crystals, ancestors… The number of…
MolybdomancyDivination arts: Molybdomancy is divination by molten metal, originally lead, from the Greek molybdos.
Monkey (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Monkey is the ninth animal of Chinese astrology.
The MoonTarot: The Moon is Major Arcanum XVIII of the tarot.
Moon (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, the Moon symbolizes sensitivity, emotions, imagination, the need for security, habits and memory; it is also associated with the mother figure and with childhood.
Moon oracleOracles and cartomancy: Moon oracle refers to modern oracles built around the phases of the Moon, natural cycles and the symbols associated with the night’s luminary.
Moon signAstrology: The Moon sign is the zodiac sign occupied by the Moon at the moment of birth.
Moon waterEsotericism and spirituality: Moon water is water left out overnight under the light of the Moon, usually a full moon, so that it becomes “charged” with its energy, according to the belief.
Mount of VenusDivination arts: In palmistry, the Mount of Venus is the fleshy pad of the palm at the base of the thumb, encircled by the life line.
Mounts of the handDivination arts: In palmistry, the mounts are the fleshy pads of the palm, each associated with a planet and a set of qualities.
Mutable signsAstrology: The mutable signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, which close each season and prepare the next.

N

Narrative readingSpreads: Narrative reading is an approach that links the cards of a spread into a story, rather than interpreting them one by one, position by position.
Natal chartAstrology: The natal chart is a representation of the positions of the planets, signs and houses at the exact moment and place of a birth.
NecromancyDivination arts: In its historical sense, necromancy is divination by summoning the dead, who are questioned about the future or about hidden things.
“Negative” cardTarot: A “negative” card is a common expression for dreaded cards such as Death, the Tower or the Devil.
Neptune (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, Neptune symbolizes ideals, dreams, inspiration, compassion and spirituality, but also illusion, confusion and the temptation to escape.
New AgeEsotericism and spirituality: The New Age is a broad spiritual current that emerged in English-speaking countries in the 1960s and 1970s, heralding humanity’s entry into a new era of consciousness, often called the Age of Aquarius.
New moon ritualEsotericism and spirituality: The new moon ritual is a practice performed when the Moon, lying between the Earth and the Sun, is invisible in the sky.
Nicolas ConverTarot: Nicolas Conver was a master card maker from Marseille who in 1760 engraved a tarot deck that became the most influential model of the Tarot de Marseille.
Nine-card squareOracles and cartomancy: The nine-card square is a Petit Lenormand spread that lays out nine cards in three rows of three, forming a small tableau halfway between the line of three and the Grand Tableau.
Nine-year cycleNumerology: The nine-year cycle is the sequence of personal years from 1 to 9, which according to numerology repeats throughout life.
Ninth houseAstrology: The ninth house is the ninth sector of the natal chart, devoted to long-distance travel, higher education, philosophy, spirituality, law and the broadening of horizons.
NotarikonNumerology: Notarikon is a Kabbalistic interpretive technique that treats a word as an acronym, each letter becoming the initial of another word, or conversely forms a word from the initials of a phrase.
Number 1Numerology: In numerology, the number 1 is the symbol of beginnings, initiative and self-assertion.
Number 11Numerology: The number 11 is the first of the master numbers in numerology, often written 11/2 because it reduces to 2.
Number 2Numerology: In numerology, the number 2 is the symbol of duality, relationship and cooperation.
Number 22Numerology: The number 22 is a master number in numerology, written 22/4 and often nicknamed the “master builder.” It is said to combine the vision of 11 with the practical sense of 4: the ability to conceive large projects and…
Number 3Numerology: In numerology, the number 3 is the symbol of expression, creativity and communication.
Number 33Numerology: The number 33 is considered a master number by only some numerologists, who write it 33/6.
Number 4Numerology: In numerology, the number 4 symbolizes building, stability and methodical work.
Number 5Numerology: In numerology, the number 5 symbolizes movement, freedom and change.
Number 6Numerology: In numerology, the number 6 symbolizes harmony, responsibility and emotional bonds.
Number 7Numerology: In numerology, the number 7 symbolizes reflection, inner searching and spirituality.
Number 8Numerology: In numerology, the number 8 symbolizes power, concrete action and fairness in exchange.
Number 9Numerology: In numerology, the number 9 symbolizes fulfillment, the end of a cycle and openness to others.
NumerologistReadings and ethics: A numerologist is a practitioner who assigns meaning to numbers derived from a person's name and date of birth, using a method of reducing digits inherited from various traditions, often linked, debatably, to Pythagoras.
NumerologyNumerology: Numerology is a divinatory art that gives numbers a symbolic value and draws from them insight into character, aptitudes and the major periods of a life.
Numerology chartNumerology: A numerology chart is the full set of numbers calculated for a person from their full name and date of birth, then interpreted in relation to one another.
Numerology compatibilityNumerology: Numerology compatibility consists of comparing two people’s charts, especially their life path and soul urge numbers, to describe the supposed affinities and frictions in their relationship.

O

Obstacle positionSpreads: The obstacle position is the place reserved for the main difficulty standing in the querent’s way.
OccultismEsotericism and spirituality: Occultism is the study and practice of what its followers hold to be hidden forces or laws of nature, inaccessible to the ordinary senses.
OduDivination arts: An odu is one of the signs of Ifá divination.
OghamDivination arts: Ogham is an ancient Irish alphabet, known from stone inscriptions dating mostly from the 4th to the 6th centuries.
OmEsotericism and spirituality: Om, or Aum, is the sacred syllable of Hinduism, also found in Buddhism and Jainism.
OneiromancyDivination arts: Oneiromancy is the art of drawing omens or lessons from dreams.
OomancyDivination arts: Oomancy is divination by eggs, from the Greek ōon.
Open questionSpreads: An open question is a question that calls for a developed answer rather than a yes or no, for example “What can I understand about this situation?” or “How should I approach this change?”.
OphiuchusAstrology: Ophiuchus, or the Serpent Bearer, is a constellation the Sun appears to cross between late November and mid-December, between Scorpio and Sagittarius.
OppositionAstrology: An opposition is the aspect formed by two planets or points 180 degrees apart, placed on either side of the chart.
Opposition positionSpreads: The opposition position is the place that represents what hinders, thwarts or puts strain on the situation.
Oracle (card deck)Oracles and cartomancy: An oracle, in the cartomancy sense, is a divination deck whose number of cards, images and meanings are specific to its author, with no imposed structure like that of tarot.
Oracle cards and tarotOracles and cartomancy: The distinction between oracle cards and tarot sets apart two families of divination decks: tarot rests on a fixed structure of 78 cards, 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana, while an oracle follows nothing but the…
Oracle de la TriadeOracles and cartomancy: The Oracle de la Triade is a French divination deck of 57 cards, created by Dominike Duplaa, published in 1992 by France Cartes and taken over in 1998 by Éditions du Gange, and accompanied by an explanatory book.
Oracle GéOracles and cartomancy: The Oracle Gé is a French divination deck of about sixty cards created by Gérard Barbier, and it has been very popular in France since the late twentieth century.
OrbAstrology: The orb is the margin of tolerance, measured in degrees, within which an aspect is considered active.
OrnithomancyDivination arts: Ornithomancy is divination by observing birds: their flight, direction, number, calls or the way they feed.
Oswald WirthTarot: Oswald Wirth (1860-1943) was a Swiss occultist and Freemason based in France who in 1889, under the patronage of Stanislas de Guaita, drew the twenty-two so-called kabbalistic Major Arcana, redrawn from the Marseille…
OudlersTarot: In the trick-taking game of French tarot, the oudlers (bouts) are the three key cards that determine how many points a player must reach: the Petit (trump 1), the 21 and the Excuse.
Outcome positionSpreads: The outcome position is the place that shows the likely outcome of the situation, given the forces described by the other cards.
Ox (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Ox is the second animal of Chinese astrology.

P

PageTarot: The Page is the first of the four court cards in each suit of the Minor Arcana, usually depicted as a young man standing.
Palindrome timesNumerology: Palindrome times are clock times that read the same in both directions, such as 12:21, 13:31 or 15:51.
PalmistryDivination arts: Palmistry is the art of reading character and life tendencies in the lines, mounts and shape of the hand.
Palo santoEsotericism and spirituality: Palo santo, Spanish for “holy wood,” is the fragrant wood of Bursera graveolens, a tree native to South and Central America.
Pamela Colman SmithTarot: Pamela Colman Smith (1878-1951) was a British-American illustrator and storyteller, a member of the Golden Dawn, who in 1909 drew the seventy-eight cards of the tarot she designed with Arthur Edward Waite.
PapusTarot: Papus, the pen name of Gérard Encausse (1865-1916), was a French physician and occultist, a major figure of Belle Époque esotericism and founder of the modern Martinist Order.
Part of FortuneAstrology: The Part of Fortune is a calculated point in the natal chart, inherited from Hellenistic astrology, that combines the positions of the Ascendant, the Sun and the Moon; for a daytime birth, the distance from the Sun…
Past livesEsotericism and spirituality: For those who believe in reincarnation, past lives are the existences a soul is thought to have lived before the present one.
Past-life regressionEsotericism and spirituality: Past-life regression is a practice that, often under hypnosis or deep relaxation, invites a person to recall memories they attribute to other lifetimes.
Paul ChristianTarot: Paul Christian, the pen name of Jean-Baptiste Pitois (1811-1877), was a French writer and librarian, author most notably of a Histoire de la magie published in 1870 (translated as The History and Practice of Magic).
Paul MarteauTarot: Paul Marteau was a twentieth-century card manufacturer and head of the Grimaud company, which in 1930 published the Ancien Tarot de Marseille, adapted from Nicolas Conver’s model with a simplified palette.
PendulumDivination arts: The divination pendulum is a small weight, made of wood, metal or stone, hanging from a thread or a fine chain, which the dowser holds above a hand, a chart or an object.
Pendulum chartDivination arts: A pendulum chart is a printed diagram placed beneath the pendulum to guide the reading: a graduated semicircle, a dial divided into sectors, an alphabet, numbers, a list of answers or topics.
PentaclesTarot: Pentacles are one of the four suits of the Minor Arcana, shown as coins in the Tarot de Marseille, where the suit is called deniers.
Per-minute billingReadings and ethics: Per-minute billing is a payment model in which the cost of a session depends on its length, whether on a premium-rate number, a private line or by chat.
Personal dayNumerology: The personal day is the number assigned to a specific day in a person’s chart, obtained by adding the calendar day to the personal month and then reducing.
Personal monthNumerology: The personal month is the number that, in numerology, colors a specific month for a given person.
Personal oracleOracles and cartomancy: A personal oracle is a divination card deck created by the person who uses it, with their own images, collages or words, and meanings they set themselves.
Personal planetsAstrology: The personal planets are the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars, fast-moving bodies whose positions vary greatly from one person to another.
Personal yearNumerology: The personal year is the number that, in numerology, describes the climate of a given year for a particular person.
Personality numberNumerology: The personality number is the reduced sum of the consonants of the full birth name; French-language numerology calls it the “nombre de réalisation” (realization number).
Petit EtteillaTarot: The Petit Etteilla is a thirty-two-card cartomancy deck, derived from Etteilla’s method and in circulation from the nineteenth century, in which each card of an ordinary deck bears a written meaning for its upright…
Petit LenormandOracles and cartomancy: The Petit Lenormand is a divination deck of 36 numbered cards, each bearing a simple image (the Rider, the House, the Heart, the Cross…) and often a playing-card inset.
Petit Oracle des DamesOracles and cartomancy: The Petit Oracle des Dames is a nineteenth-century French divination deck, reissued by Grimaud, made up of numbered cards decorated with small vignettes and captions whose meaning changes with the card's orientation.
Phone psychic readingReadings and ethics: A phone psychic reading is a remote session held over a call with a practitioner, who may draw on a tool laid out on their side.
PhysiognomyDivination arts: Physiognomy is the claim to know a person’s character from their facial features and body shape.
Pig (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Pig, also called the Boar, is the twelfth and last animal of Chinese astrology.
PinnaclesNumerology: In numerology, pinnacles are four successive periods of life, each associated with a number said to indicate the opportunities and areas of growth of the moment.
Pip cardsOracles and cartomancy: In cartomancy with ordinary playing cards, pip cards are the numbered cards that come after the court cards: from ten down to seven in the 32-card piquet deck, from ten down to two in the 52-card deck.
Pip cardsTarot: Pip cards are the forty Minor Arcana cards numbered from Ace to Ten, ten per suit.
PiscesAstrology: Pisces is the twelfth and last sign of the zodiac, covering roughly February 19 or 20 to March 20 in tropical astrology.
Planetary rulershipAstrology: Planetary rulership is the link that assigns each sign a so-called ruling planet: Mars for Aries, Venus for Taurus and Libra, Mercury for Gemini and Virgo, and so on.
Playing-card insetOracles and cartomancy: The playing-card inset is the small reproduction of an ordinary card (ten of hearts, king of spades…) printed in a corner of the cards of many oracles, notably the Petit Lenormand and the Grand Jeu de Mlle Lenormand.
Pluto (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, Pluto symbolizes deep transformation, symbolic death and rebirth, power, intensity and what remains hidden.
PositionSpreads: A position is the place a card occupies in a spread, along with the meaning assigned to it in advance by the chosen method.
Precession of the equinoxesAstrology: The precession of the equinoxes is the slow motion of the Earth's rotational axis that makes the vernal point drift backward along the zodiac by about one degree every seventy-two years, a full circuit in some…
PrecognitionDivination arts: Precognition is the supposed knowledge of a future event that could not be inferred from the information available.
Premium-rate numberReadings and ethics: A premium-rate number is a phone number whose call price exceeds that of an ordinary call, with the difference paying for the service.
PremonitionDivination arts: A premonition is an advance perception of an event, often felt as a warning before it happens.
Premonitory dreamDivination arts: A premonitory dream is a dream whose content seems to foretell an event that later takes place.
PresentimentDivination arts: A presentiment is a vague, inner feeling that something is going to happen, without being able to say exactly what or why.
Price disclosureReadings and ethics: Price disclosure is the information about cost that a psychic service must provide before a consultation is billed.
Private-line psychic readingReadings and ethics: A private-line psychic reading is a phone session on an ordinary line, paid by bank card, per minute or as a package, outside the premium-rate number system used in France.
PsychicReadings and ethics: A psychic is a person who offers to shed light on a client’s situation by drawing on what they describe as intuitive perception, with or without a tool.
Psychic chatReadings and ethics: A psychic chat is a session conducted through written messages exchanged in real time, on a website, an app or by text message.
Psychic code of ethicsReadings and ethics: The psychic code of ethics is the set of rules of conduct a practitioner commits to toward the people who consult them.
Psychic consultationReadings and ethics: A psychic consultation is an exchange in which a practitioner offers insight into a querent's question, with or without a divination tool.
Psychic creditsReadings and ethics: Psychic credits are prepaid units, bought in bundles on a platform and then spent on consultation minutes, messages or readings.
Psychic dependencyReadings and ethics: Psychic dependency is the compulsive use of consultations, to the point where the person can no longer make a decision or tolerate uncertainty without consulting.
Psychic flashDivination arts: In the language of psychic practice, a psychic flash is a sudden, brief perception: an image, a word or a sensation that arises without being sought.
Psychic giftDivination arts: In practitioners’ language, the psychic gift is an aptitude considered innate for perceiving what lies beyond the ordinary senses.
Psychic impressionReadings and ethics: In clairvoyance, a psychic impression is the inner sense the practitioner says they perceive about a person or a situation, beyond the meaning of the divination tool alone.
Psychic platformReadings and ethics: A psychic platform is a service, often online, that connects querents with a pool of practitioners paid per consultation.
Psychic reading packageReadings and ethics: A psychic reading package is a payment option in which the price is set in advance for a given duration, number of questions or type of reading.
Psychic scamReadings and ethics: A psychic scam is the commercial or fraudulent exploitation of a consultation to extract money from someone.
Psychological tarotTarot: Psychological tarot is an approach that uses the cards as a tool for introspection and dialogue rather than prediction, often drawing on Carl Gustav Jung’s archetypes.
PsychometryDivination arts: In clairvoyance, psychometry is the practice of perceiving information about a person or a place by holding an object connected to them: a piece of jewelry, a watch, a letter, a photograph.
Pure clairvoyanceDivination arts: Pure clairvoyance refers to clairvoyance practiced without any divinatory tool: no cards, no pendulum, no object.
Pyramid spreadSpreads: The pyramid spread stacks rows of cards that grow shorter and shorter, for example four, three, two and then one, with the top card serving as the culmination.
PyromancyDivination arts: Pyromancy is divination by fire: the shape and color of the flames, the crackling of the wood and the way an offering burns are all observed.
PythagorasNumerology: Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher and mathematician of the 6th century BCE, whose school held number to be the principle of all things.
Pythagorean chartNumerology: The Pythagorean chart is the grid that converts each letter into a digit from 1 to 9 by running through the alphabet in sets of nine.
Pythagorean numerologyNumerology: Pythagorean numerology is the most widespread form of numerology in the West, based on a table that assigns the letters of the Latin alphabet the values 1 to 9 in alphabetical order.
PythiaDivination arts: The Pythia was the priestess of the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, in Greece, who delivered the god’s oracles.

Q

QueenTarot: The Queen is the third court card of each suit in the Minor Arcana, shown seated on a throne holding her suit’s emblem.
Queen (cartomancy)Oracles and cartomancy: The queen is, in cartomancy with a standard deck, the court card that traditionally represents a woman in the querent’s circle: mother, partner, friend, colleague or rival.
Queen of SpadesOracles and cartomancy: The Queen of Spades is, in cartomancy with a standard deck, the most ambivalent female court card: tradition sees in her a hostile, jealous or rival woman, a widow, or a woman marked by hardship.
QuerentReadings and ethics: In clairvoyance, the querent is the person who comes for a consultation, not the practitioner.
Querent’s questionSpreads: The querent’s question is the query the person brings to the cards, around which the reading is organized.
QuincunxAstrology: The quincunx is the aspect formed by two planets or points 150 degrees apart.
QuintessenceTarot: In tarot reading, the quintessence is the Major Arcanum obtained by adding up the numbers of the cards in a reading and then reducing the total to 22 or less.

R

Rabbit (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Rabbit, also called the Hare, and the Cat in Vietnamese astrology, is the fourth animal of the Chinese zodiac.
RadiesthesiaDivination arts: Radiesthesia is a practice that seeks information or hidden objects by observing the movements of a hand-held pendulum or rod.
RascettesDivination arts: In palmistry, the rascettes are the transverse lines that mark the crease of the wrist, just below the palm.
Rat (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Rat is the first of the twelve animals of Chinese astrology.
ReadingSpreads: A reading refers both to the act of drawing cards from a deck and to the layout in which they are placed to be interpreted.
ReadingSpreads: A reading is the act of interpreting a spread, that is, putting into words what the cards, their positions and their relationships evoke in relation to the question asked.
Reading clothSpreads: A reading cloth is the fabric on which the cards are spread and laid out during a reading.
Reading confidentialityReadings and ethics: Reading confidentiality is the practitioner’s commitment not to disclose anything shared during a session.
Reading questionReadings and ethics: The reading question is the request the querent puts to the practitioner, and how it is phrased shapes the reading.
Recurring cardSpreads: A recurring card is a card that keeps reappearing from one reading to the next, for the same person or the same question, over a given period.
Red magicEsotericism and spirituality: Red magic is a recent expression for rituals devoted to love, desire and sexuality: attracting someone, rekindling a passion, “binding” a partner.
RedrawingSpreads: Redrawing means doing another reading on the same question shortly after the first, often because the answer was unwelcome or seemed unclear.
ReikiEsotericism and spirituality: Reiki is an energy healing practice of Japanese origin, founded by Mikao Usui in the early 1920s.
ReincarnationEsotericism and spirituality: Reincarnation is the belief that the soul, or some principle of consciousness, is reborn in a new body after death.
Rephrasing the questionSpreads: Rephrasing the question is the step in which the reader helps the querent sharpen or redirect their request before drawing.
Reporting a psychic scamReadings and ethics: Reporting a psychic scam means bringing abusive practices to the attention of the competent authorities.
Reputable psychicReadings and ethics: A reputable psychic is a practitioner who works honestly and with respect for the person consulting.
RetrocognitionDivination arts: Retrocognition is the claimed perception of past events that a person did not live through and was never told about.
Retrograde motionAstrology: Retrograde motion is the apparent movement of a planet that, seen from Earth, seems to move backward through the zodiac for a while.
Return of a lost loveReadings and ethics: A return of a lost love refers to a service, often a ritual, that claims to bring back a former partner, sometimes within a guaranteed time frame.
ReversedTarot: A reversed card is one that appears upside down in a reading.
Reversed cardSpreads: A reversed card is a card that appears upside down once turned over in the spread.
Reversed runeDivination arts: A reversed rune is a rune that turns up upside down in a reading.
RhabdomancyDivination arts: Rhabdomancy is divination using a rod or sticks, from the Greek rhabdos, “rod”.
Rider-Waite-Smith TarotTarot: The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot is a tarot deck published in London in December 1909 by William Rider & Son, designed by the occultist Arthur Edward Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith.
Rising signAstrology: The rising sign, or Ascendant, is the degree of the zodiac that was rising on the eastern horizon at the time and place of birth.
RitualEsotericism and spirituality: A ritual is a sequence of gestures, words and objects performed in a set order to mark a moment, express an intention or connect with the sacred.
Rooster (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Rooster is the tenth animal of Chinese astrology.
Root chakraEsotericism and spirituality: The root chakra, Muladhara in Sanskrit, is the first of the seven main chakras, located at the base of the spine.
RuminationReadings and ethics: Rumination is the endless rehashing of the same worry without ever reaching a decision or a sense of relief.
Rune readingDivination arts: A rune reading is the interpretation of one or more runes drawn at random from a pouch or cast onto a cloth.
RunesDivination arts: Runes are the letters of the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian alphabets, carved in stone, wood or metal from the first centuries CE onward.

S

Sacral chakraEsotericism and spirituality: The sacral chakra, Svadhisthana in Sanskrit, is the second main chakra, located below the navel, in the lower abdomen.
SagittariusAstrology: Sagittarius is the ninth sign of the zodiac, covering roughly November 22 or 23 to December 21 in tropical astrology.
Sales follow-upReadings and ethics: Sales follow-up refers to messages sent after a consultation or a sign-up to prompt someone to consult again: texts announcing an urgent message, calls, personalized emails, a psychic claiming to have “seen…
Saturn (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, Saturn symbolizes time, structure, limits, discipline, responsibility, maturity and the trials through which one grows.
Saturn returnAstrology: The Saturn return is the moment when Saturn comes back to the position it held in the natal chart, which happens around age twenty-nine or thirty, and again around fifty-eight or fifty-nine.
ScorpioAstrology: Scorpio is the eighth sign of the zodiac, covering roughly October 23 or 24 to November 21 or 22 in tropical astrology.
Second houseAstrology: The second house is the second sector of the natal chart, devoted according to tradition to personal resources: money earned, material possessions and marketable talents, but also values and self-worth.
Secondary progressionsAstrology: Secondary progressions are a forecasting technique in which each day after birth corresponds to one year of life: the positions of the planets thirty days after birth would thus describe the year following the…
Self-fulfilling prophecyReadings and ethics: A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that helps bring itself about because the person who believes it changes their behavior accordingly.
Self-readingSpreads: A self-reading means laying out the cards for oneself, acting as both reader and querent.
SerendipityEsotericism and spirituality: Serendipity is the art of making a happy discovery by chance while looking for something else entirely, and above all of recognizing it as such.
Seventh houseAstrology: The seventh house is the seventh sector of the natal chart, beginning at the Descendant.
SextileAstrology: The sextile is the aspect formed by two planets or points 60 degrees apart, most often in signs of compatible elements, fire and air or earth and water.
ShamanismEsotericism and spirituality: Shamanism refers to a set of practices in which a shaman, a recognized figure in the community, enters an altered state of consciousness, through drumming, chanting or trance, to make contact with spirits on the…
Shuffling the cardsSpreads: Shuffling the cards means mixing them so that their order becomes unpredictable before a reading.
SibillaOracles and cartomancy: The Sibilla is an Italian oracle of 52 cards that appeared in the nineteenth century, in which each card combines an illustrated scene with the indication of an ordinary playing card.
SibylDivination arts: In Greek and Roman antiquity, the sibyls were inspired prophetesses whose words foretold the future, often in riddling form.
Sibylle des SalonsOracles and cartomancy: The Sibylle des Salons is a French oracle of 52 cards that appeared in the nineteenth century and was long published by Grimaud, in which each card shows a titled scene from social or romantic life, along with a…
Sidereal zodiacAstrology: The sidereal zodiac is a zodiac aligned with the fixed stars, which takes the precession of the equinoxes into account.
SignificatorSpreads: The significator is a card chosen before the reading to represent the querent, then placed at the center or at the head of the layout.
Situation positionSpreads: The situation position is the place that describes the present state of the question, as it stands at the time of the reading.
Sixth houseAstrology: The sixth house is the sixth sector of the natal chart, devoted to daily work, chores, habits, service and lifestyle.
Sixth senseEsotericism and spirituality: In everyday language, the sixth sense refers to a faculty of perception that would supplement the five senses and allow one to sense what is not visible.
Smoke cleansingEsotericism and spirituality: Smoke cleansing is the practice of burning plants, resins or wood to symbolically purify a person, an object or a place with smoke.
Snake (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Snake is the sixth animal of Chinese astrology.
Sola Busca TarotTarot: The Sola Busca Tarot is an Italian deck engraved in the late fifteenth century, around 1490, known as the oldest surviving complete tarot of seventy-eight cards and above all for its pip cards, all illustrated with…
Solar plexus chakraEsotericism and spirituality: The solar plexus chakra, Manipura in Sanskrit, is the third main chakra, located above the navel, below the breastbone.
Solar returnAstrology: The solar return is the chart cast for the precise moment when the Sun comes back to its exact birth position, which happens every year within a day of one's birthday.
Sortes VirgilianaeDivination arts: The Sortes Virgilianae, or Virgilian lots, are the form of bibliomancy that consists of opening Virgil’s work at random, usually the Aeneid, and interpreting the line the eye falls on.
SoulEsotericism and spirituality: The soul refers, in many religions and philosophies, to the immaterial principle that animates a being and constitutes its deepest identity, often thought to survive the body.
Soul urge numberNumerology: The soul urge number is the reduced sum of the vowels alone in the full birth name.
SoulmateEsotericism and spirituality: A soulmate is the person with whom one would feel a deep, self-evident affinity, as if they were destined to share one's life.
Spades (cartomancy)Oracles and cartomancy: In cartomancy with an ordinary deck, spades are the suit of difficulties: obstacles, delays, conflicts, worries, separations or fatigue.
Spanish cartomancyOracles and cartomancy: Spanish cartomancy is divination with the baraja española, a 40- or 48-card deck with Latin suits: oros (coins), copas (cups), espadas (swords) and bastos (clubs).
Spirit animalEsotericism and spirituality: The spirit animal, or power animal, is, in contemporary spirituality inspired by shamanism and Native American traditions, an animal with which a person is said to feel connected and which accompanies them as a…
Spirit guidesEsotericism and spirituality: According to many mediums and spiritual movements, spirit guides are benevolent entities said to accompany a person throughout life: the departed, beings of light, angels or ascended masters, depending on the school.
SpiritismEsotericism and spirituality: Spiritism is a doctrine holding that the spirits of the dead can communicate with the living, notably through mediums.
Spiritual awakeningEsotericism and spirituality: Spiritual awakening refers to an inner transformation through which a person becomes aware of a broader dimension of existence and comes to see themselves and the world differently.
SpiritualityEsotericism and spirituality: Spirituality refers to the search for meaning, inner life and connection with what lies beyond the individual, whether or not it takes place within a religion.
SpreadSpreads: A spread is the layout of a reading, that is, the arrangement of the cards and the meaning assigned to each position.
Spreading the cardsSpreads: Spreading the cards means laying the deck face down on the table, in a line, an arc or a fan, so that cards can be picked from it.
SquareAstrology: The square is the aspect formed by two planets or points 90 degrees apart.
Square spreadSpreads: The square spread lays out nine cards in three rows of three.
Stanislas de GuaitaTarot: Stanislas de Guaita (1861-1897) was a French poet and occultist, co-founder in 1888 of the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross.
The StarTarot: The Star is Major Arcanum XVII of the tarot.
Star spreadSpreads: The star spread places five or six cards at the points of a star, sometimes around a central card representing the querent or the heart of the question.
StelliumAstrology: A stellium is a grouping of at least three planets, often four depending on the author, in the same sign or the same house of the natal chart.
StockSpreads: The stock is the pile of cards left over once the cards for the reading have been taken out.
Stones and crystalsEsotericism and spirituality: In spiritual practice, stones and crystals are minerals, such as quartz, amethyst, black tourmaline or tiger’s eye, to which tradition attributes symbolic qualities: protection, calm, confidence, intuition.
StrengthTarot: Strength is Major Arcanum XI in the Tarot de Marseille and VIII in the Rider-Waite-Smith; the Thoth deck calls it Lust.
Subtle bodiesEsotericism and spirituality: According to several esoteric traditions, the subtle bodies are invisible sheaths that are said to accompany the physical body: the etheric body, the astral or emotional body, the mental body, and then the spiritual…
Suit signTarot: A suit sign is the symbol that identifies a card's suit: the coin, cup, sword or baton in the tarot, the heart or spade in ordinary playing cards.
Suits in cartomancyOracles and cartomancy: The suits in cartomancy are the four families of the standard deck, hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades, each of which tradition assigns to an area of life.
The SunTarot: The Sun is Major Arcanum XIX of the tarot, numbered XVIIII in the Tarot de Marseille.
Sun (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, the Sun symbolizes identity, will, vitality, self-awareness and the need for self-fulfillment; it is also associated with the father figure.
Sun lineDivination arts: In palmistry, the Sun line, or Apollo line, is a vertical line that rises toward the ring finger, parallel to the fate line.
Sun signAstrology: The sun sign is the zodiac sign the Sun occupied at the moment of birth; it is the one people mean when they say “I'm a Leo” or “I'm a Pisces.” It can be worked out from the date of birth, the time mattering only on…
SwordsTarot: Swords are one of the four suits of the Minor Arcana, depicted as swords.
Symbolic colors of the tarotTarot: The symbolic colors of the tarot are the meanings attributed to the hues of the cards, especially in the Tarot de Marseille, whose limited palette includes red, blue, yellow, green, black, white and flesh color.
Symbolic readingSpreads: Symbolic reading is a way of interpreting the cards that relies on the meanings established by tradition: symbols, numbers, colors, elements and correspondences.
SynastryAstrology: Synastry is the comparative study of two natal charts, overlaid to observe the aspects between one person's planets and the other's.
SynchronicityEsotericism and spirituality: Synchronicity is a coincidence between an inner state and an outer event, with no cause-and-effect link, yet experienced as charged with meaning.
Synthesis cardSpreads: The synthesis card is a card that sums up the overall spirit of a reading, placed last and often in the center.

T

TalismanEsotericism and spirituality: A talisman is an object, often engraved with signs, letters or astrological figures, believed to draw a favorable influence to the one who carries it: luck, love, success, wisdom.
TarologyTarot: Tarology is the study and practice of tarot reading, approached as a symbolic language rather than a mere predictive technique.
TarotTarot: The tarot is a deck of seventy-eight illustrated cards, made up of twenty-two Major Arcana and fifty-six Minor Arcana, used both for trick-taking games and as a tool for divination.
Tarot card gameTarot: The tarot card game is a trick-taking game played with seventy-eight cards, including twenty-one trumps and the Excuse.
Tarot de MarseilleTarot: The Tarot de Marseille is a woodcut tarot pattern established in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whose figures and order of the arcana became the reference for French-speaking tarot reading.
Tarot NouveauTarot: The Tarot Nouveau is the standard tarot pattern used in France for card games since the late nineteenth century, with trumps showing scenes of bourgeois life and the suits of ordinary playing cards: hearts, diamonds,…
Tarot numerologyTarot: Tarot numerology is the study of the meaning attributed to the numbers on the cards: the Roman numerals of the Major Arcana and the values of the pip cards.
Tarot readerReadings and ethics: A tarot reader is a practitioner who specializes in reading the tarot, most often the Marseille Tarot or decks derived from it.
Tarot suitsTarot: The tarot suits are the four series that organize the Minor Arcana: coins, cups, swords and batons in the Tarot de Marseille, renamed Pentacles, Cups, Swords and Wands in the Rider-Waite-Smith.
Tarot symbolismTarot: Tarot symbolism refers to the full set of meanings attributed to the images, colors, numbers, gestures and objects depicted on the cards.
Tarot vs. oracleTarot: The distinction between tarot and oracle comes down to structure: the tarot follows a fixed, long-standing composition of seventy-eight cards, Major and Minor Arcana, whereas an oracle is a deck freely created by its…
TasseographyDivination arts: Tasseography is the art of reading omens in the sediment left at the bottom of a cup, whether coffee grounds, tea leaves or sometimes wine.
TaurusAstrology: Taurus is the second sign of the zodiac, covering roughly April 20 or 21 to May 20 or 21 in tropical astrology.
Tea leaf readingDivination arts: Tea leaf reading is the form of tasseography that interprets the leaves left in a cup of tea brewed without a strainer.
TelepathyDivination arts: Telepathy is the supposed communication of a thought, image or emotion from one mind to another without any sensory means.
TemperanceTarot: Temperance is Major Arcanum XIV of the tarot, numbered XIIII in the Tarot de Marseille and renamed Art in the Thoth deck.
TemurahNumerology: Temurah is a Kabbalistic technique that permutes or substitutes the letters of a word according to fixed rules in order to bring out another meaningful word.
Tenth houseAstrology: The tenth house is the tenth sector of the natal chart, beginning at the Midheaven in the usual house systems.
TetramorphTarot: The tetramorph is the group of four figures, an angel or winged man, an eagle, a lion and a bull, that frames the central character of The World.
Theosophical additionNumerology: Theosophical addition consists of adding all the numbers from 1 up to the number under study: for 4, this gives 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10, which reduction brings back to 1.
Theosophical reductionNumerology: Theosophical reduction is the basic operation of numerology: the digits of a number are added together until only a single digit remains.
Third eyeEsotericism and spirituality: In many spiritual traditions, the third eye is an invisible organ of perception located between the eyebrows, said to allow one to see beyond appearances.
Third eye chakraEsotericism and spirituality: The third eye chakra, Ajna in Sanskrit, is the sixth main chakra, located between the eyebrows.
Third houseAstrology: The third house is the third sector of the natal chart, associated with communication, everyday exchanges, early learning, the immediate surroundings, siblings and short trips.
Thoth TarotTarot: The Thoth Tarot is a tarot designed by the occultist Aleister Crowley and painted by Lady Frieda Harris between 1938 and 1943, published as a deck in 1969, after the death of both its creators.
Three-card spreadSpreads: The three-card spread lines up three cards, most often read as the past, present and future of the situation in question.
Throat chakraEsotericism and spirituality: The throat chakra, Vishuddha in Sanskrit, is the fifth main chakra, located at the neck.
Tiger (Chinese astrology)Astrology: The Tiger is the third animal of Chinese astrology.
Time frameSpreads: The time frame is the period a reading is meant to cover, ideally set before drawing: a few days, three months, a year.
Timing in cartomancyOracles and cartomancy: Timing in cartomancy refers to the methods some practitioners use to try to place in time an event read in the cards.
Timing in psychic readingsReadings and ethics: Timing in psychic readings is the attempt to place a predicted event in time: a timeframe, a month, a season.
Tool-based clairvoyanceDivination arts: Tool-based clairvoyance is clairvoyance that relies on a tool serving as a starting point or channel for perception: a tarot or oracle deck, a pendulum, runes, a crystal ball, coffee grounds, a photograph.
The TowerTarot: The Tower is Major Arcanum XVI of the tarot, called La Maison Dieu (The House of God) in the Tarot de Marseille.
TranceDivination arts: Trance is an altered state of consciousness in which a person seems detached from their immediate surroundings while remaining active in another way.
TransitAstrology: A transit is the current passage of a planet over a point in the natal chart, or the aspect it forms with a natal position.
Transpersonal planetsAstrology: The transpersonal planets are Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, discovered between the late eighteenth and the twentieth century.
Tree of Life spreadSpreads: The Tree of Life spread lays out ten cards following the pattern of the ten sephiroth of the Kabbalah, as Western occultism linked it to tarot from the nineteenth century onward.
Tree of the SephirothEsotericism and spirituality: The Tree of the Sephiroth, or Tree of Life, is the central diagram of Kabbalah: ten spheres, the sephiroth, connected by twenty-two paths, represent the divine attributes and the stages of creation.
Trend positionSpreads: The trend position is the place that shows the direction the situation is taking if current tendencies continue.
TrigramDivination arts: A trigram is a figure made of three solid or broken lines.
TrineAstrology: The trine is the aspect formed by two planets or points 120 degrees apart, usually in signs of the same element.
TrionfiTarot: The trionfi, or carte da trionfi, are the earliest documented tarot decks, which appeared in the courts of northern Italy (Milan, Ferrara, Bologna) in the first half of the fifteenth century.
Tropical zodiacAstrology: The tropical zodiac is the zodiac used in Western astrology: it begins at the vernal point, the Sun's position at the spring equinox, defined as 0 degrees Aries.
TrumpTarot: In the trick-taking game of tarot, a trump is one of the twenty-one numbered cards that beat every card of the four suits.
Turning over a cardSpreads: Turning over a card means flipping it from face down to face up to reveal its image.
Twelfth houseAstrology: The twelfth house is the twelfth and last sector of the natal chart, located just before the Ascendant.
Twin flameEsotericism and spirituality: In contemporary spirituality, a twin flame is the other half of a single soul said to have split into two incarnations.
Two of PentaclesTarot: The Two of Pentacles, or Two of Coins, is the Tarot de Marseille pip card in which two coins are linked by a wide, undulating ribbon shaped like an S or a lemniscate.

U

Undue influenceReadings and ethics: Undue influence is a situation in which a person gradually loses the ability to judge and decide for themselves under another's influence.
Universal yearNumerology: The universal year is the number obtained by reducing the digits of the current calendar year: 2026 gives 2 + 0 + 2 + 6 = 10, that is, 1.
UprightTarot: An upright card is one that appears the right way up for the reader in a reading, with the figure’s head at the top.
Uranus (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, Uranus symbolizes sudden change, rupture, originality, freedom, innovation and awakening.

V

Vedic astrologyAstrology: Vedic astrology, or Jyotish, is the astrological tradition of India, rooted in Sanskrit texts.
Venus (astrology)Astrology: In astrology, Venus symbolizes love, attraction, pleasure, beauty, art, harmony and the way one loves and appreciates.
Vernal pointAstrology: The vernal point is the point in the sky where the Sun stands at the Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox, when it crosses the celestial equator heading north, around March 20 or 21.
VibrationsEsotericism and spirituality: In esoteric and New Age language, vibrations refer to the energetic quality attributed to a person, a thought, a place or an object.
Video psychic readingReadings and ethics: A video psychic reading is a remote session held by video call, which lets the client see the practitioner and the tool being handled without having to travel.
VirgoAstrology: Virgo is the sixth sign of the zodiac, covering roughly August 23 or 24 to September 22 or 23 in tropical astrology.
Visconti-Sforza TarotTarot: The Visconti-Sforza Tarot refers to a group of luxury hand-painted decks made in the mid-fifteenth century for the dukes of Milan from the Visconti and Sforza families.
Vulnerable personReadings and ethics: In clairvoyance, a vulnerable person is a querent whose situation limits their ability to step back: recent bereavement, a breakup, illness, isolation, old age, psychological distress, financial hardship.

W

WandsTarot: Wands are one of the four suits of the Minor Arcana, shown as carved clubs in the Tarot de Marseille and as budding branches in the Rider-Waite-Smith.
Water signsAstrology: The water signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
Wheel of FortuneTarot: The Wheel of Fortune is Major Arcanum X of the tarot.
When to see a health professionalReadings and ethics: When to see a health professional rather than a psychic: as soon as the question concerns a symptom, an illness or a treatment, and as soon as distress persists, keeping someone from sleeping, working or seeing their…
White magicEsotericism and spirituality: In everyday language, white magic refers to ritual practices presented as benevolent, aimed at protection, symbolic healing, luck or harmony, as opposed to black magic.
White sageEsotericism and spirituality: White sage, Salvia apiana, is a plant native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, used by several Native American peoples in purification ceremonies.
WiccaEsotericism and spirituality: Wicca is a neopagan religious movement that emerged in England in the mid-twentieth century, popularized by Gerald Gardner with his book Witchcraft Today, published in 1954.
WitchcraftEsotericism and spirituality: Witchcraft refers to the set of practices attributed to witches and sorcerers, believed to act on people and things through supernatural means.
WitnessDivination arts: In dowsing, the witness is an object or sample that stands for the person, place or thing being searched for: a photograph, a lock of hair, a handwriting sample, a fragment of material.
WoodcutTarot: Woodcut is the printing technique used to make Marseille-type tarot decks: the design is carved in relief on a wooden block, inked and printed, and the colors are then added by stencil.
The WorldTarot: The World is Major Arcanum XXI of the tarot, the last card in the numbered sequence; the Thoth deck calls it The Universe.

Y

Yarrow stalksDivination arts: Yarrow stalks are the traditional, and oldest, instrument for consulting the I Ching.
Year-ahead spreadSpreads: The year-ahead spread assigns one card to each of the twelve coming months, often with an added synthesis card that sets the overall tone of the period.
Yes/no spreadSpreads: The yes/no spread seeks a clear-cut answer to a closed question, based on one or a few cards classed as favorable, unfavorable or neutral.
Younger FutharkDivination arts: The Younger Futhark is the runic alphabet used in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, from around the eighth century.

Z

ZeroNumerology: In numerology, zero is the digit of potential not yet manifested.
ZodiacAstrology: The zodiac is the band of sky, centered on the ecliptic, through which the Sun, Moon and planets appear to travel, divided into twelve signs of 30 degrees each.
Zodiac signAstrology: A zodiac sign is one of the twelve 30-degree sectors of the zodiac, from Aries to Pisces, each associated with an element, a mode and a ruling planet.

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