Fortune Telling

Throughout history, laws and regulations have been made to stop some supernatural practices, like fortune telling. After the 17th century, divination became linked to witchcraft, and was perceived by some as a means to summon evil spirits and demons to do harm to others.

In 1542 Parliament passed the Witchcraft Act which defined witchcraft as a crime punishable by death. Later, in 1736 Parliament repealed the laws against witchcraft, instead imposing fines or imprisonment on people who claimed to be able to use magical powers.  

Parliament in the UK passed the Vagrancy Act in 1824, under which fortune-telling, astrology and spiritualism became punishable offences. The Vagrancy Act was repealed in 1951 and was replaced by the Fraudulent Mediums Act. This, in turn was repealed in 2008.

There are five basic divination systems widely used throughout the world today: Astrology, Numerology, I Ching, Tarot and Runes. These methods had been practised by people who claimed to have special abilities and wasn’t usually practised at home. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that it became possible to tell your own fortune by the invention of new products manufactured to make it more simple to understand.