I've seen these cards in several series now including Arcana Famaglia, and more recently in Nobunaga the Fool, where Da Vince shows Jeanne du Arc a set of cards after which she draws one. And Da Vince makes some sort of prophesy.
So what is the thing they do with the cards called. And how exactly does it work ?
You're probably talking about Tarot cards.
Tarot cards are occult magic cards used for telling fortunes and predicting someone's future and upcoming events in life. Mystics and magicians use them as part of their image. It's not exclusive to anime, you can see them in real life, western cartoons, movies and tv series. They're kind of like Magic orbs/crystals and Ouija boards.
