Etteilla

"Etteilla," the pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1738-91), was the French occultist, who was the first to popularize divination by Tarot to a wide audience, and therefore the first professional Taroist in recorded history.

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Born in Paris in 1738, very little is known about him or his youth. He was married for half a decade, during which he worked as a seed merchant, before publishing his first book, Etteilla, ou mani?re de se r?cr?er avec un jeu de cartes ("Etteilla, or a Way to Entertain Yourself With a Deck of Cards") in 1770. He began using the name Etteilla, which is his surname spelled backwards. This first book was a discourse on the usage of regular playing cards (the piquet deck, a shortened deck used predominantly, with the addition of an "Ettelia" card). From this time, approximately, he earned his livelihood by working as a consultant, teacher and author.

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In 1781 the French Swiss Protestant clergyman and occultist Court de G?belin published in his massive work Le Monde primitif his idea that Tarot was actually an ancient Egyptian book of arcane wisdom. Etteilla responded with another book, Mani?re de se r?cr?er avec le jeu de cartes nom?es Tarots ("How to Entertain Yourself With the Deck of Cards Called Tarot") soon followed, in 1785. It was the first book of methods of divination by Tarot. This book was followed by the publishing of the first deck of cards specifically designed for occult purposes.

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By 1790, he was interpreting the hermetic wisdom of the Egyptian Book of Thoth: Cour th?orique et pratique du Livre du Thot.

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That included his reworkings of the Major and Minor Arcanas, as well as the introduction of elements and astrology. There is no evidence to support the notion that tarot has an Egyptian lineage. He proceeded to found a Tarot society, the Soci?t? des Interpr?tes du Livre de Thot, and died in 1791, at the age of 53.

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See also:

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• Tarot
Etteilla: External link ►



 

Occult: :For other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation)....

Tarot: :This article is about the structure, card imagery, and history and origin of tarot decks, which are used for spiritual, esoteric, psychological, occult and/or divinatory purposes. See Tarot (game) for information about the traditional European card game....

Paris: Paris is the capital city of France, as well as the capital of the ?le-de-France r?gion, whose territory encompasses Paris and its suburbs. The city of Paris proper is also a d?partement, called Paris d?partement (French: d?partement de Paris). It is a wonderful city for aimless wandering of which f...




Etteilla related Images and Photos (experimental)

The Devil Tarot Card from the Grand Etteilla