Etteilla
Encyclopedia
"Etteilla," the pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1738 – 1791), was the French occult
ist who was the first to popularise tarot divination to a wide audience (1785), and therefore the first professional tarot occultist known to history who made his living by card divination. Etteilla published his ideas of the correspondences between the tarot
, astrology
, and the four classical element
s and four humors
, and was the first to issue a revised tarot deck specifically designed for occult purposes (1791).
in 1738, very little is known about Jean-Baptiste Alliette's youth. His father was a maître rôtisseur, a caterer, and his mother was a seed merchant. He married Jeanne Vattier in 1763, a marriage that lasted half a decade, during which he worked as a seed merchant, before publishing his first book, Etteilla, ou manière de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes ("Etteilla, or a Way to Entertain Yourself With a Deck of Cards") in 1770. Etteilla is simply the reverse of his surname.
deck, a shortened deck of 32 cards used in gaming, with the addition of an "Etteilla" card). Features included the "spread", or disposition on the table, and strictly assigned meanings to each card both in regular and in reversed positions, characteristics that are still central to Tarot divination today. In his preface, "Etteilla" explained that he had learned his system from an Italian; it remains unclear to what extent his assigned symbology was his own contribution. The book was reprinted the following year. He was working as a printseller, but from this time, approximately, he earned his livelihood by working as a consultant, teacher and author.
In 1781 the French Swiss Protestant clergyman and occultist Antoine Court who named himself Court de Gébelin
published in his massive work Le Monde primitif his idea that the Tarot was actually an ancient Egyptian book of arcane wisdom
. There is no evidence to support the notion that tarot has an Egyptian
lineage, but in the credulous stir that followed, Etteilla responded with another book, Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées Tarots ("How to Entertain Yourself With the Deck of Cards Called Tarot") in 1785. It was the first book of methods of divination by Tarot. In it Etteilla claimed that he had been introduced into the art of cartomancy in 1751, long before the appearance of Court de Gebelin's work.
In 1788 he formed 'Société des Interprètes du Livre de Thot', a group of French-speaking correspondents through which he continued to disseminate his teachings.
By 1790, he was interpreting the hermetic wisdom of the Egyptian
Book of Thoth
: Cour théorique et pratique du Livre du Thot, that included his reworkings of what would later be called the "Major
" and "Minor Arcana
", as well as the introduction of the four elements
and astrology
. Towards the end of his life Etteilla produced a special deck for divination that syncretized his ideas with older forms of French cartomancy, the first deck of cards specifically designed for occult purposes.
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
ist who was the first to popularise tarot divination to a wide audience (1785), and therefore the first professional tarot occultist known to history who made his living by card divination. Etteilla published his ideas of the correspondences between the tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
, astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, and the four classical element
Classical element
Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. Most frequently, classical elements refer to ancient beliefs...
s and four humors
Humorism
Humorism, or humoralism, is a now discredited theory of the makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers, positing that an excess or deficiency of any of four distinct bodily fluids in a person directly influences their temperament and health...
, and was the first to issue a revised tarot deck specifically designed for occult purposes (1791).
Personal life
Aside from the death certificate recording his birth in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1738, very little is known about Jean-Baptiste Alliette's youth. His father was a maître rôtisseur, a caterer, and his mother was a seed merchant. He married Jeanne Vattier in 1763, a marriage that lasted half a decade, during which he worked as a seed merchant, before publishing his first book, Etteilla, ou manière de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes ("Etteilla, or a Way to Entertain Yourself With a Deck of Cards") in 1770. Etteilla is simply the reverse of his surname.
Works
Etteilla, ou manière de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes was a discourse on the usage of regular playing cards (the piquetPiquet
Piquet is an early 16th-century trick-taking card game for two players.- History :Piquet has long been regarded as one of the all-time great card games still being played. It was first mentioned on a written reference dating to 1535, in Gargantua and Pantagruel by Rabelais...
deck, a shortened deck of 32 cards used in gaming, with the addition of an "Etteilla" card). Features included the "spread", or disposition on the table, and strictly assigned meanings to each card both in regular and in reversed positions, characteristics that are still central to Tarot divination today. In his preface, "Etteilla" explained that he had learned his system from an Italian; it remains unclear to what extent his assigned symbology was his own contribution. The book was reprinted the following year. He was working as a printseller, but from this time, approximately, he earned his livelihood by working as a consultant, teacher and author.
In 1781 the French Swiss Protestant clergyman and occultist Antoine Court who named himself Court de Gébelin
Antoine Court de Gebelin
Antoine Court who named himself Antoine Court de Gébelin was a former Protestant pastor, born at Nîmes, who initiated the interpretation of the Tarot as an arcane repository of timeless esoteric wisdom in 1781.-Early life:...
published in his massive work Le Monde primitif his idea that the Tarot was actually an ancient Egyptian book of arcane wisdom
Esotericism
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek , a compound of : "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward",...
. There is no evidence to support the notion that tarot has an Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
lineage, but in the credulous stir that followed, Etteilla responded with another book, Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées Tarots ("How to Entertain Yourself With the Deck of Cards Called Tarot") in 1785. It was the first book of methods of divination by Tarot. In it Etteilla claimed that he had been introduced into the art of cartomancy in 1751, long before the appearance of Court de Gebelin's work.
In 1788 he formed 'Société des Interprètes du Livre de Thot', a group of French-speaking correspondents through which he continued to disseminate his teachings.
By 1790, he was interpreting the hermetic wisdom of the Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
Book of Thoth
The Book of Thoth
The Book of Thoth is a book containing magical spells that appears in an ancient Egyptian story from the Ptolemaic period. The book is said to have been written by Thoth, the god of writing and knowledge...
: Cour théorique et pratique du Livre du Thot, that included his reworkings of what would later be called the "Major
Major Arcana
The Major Arcana or trumps are a suit of twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. They serve as a permanent trump suit in games played with the tarot deck, and are distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana...
" and "Minor Arcana
Minor Arcana
|thumb|[[King of Swords]] card from a Minor Arcana deckThe Minor Arcana of occult or divinatory tarot refers to the portion of a Tarot deck that consists of 56 cards. The Minor Arcana are roughly similar to the cards found in a common deck of playing cards...
", as well as the introduction of the four elements
Classical element
Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. Most frequently, classical elements refer to ancient beliefs...
and astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
. Towards the end of his life Etteilla produced a special deck for divination that syncretized his ideas with older forms of French cartomancy, the first deck of cards specifically designed for occult purposes.
External links
- James W. Revak, "Great Tarotists of yesteryear" Biography of Etteilla
- A History of Egyptian Tarot Decks at Spirotone.com