Etteilla

From Tarotpedia

1 Tarot contribution
2 Biography
3 Publications
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[edit] Tarot contribution

(pseudonym for Jean-Baptiste Alliette, 1738-91)

Etteilla was an Enlightenment-era French esotericist, who could be considered the grandfather of the occult Tarot and the first professional Tarotist in recorded history. He was the first person to publish on the subject of Tarot divination, simultaneously providing the first elemental and astrological attributions for the cards. Around 1788, he also created the first purpose-built divinatory deck. It is possible that without Etteilla's work, the occult theories of Court de Gébelin would have been doomed to obscurity, and Tarot would have remained a quaint parlor game in the popular consciousness.

"The Judgement"
Etteilla Tarot

[edit] Biography

Etteilla was 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 manière de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes (more literal translation, with its ambiguity retained: Etteilla, or a manner of recreation with a game 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 "Etteilla" card). 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 Court de Gébelin published in his massive work Le Monde Primitif his idea that Tarot was actually an ancient Egyptian book of arcane wisdom. In 1783, Etteilla responded with another book, Maniere de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées Tarots (more literal translation, with its ambiguity retained: Manner of recreation with a game of cards named Tarots) soon followed. 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 such purposes, which proved so popular that it became the dominant deck until well into the 19th century, the deck, in various forms, still popular today.

By 1790, he was interpreting the hermetic wisdom of the Egyptian Cour thèorique et pratique du Livre du Thot. 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 Société des Interprètes du Livre de Thot, and died in 1791, at the age of 53.