Book of Thoth Etteilla Tarot - tarot decks

Price: US $14.42

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• The Book of Thoth Etteilla Tarot is a reproduction of a nineteenth century tarot deck based on the deck created by Etteilla, who was the first to create a deck solely for divinatory use.

A deck of 78 cards with 22 majors and four suits of 14 cards each, the cards are numbered from 1 to 78 with the title appearing on the left and right hand borders. The top and bottom of the card bear upright and reversed keywords. (While I speak little French, English has borrowed enough words from it that I can generally understand the meaning of the keywords on these cards.)

Translated from French, the major arcana cards (also referred to as the superior 'Lames' in the booklet) are:

0 & 78 - Folly
1. Chaos
2. Light
3. Plants
4. Heavens
5. Person
6. Stars
7. Birds & Fish
8. Rest
9. Justice
10. Temperance
11. Strength
12. Prudence
13. High Priest
14. Devil
15. Magician or Bateleur
16. Judgement
17. Death
18. Hermit
19. Temple
20. Wheel of Fortune
21. "The African Despot" (yes, seriously)

Some of the major cards are recognisable as taro t archetypes, but more are greatly changed or wholly unfamiliar. Most easily recognisable is Justice (a woman with sword and scales), while at the other end of the spectrum is Bird & Fishes (which depicts just what it sounds like), Chaos and the Heavens, both of which have multi-coloured circular designs. The minor arcana (inferior Lames) are pip cards in suits of Batons, Cups, Swords and Coins, and the court cards (median Lames) are fully illustrated.

While Etteilla might have erroneously attributed the origins of Tarot to the Magi or Ancient Egyptian (hence the 'Book of Thoth' title) his deck was an important milestone in the development of Tarot as we know it. This is an interesting Tarot, ideal for the student of historical tarot, and for the collector of pre-Waite Tarot decks.