"Etteilla", the pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1 March 1738 – 12 December 1791), was the French

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

ist and

tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

-researcher, who was the first to develop an interpretation concept for the

tarot cards The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...

and made a significant contribution to the

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

development of the tarot cards to a wide audience (from 1783), and therefore the first professional tarot occultist known to history who made his living by card divination. Etteilla also influenced the French

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

professional

Marie Anne Lenormand Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand (1772–1843), also known as Marie Anne Le Normand, was a French bookseller, necromancer, fortune-teller and cartomancer of considerable fame during the Napoleonic era. In France, Lenormand is considered the greate ...

. In the years 1783–1785 Etteilla published his work ''Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées tarots'' ("Way to recreate yourself with the deck of cards called tarots"), which is still considered the standard reference work of Tarot

cartomancy Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were first introduced into Europe in the 14th century. Huson, Paul (2004). ''Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient R ...

. Etteilla published his ideas of the correspondences between the tarot,

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

, and the four

classical element Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simil ...

s and

four humors Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850s ...

, and in 1789 he published his own tarot deck, which, however, differed significantly from the classic tarots such as the ''

Tarot de Marseille The Tarot of Marseilles is a standard pattern of Italian-suited tarot pack with 78 cards that was very popular in France in the 17th and 18th centuries for playing tarot card games and is still produced today. It was probably created in Milan befo ...

'' in terms of structure and card designations.

Personal life

Aside from the birth certificate recording his birth in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

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 maniere de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes'' ("Etteilla, or way to recreate yourself with a deck of cards") in 1770. ''Etteilla'' is simply the reverse of his surname.

Works

''Etteilla, ou maniere de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes'' (1770) was a discourse on the usage of regular playing cards (the

piquet Piquet (; ) is an early 16th-century plain-trick card game for two players that became France's national game. David Parlett calls it a "classic game of relatively great antiquity... still one of the most skill-rewarding card games for two" but ...

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 Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. They formulate a question, then draw cards to interpret them for this end. A traditional tarot deck con ...

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; his work included an essay by the Comte de Mellet who first called tarot cards the

Book of Thoth '' Book of Thoth'' is a name given to many ancient Egyptian texts supposed to have been written by Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing and knowledge. They include many texts that were claimed to exist by ancient authors and a magical book that ap ...

and, crucially, claimed that the Egyptians used the cards for fortune-telling and described what purported to be their method of divination. There is no evidence to support the notion that tarot has an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

lineage but, influenced by de Gébelin, Etteilla responded with another book, ''Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées tarots'' ("Way to recreate yourself with the deck of cards called tarots") in 1783. It was the first book of methods of divination by Tarot. In the book, Etteilla claimed that he had been introduced to 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 discuss his ideas about tarot interpretation. The next year he published a special deck for divination that syncretized his ideas with older forms of French cartomancy. This was the first deck of cards specifically designed for occult purposes. In 1790, Etteilla founded the ''Nouvelle Ecole de Magie'' (New School of Magic). Later that year, he published ''Cours théorique et pratique du Livre du Thot'' (Theoretical and practical course from the

), which includes his reworkings of what would later be called the "

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

" and "

Minor Arcana The Rider–Waite_Tarot.html"_;"title="King_of_Swords_card_from_the_Rider–Waite_Tarot">King_of_Swords_card_from_the_Rider–Waite_Tarot_ The_Minor_Arcana,_sometimes_Lesser_Arcana,_are_the_Suit_(cards).html" ;"title="Rider–Waite_Tarot_.html" ;" ...

", as well as the introduction of the

four elements Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simi ...

and

.Decker, Depaulis, & Dummett 94

Publications

*''Etteilla, ou maniere de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes / par M.***'', Amsterdam ; Paris : Lesclapart, 1770. *''Le Zodiaque mystérieux, ou les oracles d'Etteilla'', Amsterdam ; Paris : Lesclapart, 1772. *''Etteilla, ou la seule maniere de tirer les cartes ; revue, corrigée et augmentée par l'auteur sur son premier manuscrit'', Amsterdam ; Paris : Lesclapart, 1773. *''Instruction sur le loto des Indiens que nous a donné en 1772 Mr Etteilla, professeur d'algèbre'', s.l. aris ? 1782. *''Instruction sur la combinaison hislérique, extraite du Loto des Indiens'', s.l. aris ? 1782. *''Etteilla, ou instructions sur l'art de tirer les cartes. Troisiéme et derniere édition par l'auteur de la Cartonomancie'', Amsterdam ; Paris : Segault ; Legras, 1783. *''L'Homme à projets'', s.l.

aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

1783. *''Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées tarots ; pour servir de troisième cahier à cet ouvrage'', Amsterdam ; Paris : Segault ; Legras, 1783. *''Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées tarots ; pour servir de premier cahier à cet ouvrage'', Amsterdam ; Paris : l'auteur ; Mérigot ; Legras ; Segault, 1783. * ''Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommés Tarots pour servir de quatrième Cahier à cet ouvrage'', Reprint 1993 L'astrologie du Livre de Toth (1785) Editions Trédaniel suivi des Recherches sur l'Histoire de l'Astrologie et du Tarot par Jacques Halbronn *''Fragment sur les hautes sciences, suivi d'une note sur les trois sortes de médecines données aux hommes, dont une mal-à-propos délaissée'', Amsterdam, 1785. *''Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées tarots ; pour servir de quatrième cahier à cet ouvrage'', Amsterdam ; Paris : l'auteur, 1785. *''Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées tarots ; pour servir de second cahier à cet ouvrage'', Amsterdam ; Paris : l'auteur ; les libraires…, 1785. *''Philosophie des hautes sciences : ou la clef donnée aux enfans de l'art, de la science & de la sagesse'', Amsterdam ; Paris : l'auteur ; Nyon l'aîné ; Durand neveu ; Mérigot le jeune ; Segaut, 1785. *''Epître à M. Court de Gébelin, salut, Etteilla, premier de l'an vulgaire 1784'', Paris (?), 1784. *''Les sept nuances de l'œuvre philosophique-hermétique, suivies d'un traité sur la perfection des métaux mis sous l'avant-titre L.D.D.P.'' Le Denier Du Pauvre… s.l.

s.d.

786 __NOTOC__ Year 786 ( DCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 786 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Eur ...

*''L'Art de connoitre les hommes par l'inspection du front, ou élémens de métoposcopie suivant les anciens''. Amsterdam ; Paris, 1787. *''L'Art de lire dans les lignes et caractères qui sont dans les mains : ou élémens de chiromance'', Amsterdam ; Paris, 1787. *''Science. Leçons théoriques et pratiques du livre de Thot. Moyennes classes'', Amsterdam ; Paris, 1787. *''Jeu des tarots, ou le livre de Thot ouvert à la manière des Égyptiens, pour servir ici à l'interprétation de tous les rêves, songes et visions diurnes et nocturnes'', Memphis msterdam ?: Mad. veuve Lesclapart ; Petit ; Samson, 1788. *''Cours théorique et pratique du livre de Thot ; pour entendre avec justesse l'art, la science et la sagesse de rendre les oracles''. s.l.

: (de l'impr. de la Société Typographique), 1790. *''Aperçu sur la nouvelle école de magie établie à Paris, le premier juillet de la seconde année de la Liberté française'', s.l.

: Etteilla fils, (1790). *''L'Oracle pour et contre mil sept cent quatre-vingt-onze'', s.l.

November 1790. *''Journal projétique et patriotique'', 17 numéros parus entre février et juillet 1791.

References

{{Authority control 18th-century occultists Tarot readers Cartomancy French occultists 1738 births 1791 deaths Tarotologists

Personal life

Works

Publications

See also

References