Synopsis
Etteilla, the pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1738-1791), transformed tarot from a card game into an occult science. In the late 18th century, he published four interconnected Cahiers (notebooks) and their Supplements under the shared title Manière de se récréer avec le Jeu de Cartes nommées Tarots, creating the first complete system for divination with tarot. This work became the foundation for modern tarot and cartomancy.
This translation presents the First Cahier and Supplement of Etteilla's Egyptian Cartonomancy, translated into English for the first time in hundreds of years, offering readers unprecedented access to the theoretical foundation upon which his entire tarot system is built. This is not a book of card meanings or divination techniques; rather, it offers the mathematical, philosophical, and mythological framework that structures his approach to the seventy-eight cards as hieroglyphs of universal wisdom. This is the first in a series, with the remaining Cahiers and Supplements forthcoming.
• The Egyptian Origin of the Tarot - Etteilla's detailed reconstruction of how the Book of Thoth was composed 3,953 years before his time by seventeen Magi in a Temple near Memphis, drawing on sources including the Bible, Hermetic texts, and Renaissance scholars.
• Algebraic and Geometric Proofs of the Tarot Structure - Mathematical and geometrical demonstrations of the deck's numerical structure and its relationship to the alphabet of the Book of Thoth.
• Numerological Philosophy - Explorations of the Unity, the quaternary, how numbers relate to creation and the universe, and cabalistic methods for reading the deck as one book or distributing it into multiple books with each arrangement revealing different subjects following the number of books or volumes.
• The Supplement - Etteilla's passionate defense of his work, critiques of censorship, reflections on the occult sciences, and additional mathematical demonstrations supporting his numerical system.
The title Egyptian Cartonomancy represents an attempt to restore the title closer to what Etteilla may have originally wanted before royal censors rejected it in 1782. Etteilla often referred to his tarot system as "Egyptian Cartonomancy," differentiating it from his piquet system which he called "French Cartonomancy."
The cover art pays homage to both the Etteilla I and II tarot decks. The central Justice card from the original frontispiece has been hand-painted by the author in the color palette of the Etteilla I deck engraved by Pierre-François Basan, while the border and overall composition reflect the structural design of the Etteilla II.
Meticulously translated by Heather Diane Lauvia as part of her ongoing project to make Etteilla's complete bibliography accessible to English readers for the first time in centuries with faithful close adherence to the original texts and featuring scholarly annotations with historical context and relevant insights from her personal research and featuring a Foreword by Patrick J. Dempsey.
Essential reading for tarot historians, scholars and practitioners seeking to understand the theoretical foundations of modern tarot and cartomancy.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.