ETTEILLA & CREATION The Grand #Etteilla, featuring his thematic desire to encode the creation story into the opening sequence of cards — and why his Fool and Magician are in such unexpected locations. Also a bit about the astrological associations he gives the cards. If you’re unfamiliar with the first professional cartomancer from the 18th…
Tag: tarot history
Irreverent Tarot 10
IRREVERENT TAROT 10 – Etteilla and Gender Essentialism Pride Month has me thinking about the ways that gender is encoded in the tarot cards in so many different ways. Looking at the Grimaud Etteilla here in Dundee, rather than Lo Scarabeo’s in Hudson. Fascinating that the booklet retains some artefacts from the past and dispenses…
Irreverent #Tarot 8: The Fool
Episode 8: Mostly the Fool card. Some quick thoughts with a few different examples and why it seems to permeate life at present. The Fool steps into the abyss: foolish or hopeful? Is the Fool deranged or just using that as a disguise? The Jester v The Vagabond–or are they all just disguises? Almost everybody…
Irreverent #Tarot 7: The Lady & The Beast
A super quick recommendation for Deja Whitehouse’s THE LADY & THE BEAST on Lady Freida Harris, Aleister Crowley, and the making of the Thoth tarot (which can be seen at the Warburg Tarot exhibit or link below to my walkthrough.). Yes, it’s an expensive book but discounts are out there (follow Deja on IG) but…
Irreverent Tarot 6
‘Sir, you quibble!’ Today’s quick take is on THE SQUARE OF SEVENS, a cartomancy guide from 1896 by Edward Irenaeus Prime-Stevenson (1868-1942). He declares it to be the work of Robert Antrobus, who met a ‘Mr George’ in Cornwall who was supposedly a ‘gypsy’ but alienated from his people and willing to spill all their…
Irreverent Tarot 4 & 5
It’s typical of me to have done all the things with the most recent episodes of Irreverent Tarot *except* actually posting them here. Episode 4: Surrealist tarot! Well, the Jeu de Marseille which isn’t technically tarot but tarot-adjacent for sure. episode 5: The amazing Xul Solar, surrealist, futurist, polyglot language creator, gamester and yes, tarot…
Irreverent #Tarot Ep3
The Three Ages of Tarot: from game to occult repository to more reflective modern uses for personal development and expression. Much of this informed by scholars of tarot history including: A Cultural History of Tarot by Helen Farley (2019) A Wicked Pack of Cards by Decker, DePaulis & Dummett (1996) which makes a quick cameo!…