The trumps (major arcana)

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This is the second post in this blog. For the first, my introduction, click on "December" at right.

For convenience I repeat Etteilla's own introduction below, and then go to his presentation of the trumps, later known as the "major arcana".

Etteilla begins the book as follows:

Quote:

The Art of reading French Cards, having generally pleased, I believed that I would also flatter the curiosity and the taste of almost all Europe, if I brought to light that of reading the Cards named TAROT, these being in all respects the origin of ours, because they come to us (as M. Court de Gébelin has very knowledgeably told us, in his eighth Volume of The Primitive World) from the first Egyptians. I shall not talk thoroughly here about this Deck of Cards, or rather this invaluable Book, which is familiar to me since 1757, about which I protest that I have found some unique information; however I shall say what is its way of being amusing, in imitation of the ancient Peoples who made this Deck of Cards, formerly named the book of Thoth, their most robust activity, containing generally all their sciences, and particularly their Religion, their Oracles, and their universal Medicine, so that it is easy to explain, by interpreting, like the Ancient Mages, the seventy-eight Hieroglyphs that are contained in this Deck of cards). (*1) To understand what I am going to say, it is useful to have before your eyes the deck of cards named Tarot, and so as not to have trouble with the order which I consider as their numbers and the interpretation which I give to Hieroglyphs, it is necessary to write both on each of the Cards, following the plan which I indicate, promising, besides, to bring to light what is lacking here, so as to have a complete idea of this Book of Thoth, which contains the whole Universe. (*2) ________________________________ (*1.) See in the work, p... nos. 9, 10, 11 & 12. (*2.) It is the true expression of the wisest and greatest Ancients who have come before us. P.S. This corrected Deck of Cards is found, in Paris, at the home of the Author, living at Rue de la Verrerie, facing that of la Poterie, in the new building. Address the Porter.

The asterisks (*) mean that what follows is a footnote, amplifying on a corresponding place in the text:

Below I have added in brackets English-language keywords or synonyms that have appeared in various sources, from English translations of the keywords and the lists made up by his followers. If I add nothing, it is because they are all the same as what I put. Etteilla in the 3rd Cahier did not offer special reversed meanings for the first 21 cards and the Fool. These came later, on the cards published in 1789 and the work of his followers. For reference, my sources for the material in brackets are indicated by letters, as follows:

S = Stockman’s translation of the Etteilla-based word lists in Papus’s Tarot Divinatoire. They come from a student of Etteilla's, D'Odoucet, Science des Signes, vol 2 (online at https://archive.org/details/b22018529_0002/page/n6/mode/2up. For the trumps there is one keyword and then a word-list for both upright and reversed meanings, of which I only give the first, unless D'Odoucet himself has an explicit keyword that is different, as indicated by the abbreviation DOD. For the courts, Stockman has a keyword on top and also some words along the right side of Papus's cards; the latter have no basis in Etteilla or his immediate followers and are not included here.

R = Revak’s translation of Papus's word-lists, at http://www.villarevak.org/td/td_1.htm

F = the keywords in English and French on the 1969 France Cartes (Grimaud) deck, for which the French keywords of the 20 cards shown in Decker, Dummett, and Depaulis's Wicked Pack of Cards correspond exactly.

D = the keywords in English and French in the booklet that comes with Dusserre’s edition of the Grand Etteilla III (entitled Tarot Egyptien, Grand Jeu de l”oracle des Dames)

DDD = Decker, Dummett, and Depaulis, Wicked Pack of Cards. They give nothing for the courts. When they show the card-image, and the French keyword is different from F, I give the French as well. This only occurs in one instance (out of 20 cards), card 29.

1838= French only, "Julia Orsini," Le Grand Etteilla, ou L'Art de Tirer les Cartes, which has same keywords as D plus word-lists for both upright and reversed. 

LAS=de La Salette, 1791 Dictionnaire Synonymyque.

The text starts on p. 5 of the original.

Quote:

HOW TO AMUSE ONESELF WITH THE DECK OF CARDS NAMED TAROT Serving as the third Cahier of this Work No. 1. The Egyptians took this Card or sheet [Fr. lame = literally laminate in English], (*3) on which was drawn a Hieroglyph (4) for the man who consulted them; so this Sheet or Card means, or represents, he who questions the Oracles by the Book of Thoth. [In F, on the cards, “Questionnant” = “Male Consultant” is the reversed keyword, in D “Le Questionnant” = “The Enquirer (man)”. The Upright in both F and D is “Etteilla”. R has nothing for this card. S for the sole keyword has “The Male Querent”, in the upright word-list “God”, etc., and in the reverseds, “the Universe, the physical man, the male, the querent”. DDD: Etteilla/Male questioner. The 1838 in the uprights has “Etteilla” as keyword and in the word-list “Dieu”, i.e. God, etc., and in the reverseds “Le Questionnant” and “Philosophe, Sage” etc., i.e. “Philosopher, Sage”.] No. 2 The Sun, this hieroglyph means enlightenment. [F & D have Feu = Fire for reverseds; S and R have Fire.] No. 3. The Moon, means harmful talk [coup de langue, literally “blow of tongue”]. [S Proposal, discussion . . . gossiping...malicious gossip, slander; R Comments, Symposium, conversation... Prattle . . . Malicious Gossip, Slander; F & D Propos = Discussion in F, Talk in D. Reversed: L’Eau = Water; DDD Opinion, Water] No. 4. The Star means loss. [S Dispossession; R Desolation, Privation; F Loss; D Privation. Reversed: Air = Air; DDD Deprivation/Air] No. 5. The World (*5) means journey. [R Voyage, F Travel. Reversed Terre = Earth; DDD Journey/Earth.] No. 6. The Empress (*6) means, from something bad comes good, or, what has damaged us will become useful to us. [F and D upright Nuit = Night; S and R Night. For reverseds, Jour = Day; DDD Day/Night] No. 7. The Emperor signifies support. [In reverseds, F & D have Protection = Protection, S & R Protection; DDD Support] No. 8. This Card, or better this Hieroglyph, like both the preceding ones, no longer looks in any way like it was for the first Egyptians. (*7) Today on this Card we see a Juno, or a Female Pope, or a Spanish Girl; it means the woman for whom we question the Oracles of the Book of Thot. [F & D uprights: Etteilla. F reversed, “Questionnante” = “Female Consultant”; D reversed, “La Questionnante” = “Enquirer (woman)”. DDD: Etteilla/Female questioner. In S, the upright keyword is “Female Querent”, followed by the list “nature, repose” etc.; the reversed words are “imitation, Garden of Eden” etc. In R the keyword and upright are the same as in S, and the reversed is “Reproduction, Garden of Eden” etc. The 1838 has “Etteilla” as upright, followed by “Nature, Repos” etc.; in the reversed it is “La Questionnante” and “Imitation, Jardin d’Eden” etc.] Nº. 9. Justice means Equity; example: C.B.A. A is Jupiter. Justice is B, & some other figure is C. .... A, Jupiter, B will render Justice to the figure C. On the contrary, in A.B.C., it will be C who will render justice to A. This example should serve generally for all, when one must interpret the Oracles offered in the entire spread drawn. [Upright is Justice. For the reversed, F & D have Le Légiste = Jurist in F, Law giver in D, Legist in S, Jurist in R] Nº. 10. Temperance means or announces that one must moderate oneself. The subject being considered is that indicated in the sheet [or card, Fr. lame] following, whether physical or moral; the extremes, in the one and the other case, being contrary to the law that wise Nature indicates to us in its general movements. [Upright is Temperance. For the reversed, F & D Le Prêtre = the Priest; S Minister, Priest; R Minister, Priesthood] Nº. 11. Strength. Let it be C.B.A.: A, the consultant; B, Strength; C, a rival of the consultant; the latter will be vanquished. Let it be B.C.A.: against the danger of A, ... C is going to seek Strength B, & vanquish A. ... This correct Hieroglyph, like the two preceding & and the ones following, comes to us directly from the Egyptians, if one allows that while passing through the hands of the Greeks, the Arabs, the first English People, and the Spanish, and finally the Romans, the Germans, etc., they have been altered, thus in general transposing nearly all the numbers; this I demonstrate and prove to be evident in the entire Work; but the number is correct for Strength. [..ce que je démontre & prouve évidemment dans l’Ouvrage entier: signifie la Force.] [Upright is Strength. For reversed, F & D Le Souverain = Monarch in F and Sovereign in D, while S and R have Sovereign] ________________________________ *3. They were of the finest gold, and their dimensions were 1 by 2. *4. The Hieroglyph that was on this card is totally changed; thus without entering the matter, this Card offers today, according to the country where it is made, only a Jupiter, or a Pope, or a Swordsman. *5. Remove the oval Cartouche, & put in its place a Serpent having its head in its mouth . . . & in place of two miserable blades of grass, put two pyramids of 59 measures, because the figure had some 121; & in agreement with all the Wise, you will conceive that this figure was surrounded by seven stars. *6. Our inestimable Ancients would certainly verify that this is mistaken: this Hieroglyph is modern; in one of the three other cahiers I will demonstrate that this was originally the fourth day of creation. *7. The Dissertation that I made on this Card, proving in an irrefutable manner the sort of Hieroglyph it was originally, merited at Frankfurt-on-Main in 1777 the appellation of Astro-phil-astres, & Mage of France, in the terms of [aux termes de] the second [of the] human Sciences.

Start p. 9:

Quote:

No. 12. Prudence; (*8) sometimes when this Card comes up in the reading, it is a piece of wise advice to proceed carefully, because it is recognized that prejudice and ignorance make a crime of our most praiseworthy acts, when they do not understand the steps that we take to bring the unrefined man to a life that is honest and useful to Society; it means Caution [French original: Prudence]. [In reverseds, S & R Nation; F & D Le Peuple = The Masses in F, The People in D No. 13, Marriage (*9); this Hieroglyph is one of those on which the Egyptians were very expansive. They said: Marriage is the absolute will of the Creator, and whoever disturbs this agreement, or diverts its progress, will not live in this world, nor in the other. ...it means Marriage. [In reverseds, S & R lists have Society; F & D Union = Union] Nº. 14. The Devil. The Egyptians, by this word Devil, or Demon, did not understand infernal Spirits enchained in the abyss, but a man whose science surpassed many others; finally, who knew everything by divine gift, or by prolonged [interpassante] study. Such were the Brahmins, the Gymnosophs, the Druids, etc., etc. This Hieroglyph means superior force, in everything concerning the things of human life. [S force majeure [left in French]; R Great Force; F & D Force Majeure = F Absolute Necessity; D Major Force; DDD Major Force. Reversed: F Force Majeur = Absolute Necessity; D Force Mineure = Minor Force. S list, slightness, weakness; R, insubstantial, weakness; 1838 Légèrité, Faiblesse, i.e. lightness, weakness] Nº. 15. The Bateleur, (*10) means Illnesses: in a different sense, sometimes regarded as a Mage, it means Health. [S Sickness, in list illness, infirmity; R Illness, infirmity; F & D Maladie = Illness, both upright and reversed; DDD Illness. S list has in reversed, mental illness, headache; R reversed has Mental Illness...Head Injury; 1838 reversed, Indisposition...mal de tete, i.e. headache] No. 16. Judgment. C.B.A., Judgment in C, says that you judge on nothing. B.C.A., what you judge of B is true; what you judge of A is false; means Judgment. [F & D Jugement = Judgment, both upright and reversed; S & R reversed lists: arrest, decree, weak mind] Nº. 17. Death. Note that death has to come; but you should not get it mixed up. C.B.A., Death in C. says nothing; A.C.B., bad news for A; but as the book of the Oracles is not one of Decrees, it is most often necessary to believe that the death coming here in C is only a small courtesy visit that it renders to A: nevertheless it would be necessary to distrust B; because it is he who sends C to A. And finally, for C to bring lead (shot) to A, there would have to be D.A.C.B.; if we find A and B and C alone, it means death, or as little of it as necessary, for the sheet [= card, Fr. lame] that follows, which most often is an unknown, or a Project, or a Legal Case; and in this last case, so much the better.[S keyword Mortality, in list death, in reverseds list inertia; R Mortality, then in list annihilation, inertia; F & D Mortalité = Death in F, Mortality in D; DDD Mortality; in reverseds F & D Néant = Nothingness] No. 18. The Hermit. The Egyptians took this, as the Provençals say, as The Capuchin [Friar], when the first degree of Knowledge and human Wisdom is reached: these Philosophers there were themselves, in a way, forced by their contemporaries, and by their Followers, so that, according to the vulgar idea, the corpuscles of the sublime did not exalt not so freely: today this Hieroglyph means a hypocrite, a traitor (*11). [S Traitor, in list betrayal...deceit, hypocrisy, and in reverseds loner; R Traitor, Treason...Dissimilation, Hypocrisy, and in reverseds Hermit; 1838 Fourbe [deceitful[, Hypocrite, reverseds Hermite; F & D Traitre = Traitor, in both uprights and reverseds; DDD Traitor] No. 19. Maison-Dieu [literally. House-God, but in Old French, per Kwaw's later post, meaning House of God]. As we see that this House looks like the Tower of Montgommery, which has just been knocked over, or a small Castle that has been knocked over, it is very correct not to make it, like the ignoramuses, the Temple of the Eternal. So, as shown by the Egyptians, who never named it Maison-Dieu, but House of the punishments of God ...it means Prison, poverty. [S Distress, then in list situs, misery or wretchedness...poverty, and imprisonment in the reverseds; R Misery, in list Distress...Poverty and in reverseds Imprisonment; 18838 Indigence...Détresse, then Imprisonnement; F & D Misère = Poverty in F and Misery in D, and in reverseds, F & D Prison = Prison; DDD Misery/Jail] No. 20. The Wheel of Fortune. This Hieroglyph means increase and fortune; note however that every time it appears in a spread, you should not believe that it is ours; finally, it is necessary to consider where it is placed (*12).[S Fortune, in list good luck, happiness, and in reverseds Development; R Fortune, in list Happiness, and reverseds Increase; 1838 in list Bonheur, reverseds Accroissment; F & D Fortune = Fortune, and in reverseds Augmentation = F Raise and D Increase; DDD Fortune] No. 21. The Chariot, means noise, quarrel, dissension, bad order: the little ones [les petits, i.e. the little people], no doubt angry against chariots, say with a common voice, that it is neither good nor pleasant to be made wet like water spaniels, and squashed like fleas. [S Disagreement, in list war...dispute, noise...disorder, in reversed noise, dispute; R Dissension, in list war, dispute, disruption, in reversed unrest, racket; 1838 Troubles, Emeutes...Guerre [Troubles, Riots, War], reversed Bruit, Tapage [Noise, Commotion]; F & D both upright and reverseds Dissension = F Disagreement, D Dissension; DDD Dissension] No. 0. The Madman, or Madness; this Card is the only one that in fact never had a number; which returns well enough to the fact that it is hardly possible to assign a number to our dear madnesses (13); means madness . [R and DDD Folly, all others Madness, for both upright and reversed. S list has madness...dementia, extravagance, unreasonableness, reversed idiocy, ineptitude, carefreeness. R list has Demented, Eccentricity [Extravagance], Insanity, reversed Imbecility, Ineptitude, Carelessness; 1838 has Démence, Extravagance, Déraison, reversed Imbécilité, Ineptie, Insouciance.] It is necessary to understand that these first 22 Leaves never had, for the Egyptians, with regard to divination, a single meaning; but when this book was finally moved and mixed, opened, or cut, and one of these 22 Hieroglyphs coming upside down, then the forecast was less, that is to say, the chariot coming reversed, upside down, the quarrel is less considerable. If the so-called Devil comes feet at the top, the superior force [force majeur] is less; so of these twenty-two meanings, 22 major Hieroglyphs being interpreted, as I said for divination, and not for hermetic Philosophy, which is so perfectly developed there, that it is impossible not to recognize in it the Originals of all the Adepts who have written. We are going to pass to the 56 minor Hieroglyphs, taken up under the primary four faces, which have all the numbers relative to the high Sciences, or second Human sciences. (*14) ________________________________ *8. Cross off absolutely the hideous name of the hanged man, which the most excessive ignorance gave to this invaluable virtue. *9. In the work I give reasons for the transposition that I make of this Hieroglyph in the place of death, which I classify as No. 17. And without demonstrating here that I am just translating the thought of the Egyptians, I say that it is necessary to go back to the spirit of Marriage, which is birth, as birth is the spirit of death, and this one of life. *10. This hieroglyph is very altered; it was a mage. ... *11. I warn the Reader that I always translate only with regard to the divination of the Egyptians. *12. This has often been thought very bad, going as far as regarding it insane; but I believe it very wise, because it takes as its task only tormenting the insane.  *13. The Egyptians offer us this Hieroglyph as a mirror, which without being coated, gives to each the power to see on one side the defects of some, while those see by looking on the opposite side at the defects of the others. *14. I will give the reason for all these divisions, not in the style of the Ancients, but according to the knowledge of the Cabalists.

We have reached the end of p. 14, and I stop to make a few comments. On no. 17, I read a semicolon after "D.A.C.B." and before "on". Otherwise I don't know how to understand this paragraph.

In a post on Aeclectic (http://tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=3235242&postcount=14), "Kwaw" (Steve Mangan) gave an excellent explanation of the reasons for "absolute necessity". My choice, "superior force", is the Wikipedia article's translation of the original Latin phrase vis major. The problem with "absolute necessity", I think, is that it doesn't admit of more or less, and Etteilla says that when the card is reversed, the "force majeur" is less. But he doesn't mean "weakness", at least not in this book--just less of the superior force. Hence my choice of words.

Kwaw also corrected my translation of "Maison-Dieu" as "House-God". I also see that in the Grand Robert Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise, 1986 edition, "Maison-Dieu" sometimes referred to the Temple of Jerusalem. 

At this point we have reached the end of the trumps, or "major arcana" (words that did come into use until after Etteilla). I will pick up with the suit cards in my next post.

The suits, upright

Note: This post last modified Jan. 19 2017, to remove some extraneous material in Papus along the sides of his cards which do not correspond to what is in the 3rd Cahier.

I continue now translating Etteilla's 3rd Cahier, resuming at the point where he starts giving the upright meanings of the suit cards. Again, I am adding material from other sources after what Etteilla says about each meaning, mostly from English translations of the keywords and the lists made up by his followers. If I add nothing, it is because they are all the same as what I put. For easy reference, these are:

S = Stockman’s translation of the Etteilla material in Papus’s Tarot Divinatoire. For trumps and number cards, there is one keyword and then a word-list for both upright and reversed meanings, of which I only give a few. For the courts, there is a keyword on top and also some words along the right side of Papus's cards; the latter have no basis in the 3rd Cahier and are not included here.

R = Revak’s translations of Papus word-lists, at http://www.villarevak.org/td/td_1.htm

F = the keywords in English and French on the 1969 France Cartes (Grimaud) deck, for which the French keywords of the 20 cards shown in Decker, Dummett, and Depaulis's Wicked Pack of Cards correspond exactly.

D = the keywords in English and French in the booklet that comes with Dusserre’s edition of the Grand Etteilla III (entitled Tarot Egyptien, Grand Jeu de l”oracle des Dames)

DDD = Decker, Dummett, and Depaulis, Wicked Pack of Cards. They give nothing for the courts. When they show the card-image, and the French keyword is different from F, I give the French as well. This only occurs in one instance (out of 20 cards), card 29.

c. 1840 = French only, "Julia Orsini," Le Grand Etteilla, ou L'Art de Tirer les Cartes, which has same keywords as D plus word-lists for both upright and reversed

An additional difficulty is that Etteilla now adds a second set of footnotes, which he puts at the end of his list. Since it is not easy here to flip back and forth between pages, I am moving these to the same blog-page as their originals, after the ones indicated with asterisks (*). These additional footnotes have to do with how to interpret the card in relation to other cards that may have come up in the reading. We are starting with the last sentence on p. 14 of the original, which seems like an introduction to what follows even though it is not a new paragraph. For my explanation of why "staves" for bâtons, see toward the end of my introduction, about the suits.

Quote:

We are going to pass to the 56 minor Hieroglyphs, taken up under the primary four faces, which have all the numbers relative to the high Sciences, or second Human sciences. (*14) Staves [bâtons] in their positions. Situs. [Latin for "Situated"; it might be his term for "Upright"] N. 22. King of stave [bâton], this is a man. [S countryman... Conscience; R Man of the Country...conscientious; F & D Homme de Campagne = F Country Gentleman, D The Country Man] N. 23. The Lady, this is a woman. [S countrywoman...gentleness, virtue; R Woman of the Country...Gentleness, Virtue; F & D Femme de Campagne = F Country Lady, D The Country woman] N. 24. The Knight, means Departure (1). [S departure; R same; F & D Départ = Departure] N. 25. The Page, Good Stranger [or foreigner]. [S stranger or foreigner; R Stranger; F Étranger = Stranger; D Bon Étranger = Good Stranger. See also Etteilla, 4th Cahier Supplement, p. 145, where he says "étranger: nous y avons mal-à-propre ajouté le mot bon = stranger [or foreigner]: we have inappropriately added the word good, and p. 147, where he changes the keyword to Étranger without the Bon. Bon also has the sense of the English "decent." Patreekotheartist suggests "kind stranger." In my view that would be "gentil"; however, that's what a decent stranger would be.] N. 26. 10 of batons, Betrayal. [R & D; Treason] N. 27. 9, Delay. [S in list: lateness, delay] N. 28. 8, Party in the country. [S in list, R countryside . . . pleasure; F & DDD Campagne = Country; D Partie de Campagne = Country Party] N. 29. 7, Prattle [Fr. Caquets]. [S Gossip; S in list negotiation; R Discussion; F & D Pourparlers = F Negotiations; D Preliminary Talks; DDD Pour Parler = Negotiations] [See also 4th Cahier Supplement, p. 145: Nous avons pas eu assez recours aux terms génériques, ayant mis caquet au lieu de paroles, &c. Les paroles ne devant se voir que comme pour parler utile, ou comme bavarderie, suivant les cartes qui accompagnent celles qui signifient [i]paroles/i]. = We did not have enough recourse to generic terms, having put prattle in place of words. The words around it seeing whether as useful speech or as prattle, following the cards that accompany those that signify words. On p. 147 he gives "Pour Parler. Paroles" as keyword for the 7.] N. 30. 6, Domestic [Fr. Domestique]. [S Servants, in list domestic servant; R Domestic Worker; DDD Domestic] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement p. 146, Etteilla adds that this can be augmented to "un inférieur", i.e. an inferior, depending on surrounding cards. However he did not put this change in the list of keyword changes that follows.] N. 31. 5, means Gold. N. 32. 4, Society [Fr. Societé. [S Company; DDD Social Success ] N. 33. 3, Enterprise. [S Enterprise; in list, to undertake; R Enterprise, Begin; F & D, Enterprises = Enterprises; DDD Enterprises] N. 34. 2, Sorrow. [S & D Sadness; R Chagrin] N. 35. 1, Birth. The Cups in their positions, Situs. [Latin for situated; the meaning is "as situated," i.e. upright.] N. 36. King of cups, Fair-haired man. [S: fair (haired) man, honest man. . . Art, Science; R Fair Man, Honest Man... Arts, Sciences; F & D Homme Blond = Blond Man] N. 37. The Lady, Fair-haired woman. [S: fair (haired) woman, honest woman... wisdom; R Fair Woman, Honest Woman.... Wisdom; F & D Femme Blonde = Blond Woman] N. 38. The Knight, Arrival (2). N. 39. The Page, Fair-haired boy. [S: fair-haired youth, studious; R Fair Young Man, Studious; F blond boy, D Fair-haired boy.] N. 40. 10 of cups, The town [ville] where one is. [S: the town where you are; in list: town, city; R Town, City; F & DDD La Ville = The City; D La Ville = Town] N. 41. 9. Victory. N. 42. 8. Fair-haired girl. [S Fair Girl, in list fair-haired girl, practical girl, honor; R Fair Girl, Honest Girl, Honor; F & D & DDD Blond Girl] N. 43. 7. Thought [Fr. La Pensée] (3). [D La Pensée =Thoughts] N. 44. 6. The past (4). N. 45. 5. Inheritance. [S Heritage, in list inheritance...heritage; R Legacy...Heritage] N. 46. 4. Boredom (5). [D Ennui = Troubles] N. 47. 3. Success. N. 48. 2. Love. N. 49. 1. Table. [S in list Table, Meal; R Table, Meal; F Table = Gastronomy] ________________________________ *14. I will give the reason for all these divisions, not in the style of the Ancients, but according to the knowledge of the Cabalists.

Footnote 14 seems to me quite important. He is not claiming an Egyptian origin specifically for his interpretations of the suit cards. Rather, they come from the “Cabalistes”, which I think means not the Jewish mystics, but those in Europe of his time and before who practiced a largely hidden tradition that combined Jewish-based mysticism, alchemy, Pythagoreanism, and perhaps other doctrines and practices--everything they imagined as part of the prisca theologia, the ancient theology. The ancient Egyptians would have been close to that source. Card-reading with the Italian deck of 56 cards was part of that tradition, he seems to be saying.

Now here are the Swords upright meanings. From there he goes on to Coins. We are on p.

Quote:

The swords in their positions. Nº. 50. The King of sword, Man of the Law (*15). [S on side: Warrior, Man of Action, Man of Justice, Dark or Red-Haired Man; S in list: man of the cloth; R Man of the Law; F Man of Law; D Legal Profession] Nº. 51. The Lady, Widowhood (6). Nº. 52. the Knight, Soldier, Man of the sword, by estate. [S soldier, with swordsman second; R Soldier, Man with a Sword; F Soldier; D Military] Nº. 53. the Page [Valet], this is a Spy. Nº. 54. the 10 of Swords, Tears. [S Weeping, F Sorrow] Nº. 55. the 9. Cleric. [S Man of the Cloth, S in list: celibate...priest...monk or other religious devotee; R unmarried person...priest...monk...religious person; F Priest, D Clerical; DDD Ecclesiastic] Nº. 56. the 8. Illness said of N. [S Damage, S in list criticism, unfortunate position, critical moment; R Criticism.. Regrettable Situation, Critical Moment; F Critique = Criticism; D Critique = Critical; DDD Criticism] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement, p. 147, he changes this, or perhaps adds to it: "Moralement et physiquement. Lepre" = "Morally and physically. Leper.".] Nº. 57. the 7. Hope. [F Esperance = Expectation] Nº. 58. the 6. Envoy, Messenger. [S route....envoy, agent; R Road ...Envoy, Messenger; F and D, Route = Journey; DDD Journey] Nº. 59. the 5. Loss. Nº. 60. the 4. Solitude. [F Solitude = Loneliness; DDD Loneliness] Nº. 61. the 3. Nun [Religieuse] (*16). [S Nun as keyword, in list distance ... disdain; R Estrangement [Removal]; F & D Eloignement = F Separation, D Removal; DDD Separation] [In the 4th Cahier supplement, p. 148, he adds Vestale, or "filles et femmes solitaire, ou qui se cloîtroient chez les premiers Egyptiens" = "solitary girls and women, or who cloistered themselves, for the first Egyptians"] Nº. 62. the 2. Friendship. Nº. 63. the 1. Crazy Love (*17). [S Extreme; R, F, D Extrème = Extreme] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement, p. 148, he changes the wording to "Extrême, avec Passion" = Extreme, with Passion"; DDD Pregnancy--which is the reversed keyword everywhere else.] The coins in their positions. Nº. 64. The King of coin, Dark-haired Man. [S: dark man, merchant; R Dark Man, Shopkeeper] Nº. 65. the Lady, Dark-haired Woman. [S in list, R: dark woman, opulence] Nº. 66. the Knight, Helpful man. [S useful; R Utility; F & D Utilité = F Usefulness; D Utility] [In 4th Cahier supplement, p. 148 he changes keyword to: "Objet, chose utile" = "Useful object, thing."] Nº. 67. the Page [Valet], Dark-haired boy. [S dark-haired boy, study; R A Dark Youth, Economy] Nº. 68. the 10. The house. [D Home] Nº. 69. the 9. Effect. [R Result; F Effet = Bills, DDD Bill of Goods, D Effect] Nº. 70. the 8. Dark-haired girl. [S dark-haired, passive; R A Dark Girl, Passive; F Fille Brune = Dark Girl, D Brown-haired girl; DDD Dark girl] Nº. 71. the 7. Money. [DDD A little money] Nº. 72. the 6. The present. [S in list: currently] Nº. 73. the 5. Lovers or Mistress (7). [S Lover or master; S in list lover, mistress; R Lover, Mistress; F & D Amant ou Amante = F Lovers; D Lover; DDD Lovers] Nº. 74. the 4. It's a gift. [S in list present, gift; R Charity, Present; F & D & DDD A Gift] Nº. 75. the 3. Nobility. [S Nobility; S in list noble, important; R Important, Noble; F & D Noble = Noble; DDD Noble] Nº. 76. the 2. Embarrassment. [S Embarrassment/ Awkward Position /Confusion; S in list difficulty, obstacle; R Embarrassment, Obstacle; F Difficulties; D Trouble] Nº. 77. the 1. Perfect contentment. [F Absolute Harmony; DDD Perfect joy] ________________________________ *15. For the Egyptians of the reign of the true Mercury, those who commanded the Armies rendered justice, treated the sick and served at the Temples during peace. *16. The Egyptians received as Vestals only those whose nature was unshaped; that was very rare. *17. Crazy love; to moderate it, work 18 hours daily plowing [aux labours]; the remedy is Egyptian. ________________________________ (1) Departure, is not a figure; but the departure of the card which follows it. (2) Arrival, Idem [the same]. (3) Thought; one sees on whom it falls; example, 54 [Tears], 53 [Spy], 43 [Thought], one says: you spy on somebody to make him or her shed tears, etc. (4) The Past: if one sees 18 [betrayal], 44 [the past], one says, in the past you committed a hideous betrayal, for which you have a thousand regrets; or on the contrary, 44 [the past], 18 [betrayal], 51 (this last number reversed) [wicked woman]: a wicked woman betrayed you in the past. (5) Boredom (*20); 56 [illness said of N] 46 [boredom], your boredom will make, or is making, or has made, you fall ill; because it is always necessary to see which time is marked in the sheets [or cards; Fr. lames] that came; 46, 56, your illness carries you too much into boredom. (6) Widowhood is not a figure, but purely an event: 8 [female enquirer], 51 [widowhood], 1 [male inquirer], the man will die before the woman: 1, 51, 8. the Husband will remain a widower: 8, 1, 51, they will both go one right after the other, the Husband taking the lead. (7) Lover or Mistress: when the sheets [or cards] are being read for a man, and when 73 [lover or mistress] follows, it is an announcement that he has a mistress; so, for a woman, one says to her that she has a Lover.

The suits, reversed

This section modified Jan. 19, 2017: slight revisions to reflect the variety of meanings better, then again October, 2024, to incorporate some suggestions of Patreekotheartist.

Now for the next section, I proceed as I have been, giving the translations in existing books and cards in brackets after Etteilla’s discussion. For easy reference, here are my abbreviations again.

S = Etteilla material in Stockman’s translation of Papus’s Tarot Divinatoire. For number cards, there are two keywords (upright and reversed), and then a word-list for both upright and reversed meanings, of which I only give a few. For the courts, there is only the list.

R = Revak’s translations of Papus word-lists, at http://www.villarevak.org/td/td_1.h

F = the keywords in English and French on the 1969 France Cartes (Grimaud) deck, which correspond exactly for the 20 cards shown in Decker, Dummett, and Depaulis, A Wicked Pack of Cards.

D = the keywords in English and French in the booklet that comes with Dusserre’s edition of the Grand Etteilla III (entitled Tarot Egyptien, Grand Jeu de l”oracle des Dames)

DDD = Decker, Dummett, and Depaulis, Wicked Pack of Cards. No translations for reverseds (except, mistaking reversed for upright, the Ace of Swords), but they do have the 1789 cards, with keywords, for the 4 and 1 of batons, below.

c. 1840 = in French only, "Julia Orsini," Le Grand Etteilla, ou L'Art de Tirer les Cartes, which has same keywords as D plus both upright and reversed word-lists.

I cite these sources only when they say something different from Etteilla's French or my translation.

Etteilla is giving reversed meanings of the suit cards, starting with Staves [batons].

Quote:

It is necessary now to interpret these Hieroglyphs, such as the Egyptians have attested them to us, when they are upside down. The staves reversed. Nº. 22. the King of Staves, it is a man naturally good, but severe [sévère], who most often waits for the right moment to correct. [S, R: good and austere man ... indulgence (R Leniency)...tolerance; F & D Homme Bon et Sevère = Good and Just Man; DDD Homme Bon et Sevère] Nº. 23. the Lady, this is a good woman, economical, virtuous, not bigoted, not a gossip, not concerned with being popular, not lazy, not greedy; so she is a really good woman, with a lot of presence [or spirit]. [S good woman, good, excellence; R Good Woman, Kind, Excellence; F & D Bonne Femme = Good Woman] Nº. 24. the Knight: Disunion (8). [S disunion; R Discord; F & D Desunion = Disunion in F; Disunity in D] Nº. 25. the Page [Valet]. False news. (9). [S & R, announcement; F & D Nouvelle = News; DDD Nouvelle] [In 4th Cahier Supplement p. 148, keyword now "Nouvelle" = News.] Nº. 26. the 10. Bars (10). [S Bars; S in list obstacle; R Obstacle...Bar; c. 1840 Obstacle...Barres; F & D Obstacle = Obstacle] [In 4th Cahier Supplement he changes keyword to Obstacle] Nº. 27. the 9. Obstacles [traverses]. [S Setback; S in list setback, obstacle; R Crossing, Obstacle; F Hindrance; D Obstacles] Nº. 28. the 8. Internecine disputes. [S Internecine Struggles; S in list domestic quarrel; R Domestic Dispute; F Domestic Dispute; D Internal Quarrels; DDD on card Dispute Intestiné] Nº. 29. the 7. Indecision. [S in list indecisiveness; all others Indecision] Nº. 30. the 6. Waiting [or Expectation]. [S Waiting, in list hope; R Waiting, Expectation; F Expectation D Waiting] Nº. 31. the 5. Court Case. [S Trial, in list litigation disagreement; R Legal Proceeding; F Court Case; D Law Suits] Nº. 32. the 4. Fleurissement (18 *). [S Flowering, in list prosperity, increase; R Prosperity Increase; F & D Prosperité = Prosperity; DDD Prosperité] Nº. 33. the 3. Troubles shortly at their end. [F Sorrow’s End; in list, pause in misfortune or sorrow; R Interruption in Misfortunes; F Peines Tendant a Leur Fin = Troubles Nearing an End; D Peines à Leur Fin = Difficulties coming to their end] Nº. 34. the 2. Surprise (11). Nº. 35. the 1. Distrust the first victory. [S Seeming Victory, Be Wary; in list fall; R Fall; F & D Chute = Fall; DDD Chute] [In 4th Cahier Supplement p. 148 he changes the keyword to Chûte, in English = Fall.] The cups reversed. Nº. 36. The King of cup, it is a man of position, but positioned badly, occupied in the business of the Rubanier [I thank Patreekotheartist for his explanation: Rubanier means "Ribbon" in the sense of ribbons as party favors, thus a pun; I would say, however, as awards, as in "blue ribbons"] Merchants, that is to say, selling favors. [S: man in a situation, distinguished man, honest man, dishonest man...vice, corruption; R distinguished man, honest man, dishonest man...vice, corruption; F Man With Position; D Man of High Office] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement, p. 148, he has simply "Homme en place" = man of position.] Nº. 37. The Lady, it is a woman of position, but a fiddler, getting involved in schemes, in court cases; finally, rooting about everywhere to have money, and dying like those of whom all the Egyptians wrote in their Book, covered with shame, with remorse, and stained for life in infamy. [S woman of distinguished rank, honest woman. Vice, dishonesty, depravity...corruption; R, A Woman of Distinguished Rank, Honest Woman. Vice, Dishonesty, Depravity...Corruption; F Woman with Position; D Femme d’un Homme en Place = Wife of a Man of High Office] [In 4th Cahier Supplement, he has simply "Femme en place = woman of position.] Nº. 38. the Knight. More spirit than conscience. [S, R: mischief, villainy; F & D Friponerie = F: Dishonesty, D: Roguery.] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement, he has "Friponnerie".] Nº. 39. the Page [Valet]. This is a flatterer. [S Penchant, fondness or weakness... seduction... flattery; R Tendency, Bent... seduction... flattery; F & D Penchant = Tendency] [In 4th Cahier Supplement he has "Ce qui flatta = that which flattered. Then in a footnote he adds: "Comment render par abréviation la signification réelle de cette lame? En voici l'esprit, qui nous rendra plus intelligibles. 38.39. Le penchant. Ce qui flatte, est de commettre une friponnerie: 66, 39, ce qui flatte est d'être utile; ou 39, 66, votre utilité flattera la figure qui suivra 39 = How to render by abbreviation the real signification of this card? Here is the spirit of it , which will render it more intelligible for us. 38.39. Tendency. What flatters is the commission of a roguish act. 66, 39, what flatters is of a useful nature; or 39, 66, your usefulness will flatter the figure that follows 39.] Nº. 40. the 10. Prepared [or ready] to lose [Pret à perdre] (12). [S: Brother to whom to be united [which has no basis in Etteilla]; S in list, R: wrath, indignation; F & D Courroux = F: Anger, D: Wrath] Nº. 41. the 9. Sincerity. Nº. 42. the 8. Celebrations, Gaiety. [S Celebration, Gaiety; S in list Satisfaction... gaiety... party; R Satisfaction...gayety... festivity... feast; F & D Satisfaction = Satisfaction] Nº. 43. the 7. Plan. [S Plans, in list plan; R Project, Design [Plan]; F & D Projets = F: Plans, D Projects] Nº. 44. the 6. The future. Nº. 45. the 5. Flawed [or bogus] plans. [S Flawed Plan; S in list, R: Consanguinity; F Parent = Relative; D Parents = Relatives] [On p. 148 of the 4th Cahier Supplement Etteilla has Parent = Relative. In a footnote he says that it would take 10 pages to explain how the Egyptians distinguished all their relatives.] Nº. 46. the 4. New acquaintance [or knowledge]. [S New Acquaintance; S in list, new teaching; R New Instruction; F & D Nouvelles Connaissances = F: New Acquaintances, D: New knowledge] Nº. 47. the 3. Business trip [Expedition d'affaires]. [S in list, dispatching or expedition, execution or performance; R Expedition, Dispatch, Execution, Achievement; F Expédition = Expedition] Nº. 48. the 2. Desire. Nº. 49. the 1. Change. [S in list, transformation; R Mutation] The swords reversed. Nº. 50. The King of Sword, Wicked Man. [S in list: ill-intentioned, malice; R ill-intentioned, wickedness; F Wicked Man; D Bad Man] Nº. 51. The Lady, Wicked Woman, hot-tempered, a harpy, a bigot, a devil has [probably in, reading à instead of a, as Patreekotheartist points out in a comment] the house. [S: bad woman, cruelty or spite, malice, treachery...bigotry; R Evil Woman.—Bale, Malice, Trickery, ...Bigotry; F Malicious Woman; D Bad Woman] Nº. 52. the Knight, it is a conceited person, having on his lips [for which I thank Patreekotheartist, in place of the literal "in his mouth"] only sarcasms that he brings back from dives, from smoking dens; finally, from the places that he haunts; because of his nature, which is AGAINST LIFE [?: ANTIPHIBOLOGIQUE], it is an ignoramus (13). [S in list, R: incompetence, ineptitude; F & D Ignorance = Ignorance] [Note added 10/2024: Patreekotheartist suggests that "antiphibologique" is an intentional misspelling of "amphibologique," meaning "ambiguous" or "equivocal" language, anti-biguous as a variation on "ambiguous"  The word refers back to sarcasm, which is typically ambiguous, meaning the opposite of what it says, so more "anti" than "ambi."] Nº. 53. the Page [Valet], Unexpected (14). [S in list: unexpected, sudden; R Without Warning; F Unforeseen Circumstances; D Imprévoyance = Lack of foresight] Nº. 54. the 10. Unfortunate event, which turns to advantage. [S in list, R: advantage, gain; F & D Advantage = Advantage] Nº. 55. the 9. Be wary, or justifiable wariness (15). [S in list: justifiable mistrust; R Justified Mistrust; F & D Juste Defiance = Justified Mistrust] Nº. 56. the 8. Past betrayal (16). [S in list, R: incident, difficulty; F & D Incident = Incident] Nº. 57. the 7. Wise Advice [or Sage Advice, Patreekotheartist suggests, for sage avis, i.e. the advice of a sage (17). [S in list: wise opinion, good advice; R good advice, counsel; F Good Advice; D Wise Advice] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement, p 149, he changes this to Donner ou prendre de sages Avis = To give or take wise advice."] Nº. 58. the 6. Declaration of Love. [S in list: declaration, incorporation; R Declaration, Love Proposal; c. 1840 keyword: Declaration, in list: Publication, Proclamation; F & D Déclaration = F: Avowal; D: Declaration] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement p. 149 he says "On voit qu'elle Declaration" = "We see that it [is] Declaration."] Nº. 59. the 5. Mourning. [S in list: mourning, despondency; R Loss, Falsification; c. 1840 in list Regret, Désolation; F & D Deuil = F Death, D Bereavement] Nº. 60. the 4. Economy (18). [S in list economy, good conduct, wise administration; R Economy, Good Management; Wise Administration; F & D Economie = F Thrift, D Economy] Nº. 61. the 3. Appearing lost or confused [Effet égaré] (19). [S keyword Wild Effet; in list: distraction, insanity or dementia...wild or crazy behavior; R Distraction, Insanity... Crazy Behavior; c. 1840 Démence, Divagation [ramblings]... Distraction, Conduite Folle; F & D Égarement = F Misconduct, D Getting lost] Nº. 62. the 2. Unhelpful or False Friends, or Relatives of Little Help (20). [S keyword: False friends or friends who are little help Relatives of little help; S in list false, falseness...treachery; R False Friends, Treachery; F & D Faux = F Falsehood, D Falsity] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement Etteilla says: "Qui n'est pas vrai. Faux." = "What is not true. False.] Nº. 63. The 1. Pregnancy. [S in list pregnancy, germ, seed or semen; R Pregnancy, Beginning, Seed, Sperm; DDD Pregnancy, in list otherwise containing only uprights] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement p.145, he expands this to include, depending on other cards, "la signification d'abondance ou fécondité, parce que grossesse étant la génération de l'espece humaine, il n'en peut pas être moins que de la génération du froment, qui alors devient une abondance" = "abundance or fecundity, because pregnancy being the generation of the human species, he [il] cannot be less than of the generation of the wheat, which then becomes an abundance." However he does not put these words in his list of changed keywords that follows.] The coins reversed. Nº. 64. The King of coin, an old and vicious man. [S, R vice, fault [R Flaw], weakness; F & D Homme Vicieux = F Depraved Man, D Vicious man] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement, p. 1489, he changes this to "Homme Vicieux" = Vicious [or Depraved] Man] Nº. 65. the Lady, Certain trouble (21). [S unsure, doubting, uncertain...fear; R Untrustworthy, Doubtful, Unsure...Fear; c. 1840 keyword Mal Certain, in list Douteux, Incertain, Doute...Peur; F Mal-Sur = F Evil Prospects; D Mal Certain = Bad Illness] Nº. 66. the Knight, Brave man without employment. [S in list, R peace, tranquility...inactivity; F & D Inaction = Inaction] [In the 4th Cahier Supplement, p. 149, he changes this to "le Chavalier qui ne va ni ne vient. Inaction" = "the Knight who neither goes nor comes. Inaction"] Nº. 67. the Page [Valet], Prodigy (22). [S in list, R: profession, superfluity, largesse or bounty (R Magnanimity)... dissipation; F & D Prodigalité = F Spendthrift; D Prodigality] Nº. 68. the 10. Lottery (*19). [S in list prize, fortune, game; R lot, Fotune, Gambling; c. 1840 Lot, Fortune, Jeu; F Loterie = Lottery; D Jeu de Hasard = Game of Risk] Nº. 69. the 9. Deception. [S in list, dupery, swindle or fraud; R Artifice, Fraud, Deception; F Deception; D Dupery] Nº. 70. the 8. Usury. [S Money Lending; S in list: yearning for the void, avarice, usury; R Lack of [Voided] Ambition, Avarice, Usury; c. 1840 Avantage, Augmentation, Beaucoup [Advantage, Increase, A Lot]... Usure; F Plus = Many More; D Usure = Usury] Nº. 71. the 7. Anxieties (23). [S Worries; S in list worry, agony of mind; R Anxiety [Agitation], Mental Torment; F & D Inquiétude = F Anxiety; D Restlessness] Nº. 72. the 6. Ambitions. [S Ambition; S in list desire, wish, ardour; R Ambition, Desire, Passion; F & D Ambition = Ambition] Nº. 73. the 5. Lack of order. [S in list disorderly, countermand, misconduct; R Muddled, Disorganization, Debauchery; c. 1840 Désordoné, Contre-ordre, Inconduite [Misconduct]; F Lack of Organization; D Lack of Order] Nº. 74. the 4. Closure. (24). [S in list, R: Enclosure, Circuit; F & D Cloture = F Too Late; D Closure] Nº. 75. the 3. Child.. [S in list, R: Puerility, Childhood] Nº. 76. the 2. Letter.. [S in list: note, document; R Note, Written Document] Nº. 77. the 1. Purse of Money. [S & R in list: Sum, Capital, ...Treasure; F Purse with Money; D Money Purse] [Patreekotheartist observes that argent, money, also means silver, so there could be an alchemical contrast between this purse of silver and the gold of the 5 of Batons.] Let us go back to our 24 small Numbers. [Translator's note: the first 7 are in the previous post, along with the entry they qualify.]                   (8) Disunion. One must see what this hieroglyph concerns; if it is disunion with the Wife, the Mistress, money, etc. (9) False report. One must see from whom it will come, what it will or did concern. (10) Bar; 26 [Bar], 35 [Birth], you gain a victory over obstacles: 35, 26, it is the opposite. (11) Surprise; 49 [Change], 34 [Surprise], you will be surprised by a change: 47 [success], 49, 34, it will be a happy one: 54 [Tears], 49, 34, it will make you cry. Mind you, that if you read this Work without having the hieroglyphs under your eyes, it's a waste of time; because you cannot understand what I say, much less what I must leave untold. (12) Ready [or prepared] to lose ; 77 [Purse of Money], 40 [ready to lose], a lot of money; 62 [false friends, unhelpful relatives], 40, false friends, or unhelpful relatives. (13) A vain fool who curls his hair and primps, and un Sarcassien [I thought Saracen here, but Patreektheartist suggests a pun with "sarcasme" in the main text, distorting Circassien, a real word for someone from the area east of the Black Sea] whose reputation marks him as a querrelous dog, are usually fools who are only welcomed into the homes of imbeciles, and of the dishonest. (14) Unforeseen: 74 [a gift], 53 [unforeseen], an unexpected gift: 19 [poverty], 53, it is a reversal, the unforeseen poverty which will come suddenly to keep us company, such as to these people who, by laziness and misfortune, live moment to moment by the charity of some and the duplicity of others. (15) Justified mistrust is the mother of security: in other times the Egyptians said, never speak against men or Gods (*21): today more is necessary, that is, although one says nothing, there are people nastier than devils, who accuse you of having spoken badly; and it is justified to say what I know in this regard, for the general good of Society. I had the occasion to know a man in 1771, who, without me asking, said to me: "I live by the reports that I make to the Bailiff of my Village, and as he pays me for them by the dozen, when I have nothing to say against the Peasants, by my faith, and come what may, I invent things against them, and I am well liked, and well paid." I then said to him, the Bailiff is a fool, and you are a villain. (16) Betrayal in the past: this hieroglyph carries with it the sign of the past, and I admit that I was not yet able to get the Egyptians’ meaning, with regard to the sign of the past; but finally 56 [past betrayal], 62 [false friends]: in the past, you were betrayed by friendship; 62 [false friends], 56 [past betrayal]: in the past, you betrayed a friendship that was had for you;  20 [Fortune], 56, you were betrayed in fortune, etc. [Thanks to Patreekotheartist for spotting a missing part of Corodil's transcription here: the point is about where in the order card 56 appears.] (17) Wise [or Sage] advice: one should see from whom it comes and about what. (18) Economy: is it relative to health or fortune? (19) Appearance [Effet, literally “effect"]; papers and jewels are by no means lost, but only mislaid. (20) False friends, unhelpful relatives. When they could be helpful, they are hard, avaricious, or ignorant, to the point of not preventing our indigence; these are people to flee and to detest; because if one fixes one’s gaze on them, they often pretend to pity you, and behind your back they oppose everything that could relieve you. (21) Certain trouble: 65, 31 [court case], it is not said that you will have a court case [or trial]; 31, 65, it is not sure that you will gain from your court case [or trial]; or if you have one, there is no guarantee of gain. (22) Prodigy: one must consult the sheet [=card, Fr. lame] that follows, in order to know in what one is a prodigy. (23) Anxiety [or restlessness]: I never understood how to define anxiety, as I read [replacing “is” with “lis”] it in the Book of Thoth. (*22) (24) Closure: a closed business is not lost, but, like a Court Case, stuck [accrochée]. In that case one consults in the Book of Thoth why, and one finds there the reason. ________________________________ *18. In the Grand Etteilla, for No. 15 also, "flowering" must be understood. *19. I have translated the Lotto of the Indians, which I have brought to light; but it is an error to believe that the funds of the Lotto are going to follow one who makes the operation; for that one must succeed in knowing the formula [la règle] well; and better, know how to read well; which is easy enough. *20. See anxiety [No. 71].

That completes his exposition of the meanings of the cards, both singly and in relation to other cards. Next he discusses how to lay out the cards. For that there will be another post.

Laying out and reading the cards

I continue now in my attempt to translate Corodil’s transcription of the Third Cahier. I noticed that this whole section is almost word for word in Papus’s Tarot Divinatoire, of which I have Stockman's’ English translation (see pp. 244-247). I am trying to translate more literally than she does, with a resulting loss of clarity (because Etteilla is not the clearest of writers; or it might also be that Papus has done some translating of his own, from Etteilla-French to something clearer). When Stockman’s translation differs from mine, I will give her version and, unless it is obvious, the original French. I will also interrupt the translation when I want to make more extended comments.

I will start where Papus starts, which means with the last few paragraphs of Corodil’s previous section (p. 28 of Etteilla's original):

Quote:

The ignorant perform badly [corrected from "Ignoramuses operate" thanks to Patreekotheartist] badly in all that they do; but it is not the same for instructed people: thus the Egyptians took the Book of Thoth, shuffled it in every way without looking at the Hieroglyphs; they had their Enquirers cut this Book in two, and then they took the first Card [Carte], and put it there on B; the second on A; and the third they put again on B. (Like this: B. A.) The fourth went to B; the fifth to A, and the sixth to B. Then the seventh to B, so on until the end. In this way, on [pile] A there were 26 sheets [or cards], and on [pile] B, 52. With the 52, they began the first operation again (on D.C.), and there were on C 17 sheets [or cards: lames], and on D 35; they put 17 aside; and with the 35 remaining, they repeated the process on FE; in that way there came to E, 11 leaves [cards]; and to F, 24. It turns out that A=26. B=0. C=17. D=0. E=11. F=24; but these last ones [F] were not interpreted (*23). ________________________________ *23. Note that in every operation, one must always mix right side up with upside down, and cut.

Papus omits this footnote. He also "corrects" Etteilla's French. Here Patreekotheartist offers a different correction (see the end of the present post); I quote his remark in its entirety:

Etteilla's description of how to cut and sort the cards into stacks does not work correctly. Starting out with one card on stack B always results in a rounding error, so that in the end, you get 23 cards in stack F and 12 cards in stack E. That could easily be fixed by always starting out with 2 cards on the first stack instead of one. I think this is why Papus uses a different sorting method, although his method gets even more messy and convoluted IMO. So the question is, do you present an accurate translation, or do you correct it like Papus attempted to do? I came up with a "translation" that fixes the sorting error without completely changing the language of this entire section:

"...they had their Enquirers cut this Book in two, & then they took the first & second Cards, & placed them to their left on stack B; the third card they placed to their right on stack A. (Like this: B. A.) The fourth they placed on B; the fifth again went to B; & the sixth to A. The seventh to B; & the eighth again to B, so on until the end. In this way, on stack A there were 26 sheets, & on stack B, 52."

 Now I continue with new material. The first paragraph below is as corrected by Lotus Padma:

Quote:

Therefore, taking A, they read the sheets [or cards] one at a time, (from right to left, as the meaning of the whole [of the reading[ is to be found in its individual parts), announcing what they portended; and next, they took the first card, and interpreted it in relation to the 26th card. When they had finished doing that [or reading A] , they interpreted C, and finally, E. Read Cartonomancie, third Edition, 1782; it will give you the whole procedure, although I admit that the Etteilla [Stockman: Etteilla’s work] is only a copy after the Egyptians, as also the Steganography of Trithemius, likewise the Theory of Raymond Lull, all copies, I say, of the Book of Thoth, or to speak to everyone [a literal translation of "pour parler a tout le monde": Patreekotheartist suggests "or in the common parlance"], of the Cards called the Tarot.

I interrupt here to observe that this last sentence is rather odd, as though the author is someone other than Etteilla. I will say more the next time this occurs. 

Added October 2024: Patreekotheartist observes here, I think correctly:

"Etteilla ou instructions sur l'art de tirer les cartes. Troisième et dernière édition". According to DDD, the frontispiece illustration for this book had the caption, "Cartonomancie, ou l'art de tirer les cartes. Troisième édition... Extract des récréations algébriques d'Etteilla." So "Cartonomancy, third edition" is a summation of the caption of the frontispiece. As far as the "oddness" of him referring to himself in the 3rd person, I think "the /Etteilla/" refers to the book name: "Etteilla ou instructions..." Note that "la" is not italicized, but "/Etteilla/" is, because book titles are usually in italics, like when he says: "livre de /Thot/".

So now I resume

Quote:

Their second procedure was to draw three times 7 leaves [cards], which they arranged as follows: 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. A. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. B. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. C. If A did not answer their questions, they would place below them seven other sheets [or cards], 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. A. [Stockman omits “A”] If that still gave no answers, they would draw another seven sheets [or cards], 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. A, and would do as much for B and C, [Stockman has, after “answers”: “they would draw another seven cards, 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. A through to C”], if they had not found a solution, or a positive prognosis. If these repetitions said nothing, they advised their enquirers to pray to the Gods, to alter their conduct, and to come back the next day or several days later.

My comment here: this last paragraph can be interpreted in various ways.

(1) Papus, or perhaps Stockman, has Etteilla saying that one tries up to three times, using rows A-C, to get a reading that answers the questions. It is the same number of rows that he has, more clearly, in a later method he gives with five cards in a row.

(2) Based on “Julia Orsini” in the c. 1840 book (p. 44), the interpreter would be laying out five rows, each below the one preceding, and one reads the top row first, and if it doesn’t make sense, one goes to the next, etc. (Actually, that book has the interpreter lay out six rows; but the point is that there are more than three rows of seven each being laid out. In the Dusserre booklet, which is a heavily edited version of the c. 1840, this is pictured on p. 7.)

(3) What Etteilla says literally: first you lay out three rows, then you try for a reading with the first row. If that doesn’t work, you lay out seven more cards, below the other three rows; if that doesn’t work, you lay out seven more; if that doesn’t work, you go to rows B and C that you’ve already laid out. The result is five rows, but the second and third tries at readings are laid out after the other three.

I emphasize this part, however many rows there are, because in modern books on cartomancy, almost all of which derive from Etteilla, it is usually not said to start over when you get a reading that doesn’t make sense; and the Etteilla decks' booklets, except the Dusserre, are the same. You are apparently expected to use your “intuition” to make the interpretation of the card part of a coherent reading. At the most, a book will advise you to put down one or more cards to clarify one that is obscure. And you will usually not be given examples where such a procedure is appropriate.

I have found only one historical source that does give an example of an incoherent reading, requiring one to go to start with a completely new interpretation using another row. It is in the c. 1840 “Julia Orsini” book (omitted from Dusserre's edited version), pp. 44-45. Here are the relevant pages, followed by a summary of what is being said.

Page 45 begins by interpreting the row given on p. 44:

63..30..64..77..44..13..42....8, with cards 44 and 63 reversed.

The 8 is there automatically in this book, because the reading is for a female. From right to left, it comes out: In relation to the querent (8) (she happens to be a blond girl), a blond girl (42) has marriage (13) in the future (44 reversed) with happiness (77) with a dark-haired man (64) with fortune (30) and there will be pregnancy (63 reversed). All of this makes sense and hopefully is good news. But if instead of 64, “brown-haired man”, the sixth card (out of eight, or fifth card not counting the 8) was 33, “woman of the country”, the reading would be contre-sense, i.e. nonsense (at least in 18th century France where women did not marry each other). In any case, it is not clear what such a person has to do with the rest of the sentence formed by the cards. So we start over, using the second line.

I resume:

Quote:

Their third procedure was considerable, and [called for] considerable thought [& à considérer]. After having shuffled and cut the 78 leaves [cards], they formed from them two columns and a capital that they laid out across the top [i.e. a row at the top]. Then without reshuffling the leaves [cards], they laid out a circle, taking care in this operation to remove the 1 or the 8, according to the Sex of the querent; When that came up, they placed the first or eighth Hieroglyph in the center, as one sees [in] the whole configuration [figure] below.

This is where Corodil says there is a picture, which he doesn’t have the means to insert. In Stockman’s translation of Papus, there is also a picture, and I think it is much easier to understand Etteilla if you see it. Here is the picture as presented by Stockman (p. 246), which I have photographed and put at the link below:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQbb8HByIkBXUvWtYOt2a9VRh6-caDgYNSbyUXh-vuJ9IGwy4S7d4nWjZ8pWeqs8SCMOhI8lGxK1rgl-Ud2XMx-_Jj9vhlmiEr_fyjyEZ2AwxzFaoZ7k3f82bgWC6eC_3OSYcvD3lFOXJ/s1600/IMG_0510a.jpg

In case you can’t access this link, here is a detailed description of the diagram: Etteilla uses numbers to indicate how the cards are to be placed. As I read it, first one lays out eleven cards in the column on one’s right, going from the bottom up; then come eleven more in the column on the left, also going from the bottom up; then eleven more in a row at the top, from right to left. Then a circle in the middle is formed in three parts: the first section, with the label “Past” between it and the right-hand column, is on the reader’s lower right, but laid out from the side of the enquirer, from right to left, 11 cards; the next, with the label “Present” between them and the “capital” row on top, from the reader’s perspective, 11 more cards, from right to left from the reader’s perspective; then 11 more cards on the reader’s lower left, but laid out from the enquirer’s perspective, from the enquirer’s right to his or her left, with “Future” between them and the left column. The top of each card, as it comes off the deck, faces inward in the circle.

I resume:

Quote:

The first Card [Carte] was placed in position 1, continuing up to 11. They put the twelfth Card [Carte] at number 12, and so the others up to 22, etc. 1, 11, 34, 44, were the past [Stockman has “1 to 11 and 34 to 44”]; 12, 22, 45, 55, were the future [Stockman: “12 to 22 and 45 to 55”]; and 23, 33, 56, 66, [Stockman: “23 to 33 and 56 to 66”] were the present. If the 1 or the 8, according to the Sex of the enquirer, did not appear, they would take it from the remainder of the Deck, and place it in the middle, as you see, 8, Supposing that the reading is for a woman; for 1 would be for a man; in as much as it is true that the distance between man and woman is seven degrees; that caused Mohammed to commit an error, when he said that women are of Ouris [Stockman: “houris”; I think Etteilla means Horus], who will not enter into Paradise but will guard its door; having not understand that this difference of seven degrees existed only in the physical world. The Egyptians read all the sections one after the other, beginning with the Past; then the Present, and last the Future; they took then for the past 8, 34, and 1; and following this procedure up to 8, 44, and 11, and likewise for the Present and the Future. I think one must read Etteilla (the price is only 1 livre 16 sous), if one wishes to understand how to read this spread, three cards by three cards and always using the ones [celles] of the center [Stockman: “three cards in relation to one another and always using the middle card”].

This last sentence is another place where the writing is as though by someone other than Etteilla, since he says “I think it is necessary to read Etteilla”--“On sent la nécessité de lire le Etteilla”. [Added Oct. 2024: But as Patreekotheartist points out in a comment to this post, he is referring to his first book, on cartomancy with a piquet deck.] But giving the price is characteristic of Etteilla himself. The book Cartonomancie, 3rd edition, is slightly more expensive than the 3rd Cahier itself, which sells for 1 livre 10 sous, we learn at the end of that book.

Quote:

Sometimes the Egyptian Sages would open their Operations with 12 leaves [cards]; but that was always for remarkable things [objets], such as harvests, decisions, battles; or also for the Sovereigns of the Nation, or foreign ones; or for their principals [commettants, I think prime ministers; Stockman has “constituents”]. But having completed the three operations that I detailed, they would do a fourth; even five or six if they wished, or if directed by the numbers; example: in placing the Cards [Cartes], if they saw a number well or badly placed among [Stockman: a number particularly well or badly placed in relation to] the others, they remembered it, and after this spread they placed as many leaves [i.e. cards] as the well or badly placed number, etc., had indicated to them.

Since there are only a couple of pages left of Papus’s excerpt, I will continue into Corodil’s next section, as as far as Papus does:

Quote:

If it happened that a man had only one question to ask, and it was a legitimate one (for they were enemies of all that was vicious, or could lead to become such), then they would simply draw five leaves [i.e. cards] e.d.c.b.a., going from a to e as usual; if that did not give an answer, they drew 10 more leaves [cards], and they arranged them thus: 5 4 3 2 1. E D C B A. 10 9 8 7 6. And they read the cards going from 1 to 5, from A to E, and from 6 to 10; and then, as I have already said, if the cards still said nothing, they would have the querents come back [remetter] another day, adjure them to worship the Gods ever more strongly, and to love their fellows [sembables; Stockman: fellow human beings] or their neighbor.

I continue with my effort to translate Etteilla’s 3rd Cahier. We are now in new territory, thoughts that have not been repeated in various translated works. At the same time, it is Etteilla in a more obscure style—perhaps more profound, as well. Since he is difficult for me to understand, he is also difficult for me to translate. He is talking about the tarot-interpreter and the tarot-consultant as human beings, the first likely an ignorant person—not to mention perhaps drunk or lazy--even with the Book of Thoth in his or her possession, with cards like 19, Prison, and 20, (Good) Fortune, in the same reading. The consultant is perhaps more thoughtful but also more anxious, especially when seeing such cards. Yet the consultant sees his whole life reflected back to him by the interpreter. But it is from a certain point of view: An ignorant interpreter’s political views and other biases and character traits can affect the reading. And such an ignoramus can learn much from the anxious person’s manner of presenting himself, his face and his questions, which the interpreter then reflects back to the consultant. But I will let Etteilla speak for himself. The first paragraph below has the benefit of Lotus Padma's suggestions. Also, I had omitted the second sentence completely, the pointing out of which I again thank Patreektheartist]:

Quote:

You must not believe that the Divination practiced by the Egyptians was of the same kind as that practiced by other idolatrous people, particularly the oracles of Delphi, Dodona, Trophonius, Nymphos, or Claros - and others - as some of those were changed due to political reasons, or because they were misunderstood; because they muddled the minds of men, rather than enlightening them. If it were thought in the same way that the Egyptian Sages resembled, in regard to Divination, our alleged Diviners & Divineresses, it would be an authentic proof of the ignorance into which we had fallen upon [from?] the knowledge of men issued, it must be said, directly from the hands of wise Nature.

I have found all these oracles on Google except Nymphos: the nearest equivalent is “oracle of the nymphs”, of which there were several. I continue. The first part of the third paragraph and the second half of the fourth paragraph are Lotus Padma's translation (I suppose I should have asked Lotus to translate all the paragraph):

Quote:

All the Oracles only existed by the infamous imaginations [vues] of the idolatrous Priests; I will not enter into any details, but with regard to these so-called Diviners [Devins], no one can speak better than I. The Science, coming from long and painful work formerly created by the Diviners [Devins], or if one wants, Astrologers, Physonomancers, Palmists, Geomancers, Cartonomancers, and even Savants, in all the branches of Divination or the science of results [resultats]. Today it is ignorance, laziness, poverty, and drunkenness that create the so-called [prétendus] Diviners [Devins] and Divineresses [Divineresses]. For 30 years there are few that I have not known [il y en a peu que je n’aye connus], I say not only in Paris, but in the major part of Europe. These all arose from the same central point [montés sur le même pivot]; some, who are certainly not Diviners, take a route to appear as such to their Consultants; because all the rest of Society, describing them, does nothing for them at all. A trait common to several that I am going to report is that it does not add up [ne tient pas à la copie], because I am not a demonographer.  [Thanks to Patreekotheartist for the translation of this paragraph.] When a naive person goes to the homes of these ignorants, his manner very determined to discover whether or not they are Diviners, he will not realize that this is already the beginning of insanity; for it is necessary, in going either to a savant or an ignorant, not to be preoccupied: to put oneself on one’s guard before one’s enemy arrives, I say, so as to fight one on one [seul à seul], is the nicolade [perhaps rigolade, joke. Added Oct 2024: Patreekotheartist suggests nike=victory + accolade, i.e. "to wear an air of victory." He adds: This is supported by the "vaincu" and "vainqueur" and "Champion" in the lines that follow. The passage seems to be advising to not be nervous, adversarial, or overly confident as the "Sorceress" will see this as weakness.] Arriving at the so-called Sorceress’s, my skillful ignorant receives abruptly the thoughtful Man, and puts him between two fires: on one hand, she says to him: Sir, before three days have passed you could very well go to prison; and on the other hand: Sir, if you conduct yourself skillfully, there is a rich fortune which cannot avoid you. Is my Savant strong enough to support these shocks so opposite one to the other? He is offered the third means to overcome them. Someone of interest to you is going to die suddenly. Let us see, says our Champion with little order, what you say to me: 1. Do I have enemies? 2. Shall I succeed? 3. The person who is to die: is it my wife, my sister, my son, my daughter, or just the only aunt left to me? Without going any further, we can see that the poor man has already said too much; the Diviner is not a sorcerer, no, it is our poor naive who has not been alerted by his (the Diviner's) body language, and has first pronounced that he is frightened by his enemies, and so reveals his train of thought; and then secondly, that he is ambitious; this is the pivotal point. Thirdly, he hopes for an inheritance. He should have said, whatever may come, I am unconcerned! He then withdraws into himself, and wishes he could also withdraw his words; he will not notice then that there will be no more divining, but that he is being taken in by his weaknesses, and he will be told that all he wishes for will happen; and at the same time, the diviner will rap his knuckles a little, as one would a child, to make him talk more, even though he has sworn to himself he will not say another word; I have several times seen this being played out, and been quite amused by the facial contortions of the sitter, in his effort not to speak. But in good faith, let us return to - reason; is it the Devil who comes to blow in the ears of the so-called Diviner, the whole history of our life? It would be stupid to think that way: it is, says a devotee of our madnesses [amateur de nos folies], the science that makes them speak; but these so-called Diviners and Divineresses are so ignorant as not to know even the letters which appear in their names [entrent dans leurs noms]. Finally, shall we say, how, and by what means do they forecast the things that happen? Listen to the truth; it is our ignorance that makes them learned, and not the science, which communicates only on critical points of the previous day [points aigues des veilles] and the fatigue. All the Sages of the ancient peoples who applied themselves to the abstract sciences, or the high sciences, needed nothing, took no tribute; the Nation considered them as its true Sages; it sustained them, foresaw their slightest physical needs, and it got from them salutary advice in everything it required; because in fact nobody was wiser and and more learned than these Mages. Their house, or their Temple, was indeed one of the Oracles; but it was not one of offerings, as with the Priests of Jupiter-Amnon, Apollo-Clarien, and all the others. When our so-called Diviners have the Book of Thoth in their hands, or some other object that was formerly used for Divination--even this scientific book, where the whole Universe is contained--so as to tell, speaking in the vulgar, fortunes [la bonne aventure], they originally are not concerned with studying the spirit of every Hieroglyph: Lack of order, Usury, Calumny, each of these words has in their ears only one sense, or one sound. Four Hieroglyphs will give us the intelligence of the 74 others.

These last four paragraphs are worth emphasizing. The fortune-teller has to be wise as well as equipped with a set of keywords. He or she has to be able to see a variety of meanings in each word (e.g. words as metaphors). Thus later there are not just key-words, but lists of "synonyms" And it is not just the word; Etteila says “son”, “sound”. So the lists also have "homynyms". I think he means also that one must be sensitive to puns and other word-play. These are not typically translatable from one language into another. Freud had similar thoughts about dream interpretation (being alert to puns); he also said, as Etteilla does here about his “science”, that dreams mostly only reflected the events of the previous day. Etteilla in the part we are looking at in this post is much like Freud, bringing similar considerations to bear in interpreting cards as Freud did in interpreting dreams. De Mellet (in part 7 of his essay, in French and English at http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/Recherches_sur_les_Tarots, had already done dream-interpretation using tarot, in his example of Pharaoh’s dream. The Etteilla school would later develop a systematic approach to dream-interpretation, in part using the tarot. But that is another story, for another thread.I At this point Papus stops excerpting from Etteilla’s 3rd Cahier. Papus ends with a paragraph attempting to interpret Etteilla’s numerology, which I think he says is his own hypothesis about Etteilla; but it relates more to the 1st and 2nd Cahiers than it does to the 3rd; so I will omit it here.

A too-severely edited version of Etteilla’s methods in laying out the cards, including a variant of the 67 card spread using all 78 cards and one other method not mentioned by Etteilla in the 3rd Cahier, is at http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/ftc/ftc21.htm. We are fortunate to now have Etteilla himself—or at least I assume it’s Etteilla!

The four virtues

I continue translating the 3rd Cahier, as he turns to illustrate his general perspective with his discussion of Justice, Temperance, Strength (more usually, Fortitude), and Prudence. [In English, Patreekotheartist reminds me, the virtue is Fortitude, not Strength. Whether "Fortitude" correctly translates Etteilla's "Force" is problematic, however, because in French discussions of the four cardinal virtues, I find "courage" or "force de l'ame," strength of soul. Etteilla has simply force, which translates as "strength." It is also odd to speak of God's "fortitude," as Etteilla does with force. I will put both words, Strength and Fortitude. Note added Oct. 2024.]

The first three paragraphs below were included in the c. 1840 “Julia Orsini” book, as part of its explication of the card. (http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=2773925&postcount=100) For this part of the 3rd Cahier, I have put Etteilla’s footnotes at the end of the quote:

Quote:

Nº. 9. Justice, said these Sages, signifies Equity, but this word is only a sound; for it not to be arbitrary, but on the contrary, fixed, we must give a true idea of all that this harmonious sound contains, to analyze it, or otherwise a man will pronounce Justice and Equity a hundred thousand times, and he will not be less unjust. Justice comprises the natural positive rights of human beings [gens]; the Rights of the Fathers of families; of the Sovereign, of the Masters, and finally of superiors over inferiors. It comprises the right of giving Recompense, of commuting the Punishment of crimes, proportionally to their Nature, following the Intention [Volunté], or the Action, Considering the Knowledge or ignorance of the party responsible; this is called Interpretation of the law. The Parts belonging to Justice are General and Particular. General, the avoidance of evil. Particular, the practice of good. Here, Religion, which leads [one] to love God above all things, and one’s neighbor as oneself. The will by science to know what is good and evil, Morally and Humanly: Morally in all countries, one God above all: Humanly, each country, each custom. The moral and physical activity of Justice; Moral, to be internally just, after love of God, which removes fear. Physically, it appears [reading paraît for pareque) that one is oneself a weak and fragile person. In Justice, Morality, God, Religion, and Eternal salvation. Physically, internal or external: Internal, Devotion and Prayer; External, sacrifice of self-love, which brings [one] to receive the Poor, bandage the Sick and visit Prisoners, in order to aid the indigent, like those who have wives and children, without bread, without fire, without clothes, in short to bring them physical and moral help, which brings us the grace of God. Having seen generally all which is in the spirit of Justice, noting that this is only a weak summary, one reflects about all that is set against one; and supposing that one sees a person act against the law of Justice, in that case the Egyptians forecast to him that he would be Severely punished for it; or on the contrary, if he operated only because of her, these Wise men pronounced that he would be rewarded for it, and the Oracle was inevitable, because no view other than that of the truth made them speak. Nº. 10. The Egyptians considered Temperance differently than we do; they did not say that it had to do more directly with our carnal passions than with all our other vices; some lines in the book of Thoth, written because of this, will put us in a position to judge. Temperance is a virtue that rules morality as much as physicality; it is called the Precursor of the Truth; without Temperance, a person carries all the other virtues into a period of generation [i.e. without temperance, in time its lack will degenerate them]. Of a man who would be virtuous, intemperance makes him a maniac, an enthusiast, a dullard; thus for the strongest reason, how much Temperance is necessary, generally, in [regard to] all our vices, our blind passions, our faults, our weaknesses, our infirmities, and also in the brute things utilized in the physical life of man. Prudence warns, but Temperance intervenes. Prudence abandons us, but never Temperance; who once has seized her subject, will not leave until she has conducted one to Strength [or Fortitude], Justice, and Prudence, or to the grave. With Temperance beside the criminal man, sighing for his unjust actions, often in that vice where she triumphs over it. After and before the act, she speaks to him like a father and teacher; she fights against the vice, and although she is poorly listened to by the man whose defense she takes, she brings down her enemy, and returns the man to virtue. Temperance deadens our passions, our disorder, often resulted from a sinful humor, from corrupted blood, from a muddied pituitary, or one too clear, in sum from bile that is too soft, too abundant, too dried out. Temperance spreads its effect everywhere, directly and indirectly, in all that is useful and not useful to humanity. A man is compelled to love wine, gambling, women,--and everything else that, if used to excess, causes him to become debauched; but with Temperance, nothing that is moderate is reprehensible. I am, says this admirable Virtue, Temperance [Moderation], and the Moderator of all that people love and detest. Finally, I am Perhaps the only good-humoured (débonnaire) friend of humanity; Prudence speaks to them, it is true, but she likes good people; but I do not leave them wicked: yes, although I am an emanation of the truth, I do not flee from false people, and to tell you everything, I run more after the wicked than after the good; this responsibility, this employment is cruel and painful to me, but it is given to me; and whenever I return a person to himself and to the Truth, I am satisfied, because my reward surpasses one thousand times my sufferings. Let us stop using the metaphor. Temperance is one of the four Cardinal virtues; She holds in particularly high esteem Modesty and Sobriety; she requires work proportional to our strengths, to our intelligence, and a kind of laziness pleases her, named the repose of old age. She likes solitude, but she wants some activity there, and every day a little company. The Egyptians defined her well, in a few words, in the book of Thoth, by saying, “Temperance is the Divinity who presides over moral and physical health". She is ahead of Apollo, the God of Medicine, the Sick, and the Physician, accompanying everywhere Prudence, who is her companion. The Egyptians gave her two wings, to mark her intelligence, her activity, her quickness, etc. The ignorant Cardmaker did not conceive that the character on top of her forehead was the Sun that comes to rest on her (*25). She is clothed, but her head is absolutely naked; she pours from one vase to the other, not water and wine, but the substance of water transmuted into oil and wine, and in order to speak to the young Disciples of the great Hermes, she mixes after the purification both fluids, (the waters that separated the waters,) the water above and the water below, to spray with it, soak [imbiber] the dry with it, which was going to appear as the number 10. which Nature has sealed, seals and will seal.

Warning: the next paragraph is quite dense. A native French speaker, Aeclectic's Lotus Padma, graciously clarified the syntax for me, and also identified who "Guide" was in the list of artists. Lotus says, "Guido Reni, Italian painter born in Calvenzano (1575-1642) He was considered brilliant, due to the grace of his subjects, and their coloration and facial expression. Some of his paintings include Aurora, The Kidnapping (or taking) of Helen, and Ecce Homo. He also used nitritic acid in the creation of art."

But I'm still not sure about the pronouns in this first paragraph below: him, her, it, his, hers, himself, etc. In French these are not obvious on their face, as the ending is often either omitted or agrees with the noun it modifies rather than the noun it substitutes for. Expressions like "de lui"--of him or of it, if the noun is masculine, should help, but they don't if the nouns "lui" might refer to are all masculine. There's no neuter in French. So what I have done is put what I think makes sense, based on what I think Etteilla is trying to say, and then in brackets what Lotus Padma--who doesn't know Etteilla--thinks makes sense based on French usage.

There is also an issue about what "mâne" means here. Normally the word refers to spirits of the dead; but I think that in this case it should be translated just "spirit", because it means something like the kind of spirit that he talks about at the end of the paragraph, that which inspired the great artists, their Génie or "genius", a kind of angelic presence. In another work (see my essay "Etteilla's Angelology") he applies the word Génie to spirits under one of the 72 angels of Kabbalah. They are personal, there to assist a person in some way, in that way like the "lares" or household gods of the Romans, to which the term "mâne" originally applied, according to the dictionaries and Wikipedia. I'd appreciate knowing what others, especially those fluent in French, think about these various points.

Now let us look at Etteilla on Temperance. Here I need to thank "Lotus Padma" on Aeclectic for clarifying the terms with which Etteilla describes Temperance's clothing (in the paragraph starting "This noble Virtue...".

For a picture of Etteilla’s Temperance, see my post at http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=2775413&postcount=101

Quote:

You must not think that the Sun placed on her [or his/her] forehead is there to enlighten her [or him/her]; King of Celestial bodies, he contemplates her [or his] work, and that of her [or his] illustrious Companions; He is on Temperance's forehead because he has explored the entire sky of Prudence, Strength/Fortitude, and Justice; he admires the liquid substance that he has vivified, and it pleases him to see to the Purifying, Mitigating, Mixing, Amalgamating, and Perfecting of it, so that he may subdivide the parts of the opaque night, which he will then use to complete the Trinary [as Patreekotheartist rightly suggests; or Ternary, threesome, Fr. Trinaire, I suppose referring to the other three virtues], and the entire Matrix of Nature--or guarantee of the divine Science or sacred Art--he is a Reliquary for the Seed, but not the Seed of the Seed [du Germe] of which he is only one, and the profane one [le profane] may neither hear, nor touch, nor see it, until it is inseparable from him, master over him, and spirit over him [or "he is inseparable from himself, master of himself, and of the spirits of the dead [or ..."and of his spirit" or "and of the spirit in him]: Fr.: il soit inséparable de lui, maître de lui, & mâne de lui]; what a shame that this Hieroglyph has been altered! You should not study it in its entirety, but only some small and pure parts of it, in order to understand the entire meaning of it: Ho! Raphaël, Correggio, Guido [Guido Reni, 1575-1642], Carracci, that you had painted this Tableau! perhaps you would not have died [or, perhaps you would no longer be dead; Fr. peut-être ne seriez vous point morts]; Your Geniuses [I think spirits are meant, in a metaphysical sense, but attached to particular persons] would have dictated to you the spirit of it [ i.e. inner meaning, or essential nature of the thing; Fr., vos Génies vous en eussent dicté l’esprit] [Here Patreekotheartist suggests "your Genii . . . the sense of it." However, the word "Genii" suggests "Genie," as in Arab and Persian folklore, which is not what is meant.] Suppose, Reader, seeing Temperance having her right foot on a triangular solid of Jet black color, her left foot put on a ball white as alabaster, and these two solids sitting on a terrace of dark red-brown. This noble Virtue is dressed in the Canaanen fashion, and more, Arabian or Turkish style: arms tightly bound in the cloth of a multi-coloured Cassock, edged in marten fur; flowing hair; enameled wings ordered in [such] a way that one distinguished the seven primary colours there (*26); finally, a golden Belt [Ceinture] squeezing her cassock at the bosom, on which was written Thoth, which is there in the other virtues as well: a name by which she draws out its spirit lying there, which, interpreted, means center; The name of this Virtue was likewise placed on her bosom, half hidden by the belt; the Cardmaker neglected and deformed everything. Temperance recommends Chastity in Virginity, Marriage and Widowhood; it oversees Continence, Clemency, Modesty, Study, Affability (gentle, easy, tractable and thoughtful Leniency), Graciousness, Humility, Moderation, Simplicity;, and she mistress of Ambition, Curiosity, Luxury, Gaming, Drunkenness, Self-love, and in sum all the vices, as Prudence warns of them, and Strength/Fortitude surmounts them and delivers the guilty to Justice, which punishes them, as it recompenses the virtuous man. __________________________________________________ *24. For lack of this interpretation, one thinks that the rights of humanity have often been violated. *25. The Cardmaker believed that it was simply small circles. This figure or Hieroglyph serves to ornament the front of this Cahier. *26. Note that the seven colours are on one other Hieroglyph, where it is perfect Work.

One of the main innovations of Etteilla’s card, in relation to the Marseille, is the block and ball she is standing (see againhttp://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=2775413&postcount=101 ). That Etteilla does not explain the symbolism (here or anywhere that I can see) suggests to me that this innovation was not original with him, and that he copied it from something earlier. The block symbolized slowness and the ball swiftness; Temperance, as the mean between extremes, is between the two. A well-known example is an engraving by the school of Mantegna discussed by Edgar Wind in relation to the saying festina lente, make haste slowly; I reproduce the engraving at the link just given.

In the engravings at the front of this and the other Cahiers, the word “Thot” does not appear on the belt of Temperance or indeed of any of the virtues (see Holbronn’s Astrologie du Livre de Thot, pp. 6-7 of the essay accompanying his reprint of the 4th Cahier, which reproduces all four; you can also inspect the frontispieces for Cahier 1 (Justice) and 3 (Temperance) at http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.p...&postcount=100 and http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.p...&postcount=101). My scan of the frontispiece of Cahier 2 also shows no belt. But as early as the 1789 set of cards obtained by Depaulis, of which all four virtue cards are shown in Wicked Pack of Cards, Temperance is shown with “THOT” on her belt, and all the other virtue cards as well with the same, just as Etteilla specified in the 3rd Cahier. On the cards reprinted by France Cartes/Grimaud, however, the word “THOT” can be clearly seen on Temperance’s and Strength/Fortitude’s belts, and the final “T” on Justice’s, but clearly nothing on the belt of Prudence (see posts 100, 101, 105, 108 in the thread already cited). For an enlargement of Depaulis's Prudence card, where "THOT" does appear, see my post at http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.p...&postcount=255.)

Etteilla’s point about Temperance pertaining to all the virtues, and not just those of the body, and being the most essential virtue, governing the rest, was one made frequently in texts on the virtues, as Lynn White has documented (pp. 187ff of Medieval Religion and Technology: Collected Essays, at http://books.google.com/books?id=quC...page&q&f=false, a reference I owe to M. J. Hurst). (It was an application of Aristotle’s doctrine that the virtues are means between two extremes.) It may be in part for that reason that the position of Temperance went from being the lowest virtue in the early listings (corresponding to the ranking of the body below the soul and the spirit) to being the highest in the Marseille.

Etteilla says (footnote 26) that Temperance’s wings were supposed to show all seven colors. That didn’t happen, but the cardmaker did do it perfectly on another card, he says. I do not know what the other card would be. Possibly it was the Judgment card, which has many colors in the robes of the people below, as well as also having an angel.

You might wonder how in 1782 Etteilla can be talking about an actual deck: was his deck, in full color, actually published by then? And besides this reference, there is the P.S. to his footnote 2, which also gives Etteilla's address. I think this particular copy of the 3rd Cahier must be a reprint, with this part changed. At the end of the book all four cahiers are listed plus the deck itself; but the 4th Cahier wasn't published until 17 (85. And in footnote 5, he gives people instructions on how to modify their World card so that it looks the way it should look, i.e. "*5. Remove the oval Cartouche, & put in its place a Serpent having its head in its mouth... & in place of two miserable blades of grass, put two pyramids of 59 measures, because the figure had some 121; & in agreement with all the Wise, you will conceive that this figure was surrounded by seven stars." Also, in the Supplement to Cahier 1, he is apologizing for not having the "restored hieroglyphs": "The author's intention was to have the 78 hieroglyphs of the Book of Thoth engraved, as closely to the original ones as would have been possible, but having calculated the cost, the fatigue, the general taste of the world, he has preferred to leave this enterprise to posterity" (Wicked Pack p. 89).

In Wicked Pack of Cards,, the first deck is dated to 1789. This is based on the author's copy of letters to Etteilla by a disciple, Charles Geille-Saint-Leger de Bonrecueille in Lyons, one of 27 November 1788, "I am very glad to hear that we will soon have the Tarot cards you have restored", and another of 14 March 1789, "We very satisfactorily have received the Tarot cards which you sent us..." (Wicked Pack p. 91). That seems fairly conclusive.

The device of having the card speak for itself, which we see charmingly in the case of Temperance, was used to good effect recently by Jodorowsky for all the cards in his Way of Tarot.

Having looked at Justice and Temperance, Etteilla goes on to Strength/Fortitude and Prudence, and finishes by putting all four virtues in the context of the four directions and four humors.

I should perhaps preface the discussion by saying when Etteilla used the word "hieroglyph" he was using a term that was not then understood to refer exclusively to Egyptian writing. The word was understood to mean a form of writing in pictures whereby a single picture conveyed a complex, even on some levels mysterious meaning. Tarot cards were spoken of as hieroglyphs. For more on this term, see Ross Caldwell's opening post at http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=94755, and my documentation toward the end of that thread, that this meaning was in place no later than around 1450.

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Nº. 11. Strength/Fortitude gives Magnificence, Confidence, Patience, Perseverance; its Acts are: Piety, obedience to God, in the moral and physical virtues. [i]Around men: to obey and observe human, National, and Provincial laws, and those which extend from [sur] the Sovereigns, the Lords, the Magistrates and also from Relatives, Just men, Superiors, Equals, Benefactors, Friends, the Poor, the Infirm, the Weak; finally, Strength/Fortitude ordains having regard to and likewise obeying all that is virtuous, indeed to do all that a vigorous man could by his personal strength/ fortitude, to secure this inestimable humility [docilité], [against that which] would trouble the celestial harmony put by the Creator among the Creatures; She especially requires submitting to the truth of the Divine and Human Laws; She dictates to us their Recognition, Esteem, and true Friendship. If human strength/fortitude departs for one minute from the spirit of Divine Strength/Fortitude, man puts himself at that moment between the arms of celestial vengeance and the secular arms of human Justice; to be humble [Fr. docile], contains all the true spirit of strength/ fortitude]. Nº. 12. Prudence, In Consultation, Judgment, and Command; joining Memory, Intelligence, Science [or knowledge], Reason, Foresight, Circumspection, Delivery. She wants Honest solitude, Economy, Work, Activity, Politics, etc. As the four Cardinal virtues are infinitely connected and united together, it is not surprising that they rule over almost the same subject; but nevertheless, in reflection, we always find there a kind of distinction: example; Prudence requires work to meet the needs of life, and Temperance requires work for the same reason that she requires repose, both being necessary for moral and physical life. In the book of Thoth. the four Cardinal virtues point to the Three Theological virtues: Faith: to believe in one God, alone and unique, who made Heaven and Earth out of nothing; because, say these Sages, Your understanding having submitted to believing in one God, alone and unique, who created the world, and arranged all the parts of which it comprises in their true places, is it more difficult for you to believe than that he formed this world out of nothing, becaise he himself was everything? And finally, do you not see that the second assertion is certain, as a consequence of the first, in as much as he is God, infinitely powerful? Hope: without this Virtue, say the Sages, how could man see his Creator, because he would have no hope of it? Would not it be a tacit volition [volonté], even a categorical [formelle] one, to give up this unique good to which man can aspire? Charity: this Virtue was so sacred for the Egyptians, that all the Foreigners who went to see them, had not only shelter, food, and clothing but the subject for which they had gone there; that is, the true principles of Science and Wisdom; or the answer to their question concerning their undertakings, or the cure of their troubles: The true Sages know Nature, and the Wise ones [Sophistent] study the Art. Not to muddle the Work, I put here these Notes, which the Reader will put back in their true place. The Charlatans every day find sovereign remedies for our diseases; they are grasping souls, the Charlatans; for they notice [reading “remarquent” for “remarquez”] in others, that if Nature does not come to their aid, they are dead. The greatest physicians recommend to us, since Hippocrates Father of ordinary Medicine, diet and water; but to admit that they are ignorant would be more worthy: where are the Egyptians and their celestial astral liquor? Study the Book of Thoth. Every letter of the Alphabet has its value A B. .... B. A, gives several pronunciations, several sounds, finally various senses; the Hieroglyphs of the Egyptians are absolutely the same ..... In looking for the relationships in a series of tones, I was indeed delighted to find other agreements which I had never understood; they would form the whole of a harmony so melodious that the delight in which I was, made me doubt for a moment the truth of my discovery, and caused in me a sudden seizure of my satisfaction, which was suspended and stopped only by the appearance of death, which wanted to seize the happiest moment of my life in order to cut the thread...... What a fine balance we must keep, in order to avoid the extremes of pain and joy! Neglecting my first research, I promptly removed the numbers from my nine hieroglyphs, and I deliberately scrambled the cards so as not to be subjugated by the highest, most ecstatic state of mind that I have ever felt, and I returned to my first work. In my leisure time, I wrote my numbers in one of the bookd which contain everything I find to be sublime, but did not take them in their progressive order, but as follows: 9. 12. 16. 25. 28. 37. 40. 42. 49. and now, ignoring what has become like an uncatchable leaf flying in the wind, I cannot, (unless I add 362880 + 362880 + and about 181440, which totals 907,200 diverse permutations) find the literal meaning of what the first Egyptians wrote... Happy, yes, Happy, will be the person who can put these nine Hieroglyphs in the order that the progress and direction of my work allowed me to first discover them! This is my latest digression. 1. East, the Eastern Regions [l’Orient], Strength/Fortitude, Spring, 6 a.m.; ruling Angel, Gabriel; Man, Asia, Childhood, Sadness, Melancholy, Weapons, Ambition, and the channel of the past and the future, its number is 11. 2. South, the Southern Regions [le Midi], Justice, Summer, 12 noon, ruling Angel, Michaël, the Lion, Africa, Adolescence, Quickness, Anger, Bile, Repose, Fire, Agriculture, Wealth and the chain of the present and the future, its number is 9. 3. West, the Western Regions [l’Occident], Temperance, Autumn, 6 p.m., ruling Angel, Raphaël; the Eagle, America, Youth, Trouble, Blood, Joy, Amiability, Reflection, Air, the bosom of cities, Poverty, and chain of the past and thefuture, its number is 10. 4. North, the Northern Regions [Septentrion], Prudence, Winter; 12 Midnight; ruling Angel, Uriel; the Ox, Europe. Old age, Pain, the Pituitary, Stupidity, Laziness, Earth, Finance, Mediocrity, Death, and the chain of the present and the past, its number is 12. It would be appropriate to demonstrate how the Egyptians made divinations by the Book of Thoth, in the Astrological manner; but always I go by promising, and give, while waiting, their couplet on this subject. Heaven surpasses in beauty any human intellect. Art, Science, and Wisdom are the primary qualities with which real Cartonomancers must be provided. [or, to retain the rhyme in the original: Art, Science, and Wisdom are the primary qualities that real Cartonomancers must collect.] End of the Third Cahier.