Le Grand Etteilla ou Tarot égyptien or Grand Etteilla Egyptian Gypsies Tarot

These Tarot cards were created by Jean-Baptiste Alliette and they were first issued around 1788.  This desk is significant as it is the earliest set of Tarot created under the supervision of a single visionary and for it to be specifically designed to be read and used for magical purposes.  These cards were named after the creator Alliette who reversed his name to form the Etteilla title for the cards.  Whether you favour these designs, or find faults within them these cards are the root of much modern Tarot.  The older traditional cards offer a glance back into the origins of Tarot.  These cards show us the dawn of modern magical interpretations and guide us towards our contemporary use of Tarot so from their point of production they shine a light into the future that is still bright for viewers to this day.

Alliette claimed to have learned the symbology of Tarot from an Italian contact.  As a Print Seller he would have seen many similar designs to those featured in his Tarot cards and he may have adapted existing designs to form the illustrations in his Tarot.  He was very particular about his cards having an upright position and a reversed position.  The interpretation of his Tarot depends upon the dignity of the card whether it be upstanding or upended.  These are the first cards known to be specifically designed to for Tarot readings.  Other earlier sets of cards were possible formed from designs used for playing, or gaming cards.  In 1790 Alliette publishes Cours theorique et pratique du livre de Thot, or, Theoretical and practical course in the book of Thot in which he distinguishes between the Major and Minor Arcana.

When Antoine Court, the self styled Court de Gébelin published Le Monde primitif in 1788 he popularized the notion that Tarot was founded on ancient Egyptian mysteries.  The idea of the Egyptians passing on knowledge of occult significance to European Gypsies gave rise to many spurious histories purporting to be academic revelations.  Alliette stated that his information was acquired prior to the publishing of Court de Gébelin’s books.  The claim and counter claim of various occultists has lead to much misinformation and the falsehoods leave a web of deceit that is a barrier to those endeavouring to find the origins of Tarot.  False histories were concocted in the hope that a historic pedigree would give confidence in the Tarot system being presented.  No matter what the true histories maybe the products can stand alone and be valued as works of imagination and art.  These beautiful cards show off the skills of Alliette who included technical details and artistic visions in this Tarot deck.