Cards 1-8 as the Chaos plus the 7 days of creation

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(Added in 2014: Please note that I also have other blogs related to Etteilla. 

http://thirdcahier.blogspot.com/ has the original French and my translation of Etteilla's 3rd  Cahier, pus its supplements. These discuss the keywords on the cards and how to do readings.

http://neopythagoreanisminthetrot.blogspot.com/ discusses Etteilla's followers' word-lists for the numeral cards and connects them, by means of Neopythagorean writings, with the corresponding images of the Sola-Busca deck of c. 1491 and the Waite-Smith deck of 1910.

http://templeinmemphis.blogspot.com/ discusses a diagram that is the frontispiece to Etteilla's Leçons Théoreque et Pratique du Livre de Thot in terms of an essay by his follower Hugand, of which I translate the relevant portion. 

And http://etteillasangelology.blogspot.com/ translates and discusses the portion of Etteilla's 1785 book Philosophie des Hautes Sciences that deals with the "72 angels of God".)

Added Feb. 2020: Another is https://etteillatimelineiii.blogspot.com, which is an expanded version of the Timeline post here, with many more links. 

I am by no means a professional translator of 18th century French. But I going to make a stab at translating what Etteilla says about the fitrst eight of his cards as representing the  seven days of creation, pp. 8-21 of Etteilla's Second Cahier (Deuxieme Cahier). I make no claims for my translation, but it is a start. I am  especially uncertain about the beginning; so for that part I give a transcription of the French as well. After the first sentence, it got easier. I am presenting a very literal translation, but I hope not to the point of incomprehensibility. I will interrupt occasionally to put in my own reflections.

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L'ignorance, car c'est toujours elle qui conduit au mal, insinuant indifférenment son caractere dans différens hommes, a d'abord troublé l'ordre des nombres; et non contente de ce crime, que ne lui paroissoit pas assez grand pour se venger de ce que ses honteux prosélites n'avaient pas se reconnaître que le Livre de Thot était la source de ces milliers de volumes à la voracité du feu, l'ignorance enfin a effacé du Livre de Thot le premier feiuillet, coté no.1, l'ignorance enfin a effacé du Livre de Thot le premier feiuillet, coté no.1, qui representait, comme on le justifie par les numéros 9, 10, 11, & 12, une lumière environnée d'un nuage épais, ou le chaos qui se refoulait sur lui-mème pour faire place à la Vérité, au moment que le Créateur manifestait sa gloire & sa bonté souveraine aux Créatures de tout l"univers qui sommeillaient & sommeillent encore dans son intelligence: vérité allégorique, bien digne de nos premiers Maiîtres. Ignorance, because it is she who always leads to evil, insinuating her character indifferently in different men, first disturbed the order of the numbers; and not content with this crime, which did not appear great enough for taking revenge, those shameful proselytes not recognizing that the Book of Thoth was the source of thousands of volumes all delivered to the voracity to the flames, Ignorance finally erased from the Book of Thot the first sheet, listed no. 1, which represented--as may be justified by numbers 9, 10, 11, 12--a light surrounded by a thick cloud, or the chaos which was turned back in order to give place to the Truth, at the moment when the Creator manifested his glory and his sovereign bounty to the Creatures of the whole Universe, who slept and will sleep again in his intelligence: allegorical truth, indeed worthy of our first Masters. This allegory, formerly no. 1, was listed as no. V; and in place of the emblem of a unique Motor, a pure light, dreadful Ignorance was first to put on this card a Jupiter, then a Pope, and in third place a Swordsman (Fr. Spadassin); error that seems to us ridiculous, as if these images when reunited did not offer us a precious Book, containing all the Philosophy of the first People of the Earth, seen after an inundation over at last half the Globe, if one ought not believe a general judgment. After this Divine image, came the six allegories offering the six days of universal creation of all the Worlds peopled by Creatures, following the places and Globes that they inhabited, this sentiment being not only that of the Philosophers, who carried it from point to little point on the earth that we occupy, but that of all the Physicians, who are in accord that the Sun is the instrument by which the Creator appeared in order to light up the life of all Beings; as the Sun, it carried itself to all the Globes of our Universe. These Globes can be nothing other than the proper matrices to receive life, that one might compare to a fluid that contains and transfixes all of Nature, since it is the true spirit of the Lord, the Sun that vivifies all the embryos, enfuses itself so that all the Globes are necessarily people, or matrices, which the order of all things demonstrates: gold, and also coal, being matrices, from the moment that Nature animated them, or Art revived them. The second sheet of the Book of Thoth bears effectively the number of 2 in the translation, and not that of XVIIII. It had, following the Ancients, and has at present according to our studies, a second number, which is also 2, and finally a third number, which is 1: it is the same for the other sheets, pages, or cards; we explain this fully in the Supplement to the third Cahier, page 97. But here is another more intellectual object that presents itself in reading attentively the Book of Thoth. 1 is immutable; but in order to aid the intelligence of the Disciples, the Egyptians instructed us that it was necessary often to confide it as number 12, thus 2 as 11, and 3 as being the number 10; but here is a Tableau that here will help the understanding, noting however that it is here a question only of human intelligence; for such is the Divine intelligence, 1 bears itself to 10, etc. (footnote 1) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 12. 11. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1 Footnote 1: It is humanly the sign of Sin, but divinely, it must be the sign of Purity. Take then care, in following the true Science of Numbers, for the truth and its mixture, or good and evil. If you are attentive, you will be yet instructed on this subject by another Note.

I am not sure what Etteilla is illustrating in his “Tableau” of the numbers from 1 to 12. It might just be a "secret code" to which Etteilla claims access. It might also be a kind of upper world/lower world comparison: God to Prudence, the Sun to Fortitude, the Moon to Temperance, the Stars to Justice, etc. That is what the footnote suggests: a world of Purity vs. a world of Sin. But then what does the right half mean? I haven’t yet seen a second note. Let us go on.

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This second sheet, listed number 2, offers for allegory a Sun. If we engrave this precious Book, we will demonstrate 1st, that the Stars lasted to become the first allegories of the Ancients; 2nd, that we have rendered truly the four Cardinal Virtues, each put a the head of a volume; and 3rd, that we explain more interiorly than superficially the allegories that have been proper to the high Sciences. This second sheet, as we have said, bears also the number 1, relative to the six days of creation: the light was called day, and the darkness night; and it bears the number 2, the Fire, second Element. No 3. The third sheet has for allegory the Moon, and bears the number 3 for the third day of creation; [that it gives its jet]; and thus the number 1 Water, first element.

Here the phrase I translate literally, “that it gives its jet,” is qu’elle donne son jet. It should be a quote from Genesis, concerning the third day. I can’t find anything like it in my King James. The closest is verse 9: “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together in one place...” But it is obvious enough that water is a theme of that day (along with plants), namely, the creation of the Seas by separating the water from the land. I continue:

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No. 4. The fourth sheet has for allegory the Stars, and was by the Cardmakers called “The Star,” because it showed there some Stars: I explain otherwise the figure in its proper nomination, titled by its day of creation: expanse [etendue, probably a word for “firmament”]; the number of the Element that it bears is 3, Air. No. 5. The fifth sheet bears the number 6 for its day of creation: God made Man in his image, being then, in regard to human physicality, in perfection; it bears for its Element the number 4, “Earth.” No. 6. The sixth sheet offers the false hieroglyph of an Emperor, its number of creation, which can serve for replacing it as it was formerly with the Egyptians, is 4, fourth day of creation: God made two great lights. This sheet primitively offers a Zodiac; and I believe, without rejecting anything that I have said about the fourth sheet, that the Cardmakers have moved a part of the sixth sheet onto the fourth; this of which we speak at present, the sixth sheet, has only the third number [i.e. three heavenly bodies]. It is necessary at the bottom of the Zodiac to notice there the allegory of the spirit of the colors, the white; notice that one finds again on another sheet the black, on another the red, and finally on others the seven colors, as Physics conceives them; the most interesting and the most difficult is to discover the true green color, in the center of the others.

Perhaps here some pictures are in order. For Etteilla I, I will use Sumada’s beautiful images of his 1890 deck (online in "Sumada's treasure chest").. No. 4, with its astrological signs that Etteilla says came from No. 6, is in the center. No. 6, with only three astral bodies, is on the right. One version of the Marseille Star card is at left, for comparison; the one that looks the most similar to me is the Noblet, of c. 1650 or a little later. There is the same masculine-like body.


We can see how little the Etteilla No. 6 reflects “the stars” created on the fourth day of creation: there are only two, one big and one little; the rest are indicted by astrological signs. On the Marseille-style Star card, there are more that look like stars. Also, in the Marseille we don't know whether they are supposed to be stars or planets. In Etteilla’s version, they are planets, identifiable by their astrological signs, except for the sun and the moon, which look like they do in the sky. There is also one more, without a sign. That tells me that this design was made after the discovery of the eighth planet, Uranus.

I cannot see on Eteilla’s card 6 even part of a true zodiac, i.e. the twelve signs or constellations; nor is there any “allegory of the colors.” Etteilla’s description comes closest to fitting the Etteilla III design (below right, from the “Jeu des Dames” deck put out by Editions Dusserre). There indeed one can see a zodiac, the sun and the moon, a few planets, and of the colors, the white and red at least, along with a special green in the middle. He perhaps has in mind alchemical allegories when he talks about the “allegories of the colors”: black, white and red were the primary stages of the work, and one stage in between black and white was “the peacock’s tail,” showing all seven colors and, one point, a special green.

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No. 7, or the seventh sheet of the Book of Thoth, is also an Emperor, badly figured to the purpose [or, figured to a bad purpose?], which was preceded by an Empress; it bears 5 as its number of creation. God created the flying and aquatic animals. There is no third number.

Perhaps he was unhappy about the appearance of a snake here, which neither flies nor swims. In any case, some version of these cards must have existed in 1784, since his comments are so detailed.

I turn now to Etteilla's discussion of the eighth sheet.

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The eighth sheet offers for allegory a naked man, in the middle of a superb garden, physical Nature being then formal and in its astral aspect of creation, fixed, without movement, because the eighth day was that of repose. For this allegory let us imagine eleven circles, an orange cut into eleven horizontal parts and emptied; you will realize what I wish to say, putting the first part on the man’s head and the last under the soles of his feet, so that he sees only nine circles; to help you, consult the fourteenth section of the Pymander translated by Francois de Candalle, 1578.

I am not sure how de Candalle divided his Pymander. There are two possible sections of that text that might apply. The most straightforward is the following,. In the 1650 English translation (http://www.levity.com/alchemy/ch2.html), section 15 says:

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15. But the Workman, Mind, together with the Word, containing the Circles and Whirling them about, turned round as a Wheel his own Workmanships, and suffered them to be turned from an indefinite Beginning to an undeterminable End; for they always begin where they end.

These circles are the planets and fixed stars.. Then these whirls, going downward, "brought forth unreasonable or brutish creatures" (Sect. 16) and the same, it turns out, in human beings, as well as other vices (Sect. 60ff).

 The other possibility is section 14 in G. R. S. Mead translation (http://www.gnosis.org/library/hermes1.htmlQ), which is section 23 in the 1660 version. The god Anthropos, androygynous but envisioned as masculine, falls into the embrace of Physis, matter, envisioned as female, and becomes fused with her. Anthropos has within himself the seven gods of the heavens plus three higher ones, the Demiurge, the Logos, and Mind. Physis is then the eleventh. Correspondingly, I see eleven circles around the lady in card 8. Here an earlier section, a footnote that I translated earlier, might be relevant:

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It is humanly the sign of Sin, but divinely, it must be the sign of Purity. Take then care, in following the true Science of Numbers, for the truth and its mixture, or good and evil.

Whatever the “it” is there, this passage fits the circles around the lady of card 8. In the heavens, the seven gods are good; but once fused with matter and ignorance, they become vices that must be expunged if the soul is to return home. (The 8th orbit, that of the Demiurge, has its bad side, too, e.g. destroying the good with the bad in the Flood); the ninth god would be the Logos, whose Christian counterpart is Lucifer. The vices are described in sections 25-26 of the Poimandres (Pymander). There the soul passes from inside the spindle of Necessity into the purity of God. In the Poimandres, the soul does not stay in the 8th circle, but eventually moves up from there. In the Renaissance, there were 10 levels; after the fixed stars came the Primum Mobile (First Moved) and the Empyrean. Only a few saints made it to the Empyrean.

So when the “Julia Orsini” says

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The circles around the lady represent the labyrinths of the future in which her imagination finds itself ensnared...

it is saying in an easily accessible way that it is the seven planetary gods and those higher than them, in their demonic transformation, which have her trapped. Etteilla’s double-sided archetypes, the pure and the shameful, at their best capture the contrast between below and above, between ignorance and light.

Let us continue:

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From more than fifteen hundred Tableaux that I have been offered to study for twenty years in the Book of Thot, this, in the discourse I have made, has been the most useful. 1 (in center of page) 7..................................2 2...............2.................1 3...............1.................3 4...............3.................2 5...............4.................6 6..................................4 8 (in center of page) 9....10................11.....12 13.........................14 (centered on page) I shall speak more about this precious day of repose, and of the four allegories 9, 10, 11 & 12. “After the souls had passed seven days in a plain (there came the day when it arrived), where they were called to be judged; they left on the eighth, and were four days walking, when they saw a light. The third day, they began walking again; and finally on the fourteenth day, each was rendered to his destination.” Can one, who has even the lightest notion from reading the Book of Thoth, doubt that this precious Book was known by the Greeks, who were able to copy elsewhere this series of metaphors? Recall a few different sheets.

It would have been obvious to Etteilla’s intended audience that he was citing the Myth of Er in Plato’s Republic, 614d-e and 615b-c (http://www.davidson.edu/academic/cla...50/ErMyth.html).

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Then he [Er] beheld and saw on one side the souls departing at either opening of heaven and earth when sentence had been given on them; and at the two other openings other souls, some ascending out of the earth dusty and worn with travel, some descending out of heaven clean and bright.... ... Now when the spirits which were in the meadow had tarried seven days, on the eighth they were obliged to proceed on their journey, and, on the fourth day after, he said that they came to a place where they could see from above a line of light, straight as a column, extending right through the whole heaven and through the earth, in colour resembling the rainbow, only brighter and purer; another day's journey brought them to the place, and there, in the midst of the light, they saw the ends of the chains of heaven let down from above: for this light is the belt of heaven, and holds together the circle of the universe, like the under-girders of a trireme. From these ends is extended the spindle of Necessity, on which all the revolutions turn.

This is one translation. The second to last word is also translated “orbits” (e.g. Grube). In Plato, there are eight orbits, for the seven planets and the fixed stars. In place of the column of light, Etteilla has put his “man,” surrounded by orbit-like circles. The engraver, however, probably was an admirer of Durer and so could be inspired by his “Urania,” whom he also identified, in the upper or “astral” realm, with the lady (whom Etteilla also calls a man) in Card 5.


And of instead of eight orbits, we have nine, plus the one at the top of her head and the soles of her feet. They are the ten levels of the Poimandres and Renaissance cosmology, plus the one drawn in the earth as that of Physis herself.

MORE REFLECTIONS ON THE ABOVE

Given the foregoing, a question arises (my thanks to Sumada on Aeclectic Tarot Forum (ATF) for raising these): Why aren't the days of creation and the elements in sequential order?

Let me illustrate. First, here are Etteilla’s assignments of days to cards. The parts in parentheses are from sentences in the Bible to which Etteilla is implicitly linking, although he doesn’t say so explicitly.

1. Chaos : beginning of 1st day. Clouds giving way to light. (“darkness was on the face of  the deep.”)
2. The Sun. enf of 1st day. The light was called day, and the darkness night.
3. The Moon, Water. 3rd day. “that it gives its jet.” Or, let the waters be gathered in 1 place. (Etteilla forgot dry land and plants, which the Etteilla II cards emphasize: “Les Plantes.”)
4. Stars. (2nd day, not said explicitly). Firmament.
5. (Man and quadrupeds; Marseille World card.) 6th day. “God made man in his own image.”
6. 4th day. Sun, Moon, and the Zodiac. “Two Great Lights.”
7. Birds and aquatic animals. 5th day.
8. Repose. 7th day.

So why this order? I have something of an explanation. Here is the short version.

(1) He heard from someone that the first 7 Marseille cards represented the 7 days of creation, but the person was bound to secrecy, because what the tarot signified was not the way it was according to Genesis.

(2) He believes de Mellet's theory that the cards are in reverse order.

(3) Ergo, the seven days are in the last 5 cards of the Marseille plus the male and female Enquirer.

(4) He had to remove "Last Judgment" because it didn’t fit as part of the creation (despite Etteilla’s attempt), and make up another card to replace it, although it doesn't correspond to any Marseille image. That will be for the 4th day, the creation of the Sun, Moon, and Stars.

(5) And the World card is obviously out of order, since it has to do with the creation of man and the quadrupeds, which happened on the 6th day.

(6) And since there are two cards for the first day, he will have to make up another card, not in the Marseille, for the 5th day. Since he has misplaced the 6th day, and has 2 cards for day 1, the card for this 5th day is number 7. and the card for the 4th day is number 6.

Why card 5, corresponding to the World, is where it is, is not totally clear to me. If it can be moved from 1st place, as in de Mellet, to 5th place, why couldn’t it just as easily be moved to 7th place? All I can think of is that he wanted to keep the images that were similar to the Marseille together, even though World is out of sequence.

That is my short answer. My long answer is, of course, longer.

I need to provide a justification of why Etteilla would have heard from people that the seven first cards represent the 7 days of creation, and in what system that is, and why it is confusing around day 5.

The explanation is a little complicated. It has three parts. (1) What the numbers 1-7 meant in Pythagorean number symbolism. (2) How this symbolism is expressed in the 7 days of creation; and (3) how this number symbolism is expressed in the first seven trumps.

An account was readily available in Latin of the first seven numbers, by the Roman philosopher Macrobius, in his Commentary on the Dream of Scipio. However I cannot relate it very well to the Marseille tarot. No doubt Etteilla couldn’t either. But in Paris 1543, by a “Chr. Wechelus” according to WorldCat, a book was published in Greek called Theologumena Arithmeticae, ”Theology of Arithmetic” or “Arithmetical Theology”), allegedly by Iamblicus. It is not by Iamblicus, but is authentically ancient, from the 4th century, according to the introduction to the English translation. I have traced the manuscript version back to Bessarion’s collection, mid-15th century Italy, probably brought by him from Greece, then willed to Venice (see http://forum.tarothistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=613). It remained untranslated into any language until Robin Waterfield’s translation into English in 1988. Some people on Aeclectic have noticed that work’s affinity with some of Etteilla’s interpretations of the number cards. I agree.

I also find evidence of that work’s content in Etteilla’s First “Cahier” (using the link to the Bibliotheque Nationale provided by Kenji). On page 17 we read:

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1 est rapporté à Dieu; 2 à l'homme & à la femme, & 3 à la génération qui a pour but un enfant. 1 is related to God; 2 to the man and the woman, and 3 to the generation which aims at a child.

And a little later:

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Le Créator forma Adam, mâle & femelle; & sépara ce nombre a afin qu'il pût s'étendre au nombre 3, la génération. Après le nombre 3 vient nécessairement 4, l'univers, que l'on retrouve de même dans le nombre 2 microcosmique... The Creator formed Adam, male & female; and separated this number so that he could extend to the number 3, generation. After the number 3 comes necessarily 4, the universe, which we also find in the microcosmic number 2...

So we have the first four numbers. In finding the universe in number 2, Etteilla is merely showing off that he knows the Hermetic view that humans, male and the female, contain in themselves the whole universe in miniature.

That, for his exposition of the numbers, Etteilla is drawing on Pythagoreanism (more specifically, Neopythagoreanism, the Hellenistic-Roman era revival of Pythagoreanism) is clear a little earlier, p. 16, where he says of 1

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Si nous posons le premier nombre, ou mieux la source des nombres, 1, pour descendre ou monter au premier nombre 2, nous y trouverons l'homme ou son nombre qui est mâle & femelle; le premier comme agent, & le second comme patient;... If we put the first number, or better the source of the numbers, 1, in order to descend or rise to the first number 2, we shall find man or his number there which is male and female; the first one as agent, and the second as patient;...

It is a Pythagorean doctrine that 1 itself is not a number, but the source of numbers (Macrobius, Stahl translation, p. 90). Macrobius has 2 as the first number; the Theologumena insists that 2 is a source also and not a number properly speaking, in its case of the even numbers.

In that same paragraph Etteilla talks about the number 2 in different terms than he does in the quote I gave earlier. The male is agent, the female is patient. The Theologumena says a little more: 2 separates what was mixed in the 1. So 1 contains all the forms of things, the archetypes. 2 separates the ideal, which pertains properly to the 1, from matter, which is the lack of form, on which the one who shapes matter may work. 3 is then what results: enformed matter; matter which is not only differentiated from form, but in its different parts is shaped by different forms (e.g. water, sand, various minerals at various temperatures: these are all conceived as different combinations of the four elements). 4 is then the extension of this process to include the whole universe.

I have not yet found where Etteilla discusses the numbers 5 through 7. In the Theologumena, 5 is the number of the vegetative soul, 6 the number of the animal soul, and 7 the number of the rational soul.

As to how this theory relates to the seven days of creation: Philo of Alexandria had already applied Pythagorean number theory to the days of creation in his work On The Creation. (http://www.deeperstudy.com/link/01-creation.html). The Pythagorean language in that work is evident all through; one good example is section 13. But the French esotericists, I hypothesize, tried to improve on his somewhat ad hoc account, which tried to reconcile two versions that were really a little different.

The first day is about God at the beginning. No problem there. Genesis and the Theologumena Arithmeticae agree, and so does Etteilla.

The second day, in the Theologumena, is about separation, specifically that of form from matter. In Genesis that corresponds to separating day from night, and the above from the below. The day and the above correspond to Etteilla’s male agent; in Philo, it is the perfect forms in the mind of God (section 20). The Greek for “active” and passive” actually occur in Philo, section 9 in the version I have given the link to. Genesis has this first separation (day from night) in the first day, but the second one (above from below) in the second day. Etteilla follows Genesis, unproblematically except that the stars that he mentions in the firmament have not been created yet. But that is a minor issue.

The third day, in Genesis, is about the creation of nature in all its variety, including land vs. water and all the plants. Before that, matter was a big mess, like mud, in Philo’s image (his section 38; the creation of nature’s variety is expressed in section 40). Etteilla has no problems here; even though he forgot about plants, his disciples added them. In the Pythagorean account this is the generation of particular things, enformed matter. However for the Pythagorean, it is still not alive, in the biological sense: on earth, creation is on the mineral level; things have at best a mineral soul. Plants come later.

The fourth day extends creation to include the whole universe, i.e. the sun, moon, and stars. That is Etteilla’s “Universe”; in Philo, see his section 45. Whether the planets and stars have higher-level souls is a matter of debate. Etteilla seems to view them mechanically, influencing us astrologically in a way analogous to how magnets affect iron.

The fifth day, corresponding to the Pentad in the Theologumena, is about the vegetative soul, i.e. the soul as expressed in plants. It has no correspondence in Genesis, since there, plants are created on the third day. Etteilla, following Genesis, thus has to depart from the Pythagorean account that I think guided the Marseille cards (to be explained later in this post). I think that is where Etteilla’s problems really affect him, in knowing what to do with the 5th day of creation. He can’t follow the Marseille cards’ Pythagoreanism (to be explained later in this post) and Genesis both. Philo ingeniously found another aspect of the Pythagorean Pentad expressed in fishes and birds, namely, the five senses (sect. 62). Etteilla follows Genesis (and Philo) and gives the 5th day to aquatic animals and birds. But if he's going to keep the Marseille images together, and leave room for the 5th day, that's going to have to be the 7th card!

The sixth day in the Theologumena is about the animal soul. In Genesis, we have the creation of man and the quadrupeds. Etteilla can follow both traditions, even though he now, keeping the Marseille cards together and with two cards for the first day, he puts put this 6th day on the 5th card.

In the Theologumena, the number seven is about the rational soul, i.e. the creation of human beings. Well, in Genesis humanity is created on the sixth day, and on the seventh, God rests. Philo simply talks about the rational soul as the crowning point of the sixth day (sect. 69). What does Etteilla do? He puts “Repos” on the 8th card (following Genesis) but also has a picture of a human being (as in the Theologumena), male in the “Cahier” but female on the card. It is the day when God rests and humanity gets into trouble.

So we see, Etteilla had a hard job, fitting Pythagoreanism with Genesis and also de Mellet’s reversed order of the cards. Not having a clear road to follow, he stumbled a little. I stumble a bit myself at times.

Now we get to the third part of my exposition, about how the Marseille trumps express the Pythagorean symbolism of the numbers just fine the way they are.

The number One represents God in many systems. God is One (Judaism and Christianity). God is the One (Neoplatonism). Pyrthagoreanism said the same.

The Bateleur has four types of objects on his table. He is like the Demiurge of Plato’s Timaeus, shaping the four elements into the various types of things of our world. He is like the Logos in John 1:3. ‘All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.” Medieval illustrations frequently illustrated God as artificer, for example a famous one in which he holds a compass (search “demiurge” at http://christianrockhalloffame.com/). The Bateleur is in the position of the Logos, God shaping our world after he had created out of nothing.

Similarly, the one who deals in a card game has representatives of the four elements in his hands, i.e. the cards, out of which, in apparent randomness, a little world is created, parts of which are apportioned to each player. There was also a famous quote by Heraclitus, expressed differently by different ancient authors, some of them Christian and many readily accessible during the time of the tarot’s development. Proclus put it, “And some, as for example Heraclitus, say that the creator in creating the world is at play.” (http://evans-experientialism.freewe...eraclitus02.htm)/

2 for the Neopythagoreans had to do with separation of he opposites that were contained in the One. The Two was matter as opposed to form, female as opposed to male. dark as opposed to light (and not, as in Etteilla, both together). So we have a woman on the card, esoterically the Virgin Mary, who received the imprint of God in her womb, and later experienced the pain of separation. I think the divine impregnation is the significance of the word “Pances,” French for “Belly,” on the Dodal version of this card.

3 is the child Jesus, the product of the 1 and the 2, the form of God in matter. We see him on the Empress card as the shield on the Empress’s lap, symbolic of the lineage of the Empire which it is her duty to keep going by producing an heir.

4 is for Etteilla the Universe. On the card we have an Emperor holding a globe divided into three, symbolizing Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is the known world of the 15th century, the whole universe as it concerns humanity’s domain. But the Emperor only rules the material side of this domain, the conditions of material life.

5 is the vegetative soul. Plants are born from the earth, grow, and die. Minerals don’t die, they simply get rearranged. The crucifixion is analogous to the plowing of the earth, turning the old plants into the ground. Then new plants emerge. The Pope is the one who governs the institution that protects the vegetative soul, from birth through maturity, death, and finally rebirth.

6 is the animal soul. That has to do with things that can move their whole body from place to place under their own power. Such locomotion is the condition for the ability to make choices, which relatively complex animals have the ability to do, even though it is with very limited ability, guided mostly by instinct. So the esoteric meaning of the Love card is choice, in this case between pleasure and virtue.

7 is the rational soul. The card represents the situation of Plato’s Phaedrus. The rational soul is on top; the soul of honor (when directed by reason) is the light-colored horse; the soul of passion (which resists reason), the dark colored horse. Reason, in touch with the ideal, controls from above. These colors are can be seen in Noblet’s versions of the card. They of course continue in the 19th and early 20th century, with their white and black sphinxes.

In the Pythagorean system, there are actually 10 days of creation, and God, like the numbers, never stops. But we can stop here.

I hope I have made good on my promises. The 7 days of creation, in their Pythagorean version, are already in the Marseille sequence. Etteilla didn’t have to do a thing. That he did do something, trying to make explicit something known esoterically but about which he was guessing, gives us a clue about where to look so as to reconstruct the esoteric tradition he was after.

This “esoteric” interpretation is not based on anything secret. It is there in the Pythagorean documents and Philo, texts readily available all through the 15th-18th centuries. They just happened to be in Greek, which for many was as good as secret, until the availability of translations (and so far, the Theologumena has only been translated into English). The relationship of these interpretations to the cards is not something I find stated as such anywhere then, except confusedly in Etteilla. But if you look at later interpreters of the cards, i.e. Jodorowsky in Way of the Tarot, you will see many of the same themes. I have expanded on this point at http://forum.tarothistory.com/viewto...dorowsky#p8518).

cards 1-4 in the Etteilla tradition

I thought it would be fun to compare not only different cards but also different books and booklets that went with the cards. In my view the booklets that go with most of the extant decks that people have are deficient, compared to the c. 1838 "Julia Orsini" Art de Tirer les Cartes that I found at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. They all leave out the word-lists, which I think are pretty important, because everything seems to flow from them. For the rest, it is a good thing that they provide the original French, because although the English translations are 98% accurate, the other 2% includes some major errors. I will post the original French of the Orsini for the first four cards when I have gone through all four.

CARD ONE

This card has on it the astrological symbol Aries. As far as I can tell, it has no other significance than as the first sign of the zodiac, corresponding to the first card. Etteilla introduced astrological signs so that one could interpret a horoscope using his cards. Since the signs play no role in the interpretation of the cards, the Etteilla II and III omit them.

In the second Cahier Etteilla identifies the card with the Pope card of the standard Marseille decks, or Jupiter in another deck (the Besancon), which he erroneously presumes reflects an earlier convention:

Quote:

This allegory, formerly no. 1, was listed as no. V; and in place of the emblem of a unique Motor, a pure light, dreadful Ignorance was first to put on this card a Jupiter, then a Pope, and in third place a Swordsman (Fr. Spadassin); error that seems to us ridiculous...

I do not know in what deck the card is represented by a swordsman

Now I will (1) give some examples of card 1: in the top row, the original 1789 (from Wicked Pack of Cards) and two of Sumadi's Etteilla IIs (http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/76 and (http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/82); in the bottom row, one of his Etteilla IIIs (http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/131), and a 1910 Etteilla I downloaded from http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks03/d01612/d01612.htm.

Then I will (2) give the word list. I collated three versions: Revak's translation of Papus (http://www.villarevak.org/td/td_4.html); Stockman's translation of Papus (in The Divinatory Tarot, p. 20); and Orsini's list in the c. 1838 Art de Tirer les Cartes, p. 154. I posted the French for this list in #69 of this thread.

Then I will (3) give Orsini's comments on the card, from the "Explication" section of the c. 1838 edition. I posted the French in #69.

Then (4)  I will give what I found in a c. 1910 Grand Etteilla booklet.

Finally, (5), I will give what is in the modern Grimaud Grand Etteilla booklet.

I also consulted an 1890 Grimaud Etteilla I booklet. It turned out to be a greatly abridged version of the "Explication" section of the Orsini book's 2nd edition, c. 1853, of which the Dusserre booklet (to their Etteilla III) is the uncondensed. Unlike the Dusserre, it preserves the paragraphing of the original.

Here are diferent versions of card 1.


Etteilla's comment on this card in the Second Cahier, as translated earlier in this thread (#78):

Quote:

...the first sheet, listed no. 1, ... represented...a light surrounded by a thick cloud, or the chaos which was turned back in order to give place to the Truth, at the moment when the Creator manifested his glory and his sovereign bounty to the Creatures of the whole Universe, who slept and will sleep again in his intelligence: allegorical truth, indeed worthy of our first Masters.

Now the word list. Words that are in either translation of Papus, and also in Orsini, are in regular type. Those in Papus only are in italics; and those in Orsini only in bold.

Quote:

1. ETTEILLA. God. All-Powerful, Eternal, Very-High, Unitrine, the Supreme Being, the Central Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Male Consultant, Chaos. Thought. Meditation, Contemplation, Reflection, Concentration. Reversed: [Le Questionnant.] THE MALE QUERENT (CONSULTANT). The Universe. The physical man or the male. The querent. Philosophy. Philosophical. Philosophically. Philosopher. Sage. Sagacity. Sagely.

Now comes the Orsini "explication" of the card, c. 1838, to which I have added comments in brackets (in part comparing the c. 1838, my main text, with the c. 1853 in Dusserre). I use the original paragraphing, which Dusserre ignores.

Quote:

No. 1. The Chaos Etteilla - The Enquirer (male) This card represents the chaos, the spirit of God: it represents also the one who interrogates the oracles by means of the book of Thoth. If you are reading the cards for a man and this card doesn't appear, you will take it from the deck and put it at the beginning of your line, without counting it with the others. If you are reading the cards for a woman, you must withdraw it, it is useless, and replace it with no. 8. This card means discovery, meditation, a deep mind [esprit profonde, which also can mean "profound spirit"; "discovery" and "meditation" seem derived from the Upright list, and "esprit profonde" from the Reversed]. If this card comes up in its natural sense and is found near cards no. 14, 17, or 18 it is an unfortunate sign. [14 is The Devil; 17 is Death; 18 is The Traitor. These cards apparently bring out its negative sense of chaos.] Near no. 76, error; near no. 71, loss [c. 1853 has "small loss"] of money; no. 47, lack of success. [No. 76 is "Embarras," Trouble; no. 71 is "Argent," Money; and no. 47, "Reussite," Success. Card no. 1 thus negates these three cards, when it is right side up. So it is again taking the negative meaning "Chaos."] It is a good omen whenever it falls between two favorable cards. Upside down, it means that the Enquirer is a philosopher; it predicts glory for him, immortality (that is to say, his name will go down to the most remote posterity).[This of course comes from the Reversed word-list, although you wouldn't know that from Papus's version.]

Next, here is what a c, 1910 booklet. says. First it says that it is a favorable card if the cards around it are favorable, and if it is near 14 [Devil], 17 [Death], or 18 [Traitor], it is unfavorable. It goes on to say that  it needs to be replaced if drawn for a woman, because it represents the male consultant only.After that n it adds,

Quote:

This tarot generally signifies lack of success, in its natural sense [i.e. right side up] or otherwise. However, if it appears between other happy cards, one could say it was a good omen. Between a King and a Queen, it signifies marriage, grandeur, success, fortune.

"Lack of success" correlates to the "Chaos" keyword; this meaning looms larger in this booklet than in the others.

The booklet that comes with the modern Grand Etteilla calls the card "Chaos." It adds

Quote:

This card wherever it is placed always represents the man consultant. But this does not mean it is devoid of a particular meaning of its own. R [Right-side up]: Moral qualities (virtue, kindness) which benefit the consultant. [This interpretation would seem to derive from the words in the Uprights' list pertaining to God.] U [Upside-down]: The consultant will show that he possesses intelligence [esprit] and talent. [This might relate to the Orsini Reversed word "Sagesse," and the Orsini explication's "deep mind."]

It then repeats Orsini's comments about 14, 17, 18, 71 ["slight loss of money"], 76, and 47. It ends

Quote:

Between a "King" and a "Queen" it always indicates a forthcoming marriage, a happy affair [liaison], obvious success.

The modern Grimaud has for keywords R "Ideal/Ideal"; U "Sagesse/Wisdom". These clearly derive from the Orsini Upright and Reversed lists.

CARD TWO

Now I will give some examples of card 2, followed by the interpretations. I think three will suffice, the 1910 Etteilla I from http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks03/d01612/d01612.htm, an Etteilla II of Sumada’s, (http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/76 and his La Rue Etteilla III, from 1865-1890, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/16.


Etteilla's comment on this card in the Second Cahier, as translated earlier in this thread (#78):

Quote:

...the Sun is the instrument by which the Creator appeared in order to light up the life of all Beings; as the Sun, it carried itself to all the Globes of our Universe. These Globes can be nothing other than the proper matrices to receive life, that one might compare to a fluid that contains and transfixes all of Nature, since it is the true spirit of the Lord, the Sun that vivifies all the embryos, enfuses itself so that all the Globes are necessarily people, or matrices, which the order of all things demonstrates: gold, and also coal, being matrices, from the moment that Nature animated them, or Art revived them. The second sheet of the Book of Thoth bears effectively the number of 2 in the translation, and not that of XVIIII. It had, following the Ancients, and has at present according to our studies, a second number, which is also 2, and finally a third number, which is 1... This second sheet, listed number 2, offers for allegory a Sun. ...This second sheet, as we have said, bears also the number 1, relative to the six days of creation: the light was called day, and the darkness night; and it bears the number 2, the Fire, second Element.

In the last sentence of the first paragraph, by "Art" I think Etteilla means, for gold, alchemy. It was thought that base metals were gold in a state of arrested development, and alchemy could make the process continue. I am not sure what process he is referring to when he mentions coal; perhaps it is the making of charcoal out of wood or hard, high temperature coal out of soft coal.

In the second paragraph, Etteilla states explicitly that his card no. 2 corresponds to card 19 in the standard Marseille order. I have omitted his justification that this card has the number 1 as well as 2, and therefore corresponds to both the 1st day of creation and the 2nd element. He has a pseudo-Pythagorean table of correspondences in which 1 corresponds to 12, 2 to 11, etc.; 2 is thereby associated with 1 (see my post #78). As with card 1, we are in the first day of creation; but instead of merely light, we now have “day,” and instead of chaos, we have “night.”

Now for the word lists. Words that are in either translation of Papus, and also in Orsini, are in regular type. Those in Papus only are in italics; and those in Orsini only in bold.

Quote:

2. [Eclaircissement.] ENLIGHTENMENT —Light, Explanation.—Clarity. Glory. Heaven and Earth.—Philosophic Sulfur. Untangling. Development. Instruction. Opening. Analysis. Discovery. Interpretation. Revelation. Elucidation. Fire. Sun. Temple of Heat. Reversed. [Feu.] FIRE.—Heat, Glimmer.—Conflagration.—Flame, Passions.—Meteors; Lightning Flash, Thunderbolt.—Inner, Outer, Central, and Philosophic Fire. Warmth. Small illumination. Spark. Ray of light. Burning. To burn. Ardor. Fire of love. To light. Flash. Thunder. Lightning. Electricity. St. Elmo’s Fire. Fire of Nature. Magnetism. Salamander. Dissension, Discord in the spirits. To throw one’s fire. To pass through one’s anger. To make fire.

The Reverseds correspond to the 2nd of the four elements, Fire, as indicated by “2e. Element” on the card. It is as in Plato’s Timaeus, where the Demiurge creates the world from the four elements.

Here is Orsini's commentary on the card, c. 1838, with my brief comments inserted and longer ones after.

Quote:

You see on this card the fire, the light that illuminates us; its proximity is always favorable. The two children who are found in this second tableau announce a large posterity. If it is for a man that one consults, it signifies explanation, disentangling, glory, interpretation of the most secret things, rewards. If it is for a young person that you do the cards, it predicts marriage following. For a [young] lady, it predicts children. For an older lady, it says that soon her qualities will be noticed by an older man, who will come to offer his heart and his hand, and what will indeed be preferable, [c. 1853 replaces “and...preferable” with “accompanied by”] a large fortune. Placed near no. 13, this card announces a marriage either just made or about to be made. Near no. 58, it provides hope of children; and near no. 72, it means rewards or honors. Reversed, it signifies fire, anger, discord. Beside no. 21, betrayal discovered by you, victory over your enemies, and invincible obstacles to a marriage strongly desired.

My comments: The upright meanings partly come from the word lists, partly from the children on the card and their happy relationship, which is then generalized to a marriage. Or it might be that these meanings come from a tradition in which the Sun card had either children (as in Vieville and Conver, left and right below) or a male-female couple (as in Noblet, center below); and in addition the Sun, in gray Paris, was a sign of happiness.



If one were using this section of the book to interpret the Etteilla III card, as Dusserre intends, the querent might reasonably wonder what on the card suggests children or marriage!

No. 13 is “Mariage/Union”, so the prediction of marriage when next to 13 is natural. I do not understand the relationship of children to 58, “Journey/Declaration.” No. 2 makes No. 72, “The Present/Ambition,” a favorable card. It also makes No. 21, “Dissension,” favorable to the querent.

This time I am going to include an 1865 booklet written for the Etteilla III. It deletes the references to the children pictured on the card (since there are no children pictured!). It also simplifies the predictions and makes a few of them clearer:

Quote:

You see the sun; it is the natural light; the neighborhood of this tarot is always favorable. When the consultant is a man, it signifies glory, grandeur, success. For a young person, this card announces a marriage following very closely; for a lady, it advises that she will have beautiful children. Placed near no. 13, it announces for the female consultant balls, festivals, parties of pleasure. When the consultation is made for a man, it predicts honors and rewards, and if no. 21 is found in the line, it announces a desired union. It is a card that much affects an oracle, because it is generally favorable.]

The c. 1910 Etteilla I booklet calls the card “Hiram’s Freemasonry.” The booklet that comes with the modern Etteilla I deck gives it the same title, in contrast to “Light” (Lumiere) previously. The modern booklet follows with

Quote:

This gives you a clear-cut view of life. It often opens up new and interesting possibilities. R [Right-side up]: After a frank discussion the lovers are reconciled. With 13 – great sentimental happiness, probable marriage, especially if 13 is placed before 2. U [Upside-down]: Do not let anger dominate you. It will be harmful. With 75 – worry, disagreement. With 21 – betrayal.

Except for “clear cut view of life,” there is no explicit reference to the word lists in the generic and right-side up interpretations. Here the c. 1910 version of this booklet is clearer.

Quote:

If this card is shown reversed, the two children who are upside down announce a violent quarrel, and obstacles to their projected sweet union. If this card is in its natural position, it promises an explanation that will lead to a reconciliation.

The Sun enlightens, hence the explanation. Further,

Quote:

It announces also, in a young person, the development of brilliant qualities which assure an adorer.

Again there is an analogy to the Sun. It might also be that the Noblet was seen as showing a reconciling couple, and that this interpretation of the Etteilla is a continuation of that. Likewise, the Vieville shows a young person full of brilliance.

Going back to the modern Grimaud booklet, in the Reverseds: no. 75 is “Noble/Child.” Perhaps the way in which "anger" becomes "worry, disagreement" is that association with nobility moderates and elevates the emotion.

The c. 1910 Etteilla I booklet only gives the associations to 13, 58, and 72, giving associations similar to Orsini's. Continuing where I left off:

Quote:

In the neighborhood of no. 13, this card announces a marriage about to happen, if no. 13 follows, and a marriage [already] made, if no. 13 precedes it. Next to no. 58, this card promises children; next to no. 72, it announces a prize of honor, a reward, a flattering distinction.

The keywords on the modern Etteilla I card are “Ecclaircissement/Enlightenment – Passion/Passion.” These come from the word lists. The astrological sign on the Etteilla I is Taurus.

CARD THREE

Now I will give some examples of card 3, followed by the interpretations. Here are three, the 1910 Etteilla I from http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks03/d01612/d01612.htm. Sumada’s Etteilla II, date unknown but before 1890, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/76, and his second Etteilla III, date unknown but 1890-1917, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/131#.



Here is Etteilla's comment on this card in the Second Cahier, as translated earlier in this thread (#78):

Quote:

No 3. The third sheet has for allegory the Moon, and bears the number 3 for the third day of creation; that it gives its jet; and thus the number 1 Water, first element.

As I said earlier, I can't find anything in Genesis corresponding to the phrase "qu'elle donne son jet." The closest I find is verse 9: "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together in one place..." But it is obvious enough that water is a theme of that day, namely, the creation of the Seas by separating the water from the land. Etteilla is ignoring the part where on the third day God created plants. The Etteilla II card corrects that omission, giving for its title "Les Plantes," and even, on p. 13 of the c. 1838 book, "Les Plantes et les Arbres," the Plants and the Trees.

Now for the word lists. Again, words that are in either translation of Papus, and also in Orsini, are in regular type. Those in Papus only are in italics; and those in Orsini only in bold.

Quote:

3. [Propos.] COMMENTS. (Proposal, per Papus translator, Talk in Dusserre).- Conversation, Symposium, Design, Resolution, Will, Discourse, Reasoning. Discussion, Speak, Prattle, Chat, Discredit, Babble.-Cackling, Malicious Gossip, Calumny, Defamation, Decree, Deliberation.-Moon. Reversed: [Eau.] WATER, Fluid Water, Dewy, Ablution. Pouring Rain, Deluge, Inundation. Sea, Stream, River, Tributary, Spring, Torrent, Fountain, Brook, Lake, Swamp,Stagnant pool, Sheet of Water/groundwater, Pond.-Humidity, Waterfall. Waves. Mist [Vapeur imprégrée], Smoke, Mercury, Waters of Chaos, Philosophic Water.-Odor, Wintry Weather, Frost, Snow, Exhalation, Evaporation.-Instability, Fickleness, Silence.-Murmur.-Patience.

The Reverseds correspond to the 1st of the four elements, Water, as indicated by "1 El." on the card. Papus’s list uses water as a metaphor.

Here is Orsini's commentary on the card, c. 1838, with my explanatory comments in brackets.

Quote:

This card represents the moon, the water, the land, the night; it means bad talk, defamation, gossip [discours]. Near no. 23 [Q. of Batons: Woman of the Country], it announces news [i.e. Talk] from the country. Alongside no. 21 [Dissension], it predicts discord caused by words with two meanings. If the enquirer is a sailor, this card announces far-off journeys, useless searching, lost time. For a young person, it predicts tears. If the card is found preceded by no. 45 [5 of Cups: Inheritance], it announces that the person's tears will stop at the news of an inheritance. Followed by no. 39 [Page of Cups: Blond Young Man], she will marry a young, rich, blond man. Near no. 47 [3 of Cups: Success/Expedition], one will peacefully attend a banquet. Near no 67 [Page of Coins: Brown-Haired Young Man/Dissipation], it predicts that some disagreeable people will introduce themselves to you on a visit; it will come to nothing if no. 3 is presented right side up, but they will cause many wrongs to you if it is presented upside down. Inverted and next to cards not mentioned above, it announces that a friend or relative will take up your cause with an influential person. If the Enquirer is a young person, a party in the country to which one is invited will be upset because of rain.

Here the majority of the associations have to do with the Upright meaning of the cards. When they do pertain to water, the card is sometimes Upright (sailor, tears) and only once (party spoiled by rain) Reversed. Exactly how the disagreeable visitors relate to the meaning of card 2 is unclear: perhaps they are like a flood.

The c. 1853 edition of Orsini changes "defamation" in the first sentence to "tittle-tattle" (the French word is "cancans"). The c. 1910 Grimaud Etteilla I booklet adds that the talk around one is slander [calumnie] against one only if the card is near no 18 [Traitor], and otherwise of no importance. Also, if the Enquirer's card, 1 or 8, is near, there will be litigation (another form of Talk) that the person will win if the two cards are both upright. Near no 47, the banquet will be in a peaceful place, with lots of punch and warm beverages (i.e. fluids). It says nothing about news from the country when near 23, but does predict rain for one’s party there.

The most interesting changes are when the card is near 67, the Page of Coins. The c. 1853 Orsini says, after saying that there will be unexpected disagreeable visitors, that if no. 3 is reversed, then one’s plans will fall apart; what that has to do with the visitors is unclear. But water, in the word-list, is a source of evaporation and instability. In the 1910 Grimaud, however, we learn that the disagreeable visitors are thieves.

Quote:

Alongside no. 67, this card warns that thieves will come into the person’s house. If no. 3 is upright, they will steal nothing. They will do great damage if no. 3 is reversed.

The modern Grimaud simplifies all this. It says that if 67 is near, there could be thieves. If 1 or 8 is near, the person will win his or her lawsuit. Near 18, beware of slander. It omits all of Orsini’s mention of sailors, tears, rain, the country, banquets, and people with influence. But it does include Orsini’s point about proximity to 21 meaning disagreements. As for the inheritance, it is expected when no. 39, the blond young Page of Cups, is near. Before, he was a source of wealth by marriage. I suspect that the modern writer put down 39 by mistake.

For the basic Upright and Reversed meanings, the modern Grimaud booklet says: if right side up, there will be “long and animated discussion with friends”—much less negative than Orsini. If upside-down, “calm your desire for change.” From the Reversed word list, this uses both “patience” and “fickleness.” In the word list, water is a metaphor for peace and calm as well as change and disruption. More generally. says the modern Grimaud, the card signifies “negotiations and talk.” Orsini’s account was considerably closer to the negative, dark meaning of the Marseille Moon card from which the Etteilla card derives.

One thing that I wondered about was whether the metaphorical sense of water, as change and calm, may have been added by Papus himself. The c. 1838 is mostly quite literal in its use of the concept of water. But even there, the banquet is peaceful, like calm water, and the visitors harmful, like a flood. By c. 1853, plans evaporate. So probably water was taken metaphorically to some extent all along, whether explicitly in a list or not. Then in the modern Grimaud the meaning of “water” is all metaphorical. It is not even one of the keywords. Those are "Discussion” and “Instability." “Instability” is on Papus’s word list but not Orsini’s.

The title of the card is similarly distant from the Creation: Instead of "Plants," we have “The Order of the Mopses.” That title, which is also used in the c. 1910 booklet, I think refers to a whimsical 18th century crypto-Masonic secret society (http://www.answers.com/topic/order-of-the-mopses). Perhaps the title was suggested by the dogs on the card, because the society’s chief cult-object was a pug dog, or “Mops,” whose hindquarters the initiate was required to kiss while blindfolded; it then proved to be made of wax or wood. An engraving depicting this most solemn ritual may be seen at http://www.opencouncil.co.uk/Order%2...es%20link.html. As may be seen, the Mopses admitted both men and women.

[Added June 12: One more interpretation to add to the mix is the c. 1865 (Cerulean in post #90). It says

Quote:

Here is a tarot that represents several things: plants, water, earth, moon, or night. Without doubt it would be of a difficult interpretation if each thing should have a different sense; but the neighborhood of the other cards much modifies or changes its signification. Near no. 23, it predicts that you will receive news from the country, bouquets, flowers. Near no. 45, it predicts an inheritance; while beside no. 47, it advises that you will attend a considerable feast. When this tarot comes reversed, it advises of slight annoyances, parties in the country adjourned, dark weather; it always announces excessive cold.

This is merely Orsini simplified, without its darker suggestions, minimizing alarm to the querent and increasing the chance of a successful prediction.]

CARD FOUR

Now I will give some examples of card 4, followed by the books’ interpretations. Here are: the 1910 Etteilla I from http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks03/d01612/d01612.htm; Sumada's Etteilla II, before 1890, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/76; and his second Etteilla III, 1890-1917, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/131#.



Etteilla has converted the bird on the Marseille Star card to a butterfly. On the Etteilla II, I seem to detect a river or lake to the left of the figure (left white on Sumada’s card), corresponding to a similar body of water on the Star card. The artist might even have wanted to suggest a waterfall. The Etteilla III’s different design is, I think, inspired by some of what Etteilla says in the second Cahier. There Etteilla begins by saying, as translated earlier in this thread (#78):

Quote:

No. 4. The fourth sheet has for allegory the Stars, and was by the Cardmakers called “The Star,” because it showed there some Stars: I explain otherwise the figure in its proper nomination, titled by its day of creation: expanse [etendue, probably a word for “firmament”]; the number of the Element that it bears is 3, Air.

It is the 2nd day of creation, when God creates the “firmament in the midst of the waters,” divides the upper waters from the lower waters, and calls the firmament “heaven.” Appropriately, the Orsini title for the card, which appears on the Etteilla III, is “Le Ciel,” “The Sky.”

Etteilla talks again about card 4 when discussing card 6. It is this part that relates to the changed design of the Etteilla III

Quote:

This sheet primitively offers a Zodiac; and I believe, without rejecting anything that I have said about the fourth sheet, that the Cardmakers have moved a part of the sixth sheet onto the fourth

Of course in Etteilla I and II we don’t have a Zodiac, just the seven planets. Etteilla III gives us 13 stars on the outer circle, where signs of the zodiac are typically put.Then it has some other celestial bodies closer to the middle, probably representing planets.

Another place Etteilla talks about the card is on p. 94f, in the middle of a discussion of alchemy.

Quote:

[p. 94.] Take the fourth page of the Book Thot, 4. 8. 12. or the Deck of Cards named Tarots (of which the root is A Rosch, which signifies beginning(1), it is necessary to turn thus: Who does not have the beginning of the Science or the Doctrine, abuses himself in believing that he can understand the middle and the end;) the hieroglyph that the Ignorant have called The Star (there was always [il y en a toujours eu]) is the second day of Creation. The Egyptians put on this page the animal, which is the figure triphibie [three-sided?], soul life and body, androgyne or male and female, and seen as neuter, keeping both sexes, and having in it the four elements and the three principles. They also put the vegetable (2), which [p. 95] is also triphibie [three-sided?], soul from Nature, life from it and body, having the same three principles and four Elements, & in its neutrality giving root, trunk and branch, and from them leaves, flowers and fruits. They have also traced on this page the mineral, placed between the heel and the knee of the other leg of the figure; this metal is also triphibie [three-sided?], having in it the three principles and the four Elements. [Footnotes] (1)See the eighth volume of M. De Gebelin. (2)From the tree which is in the fourth page of the Book of Thot, most of the Cardmakers have removed the Butterfly that the Egyptians put there. At Strasbourg, it is not; at Bordeaux, they have put a Bird.

My comments: (a) Etteilla's comments indicate that the androgynous appearance of the figure is intentional. It has alchemical significance; in alchemy hermaphrodites were shown as such. (b) In another footnote, p. 35, Etteilla attributes the Star card with a butterfly to a Strasbourg cardmaker named Benoit. Kaplan, vol. 2 p. 345, shows a Star card by Benois of Strasbourg, c. 1780; I see no flying creature of any kind; but there might be something on the side of the tree that I can't make out. (c) Etteilla does not specify on p. 94f what the “three principles” are that the animal, vegetable, and mineral all share. But on p. 92f he talks of sulfur, mercury, and salt as three principles that are in all three kingdoms, animal, vegetable, and mineral.]

Now for the word lists. Again, words that are in either translation of Papus, and also in Orsini, are in regular type. Those in Papus only are in italics; and those in Orsini only in bold.

Quote:

4. [Dépouillement.] DESOLATION. [Deprivation, per Dusserre]—Privation, Destitution, Abandonment, Test, Extract, Audit, Sorting Out, Separation, Untangle, Go Deeper, Deprive, Take off, Remove, Plundering, Despoilment, Theft, Loss of Help. Violence. Removal. Fraud, Swindle, Infidelity. Reversed: AIR, Wind, Storm, Atmosphere, Climate, Dryness/drought, Heaven/sky, Stars.—Birds, Subtle, Volatile, Tone.—Mannerism, Affectation, Gait, Appearance, Physiognomy, Resemblance.—Vague and Without Substance.—Arrogance, Haughtiness, Importance, Song, Music, Melody. Birth air. Similitude. Manner. Allure. Shape. Semblance. Beautiful seeming. False seeming. Fake. Feign. Dissimulation. Hypocrisy, Acoustic. Aerial. Sylphe. Chant. Tone. Light discourse.

The Reverseds correspond to the 3rd of the four elements, Air, as indicated by "3e. Element" on the card. Both lists use air as a metaphor.

Here is Orsini's commentary on the card, c. 1838, with my explanatory comments in brackets.

Quote:

The Egyptians took much care in the explication of this card: they regarded it as their bad star. It signifies deprivation, theft [c. 1853: considerable loss], hypocrisy. If the Enquirer is a lady, this card announces that she has been slandered by one of her best friends [amies, female]. But if it is right side up, these slanders will soon be brought to [the light of] day and cover with ridicule her who will have imagined them. Reversed, it predicts thunderstorms, terrifying noise, presence at a concert, hurricane, shipwreck. Near no. 17 [Mortality], it announces an illness, but of little danger. Near no. 71 [money problems], it predicts a loss of little importance. If it is between two favorable cards, its prediction will be modified. Beside no. 20 [Fortune], it predicts that some speculators want your fortune, and that you should keep on your guard.

The Reversed meanings seem to trade on the negative aspects of air. In that respect, this card is much like the preceding one, water: storms and floods both do much damage. In the Uprights, this card is negative in the present but positive in the future: slander will be exposed, an illness won't be serious. That was the traditional meaning of the Star card: hope in the darkness. On Etteilla's card, the lady is dumping out the jars, a loss. But the outcome is not so bad.

The 1865 booklet (French text,to appear later) modifies Orsini somewhat.

Quote:

The signification of this tarot appeared to the cartomancers of antiquity as an unfavorable omen; but they supposed, in that that case, that it came up in the company of tarots of unfortunate presage. If it is accompanied by no. 20, it tells you to take care of your fortune and your reputation. Near no. 17, it announces news from a far-off country. If it is reversed, it predicts that you will be surprised by rain, if you persist in making the journey to the country of which you have spoken recently. If it is for a lady, it announces very beautiful surprises.

This simplifies the c. 1838 and avoids its most disturbing aspect--the suggestion of slander--but keeps a hint of it when it mentions "reputation" near 20. The illness formerly predicted near 17 is changed to "news.
 
The c. 1910 Grimaud booklet keeps the c. 1838's negativity and even increases it. It continues to predict slander, illness, and loss, but with different details. Here is the whole entry.

Quote:

This card right side up announces a secret that will be revealed one great day, and which will dissipate some slanders. A woman will make a confession that will surprise many; a black hypocrisy will be discovered. Reversed, this card promises a cold that the person for whom one reads will catch in leaving the bath; or, if the person does not bathe, in leaving the bed. Beside no. 17, reversed, this card announces a grave illness in which the person will make a singular confession. If no. 17 is upright, there is a serious danger; not that the person is menaced with death, but the confession that the fear will make him make will compromise his repose. Beside no. 71, this card announces a bankruptcy in which the person for whom one consults will lose a little money.

And here is the modern Grimaud’s English version, which continues the negativity:

Quote:

Usually from all points of view this card signifies loss, especially when it is the right way up. Nevertheless it brings enough lucidity to face events. R[Right side up] Revelation of a bitter secret that will be detrimental to you. U [Upside down] Do not catch cold. Avoid going on any kind of cruise. R near no. 17: serious illness and the end of a misunderstanding. U near 20 – Bad reputation. Near 70 [Mean person] – Handle your own fortune in either stocks or real estate etc. Near 71: Loss of money.

"Revelation...that will be detrimental to you" is a new twist, one that departs considerably from the previous interpretations and also from the traditional meaning of the Star card. To an extent, the departure is only in the translation. The French text for R and U in the same modern booklet is rather different.

Quote:

R: Revelation, dissipation d’un doute [dissipation of a doubt], opiniâtreté [stubbornness]. U: Pièges à éviter a tout prix. [Traps to be avoided at all costs.]

The modern Grimaux keywords are Revelation/Maniere d’Etre (Behavior). “Revelation” isn’t part of the original word-list. It seems to come from Orsini’s giving a positive outcome to a negative situation, that slander will be exposed. That in turn comes from words such as "triage" (sorting out) and "debrouiller" (untangle) on her word list (less so in Papus's). Thus there is hope. In that way, the word "Revelation" is a better characterization of the Uprights than the wholly negative "Depouillement", i.e. "Deprivation."

“Maniere d’Etre” isn’t part of the word-list at all and is too general to be a good characterization of the Reversed meanings.

The Grimaud title is “La Piscine,” meaning “The Pool.” The English text has “The Swimming Pool,” but that seems absurd, given the lack of such structures on the card. The Orsini title, “Le Ciel,” may equally not have anything to do with the portent of the card, but at least it fits the right “day of creation.”

Perhaps “The Pool” was an esoteric title of the Marseille Star card, now applied in a new context. My view is that the body of water in the Marseille Star card is, among other things, the Lake of Memory, and the water being poured there the water of memory. The drinking of that water allowed Dante, at the end of the Purgatorio, to remember his good deeds and so ascend to Paradise; in ancient Greece, it allowed those undergoing ecstatic experience to remember it later, and so foresee the future, as described by the Roman-era travel-writer Pausanias. There is a tradition that Conver wrote "L'ESTOILE" so that it looked like "LE TOULE," The Spring in local dialect (see my post #66 at http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=1990432). From Le Toule comes La Piscine.

Card 4 could be colored differently, so that there was some blue at the bottom, where it is now green, suggesting a small pool and maybe a little stream.

cards 5-8 in the Etteilla tradition

 CARD FIVE

For card 5, here are: the 1910 Etteilla I (http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks03/d01612/d01612.htm' Sumada's Etteilla II, before 1890 (http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/76); and his second Etteilla III, 1890-1917 (http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/131#)



These are of course all variations on the Marseille World card. The Etteilla I and II are Egyptianized by the pyramids. That way of representing them is an old tradition, going back to medieval tombs in Bologna, even though travelers’ sketches showed the famous ones near Cairo quite differently. Those were once thought to be the granaries built by Joseph. The Etteilla III’s different design is inspired by what Etteilla says in the second Cahier. Here is what it is, as translated earlier in this thread (#78):

Quote:

No. 5. The fifth sheet bears the number 6 for its day of creation: God made Man in his image, being then, in regard to human physicality, in perfection; it bears for its Element the number 4, “Earth.”

On the 6th day, not only did God make man but also “God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind” (http://www.drbo.org/chapter/01001.htm). So we have beasts on the card, and also a snake forming the circle. Appropriately, the Orsini title for the card, which appears on the Etteilla III, is “L’Homme et les Quadrupedes,” “Man and the Quadrupeds.” The designer of the Etteilla III must have noticed that two of the creatures in the corner weren’t either creepers or quadrupeds; so he substituted an elephant and a horse. I surmise that in choosing two beasts of burden, his choice was dictated by God’s wish that man should “have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.” Also, instead of a woman, he puts a man leaning on a club: everyone knows that man was created first, and first maintained his dominion with crude weapons.

Now for the word lists. Again, words that are in either translation of Papus, and also in Orsini, are in regular type. Those in Papus only are in italics; and those in Orsini only in bold.

Quote:

5. [Voyage.] JOURNEY—Route, Walk, Gait, Change of Place, Pilgrimage. Steps. Peregrination, Visit, Flight [Race], Foray, Emigration, Transmigration.—Judge.—Collapse, Rotation, Circulation.—Disorient, Disconcert. Divert, Interrupt. Reversed: [Terre.] EARTH. Matter, Mud, Sludge, Silt.—Prima Materia, Sulfur and Mercury, Salt of the Sages, Coldness, Dense.—Gnomic, World, Terrestrial Globe, State, Kingdom, Empire.—Terrain, Territory, Possessions, Rural Properties.—Presence, Permanence, Fixity, Stagnation.—Inertia.—Animals, Beast.—Sepulcher, Tomb—Ash, Powder, Dust.—. Forestland. Virgin Land. Orchards. Reptiles. Vines. Regions. Country. Places. Site. Countryside. Locale. Fields. Prairies. Near, Aspect, Tranquility. Beach. Shore. Reef. Coast. Rocks. Plain. Mountain. Hill. Valley. Quadrupeds.

The Reverseds correspond to the 4th of the four elements, Earth, as indicated by "4e. Element" on the card. Both lists use Earth as a metaphor, although the one in Papus more than that in Orsini.

Here is Orsini's commentary on the card, c. 1838, with my explanatory comments in brackets.

Quote:

The naked woman in the middle of the circle indicates that the truth floats over the earth; the olive branch announces general peace; the attributes of the four evangelists who surround the circle of the earth are signs of sagacity; the pyramids indicate an impending increase of fortune. This card predicts for you happiness, courage, battles won. Near no.38 [Knight of Cups: Arrival], it announces an arrival of money. Beside no. 36 [King of Cups: Distinguished Man], it says that you will be soon named to a promotion. Preceded by no. 9 [Justice], it predicts the winning of a lawsuit. Followed by no. 77 [Ace of Coins: Perfect Contentment], it is a large sign of happiness. If one of the four knights accompany this card, it promises a piece of news that will cause much pleasure to the public. But if this card is presented upside down, it indicates absolutely everything contrary in each case indicated above.

The 1865 offers some variations on the c. 1838; of course, since it is written for the Etteilla III, it leaves out the reference to the naked woman on the card.

Quote:

This card announces great success in all possible enterprises. Success in war, if the consultant belongs to the army, great fortune, if he is a shopkeeper; invincible courage, if he is a conscript. When it is a lady who consults, and this tarot is accompanied by a knight, it predicts that she will receive a little news from a female friend who lives far away. If this tarot is preceded by a valet, it is a sign of opulence, and when one of the four Kings or the four Queens is found, whether before or after, it predicts greatness. Near no. 78 [Folly], it would not be favorable, but again, it would make you fearful of a blunder [mais encore ne vous ferait-il craindre qu'une etourderderie].

As you can see, this version omits many of the predictions of the c. 1838, but expands on others--suiting the prediction to the profession and adding predictions for all the courts.

The c. 1910 Grimaud booklet, written for an Etteilla I, says much the same thing as the c. 1838, with a few changes and additions. The naked woman represents not truth but “raccommodement,” reconciliation—a concept not in the lists. Also, about the predicted peace it says

Quote:

All the clouds are dissipated; peace reestablished will no longer alter, as indicated by the serpent that bites its tail.

Indeed, the serpent circling back to bite its tail, the Oroboros, was a traditional symbol of eternity, of time that does not end.

The knights now bring a piece of joyful political news.

Then at the end, the c. 1910 adds

Quote:

If the card of the Gospel is near no. 37 [Queen of Cups: Wife of a Distinguished Man] there will be a small persecution for religious opinions. The person will be bothered if card no. 37 follows. There is nothing to fear if this card is before.

What does the Queen of Cups have to do with harassing people for their religious beliefs? Well, her job, if you look at that card’s interpretation, is to correct people. No. 5 is the card of the Gospel (its title, in both the c. 1910 Grimaud booklet and the modern one, is “L’Evangile”); so that is where she will correct them.

One might also wonder, What do these interpretations have to do with the Upright keyword and synonyms? There is no mention of any journey. The modern Grimaud is sensitive to this point. After saying, “This card is the emblem of success both in love and work,” it adds

Quote:

R [right side up] A journey or a voyage will prove beneficial to you; it will be the cause of reconciliation with [one with] whom one has quarreled and an incentive [regain d'activité, renewal of activity] in your work. U [upside down]Use foresight to avoid the worst difficulties in handling your own affairs.

So happiness, peace, and reconciliation are the result of a journey. What I think is that “journey” comes from the traditional meaning of the Marseille World card. The happiness, peace, and reconciliation there are in Heaven, the World in a Platonic sense, in which the world of the living is illusion. The journey, then, is from here to there, but now expressed in a secular way, all in this world.

The modern Grimaud adds

Quote:

R: with 77 – Great happiness. With 9, 36, 38, - a better job with higher promotion [appointments, i.e. rank]. You will win your lawsuit. U: With 66 [Knight of Coins: Profits] – Win in gambling. With 37 – Divergence of opinion. With any king or queen –Great success.

You can see where all except the new association with 66 and the "great success" with any King or Queen derive from the previous booklets. 37 is a further secularization of the card.

CARD SIX

Here are: the 1910 Etteilla I from http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks03/d01612/d01612.htm; Sumada's Etteilla II, before 1890, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/76; and his La Rue Etteilla III, 1890-1917, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/16.


If you look closely at the Etteilla I and II, you will see that there is more in the sky than the sun, moon, and one star. There are also two astrological symbols and 6 smaller stars, suitably overpowered by the sun's rays. Here is a close up without all that paint (from the c. 1838's black and white versions); they are also there in the colored versions:

All three cards are inspired by what Etteilla says in the second Cahier (translated in post #78):

Quote:

6. The sixth sheet offers the false hieroglyph of an Emperor, its number of creation, which can serve for replacing it as it was formerly with the Egyptians, is 4, fourth day of creation: God made two great lights. This sheet primitively offers a Zodiac; and I believe, without rejecting anything that I have said about the fourth sheet, that the Cardmakers have moved a part of the sixth sheet onto the fourth; this of which we speak at present, the sixth sheet, has only the third number [i.e. three heavenly bodies]. It is necessary at the bottom of the Zodiac to notice there the allegory of the spirit of the colors, the white; notice that one finds again on another sheet the black, on another the red, and finally on others the seven colors, as Physics conceives them; the most interesting and the most difficult is to discover the true green color, in the center of the others.

The 4th day of creation is that on which God said "Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years." Instead of the "false" association of 4 with the Emperor, we have a true association to the Empress, as Etteilla tells us in connection with card 7 ("No. 7, or the seventh sheet of the Book of Thoth, is also an Emperor, badly figured to the purpose, which was preceded by an Empress"). But it is not intended to resemble the Marseille Empress; it is a new design--two of them in fact. I think the Etteilla I's and II's stars are to represent the planets; Uranus had been determined to be a planet in 1783, to much publicity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus). To represent the zodiac we have Libra and Aries. (Why those? Does it mean anything?)

The Etteilla III goes all out in representing the Zodiac, to an extent not seen in the preceding decks. It also mightily represents the color green, in three different shades and places. The earth is in the center, with its green oceans. In contrast, the Etteilla I and II put the green earth at the bottom, sensibly attached to vegetation. By "allegory of the colors," Etteilla tells us that colors are symbolic; here he enumerates the three primary colors of alchemy, white, black, and red. Green is also alchemical, as are all together.

Now for the word lists. Again, words that are in either translation of Papus, and also in Orsini, are in regular type. Those in Papus only are in italics; and those in Orsini only in bold.

Quote:

6. La Nuit. NIGHT-Obscurity, Darkness, Lack of Light, Night Scene [Fr. Nocturnal], Mystery, Secret, Mask, Hidden, Unknown, Clandestine, Occult. Eclipse.-Veil, Symbol, Figure, Image, Parable, Allegory, Mystic Fire, Veiled Purpose, Mystic Meaning, Mysterious words, Obscure discourse, Occult Science.-Hidden Machinations, Mysterious Intervention, Clandestine Actions, In secret, Clandestinely, Derision.-Blindness, Confused, Entangle, Cover, Wrap , Forget, Forgotten, Difficulty, Doubt, Ignorance. Reversed: Le Jour. DAY. Clarity, Light, Brilliance, Splendor, Illumination, Manifestation, Evidence, Truth.-Clear, Visible, Luminous, Grant the Day [Donner le jour: Stockman has "bring into being"], Seize the Day [ Mettre au jour; Stockman has "bring to light"], Make Public [Imprimer; Stockman has "Publish"], Make Appear.-Pierce, Coming of Day [Se faire jour; Stockman has "make a way for oneself], Brighten Up [s'eclairer; Stockman has "clearing or clarification"), Acquire Knowledge.-Public Joys, Fireworks.-Expedient, Easiness.-Opening Up, Window, Gap, Zodiac.

Here the Zodiac is only mentioned once, as a kind of afterthought. The whole theme is day vs. night, in all senses. Orsini nonetheless calls this card "The Stars" (Les Astres; but in French this word includes the sun and moon); the c. 1910 and modern Grimaud booklets give the title as "The Sky" (Le Ciel).

Here is Orsini's commentary on the card, c. 1838, with my explanatory comments in brackets.

Quote:

This card represents the sky; the sun still shines on the earth, but the pale light of the moon will soon have replaced it; the mystical sense of this figure is not very difficult to explain. It signifies darkness, storms, eclipses, blindness. If the person for whom one consults is aged, this card predicts length of days still. If it is a young person, there will prove to be many obstacles toward a marriage projected for a long time. Near no. 16 [Judgment], it predicts a supernatural show; a magician that you have consulted has predicted many things that did not happen. Reversed, it promises enlightenment in your troubled affairs.

On the card, Night is the upright position; hence the upright meaning is negative. The "supernatural show" might refer to the kind of thing that is on the Judgment card, angels blowing trumpets, etc. But it is not the Last Judgment, as some might have predicted.

The c. 1865 de la Rue booklet, revised for the Etteilla III [see Cerulean’s post #90 for the French], says that the card is like no. 4, but the signs of the zodiac add to its value. With no. 16 [Judgment] we get not a supernatural show but only phenomena of nature, such as an extraordinary rain, or frost, or snow, or storms. And rather than predicting, for a lady, slanders that will turn on the perpetrator, it says only “sometimes there is a nice surprise.”

The c. 1910 Grimaud booklet does more with the opposition between day and night

Quote:

No. 6 is the card of the sky. If day is upright, it announces a passion of love that one inspires in a public promenade. If night is upright, this passion will be born at a ball, or a brilliant soiree, or at a show. If this card is beside no. 3 [Water], it announces a storm or a great rain that one will receive in the country. If it is reversed, it promises a cold [rhume] that will last six weeks. If it is found beside no. 18 [The Traitor], it presages a jaundice that can be cured only by drinking every morning for six days, three spoonfuls of willow-bark syrup, in a glass of warm water. If it is reversed, beside no. 70, one will attend the performance of a piece that will be hissed, or one will attend a lecture or a sermon, whose author will be held in contempt.

The modern Grimaud has for its keywords "Secrets" and "Truth," unpacking the metaphor of Night and Day. It manages to include the essence of the previous interpretations in a small space, although without much charm. Also, we know from Orsini that the English translation given of "prodige," which can mean either "Prodigy" or "Wonder," is wrong.

Quote:

No. 6 THE SKY. A card that signifies a strong tendency towards mystery and all that is enigmatic. R: [Right side up]: For a young girl: The discovery of passion. For an elderly person: a long and happy life. U [Upside down]: Surprise meeting. A sudden discovery. R: with 3 - An outing in the country suddenly spoilt by a storm. With 16 - Prodigy [French Prodige, here meaning "Wonder."] U: With 18 - Jaundice. With 70: A setback for an actor, author, lecturer.

Modern Grimaud wisely omits the treatment for jaundice. It might lose its lawsuit.

CARD SEVEN

For card 7, I give again the 1910 Etteilla I, from http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks03/d01612/d01612.htm; Sumada's Etteilla II, date unknown, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/76; and this time his second Etteilla III, 1890-1917, http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/131#.

All three cards are inspired by what Etteilla says in the second Cahier (translated in post #78):

Quote:

No. 7, or the seventh sheet of the Book of Thoth, is also an Emperor, badly figured to the purpose [or, figured to a bad purpose?], which was preceded by an Empress; it bears 5 as its number of creation. God created the flying and aquatic animals. There is no third number.

Yet the card has a snake on it as well as birds and sea creatures. Not only that, but Orsini (we shall see) attaches symbolic meaning to that snake. The relationship of this card to the Emperor, not obvious in the pictures, will become clearer in the word lists. The Emperor, after all, is the symbol of stability and benevolence for his subjects.(Again, words that are in either translation of Papus, and also in Orsini, are in regular type. Those in Papus only are in italics; and those in Orsini only in bold.)

Quote:

]Appui.] SUPPORT—Aid, Prop, Flying Buttress, Column, Base, Footing, Foundation.—Principle, Reason, Cause, Subject, Stability.—Assurance, Persuasion, Conviction, Surety, Security, Confidence, Certainty.—Help, Assuagement, Assistance, Protection.—Relief, Consolation. Reversed: PROTECTION. Defense, Assistance, Aid, Help, Influence, Benevolence, Kindness, Charity, Humaneness, Goodness, Commiseration, Pity, Compassion, Credit.—Authorization.

One might wonder whether the end of the Upright list shouldn’t actually be in the Reversed. Otherwise the two lists blend together.

Here is Orsini's commentary on the card, c. 1838, with my explanatory comments in brackets.

Quote:

The Birds and the Fishes. The serpent creeps on the ground in a sign of curse, the sea is calm, the birds course in rapid flight through the aerial regions so as to show that it is only with effort that one manages to rise. This card announces to you support from a great personage with the protection that comes from employment more elevated than you would hope [c. 1853 has “fort recherche,” “strongly sought”]. If the consultant is a girl, this card predicts for her that she will marry a rich and celebrated man. Beside no. 68 [10 of Coins: Home/Game of Chance], this card promises big gains in business. Near no. 42 [8 of Cups: blonde girl/Satisfaction]—I don’t see much connection], it predicts the loss of a relative who will leave you a small inheritance. Near no. 71 [7 of Coins: Money], this tarot announces money that you will be sent by an old relative in the provinces. When this card comes inverted, it predicts that your enemies will be thrown into a confusion that will throw them into absolute silence for a long time.

We see here considerable reflection of the word-lists and the old Marseille Emperor: protection from someone more powerful, marriage to a rich and celebrated man, enemies thrown into confusion.

The c. 1865 booklet, writing for the Etteilla III card, begins “The true sense of this card is profound peace” (for the French, see post 90). That is indeed what we see on the card. There is no need to mention a serpent, because there is none. It didn't belong there. Even Etteilla had said, "There is no third number." The c. 1865 booklet repeats the prediction about one’s enemies being thrown into confusion when the card is reversed. The support of a great personage comes when near no. 5 [a card of success]. If the consultant is young, an old relative will give them for New Year’s an aviary full of the prettiest birds from the islands. If a man, the card announces that at a party in the country he will make a remarkable catch of fish. And following near 71, an inheritance from a distant relative.

The c. 1910 Grimaud Etteilla I booklet, in contrast, calls this card “The Serpent.” Its predictions for the Uprights follow from that creature’s evil reputation, the “curse” that Orsini mentioned but did not develop, except maybe at the end, about enemies.

Quote:

When this card is presented upright, it is an unfortunate sign, for it announces secret enemies; a man who empoisons a beautiful action that you have done and turns it to your blame. But there is behind the dishonest man a friend, a little impressed, yet indignant to the end, who will take up your defense and enable you to triumph.

This booklet gives the favorable predictions to the reversed card, not only that one’s enemies will be thrown into confusion, to one’s own good success, but also that of big gains in business when near 68, and the small inheritance from a distant relative when near no. 42. It adds that the relative has the benefit of dying nearly at once [presque subitement].

The modern Grimaud gives a slight nod to the c. 1910, but in general takes Orsini’s all or mostly favorable attitude:

Quote:

7. THE SNAKE. Although this card provokes hostility, it is not always bad for it also gives help and protection. R [Right side up]: For a married man - happiness in his home. For a young girl – a marriage that seemed extremely unlikely. For a subordinate – Protection. U [Upside down]: The predictions mentioned above are less positive. R: next to 68 (especially upside down) – A win in gambling. With 48 [2 of Cups: Love/Desire] – Small inheritance. U: With 71 –Money coming in.

“Happiness in his home” reflects the word-list and before that the meaning of the Marseille Emperor. “Provokes hostility,” which describes the action of the serpent in Eden, might also relate to the Emperor. The gambling win relates more specifically than previously to card 68, which has “Game of Chance” as its upside-down keyword. Transferring the prediction of a small inheritance to card 48 from 42 is just as overly specific; 48 has as its reversed meaning (in this booklet) the same thing as 42, Satisfaction.

CARD EIGHT

Card number 8 is treated in a manner exactly parallel to that of number 1, with the genders reversed,
Besides an interpretation of the card, there are also instructions as to what to do with it, depending on whether the reading is for a man or a woman. So we need to attend carefully to the text.

Here are the c. 1838 pages for card 8.

The Dusserre French version is almost the same; only a few words are different, which will be discussed as we go.

For the first paragraph, what the c. 1838 has is as follows:

Quote:

Cette carte est la personne pour quie on consulte; si elle ne vient pas parmi celles que vous aurez tirees, et que la personne pour qui vous faites les cartes est une femme, vous prendrez cette carte dans le jeu et la poserez au commencement de la ligne que vous devez expliquer; si le consultant est un homme vous la retirerez de votre ligne et la remplacerez comme il est dit page 45.

Or in English, literally, “This card is the person for whom we consult; if it does not come among those which you will have drawn, and the person for whom you do the cards is a woman, you will take this card into play and will put it at the beginning of the line that you have to explain; if the consultant is a man you will remove it from your line and will replace it as it is said on page 45.”

The Dusserre French version of this passage is almost exactly the same as the c. 1838's. The only difference is that it has “page 8” instead of “page 45.” Page 8 is where in the Dusserre the material may be found that in the c. 1838 is on page 45.

The Dusserre translation reads,

Quote:

This card represents the one for whom you are making the reading. If it doesn’t appear among the cards you have drawn, and if the Enquirer is a woman, you must take this card out of the pack and place it at the head of the line you are interpreting. If the Enquirer is a man, you must take it out of the line and replace it as explained on page 9.

As a translation of Dusserre’s French, the only thing wrong is that instead of “take this card out of the pack,” the more literal “take this card into play” is better, because the card might not be in the pack but rather in one of the six other lines.

Here Dusserre does give the proper page reference (page 9 is of course where the English translation of page 8 is); but Dusserre forgets to say also, in contrast to what it said for card 1, that you must also replace card 8 with card 1 (something that was not said in the instructions).

So my translation of the passage would be, interpolating a part from Dusserre’s French text for card 1 in one place, and adding some exposition of my own, gleaned from the instructions for laying out the cards:

“This card is the person for whom you are doing the reading. If it does not appear among the cards you have drawn, and the Enquirer is a woman, you will put this card into play [from wherever it is, out of play] and place it at the head of the line that you are interpreting. If the Enquirer is a man, you will replace it [with card 1 and do] as is said on p. 9 [which says to put it at the head of the line and replace it with a card drawn at random from the pack].”

Now for the next part. Dusserre's French:
: And the French

Quote:

Les cercles qui entourent cette femme, representent les labyrinthes de l’avenir dans laesquels son imagination se trouve embarrassee; mais bientot l’oracle aura parle, cet avenir lui sera connu.

Their translation::

Quote:

The circles round the woman represent life’s labyrinths which will entangle her mind, but soon the cards will talk and she will know her future.

And mine:

“The circles that surround this woman represent the labyrinths of the future in which her imagination is entangled, but soon the oracle will have spoken, [and] this future will be known to her.”

This reference to the circles around the woman is a clear give-away that the Dusserre text was originally written for the Etteilla II rather than the Etteilla III that accompanies the Dusserre cards: there are no circles around the woman in the Etteilla III version, which shows a “garden of Eden” scene instead (a phrase that occurs in the c. 1838’s word-list).

Thel c. 1838 and Dusserre the explication continues:

Quote:

Around cards no. 9, 13, 35, the prediction is auspicious despite nearby cards no. 14, 17, and 18, where it is ominous. If it comes upright, you must be careful because of traps around you. Nevertheless, if it is near no. 50, and inverted, your enemies will be caught in theirs [sic] own traps. The ancients debated a lot about meaning of this card, but Etteilla is the only one who succeeded in fathoming its real meaning.

For this entire passage, I see no discrepancies between Dusserre’s French version that of c. 1838. But there are a couple of instances of careless translation into English.

(1) The Dusserre inexplicably adds the word “despite” to combine two sentences. The correct translation is “Around cards no. 9, 13, 15, the prediction is auspicious. It is a bad sign when near no. 14, 17, and 18.”

(2) In the next sentence, Dusserre’s “If it comes upright” is literally, “If it comes from top to bottom,” (Si elle vient du haut en bas). That sounds to me like “upside down.” Also, the next sentence says “Si elle est a cote de no. 50, egalement renverse...”: if it is near no. 50, equally reversed.” Dusserre resolves the issue by removing the “egalement” (“equally”) from the later sentence and saying that “du haut en bas” means “upright.” I do not think that is justified. The rest of the sentence about the supposed “upright” interpretation is “...the card asks you to keep on your guard.” Looking at the synonym-lists for card 8, only the reverseds give any indication that one should be on one’s guard. The Uprights have “repose, tranquility, solitary life,” etc. The reverseds have “Imitation, Gaden of Eden, effervescence, seething, fermentation, ferment, leaven, acidity." So I think the correct translation is “If it appears upside down...”

And in fact in the exposition of card 5, the Dusserre translates “du haut en bas as “inverted,” which is the same as “reversed.” The meaning is more obvious there, but the translator didn’t think about no. 5 when he was translating no. 8! I will discuss that passage a few posts from now.

To sum up, here is my English version of the entire explication of card 8, as I see it, basing myself on the c. 1438 and Dusserre French texts. The parts in square brackets are my comments and interpolations:

No. 8 - ETTEILLA. –THE ENQUIRER (FEMALE). / Repos.

This card is the person for whom you are doing the reading. If it does not appear among the cards you have drawn, and the Enquirer is a woman, you will put this card into play [from wherever it is, out of play] and place it at the head of the line that you are interpreting. If the Enquirer is a man, you will replace it [with card 1 and do] as is said on p. 9 [which says to put it at the head of the line and replace it with a card drawn at random from the pack].

The circles that surround this woman represent the labyrinths of the future in which her imagination is entangled; but soon the oracle will have spoken, [and] this future will be known to her.

Beside nos. 9, 13, 35, it is a good omen. It is a bad sign when near nos. 14, 17, and 18.

If it appears upside down, it asks that you keep on your guard, for you are surrounded by traps which you must search out and remove by every means possible. However if it is found near no. 50 equally reversed, your enemies will themselves be victims of the traps they have set for you.

The ancients much discussed this card; but they nearly all mistook its true signification; Etteilla alone succeeded in grasping its true meaning.”

On Aeclectic, I did not work out the rationale for the combinations. But they are easy to see. 9 is Justice, 13 is Marriage, 35 is the Ace of Batons, .So the "good omen" makes sense. 14 is the Major Force or Devil, 17 is Death, 18 is Betrayal: so of course "bad omen". 50 is the King of Swords, good when the card is upright, bad when reversed. The interpretation is interesting, a double negative conveniently making a positive for the querent.

On Aeclectic, I did not compare this treatment of the card with that of the c. 1910 and the modern Etteilla. But here is the modern Etteilla:

This card represents the woman consultant with her good qualities and her faults.
Upright: Revelation, doubt elimination, obstinacy.
Reversed: there are traps that must be avoided at all costs.

Upright with 17 Upright: Danger. With 17 Reversed: Serious illness.
Reversed with 50 Reversed: Victory over your enemies.
Reversed with 71: Reversal of fortune.

You can see that this derives straightforwardly from the c. 1838, with the addition of 71, the 7 of Coins, which is about changes in fortune regarding money.