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SIXTH LESSON.

Etteila's original and unpublished Method of Fortune-telling by the Tarot (from one of his rarest works).

WE have explained a method which is original in a great measure, but as we have no intention of monopolizing the art of Cartomancy, we will now say a few words upon the system used by Etteila, the great master in this portion of occultism.

Etteila, whose real name was Aliette, was a hairdresser's apprentice who lived at the time of the French Revolution. Having accidentally found a pack of Tarot cards, he was interested by its eccentricity and began to study it. After thirty years he believed that he had discovered the secret of this Egyptian book. Unfortunately Etteila did not possess any synthetic knowledge, and this ignorance led him to the most erroneous conclusions, whilst many of his intuitive solutions are really marvellous. There is too much inclination to calumniate this ardent worker; but we must recognize the real truths contained in his works without laying too much stress upon the ignorant simplicity which disfigures them.

However this may be, Etteila devoted all his powers to fortune-telling, and if his contemporaries maybe believed,

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he succeeded wonderfully in his aim. He therefore became the great authority for all fortune-tellers by cards.

We will describe his system in some detail, instead of alluding to those used by his female successors, who as a rule misrepresented without understanding his explanations.

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*   *

Four deals are required before the Tarot can be clearly read according to this method: we will now enumerate them one by one.

FIRST DEAL: Shuffle all the cards of the Tarot, without making any distinction between the major and minor arcana. Then let them be cut, and divide your pack into three heaps, each containing 26 cards. 1

Take the central heap and place it on your right--

You have still two packets of 26 cards. Take them, shuffle the cards, cut them, and divide them into three heaps, each containing 17 cards--

One card will remain, but you need not trouble about it.

You then take the central packet and put it on your right hand by the side of the one of 26 cards already there--

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You then take the 35 cards which are not on one side, shuffle and cut them, then divide them into three heaps of 11 cards each--

Two cards remain, but these axe of no consequence; take the central packet as before and place it on your right by the side of those already there--

This ended, you collect the 21 cards that you have not placed on one side, and you are then ready to explain the oracle.

*
*   *

For this purpose you first take the packet of 26 cards from your right and lay it upon the table card by card, going from right to left--

26................................................1

Then take the packet of 17 cards, which you place beneath the others, then the 11 cards, which you also spread out beneath the other two. You then obtain the following arrangement.

You then explain the meaning of the cards, remembering that the lowest line, of 11 refers to the body, the centre

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one to the mind, and lastly, the upper line of 26 cards to the soul of the Inquirer.

From this system of arrangement Etteila deduced his subtle arguments upon the creation of the Universe, the Kabbalah, and the Philosopher's Stone. But we need not linger over it. We will rather pass on to complete this study of fortune-telling by the Tarot.

SECOND DEAL: Reshuffle all your cards (78) and let them be cut for you.

Take the 17 first cards and arrange them thus--

17.........................1

Look quickly at the 18th card (it will be under your hand when you have placed the 17 first) and the 78th, which will be found beneath the pack.

The meaning of these two cards will tell you whether any fluidic sympathetic communication is established between the Inquirer and yourself.

You can then read the oracles spoken by the line of cards, commencing as usual on the right.

When your line is read, you pass the 17th card to your right and the 1st to your left, then move the 16th and the 2nd, etc., and so on until the cards have all changed places except the one in the centre. This card falls on one side. 1

THIRD DEAL: Take up all your cards, let them be shuffled and cut for you, then arrange them as shown in the following figure, according to the order of the numbers.

You thus obtain Etteila's great figure, which gives the key to the Past, Present, and Future of the person about

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whose fate you are inquiring. To use this method successfully you must follow this figure very carefully. The best plan is to draw it with all its numbers upon a table or a large sheet of cardboard, and then to arrange the cards according to the order of the numbers.

For reading the results of this figure you must take up

the cards two by two, the 1st with the 34th, the 2nd with the 35th, etc., for the Past.

The 23rd with the 45th, the 24th with the 46th . . . . . the 33rd with the 55th, for the Present.

The 12th with the 66th, the 13th with the 65th . . . . . the 22nd with the 56th, for the Future.

One careful survey of the tableau will render it easily understood.

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FOURTH DEAL: The fourth deal is only subsidiary. By it answers can be obtained to any questions asked. Shuffle all the cards, let them be cut, and then deal out the first seven of the pack thus--

7.........................1

then read the answer.

The above system of fortune-telling is based upon Etteila's original method. We have summed up in these few pages, an--on some points--obscure pamphlet by this author--The Book of Thoth. It contains a portrait of Etteila and is very rare, like the other works of this author. We must add that his method has never been seriously elucidated by any of his numerous disciples; and we believe ourselves to be one of the first to explain it upon simple principles.

Footnotes

328:1 Etteila quite realized that the number 26 corresponded with the divine name יהוה the total being

10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26.

yod he vau he

330:1 Perhaps we have misunderstood Etteila, who is very obscure in his books, and whom we are trying to explain; but this last operation seems perfectly useless.