Papus-Goulinat Tarot Deck

Teheuti

Papus-Goulinat Tarot Deck & Lévi's Talismans

The Papus-Goulinat Tarot deck has been mentioned recently in the Etteilla threads in that it shows Etteilla influences especially in the Minor Arcana. The 2 and 10 of Coins have generated much talk because in the Papus deck there are clear Kabbalistic correspondences (involving these and other cards), but it is highly questionable whether such allusions retroactively apply to Etteilla's original deck.

My own theory is that Papus (Gerard Encausse) was not satisfied with Oswald Wirth's 22-card occult deck, which was a modification of the Marseille deck based on the ideas of Eliphas Lévi. Instead, Papus worked with the young artist Jean-Gabriel Goulinat (1883-1972) to create a deck that incorporates material from Paul Christian and the Falconnier-Wegener (Egyptian) deck, Etteilla's Minors, and the magical writings of Eliphas Lévi. In 1909, Papus tells us that he drew from "the work of the little-known researcher Etteilla" (this tells us that Etteilla's works were almost forgotten), and he also gives credit (re timing) to "the brilliant clairvoyant Mlle Lenormand."

I believe that not much is known about this deck because it was only published as a deck in one printing in 1992: by Dusserre (beautiful but rare), and a US Games redesign that is awful (see below).

Based on discussions with Christine Payne-Towler and with the wonderful assistance of Cerulean I've found that the 72 Angels of the Shem Ha'Mephorash are the basis for the talismans found in the lower box of the pips: 2 angels - a Day and a Night one - are assigned to 36 of these pip cards (Ace through 9). This material comes directly from a handwritten manuscript (dated 1860) that Eliphas Lévi gave to the Baron Spedaliéri in 1861. Papus says, "The engravings at the bottom of each of the cards are reproductions of the secret talismans of Eliphas Lévi." [This may well be the basis of Kenneth MacKenzie's own Tarot work - although Mackenzie went well beyond this in creating the Golden Dawn system found in the cipher manuscript (another topic).]

I've just found Lévi's manuscript, Clefs Majeures et Clavicules de Salomon, online so I invite others to help in translating the text. There's not a lot of writing, but it includes some interesting material on working with these talismans magically and ends with a prediction by Lévi for the year 2000 that he received through his own Kabbalistic divination.

http://www.tarot.org.il/Library/Levi/Clavicules de Salomon.pdf

The Papus-Goulinat Tarot images can be found in:
- Le Tarot Divinatoire, Papus, (Paris, 1909; modern edition, 1993)
- The Divinatory Tarot by Papus, translated by Beryl Stockman (Aeon, 2008)
- The 1910 revised edition of Le Tarot des Bohemiens, Papus (rumored but unconfirmed)
- "Le Tarot divinatoire par le Dr. Papus" deck (Dusserre, 1992) - a real gem
- The Papus Tarot Deck in new, modified paintings by Oliver Stephane (Agedis Editeur, Paris, 1981) and U.S. Games (1982). Terrible! I've found several errors in the talismans in this version, and the playing card pip attributions (hearts, clubs, etc.) are those of Etteilla and not Lévi-Papus.

See sample Pip Cards in Post #8
The Trumps can be seen here: http://insightfulvision.com/gallery-papus-.php

This is a major find for those who are Kabbalistically inclined in their Tarot work, yet are interested in Eliphas Lévi and the French occult tradition.
 

Teheuti

You'll find the following information on "The 72-fold Name of God" by Uri Raz very helpful.
http://www.tarot.org.il/Seventy Two/

Here's a sample bit of rough translation of the kind of material in Lévi's manuscript:
Carefully study the hieroglyphs and sacred letters of the thirty six talismans and write about each of them a verse of your choice, one that expresses best for you, the virtue of the letters and numbers.

These talismans fix the mind/spirit, making the mind stronger and serving as sacraments of the will.

The spirits of all hierarchies are in communion with one who is worthy and who understands these signs.
 

Cerulean

I was going to send you the paper copies of the brochures

which had the items in French, just finished yesterday.

Have to check if your links show the same items.
 

Teheuti

which had the items in French, just finished yesterday.

Have to check if your links show the same items.
I just found this today. After all your hard work! Yes, check to see if it's the same or not. But, at least we can all work from this copy.
 

kwaw

Thanks for the link Mary. The document is mentioned by Waite as Clefs Magiques et Clavicules de Salomon Par Éliphas Lévi. Sq. 12mo, Paris, 1895.

quote
"The Keys in question are said to have been restored in 1860, in their primitive purity, by means of hieroglyphical signs and numbers, without any admixture of Samaritan or Egyptian images. There are rude designs of the Hebrew letters attributed to the Trumps Major, with meanings--most of which are to be found in other works by the same writer. There are also combinations of the letters which enter into the Divine Name; these combinations are attributed to the court cards of the Lesser Arcana. Certain talismans of spirits are in fine furnished with Tarot attributions; the Ace of Clubs corresponds to the Deus Absconditus, the First Principle. The little book was issued at a high price and as something that should be reserved to adepts, or those on the path of adeptship, but it is really without value--symbolical or otherwise.
end quote

(Book XIX in the bibliography of PKT)

The Ace of Clubs, first principle Waite mentions is the second taliman on p.8.

There are a few examples here:
http://www.themysticeye.com/pics/papus.htm

That at the bottom of the 2 cups is Pahaliah for example; not sure about that on the 4 circles - the talisman of gedulah perhaps? Re: the clubs at the centre of the four coins - unless my memory is playing tricks on me I swear I recall a very similar card but with a diamond in the central circle?

(I wonder if the Dussere and USGames show the same suit correlation here?)

(Though I know it should be clubs - if as I recall de Mellet followed Etteilla in assigning Hearts to Cups, Clubs to Coins, Spades to Swords and Diamonds to Staffs - probably my memory playing tricks on me).
 

Cerulean

Clubs to coins, diamonds to staffs...hmnn..

placeholder....have to..check Dr Marius of Modiano 184/aka later known as Cagliostro (for closeness to Papus/Gou)...not talismans, but assignments of suits)
 

Teheuti

There are a few examples here:
http://www.themysticeye.com/pics/papus.htm

That at the bottom of the 2 cups is Pahaliah for example; not sure about that on the 4 circles - the talisman of gedulah perhaps? Re: the clubs at the centre of the four coins - unless my memory is playing tricks on me I swear I recall a very similar card but with a diamond in the central circle?

(Though I know it should be clubs - if as I recall de Mellet followed Etteilla in assigning Hearts to Cups, Clubs to Coins, Spades to Swords and Diamonds to Staffs - probably my memory playing tricks on me).
This is a perfect exqmple of why I don't recommend consulting the Oliver Stephane / USGames deck, which is the one in your link. The French suit signs were added by Stephane and not part of the original Papus deck. Also there are numerous errors in the seals. Historically it will only get one off track.

Lévi gives two seals for each card (with a couple of exceptions, like in the suit of Disks). Papus mostly uses the top (Day?) seal, which is often just the three letters of the Shem Angel. For the suit of Wands he uses no seals - just "rays" (look like nails) that he refers to earlier.

Waite's comments are typical for Waite - dismissive of everyone else who dares write about Tarot. Remember also, that the inclusion of the Shem Ha'Mephorash are for magical purposes and Waite shunned magic, seeking to replace it with his Secret Tradition/mystical agenda.

Thus, the Lévi/Papus deck is the only truly magical Tarot to come out of the turn-of-the-century French tradition and tells us more about what Lévi envisioned for his deck. (The so-called Cagliostro deck comes later with Trumps based on Papus and Marseille-like Minors.) Since Oswald Wirth didn't create a Minor Arcana the Papus-Goulinat Tarot is our only example of how the French magical pips, with their correspondences to decans and quinaries (the Shem) evolved.
 

Teheuti

Here's a selection of the Minor Arcana/Pip Cards from the Dusserre edition. Note that the Wands suit simply has rays or nails in the lower box. The others all have the Day Shem Angel (see Lévi manuscript). The text to the left of the picture is also from Lévi. The material on the right has dates and times. The meanings above and below are from Etteilla. The sign for Mercury on the Disks suit is because each of the Disks is associated with a planet as per Etteilla.

papus-goulinat-minors.jpg
 

kwaw

Ah yes, the Dussere is MUCH better than those with the inclusion of the french suit signs - and my memory wasn't playing tricks on me - there is a version with diamonds on the circle suit - an example of the deck with diamonds instead of clubs on the coins/circles may be seen in the 'Bohemian - Papus set' of a well-known online collection of tarot decks. . .
 

Teheuti

If you compare the Lévi manuscript with the Papus Trumps you'll find that the majority of keywords on the cards are directly from the manuscript. Essentially what we have here is Papus' conception of Lévi's Tarot deck.

Isn't the Dusserre beautiful!? I've always considered it one of the high points of my collection and am surprised that it isn't coveted by everyone.

The Dusserre Trumps can be seen here: http://insightfulvision.com/gallery-papus-.php

A comparison of the Papus book, Dusserre deck and USGames deck can be found here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1852439&postcount=15
The thread has more information on the deck and book and on a Brazilian edition of the deck, seen here:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/adivinhatorio/