Etteilla

What are Etteila decks? I know Etteilla is an anagram of the French card designer Alliette who was one of the first people to popularise the tarot. But what are the decks - where do they fit in to the scheme of things?

Are they an historical deck? To put it plainly, do I need an Etteilla deck in my historical deck collection?

moonbow ... There was a discussion regarding the Etteilla deck on an earlier thread, so I'll keep this current post short and refer you to my posts done in that earlier thread. Also, follow the various links given in that thread.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14255

If, after reading that thread, you have any other questions, please ask!

As noted a few days ago, if you're gonna get an Etteilla deck as a historical collectors' deck, try to get the Grand Etteilla (GE) deck published by Grimaud or published by Dusserre.

IMHO, the main criterion for any beginning collection of historical decks is that you actually like the deck or see it as having a value for you, such as for study purposes.

Some would say the GE is not a true tarot deck, but it's still important in the early modern history of tarot.

Etteilla School divinatory meanings were influential in the development of Golden Dawn and Rider-Waite divinatory meanings.

To this day, the GE is used by psychics in France and Quebec. For a good number among them, if they're using a 78 card tarot deck, chances are it's a GE or an RWS-based deck. They reserve the Tarot de Marseille for major arcana readings. As well, many of the shoddier TdM books in French (and in Russian, I may end) give Etteilla School meanings for the pip cards.

Thanks once again Rusty - I'm working my way through it all. When I get the deck (funds!!) I'll be back!

I have seen this deck in one of Rachel Pollacks books, and have always liked the pictures. I didn't realise it was a fortune telling deck, but I have recently bought Madam Lenormand cards and I look forward to be able to compare these and work with them. It sounds as though they were used in a similar way i.e starting with a significator and the meaning changing depending on how close or far away they are from each other.

M*

You can see the entire Grand Etteilla deck here:

http://www.tarot.com/about-tarot/decks/browsedecks.php?newdeck=9

-- Lee

The deck at Lee's link is the Grimaud edition of the Grand Etteilla. Some of the keywords have been revised from those of earlier printed Etteilla decks. The font is different - It is in mixed case (rather than all caps). The titles are English and French, rather than French only. However, all that said, it's the only Grand Etteilla in print, so if you want a Grand Etteilla, this is probably the one to get. But if you can find the Dusserre edition - a photoreproduction of a circa 1840 specimen at the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris - grab it as well.

It should be noted that even the 1840 version (card images from which are reproduced in Kaplan's encyclopedia) has somewhat different keywords from even earlier versions of the Grand Etteilla. The Grand Etteilla deck first was printed circa 1789-89. If I recall correctly, Kaplan's encyclopedia also has images of a pre-1840 Grand Etteilla deck too.

Nonetheless, any differing keywords used in the Grimaud version of the Grand Etteilla are generally Etteilla School synonyms for the card keywords. Ironically, the Grimaud deck's revised keywords make it easier to use for divination.