Wirth-influenced decks

Teheuti

Wirth talks about a lyre with the Sun in his book. First he refers to an old deck in which a lyre appears on the Moon card (Tarot de Paris).

Referring to the children as related to Gemini, Wirth writes: "The New Adam and the New Eve of arcana 19 could very well be in tune with the lyre which is the chief attribute of the sons of Leda [Castor and Pollux], of the same issue as their sister Helen."

Following Castor and Pollux, Wirth talks about Amphion, who with his brother Zethus, represent a 2nd set of twin sons of Zeus and mortal women. Both sets of twins were responsible for the building of great cities. Amphion accomplished this by playing his lyre and the stones responded, gliding effortlessly into place in the city walls.

Wirth: "As for the lyre, its absence is to be regretted, for it is through the harmonious chords that a powerful artist draws his inspiration, that stones take their form and come together of their own accord, as happened at the time of the construction of the ramparts of Thebes, the holy city, through the effect of the incantations of Amphion. The outer wall of the city of peace will be formed in the same way, with the help of animated materials obedient to the musical pleas of the Great Art, whose magic awakens man the constructor, dormant within the man of matter. Like living stones men comply with the chords of the lyre to unite in harmony; from their union is born the sacred building of the lasting civilization of the unity of humanity."

As founders and architects of these citiies, this makes the two sets of twins especially important to Masons, and Wirth is especially concerned to show how tarot relates to French Masonry.
 

Lee

I think it is the worst of the Wirth decks, but may have been based on the 1927 deck that Kenji showed us.
For anyone interested in the history of the various editions of the Wirth deck, the following is from a post I made in 2004:

I took down my copy of A History of the Occult Tarot by Decker and Dummett, and it's got quite a lot of information about Wirth and his deck.

It turns out that this deck has quite a convoluted history. There are some interesting tidbits here, such as that Stuart Kaplan was not the first person to add a Minor Arcana to the Wirth deck; and that there are (I think) four different versions of the deck created by Wirth himself. Also, to address Diana's point, it's quite clear that Wirth created the art nouveau borders himself. Also, it would not have been a fantasy of his publisher, because, if I'm understanding correctly, the publisher was Le Symbolisme, of which Wirth was the director.

Here's my paraphrasing of the history of the deck as it appears in the Decker/Dummett book:

1. In 1889, Wirth created his deck, "designed by Oswald Wirth for the use of initiates, following the indications of Stanislas de Guaita." His deck was based on the Marseille deck and also incorporated ideas of Eliphas Levi. The deck was published as Les 22 Arcanes du Tarot Kabbalistique in an edition of 350 decks. The linework was reproduced by "heliogravure" with colors applied by stencil.

This deck is shown in the Encyclopedia of Tarot Vol. 2. The lines of the drawings are sharp and clear, and there are no art nouveau borders. The images actually look rather similar to the US Games Majors. The Fool and the Popess in this deck have dark skin. The reason for this is that Wirth correlates certain trumps to stars or constellations. The Fool and the Popess are allocated to Cepheus and Cassiopeia, who were a mythical King and Queen of Ethiopia.

2. These cards also appeared as illustrations in Papus's book published in the same year, Le Tarot des Bohemiens. Wirth's essay, "Essay on the Astronomical Tarot," appears in chapter 16 of the book.

3. In 1911, Wirth revised his designs for an article he wrote on Masonry and the Tarot. In this revision, Justice has a blindfold. These images are shown in the Decker/Dummett book. Unlike the sharp line drawings of the 1889 version, these images have a soft, painted look. They do not have the art nouveau borders.

4. In 1926, Wirth again redesigned the trumps. He published them in color in a portfolio of 11 plates (or "leaves,") two cards to each plate. To his original designs he added a few exotic touches, such as the yin-yang symbol on the Popess's book. Decker/Dummett say: "Compared with Wirth's stencilled Tarot [i.e. the 1889 version], his new Arcana are brighter, and the colours somewhat differently disposed. The Popess and the Fool both have pale skin. Wirth has added ornate borders, uniquely designed for each card. Some of these borders camouflage an abstract symbol relevant to the adjacent image. They are printed in shiny gold, as are the backgrounds of all the figures."

Thus we have the answer to two questions: A) the borders were without a doubt added by Wirth, and B) this version of the cards had gold printing.

5. In 1927, Wirth wrote and published Le Tarot des imagiers du moyen age (which Decker/Dummett translate as "The Tarot of the Mediaeval Artists"). In this book he departs significantly from the Tarot theory he expounded in his essay in Papus's book, 38 years earlier. The book contains various illustrations, including (quoting from Decker/Dummett) "'ideograms' derived from Western myth and magic. Wirth uses them as succinct representations of the Tarot Arcana. These ideograms are precisely the abstract symbols that he had embedded in the borders of his Plates of the previous year."

To make matters extremely confusing, the 1927 book includes as illustrations in the body of the book a set of trump images which differs from the 1926 plates. Decker/Dummet say, "In the body of the book, the trumps appear in economical linework, usually from the drawings that underlie Wirth's Plates, but quite bereft of the baroque borders. Certain trumps are completely different in drawing and in format." In some copies of the 1927 book, the 1926 plates are bound inside the back cover.

Wirth died in Vienne, south of Lyons, in 1943.

6. In 1960, an artist named Georg Alexander, working at Kusnacht-Zurich, created a 78-card deck by copying Wirth's trumps and adding a Minor Arcana. This deck was published. The trumps do not contain the borders. A title card credits both Wirth and Alexander. The cards were monochromatic, with blue lines on a white background.

7. In 1966, Wirth's 1927 book Le Tarot des imagiers du moyen age is republished by publisher Claude Tchou in Paris. The card images appear as black and white illustrations in the book and also as a color deck of cards included with the book. Wirth's images were redrawn by an artist named Michel Simeon.

Decker/Dummett say: "In the text the trumps again appear in black and white, but in a pseudo-woodcut style, much more mechanical than Wirth's draughtsmanship [...] There are no fancy borders, only slender frame lines, rounded at the corners. Inside the back cover of the book, a pocket contains the 22 Arcana as a pack of cards. The drawings are as in the text, but bright colours have been added, along with coppery backgrounds. On the basis of Wirth's 1926 Plates, we may suppose that he wished his cards to look like mediaeval illuminations, with intense hues against metallic gold. He would have been disappointed by fake woodcuts against fake copper [...] Other affronts to WIrth's intentions are: changes in colour composition, the complete elimination of Wirth's monogram ['ow'] and the distortion of COAGULA -- appearing as COA6ULA -- in Arcanum XV."

8. In 1976, US Games publishes the dreaded 78-card deck, printed by AG Muller. Decker/Dummett say: "This pack is erroneously labelled as the 'original' Oswald Wirth Tarot Deck. Accompanying the trumps, which come from the pack in the 1966 Tchou edition, are the four common suits, newly drawn but similar to those of the Tarot de Marseille [lee's note: actually, i believe the swords and batons are taken from the visconti-sforza designs]. The court cards are rendered in the pseudo-woodcut style, but are drawn with even less competence than were the trumps." I heartily agree with their assessment.

So, we can see that the trumps from the USGames deck derive from the 1966 Tchou designs. There may have been practical reasons (like copyright, etc.) that Stuart Kaplan decided to use these designs rather than the 1926 Wirth original designs. Or perhaps it was simply convenient for him to do so, since the Tchou designs had been published only ten years previously (the USGames deck says that it's published under license from Tchou).

Here's one more little tidbit: When Manly P. Hall published his The Secret Teachings of the Ages in 1926, it included 46 colour plates done in watercolor by J. Augustus Knapp, one of which is Knapp's rendition of Wirth's 1889 designs. Knapp and Hall later created their own Knapp-Hall Tarot.

Decker/Dummett, in their footnotes, actually comment on the Editions de l'Aigle edition (the one I just ordered). They say that Frank Jensen alerted them to this edition, "complete with original borders," as a "faithful reproduction of Wirth's 1926 designs."
 

Freddie

I think it is the worst of the Wirth decks, but may have been based on the 1927 deck that Kenji showed us.

Hi All,

A lovely version by Editions de l'Aigle is available, however it can be quite expensive depending on where you live. I use it for my personal study/development pack as I have had too many decks damaged by sitters. I also own 'Universal wirth' by Lo Scarabeo and I like that one too, however like the Us Games version it has 'issues' as well. ''Tarocchi Ermetici' is another redrawn major arcana Wirth pack (huge cards with blue/purple borders) by Lo Scarabeo, lovely as well. The Elizabeth Haich version is a pack I think is very beautiful and I like her companion 'Wisdom of the Tarot' book as well. 'Medieval Scapini' has some Wirth influence and my beloved Oswald may be where the talented Mr. Scapini got his inspiration for his clasic devil image that first appeared in the US Games second revised 'Visconti' deck.



Samples of all of these decks can be viewed at the very awesome 'Tarot Garden'.


Freddie
 

Freddie

Thank you for your in-depth Wirth information Lee.



Freddie
 

Teheuti

Yes, Lee. Thank you for all the information. I, of course, have the Dummett and Decker book and have read what they have to say about Wirth, which is much more than can be found anywhere else.
 

Lee

Yes, Lee. Thank you for all the information. I, of course, have the Dummett and Decker book and have read what they have to say about Wirth, which is much more than can be found anywhere else.
I assumed as much, but I thought it might be interesting for others who don't have the book.
 

kenji

Mary,
The SUN image is from Wirth's 1927 book. As Lee put in his post, certain tarot images in his 1927 book look different from 1926 plates. THE POPESS and THE FOOL are the other examples. He also made different tarot designs in some other cases. Some can be found in de Guaita's book. (Take a look at attached images.)

Indeed, here Wirth relates the lyre with Gemini. Interestingly, in 1889 version he put a lyre in THE EMPEROR, referring to the constellation Lyra = Vultur Cadens.
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Sumada,
It's an honour to talk to you here. I have been admiring your website which shows your great collections. It gives me so much information & inspiration. Thank you very much:)

Lee,
It's been a long time. So glad to know you are getting along well:)
 

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Freddie

I have been working on a short biography about Wirth for awhile now and information on him is next to impossible to find. I am glad to see that some information is out there about his deck(s).

I must get the Dummett/Decker book.


Thanks,


Freddie