Anyone has Los Scarabeo's The Book of Thoth Etteilla Deck?

Sibylline said:

Like Le Fanu, I've had to look up the French translations b/c 1) I don't speak French and 2)I really want to understand this deck to its fullest extent. It does takes some work but, given the big nerd that I am, I'm working on an Excel spreadsheet (with each book labeled like, "Trumps," "cups," etc) for quick access. I imagine someone could get creative with a program like OneNote for the same reference purposes.

I really adore this deck. It does feel a little kooky at times for someone like me who works on the RWS and Thoth...but then again I'm a kooky gal, so we get along just fine. I feel that the challenge with this deck is learning how it speaks to me via its unfamiliar Ettiella-ness. I think it's a healthy challenge that gently makes me think outside of the box during my readings. Ex: still figuring out the African Despot, lol! The experience does feel a little like reading on the Minchiate.

Can't wait to hear what the OP thinks once the deck arrives. Hope you enjoy it!

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Hello and thanks for the post. I assume African Despot might mean something historical that happened among Africa and France at that time. Probably some slavery or colonization. Or maybe it refers to a "bad pharaoh". I checked the meaning of despot on Wikipedia first "In its classical form, despotism is a state in which a single individual (the despot) wields all the power and authority embodying the state, and everyone else is a subsidiary person. This form of despotism was common in the first forms of statehood and civilization; the Pharaoh of Egypt is exemplary of the classical despot." So I don't know why necessarily "African" but the card looks like chariot...Maybe there was some guy in history that this card is referring to..? Also I assume, to be a despot one has to be extremely successful.

I guess that Excel is the best way to be organized but I prefer an online journal or a blog Someone else can also read and it's possible to edit it again and a again.

I bring up this morning because this morning I updated my Tarot wishlist including the Tarot de Thoth by Etteilla: I had seen the beautiful images of the The Plants and The Light online and I had fallen in love with them. Then I go to work, and on the way back I stop by an esoteric bookshop. And....oh! It was there, discounted! I bought it!

I think it is a beautiful deck, and inspires me a lot. The graphic is just awesome, and I love how the cards feel in the hand (although they do not seem too resistant). The only thing I was worried about is the weird numbering and positioning of the writings on the cards. However, I love the positions of the name on the cards and the meaning in French and in English. I speak both languages fluently, and it seems like these give you a first clue on the cards. It is a nice change for me, I have never worked with Lenormand or other similar decks with actual writing on the cards (apart from names and numbers). As soon as I bought it, after opening the deck and spreading all the cards, I did a couple of spread. To be honest, I feel there is alot of work that I need to do to grasp the meaning. For sure it is not going to replace my Hadar TdM, but it is on the good path to become my second choice.

About the African Despot issues, it is the only card that annoys me a bit as I think it is a bit racist. According to the booklet that comes with the deck, this is a change that was done in one of Julia Orsini's editions, in which 'The Chariot' was replaced with 'The African Despot', and it makes a lot sense given that a lot of the symbolism of the TdM Chariot seems to be in the card. Still I love this deck, and I feel it will be a pleasure to work with it.

Other people who have it? What system of reading do you use? It feels a bit strange to adapt a Marseille system, but there is not much litterature on this. And although intuition is always a good teacher, it'd be nice to have some good advice on it. Anyone?

Peace,

Kuroga

When the AD turns up, I treat him simply as "The Despot," as he could be a despot over Africans, over Asians, over Europeans, or any other race to my mind. The card's keywords also indicate that he represents arrogance and dissension and is to be regarded entirely in a negative light rather than any admirable virtues.

I like to employ the open reading style advocated by Yoav Ben-Dov, creator of the CBD Marseille, with Etteilla. The Major cards are unique enough that colour and body language can give good interpretations, aided by the keywords. The Minors are harder to understand as they're all virtually identical in design, in which case I usually use the keywords to link them together as parts of a process.