French in origin, the Grand Etteilla Tarot deck features cards with titles in both French and English, and illustrations that range from quite primitive to beautifully intricate.
The "Grand Etteilla Egyptian Tarot" is a tarot deck created by Jean-Baptiste Alliette, also known as Etteilla, a French occultist and cartomancer. Etteilla was one of the first practitioners to assign specific divinatory meanings to each card in the tarot deck, and he played a significant role in popularizing tarot reading for fortune-telling purposes.
The "Grand Etteilla Egyptian Tarot" is a variation of the traditional tarot deck, and it was first published in the late 18th century. Etteilla believed that the tarot had ancient Egyptian origins and he incorporated Egyptian symbolism and themes into his deck.
The deck consists of 78 cards, divided into the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana cards feature symbolic illustrations with Egyptian motifs, while the Minor Arcana cards have numerical designs representing the four elements (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles).
It's important to note that the "Grand Etteilla Egyptian Tarot" does not follow the same system of interpretations as the later Rider-Waite Tarot or other modern tarot decks. Etteilla's approach to tarot reading was unique and based on his own esoteric beliefs.
Today, the "Grand Etteilla Egyptian Tarot" is considered a historical tarot deck and is appreciated by tarot collectors and enthusiasts interested in the evolution of tarot symbolism and interpretation over time. While it may not be as widely used for divination today, it remains a fascinating piece of tarot history and an example of early tarot reading methods.
"Etteilla" was the spelled-backwards pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1738-91). He was the French occultist who was the first to popularise tarot divination to a wide audience (1785), and therefore the first professional tarot occultist known to history who made his living by card divination. Etteilla published his ideas of the correspondences between the tarot, astrology, and the four classical elements and four humours, and was the first to issue a revised tarot deck specifically designed for occult purposes (1791).
The deck shown is by Grimaud, who have published it since 1890, and still do. Decks patterned broadly after Etteilla's original are categorised into three types: Etteilla I, Etteilla II, and Etteilla III. This deck is type I. Divinators like these decks as the interpretations are printed on the cards (both for when the card comes out upright, and when reversed), so no need to scrabble around for booklets of divinatory meanings!