Ancient esoteric tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Nat-sirt	14 Dec 2003
Hi people I'm new here, I used to be on a dutch tarot forum....But it suddenly disapeared...But what I found here is even better. Anywayz.. I once began tarot readings with the common Rider Waite Tarot, but that didnt last long...I was looking for cards whith not too many figures and paintings on them so I bought the Marseille cards wich I'm using for a very long time now. BUT! A month ago I bought the Ancient esoteric tarot, seemed very interesting and useful...The cards look very simple but have all sort of symbols and signs on them. Also the numbers of the card began at 1 and end at 78 So no 1 tot 10 countings. all very interesting but I have absolutely nooooo idea why it is all so mixed up and how to read them... Maybe someone on this forum has an Idea what kinda cards these are. If so please respond!! - Nat - sirt -

Cerulean	15 Dec 2003
I believe this is the deck? http://www.loscarabeo.com/catalogo/files/esoteric.htm I also looked online and this deck review, while not the same version of the Lo Scarabeo deck, seems close in pictures and symbols: http://www.spiritone.com/~filipas/Masquerade/Reviews/cartoma.html Lots of people are confused by Etteilla patterns and their variations. Here's a start: The majors/minors of Etteilla patterns are discussed in detail with this gorgeous site: http://www.villarevak.org/td/td_3.htm Pages of commentary and such, so hours of reading. You'll find in Egyptian patterns, Mark Filpas has done a great comparison, with pictures included. It was a fad among 19th century middle-class to noble Europeans to fancy and develop their own ideas of what Egyptian pictures and symbols meant in relation to the European tarot cards of the time. http://www.spiritone.com/~filipas/Masquerade/Reviews/historye.html Enjoy! I don't read with the patterns but sometimes like to look at the links to see if I can ever read with such decks. Usually they are just a pretty reminder to me of historical art. Best wishes, Mari H.

The Ancient esoteric tarot thread was originally posted on 14 Dec 2003 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.