Anybody here work with the Etteilla decks?

Moonbow

I've found Etteilla's Astrological Method of using the cards which seems to be the method he used, whether it's the only way that they were read would be interesting to know. Of course we can all read them using our own method as well. This is from Revak's site, one which I was diverted to so I guess I had an old link, or just plain didn't look properly :) :

http://www.villarevak.org/astro/part2_1.html
 

Cerulean

Okay, here's the first segment and deciphering notes

One thing that I found from loving old-fashioned Latin-suited decks is that costume and posture of pictorial inserts begin to read like period paintings.
Learning the alphabet with a combination of pictures and letters or learning Japanese symbols with simple pictures via flashcards--that is what it feels to me. I find this when I was beginning with the Neoclassical 1806-1811 of Di Gumppenberg--also known as Ancient Tarots of Lombardy.

When I remember learning such things, the memory and encouragement of gentle and supportive teachers of my past--well, good memories are like good spirits or loving helpers. The Etteilla Tarots with period pictures were probably done to appeal to gentle people, likely for parlor amusement, tea and sympathy, etc...delicacy and a kind of wistful beauty that appeals to my learning yearnings...so let's start with a soft mood, some tea and the pictorial inserts of Deniers, coins...

The delicacy of the line etching and the tiny, tiny small pictorial inserts of say, the delicate lady in pinky-rose as she goes about her genteel day in deniers is quite pretty. One can almost 'see' a meaning and associate it with the number of coins (denier) pictured above her small inset pictures. (Later I saw the 'meaning' you might get from her picture isn't really a Rider_Waite meaning--but I find her actions almost a suggestion or alternative to the mood and meaning noted on the card.)

68 (La Maison - 10 Denier) She plays a lute
69 (Effet -9 Denier) She looks keenly at a flower
70 (Fille Brune - 8 Denier) She writes at her desk
71 (Argent - 7 Denier) she plays a keyboard;
72 (Le Present - 6 Denier) - She looks in the mirror, one arm upraised, one arm relaxed and draped back over the lounge arm
73 (Amante ou amante - 5 Denier - she is harvesting with a basket on her lap
74 (Un Present - 4 Denier) -she kneels by a rooster/hen near a farmhouse;
75 (Noble -3 Denier)she waits in repose and thinks;
76 -(Embarras-Two Denier) - she seems to react with surprise while a sun peeps over her shoulder
77 (Perfect Contentment- Ace Denier) she plays with a small dog who is jumping up to her knee.

My suggestion is to order the deck in sequence; take one suit at a time; say the upright keywords to yourself; after that one sequence, look at the reverse meaning.

If writing and interacting with text helps, then write one keyword; describe the pose of the inset picture; do an association like above. Have the list on one sheet of paper and do this with all the suits one-through-ten...or progress to the courts...then do the majors.

A very easy thing is to make up rhymes. In English, the one-two-buckle-your-shoe pattern can be followed:

One- two, un-deux
Dog leaps for fun; letter surprises you

I realize the main picture in 76 and 77 are incredibly curious, because in Parfait Contentment, a hand is holding an Apollo figure playing a harp in his hand and in Embarras, it looks like lava or twin suns with a taurus (?) emblem--not an easy image...yet the small figure motif seems to me to suggest everyday meanings or thoughts that relate well to me...

Please take your time. Swallowing this deck in one gulp of learning tends to be frustrating and really a softer, slower stream is easing one along...

I have had this deck for a few years and periodically use this one quietly and as Blackairplane suggests, after awhile, the keywords-pictorials-delicacy of the linework merges with a comfortable or gentle way of reading and learning.

I really appreciated Blackairplanes' lovely and easy way with expressing her interaction with reading and feeling her way into comfort with this deck. It's harder for me to say similar things--I'm trying too--but it's coming like Auntie Cerulean is suggesting tea and nursery rhymes...but over time, with trust, your gentle and good associations will settle into reading with this deck and it will be a very good thing to work with, given some patience.

Sorry for the wordy ways--I do adore this! This deck with it's cardboard and slight aged air actually wears well and has not had significant bowing, cracks in the corners, shedding or other odd things my modern decks sometimes do. I keep it double wrapped; have a very good Japanese cotton zip bag within a lined silk zip cosmetic bag...sometimes change storage with being wrapped in white, cream or light patterned cottons with 100 thread counts (thick weave) or thin handkerchiefs...and do not leave in sun or car.

Best wishes,

Cerulean
 

Moonbow

Cerulean that is such a beautiful and poetic post and it fills me with enthusiasm to try and read with the Etteilla for my own pleasure and understanding of the deck. I was wondering if the cards were originally only read with Astrological correspondences though, it seems that it likely was.

I like the way your post encourages us all to 'use' the deck in any manner that captures our imagination, and that we all don't have to start learning Etteilla's system of Astrology and the way he fitted it to his Tarot deck. I wonder which Etteilla you used for your experiment with the Denier meanings?
 

Moonbow

I thought it was the Lismon, which has more of the inserted pictures to go by to help with story telling and reading. The Grand Etteilla has few of these but still with the keywords and bringing in some bits of poetry and imagination, it is proving a good way to get to know the deck.

I remember you telling me about a similar exercise, particularly with the keywords, for reading with the Navigators of the Mystic Sea deck and found that a really enjoyable exercise which brought the deck closer to me. So I am going to enjoy playing around with some ideas... and thank you for the inspiration.
 

yaraluna

do you write keywords on your eteilla or other early decks?
 

Cerulean

Keywords are already printed on some styles.

I don't think the Jeu de Princesse Italian reprint styles had any keywords, but a few of the period-style decks do have meanings already printed on them.

I don't write anything extra on my copies, just me.

Cerulean
 

yaraluna

since i learned tarot with illustrated minors, i am challenged by the non-ills cards such as in the eteilla. I have the libro de thoth and really like it, but i am in the fence regarding how to read it. I am right now just spending some time with it every day before going to bed and during the day if time permits. i look at the cards, journal a bit, and have a good time with it. I am still 'blocked' a bit with the minors.

how did YOU learn to read the eteilla? did you knew the other methods before you went into the eteilla, or did you go into it from scratch?

please share, as I want to see what other's have experience and how they overcame their obstacles when learning the eteilla.

thank you.

yara
 

Cerulean

Here's another useful synopsis from Villa Revak on Etteilla meanings

You can browse this, print it out or write meanings what you know from your decks and compare to your Etteilla decks--it's a good study assistance.

http://www.villarevak.org/td/td_3.htm

People learn so differently and enjoy working with their decks and oracle tools, toys or games in such interactive ways! I found all my different Etteilla decks had some similarities--but enough differences between them, that my approach was never the same.

But for some reason, browsing the above website from time to time...then setting aside the deck for awhile...and then browsing this deck and website again...after awhile, the deck seemed easier, more familiar. Hope the links in this thread help others as they enjoy their own reading discoveries.

Best wishes,

Cerulean
 
Papesse's Veil is Rent B&W Marseille images?