This edition of The Tarot of the Bohemians is arguably the core literary occult work which influenced the use of Tarot cards in the 19th and 20th centuries. Traces the development of the Tarot back to the initiation rites of Ancient Egypt, drawing parallels between the symbolism used in the cards and ancient pagan rituals. Explains each card with reference to the Qabalah, astrology, numerology and many other occult correspondences. Embellished with many illustrations.
Contents
Part I
THE "GENERAL KEY TO THE TAROT," GIVING THE ABSOLUTE KEY TO OCCULT SCIENCE
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION THE STUDY OF THE TAROT:
Approaching End of Materialism - Synthesis - The Occult Science - The Secret Societies - The Cultus - The People, Organ of the Transmitter of Esoterism - The Gypsies - The Sacred Word of Freemasonry - Our Work
CHAPTER II: THE SACRED WORD YOD HE-VAU-HE
The Kabbalah and the Sacred Word - The Yod - The He - The Vau - The second He - Synthesis of the Sacred Word
CHAPTER III: THE ESOTERISM OF NUMBERS
The Theosophic Numbers and Operations - Signification of the Numbers
CHAPTER IV: ANALOGY BETWEEN THE SACRED WORD AND NUMBERS
The Kabbalistic Word and the Series of Numbers - Explanation of the Tetractys of Pythagoras - Figuration of the General Law
CHAPTER V: THE KEY TO THE MINOR ARCANA
Formation of the Tarot - Study of a Colour - The Four Figures - The Ten Numbers - Affinity between the Figures and the Numbers - Study of the Four Colours - General Study of the Minor Arcana
CHAPTER VI: THE KEY TO THE MAJOR ARCANA
The Major Arcana - 1st Ternary - 2nd Ternary - 1st Septenary - 2nd Septenary - The Three Septenaries and the Ternary of Transition
CHAPTER VII: CONNECTION BETWEEN THE MAJOR AND MINOR ARCANA
Domination of the 1st Septenary - Affinities of the 2nd Septenary in the Tarot, Card by Card - Ditto of the 3rd Septenary - General Affinities - Affinities of Yod, He, Vau, and of the 2nd He - General Figure giving the Key to the Tarot
PART II: SYMBOLISM IN THE TAROT - APPLICATION OF THE GENERAL KEY TO THE SYMBOLISM
CHAPTER VIII: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF SYMBOLISM
The Symbols - The Primitive Terms - Key of Symbolism - Definition of the Sense of one of the Symbols - The General Law of Symbolism
CHAPTER IX: HISTORY OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TAROT
The Tarot is an Egyptian Book - Its Transformations - Mantegna's Pack - Venetian Tarot - Florentine Tarot - Bolognese - Hindu Tarot - Chinese Tarot - Modern Tarots - Etteila - Marseilles - Besançon - Watillaux - Oswald Wirth - Italian and German Tarots - Constitution of the Symbolism of the Tarot - The 16 primitive Hieroglyphic Signs - The 22 Hebrew Letters.
CHAPTER X: THE SYMBOLICAL TAROT - THE 1ST SEPTENARY - ARCANA 1 TO 7 - THEOGONY
Scheme of Work - Key to the 1st Septenary - The 1st Card of the Tarot the Origin of all the others - The three Principles of the Absolute - The Trinity - Figure of the first Card and its Affinities - 2nd Card, The High Priestess (Beth) - 3rd Card, The Empress (Gimel) - 4th Card, The Emperor (Daleth) - 5th Card, The Pope(He) - 6th Card, The Lovers (Vau) - Summary - Constitution of God
CHAPTER XI: 2ND SEPTENARY - ANDROGONY: KEY TO THE 2ND SEPTENARY
7th Card, The Chariot (Zain) - 8th Card, Justice (Cheth) - 9th Card, The Hermit (Teth) - 10th Card, The Wheel of Fortune (Yod) - 11th Card, Strength(Kaph) - 12th Card, The Hanged Man(Lamed) - Summary - Constitution of Man
CHAPTER XII: 3RD SEPTENARY - COSMOGONY: KEY TO THE 3RD SEPTENARY
13th Card, Death (Mem) - 14th Card, Temperance (Nun) - 15th Card, The Devil (Samech) - 16th Card, The Lightning-struck Tower (Zain) - 17th Card, The Star (Phe) - 18th Card, The Moon (Tzaddi) - Summary - Constitution of the Universe
CHAPTER XIII: GENERAL TRANSITION
19th Card, The Sun (Qoph) - 20th Card, The Judgment (Resh) - 21st Card, The Foolish Man
(Shin) - 22nd Card, The Universe (Tau) - Summary
CHAPTER XIV: GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE SYMBOLICAL TAROT
Involution and Evolution
Theogony - The Absolute according to Wronski, Lacuria, and the Tarot - Theogony of divers
Religions identical with that of the Tarot - Summary
Androgony - Figure with Summary
Cosmogony - Figure with Summary
Figure containing the Symbolism of all the Major Arcana, enabling the Significance of each Card to be easily defined
PART III: APPLICATIONS OF THE TAROT
CHAPTER XV: GENERAL KEY TO THE APPLICATIONS OF THE TAROT
The Principle and the Forms - The Twenty-first Card of the Tarot is a Figure-principle - The Tarot - The Year - The Month - The Day - The Human Life
CHAPTER XVI: THE ASTRONOMIC TAROT
Egyptian Astronomy - The Four Seasons - The Twelve Months-- - The Thirty-six Decani - The Planets - Absolute Analogy with the Tarot - Figure containing, the Application of the Tarot to Astronomy - Key to the Astrological Works of Christian - Oswald Wirth's Astronomical Tarot
CHAPTER XVII: THE INITIATIVE TAROT
Ch. Barlet's Essay on this Subject - Involution and Evolution - The Hours of Apollonius of Tyana - The Phases of Initiation represented by the Tarot - Barlet's Work upon the Cosmogonic Tarot
CHAPTER XVIII: THE KABBALISTIC TAROT
Deductions by Etteila upon the Book of Thoth - Example of the Application of the Tarot to the Kabbalah, the Hierogram of Adam by Stanislas de Guaita
CHAPTER XIX: THE AUTHORS WHO HAVE INTERESTED THEMSELVES IN THE TAROT
Raymond Lulle - Cardan - Postel - The Rosicrucians - Court de Gébelin - Etteila - Claude de Saint - Martin - J. A. Vaillant - Christian - Eliphas Levi--St. de Guaita - Joséphin Péladan - The Platonist - Theosophical Publications - F. Ch. Barlet - Oswald Wirth - Poirel - Ely Star - H. P. Blavatsky - Ch. de Sivry - Mathers
CHAPTER XX: THE DIVINING TAROT IN SEVEN LESSONS
Introduction: To our Lady Readers - Astronomy and Astrology - Intuition - Fortune-telling by the Tarot in Seven Lessons
1st Lesson: Simplification of the Rules of Fortune-Telling by the Tarot
2nd Lesson: Minor Arcana - Signification - A good Memory unnecessary for their retention - Key to the Divining
3rd Lesson: Major Arcana - Signification from a Divining Point of View
4th Lesson: Basis of the Application of this Knowledge - Arrangement of the Cards
5th Lesson: Reading the Tarot - Rapid Process - Elaborate Process
6th Lesson: Etteila's original and unpublished Method of reading the Tarot (from one of his rarest works): 1st deal - 2nd deal - 3rd deal - 4th deal
7th Lesson: Conclusion - Bibliography
CHAPTER XXI: APPLICATION OF THE TAROT TO GAMES
The Royal Game of Human Life played by the Egyptians - The Unity of Games in the Tarot
CHAPTER XXII: CONCLUSION OF THE WORK
INDEX
TABLE OF THE AUTHORS AND PRINCIPAL WORKS QUOTED
Excerpts:
'Look at your figures more attentively and you will soon perceive Egyptian symbols [the triple cross, ibis] combined with these Renaissance costumes. They at once prove that the Tarot of Marseilles is really the exact representation of the primitive Egyptian Tarot, slightly altered to the epoch denoted by the costumes. Only the gypsies possess the primitive pack intact. The studies of those learned men who have investigated the Tarot have confirmed this fact by the strongest evidence. And the works of Chatto, Boiteau, and above all of Merlin, show us that history corroborates our assertion. Merlin conducted his researches very scientifically, and succeeded in discovering the original of our Tarot of Marseilles in an Italian Tarot at Venice, the father of all the later packs. He believes also that he has discovered the origin of this Venetian Tarot in the philosophical pack of Mantegna. But he cannot determine the origin of this pack, because the one that Merlin believed to be the source of the Tarot is on the contrary a reproduction, made by one of the Initiates. The Ars Magna of Raymond Lulle was produced in the same way; it is drawn entirely from the Tarot.'
EGYPTIAN THEOGONY.
'Osiris is an emanation of the Great Being; he reveals himself in three persons: Amen, who brings forth the hidden forms of things, is Power; Ptah the demi-urgus, the eternal workman, embodying the primitive ideas, is Wisdom; Osiris, the author of being, the source of all life, is Goodness. "The Egyptian god is called Amen when he is regarded as the hidden force which brings all things to the light; he is Ptah when he accomplishes all things with skill and truth; lastly, when he is the good and beneficent god, he is named Osiris."--JAMBLIQUE'
The Devil.
In every cosmogony the Devil represents the mysterious astral force, the origin of which is revealed to us by the hieroglyphic of Samech. But a little attentive consideration of the symbol will show us that it contains several of the details which we have already seen in other figures of the Tarot, but under a different aspect. If we place the Juggler by the side of the Devil we shall see that the arms of the two personages are using the same gesture, but in an inverse sense. The Juggler points his right hand towards the Universe, his left hand towards God; on the other hand the Devil raises his right band into the air, whilst his left points to the earth. Instead of the magic initiating wand of the Juggler, the Demon holds the lighted torch, the symbol of black magic and of Destruction. By the side of the Devil, and balanced by him, are two personages reproducing the same symbolism that we find in the two women of the Lovers, and in the two supports of the gibbet of the Hanged Man. The universal vivifying force represented by the 3rd arcanum, has here become the universal destroying force. The sceptre of Venus-Urania has become the Demon's torch, the Angel's wings have changed into the hideous pinions of the God of Evil.'
Book Format:
Duodecimo, approx 8.2" tall. Paperback.
Pagination: 355pp;
Condition:
Good + condition. Covers have slight wear and corners are bumped. Spine also has some light wear to top and bottom. There is no half title page. Some foxing to outer edges of pages. Interior is clean with no underlining, yellowing or marginalia. Binding is tight.
