The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of DivinationDe Laurence, L. W. (Lauron William)
Religion
The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination
De Laurence, L. W. (Lauron William)
Fortune-telling by cards; Tarot
This booklet was designed to accompany a set of Tarot cards,
and the current packs of the period were imported from abroad
for the purpose. There is no pretense of original research, and
the only personal opinion expressed by the writer or calling for
notice here states that the Trumps Major are hieroglyphic symbols
corresponding to the occult meanings of the Hebrew alphabet.
Here the authority is Lévi, from whom is also derived the
brief symbolism allocated to the twenty-two Keys. The divinatory
meanings follow, and then the modes of operation. It is a
mere sketch written in a pretentious manner and is negligible in
all respects.
XVII
Traité Méthodique de Science Occulte. Par Papus. 8vo, Paris,
1891.
The rectified Tarot published by Oswald Wirth after the indications
of Eliphas Lévi is reproduced in this work, which—it
may be mentioned—extends to nearly 1,100 pages. There is a
section on the gipsies, considered as the importers of esoteric
tradition into Europe by means of the cards. The Tarot is a
combination of numbers and ideas, whence its correspondence
with the Hebrew alphabet. Unfortunately, the Hebrew citations
are rendered almost unintelligible by innumerable typographical
errors.
XVIII
Eliphas Lévi: Le Livre des Splendeurs. Demy 8vo, Paris, 1894.
A section on the Elements of the Kabalah affirms (a) That
the Tarot contains in the several cards of the four suits a fourfold
explanation of the numbers 1 to 10; (b) that the symbols
which we now have only in the form of cards were at first medals
and then afterwards became talismans; (c) that the Tarot is
the hieroglyphical book of the Thirty-two Paths of Kabalistic
theosophy, and that its summary explanation is in the Sepher
Yetzirah; (d) that it is the inspiration of all religious theories
and symbols; (e) that its emblems are found on the ancient
monuments of Egypt. With the historical value of these pretensions
I have dealt in the text.
XIX
Clefs Magiques et Clavicules de Salomon. Par Eliphas Lévi.
Sq. 12mo, Paris, 1895.
The Keys in question are said to have been restored in 1860,
in their primitive purity, by means of hieroglyphical signs and
numbers, without any admixture of Samaritan or Egyptian
images. There are rude designs of the Hebrew letters attributed
to the Trumps Major, with meanings—most of which are to be
found in other works by the same writer. There are also combinations
of the letters which enter into the Divine Name; these
combinations are attributed to the court cards of the Lesser Arcana.
Certain talismans of spirits are in fine furnished with
Tarot attributions; the Ace of Clubs corresponds to the Deus
Absconditus, the First Principle. The little book was issued at a
high price and as something that should be reserved to adepts,
or those on the path of adeptship, but it is really without value—symbolical
or otherwise.
XX
Les xxii Lames Hermétiques du Tarot Divinatoire. Par R. Falconnier.
Demy 8vo, Paris, 1896.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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