This very interesting historically significant deck was produced as a reproduction of the cards designed by the French hairstylist/wigmaker Alliette during the years leading up to the French Revolution in 1789.  Alliette was captivated by the theories put forth by Antoine Court de Gebelin, namely, that the tarot was invented by the ancient Egyptians, and basically ran with it.  He changed his name to Etteilla (which is Alliette spelled backwards), wrote a book containing not just his version of Court de Gebelin's theory but numerous imaginative additions, and reconstructed the traditional tarot deck to suit his new system.  Etteilla was one of the first to emphasize use of the tarot for divination and so is one of the "fathers" of fortunetelling.

His reconstructed tarot deck, then, is historically significant, because this is one of the first attempts to change the tarot from the classic Marseille style which was so consistently the norm everywhere that the cards were used.  There remain 78 cards in the deck; however, vast differences exist between the structure of this deck and that of traditional tarots.  The entire deck is numbered 1 through 78, instead of being numbered separately in each suit.

Each card is illustrated in an old-fashioned style reminiscent of engraving in old books, only in color.  Each card has a keyword title in both French and English on each side of the card; if the card comes up reversed in a spread, you can read the different keyword for the reversed meaning. There is also some sort of astrological symbol and another number and abbreviation on the first twelve cards in the deck.  These are not adequately explained in the little white booklet.

The booklet seems thick enough when you first look at it, until you realize it is half again the same book, one side in English and the other, upside down, in French.  There is, disappointingly, no real explanation of the history of this deck, only the mythological theory of how the tarot came from the Egyptians.  This theory, based on Court de Gebelin's work, was disproved in 1799 when the Rosetta stone was discovered and hieroglyphics were shown to be an alphabet rather than the mystical secrets of the universe.

It is hard to say whether this deck actually has a Major and Minor Arcana.  Those familiar with the traditional tarot will recognize elements from both in here, but there isn't the same sense of sectioning the deck off into parts.  There are pip cards, in four "suits" but even those seem to be integrated more than a traditional deck.  Cups, sticks, swords and round things that look sort of like cookies represent the four suits.  They aren't titled at all.  All 78 cards have the keywords on them instead of any suit assignations.

This is an attractive deck, an excellent addition for any tarot collector.  Since it is geared more for "fortunetelling" than serious self-work or divination, I would suggest its use be more along the lines of parlour game rather than real tarot reading.  Tarotists may find it interesting to compare this deck with traditional decks in side-by-side readings.  I don't think a beginner would get as much out of it as would an experienced reader.

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Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace