In 18th century France, the art of tarot divination gradually moved from the dark corners of the occult to the public eye, and in this period of history, Etteilla was a key figure in this transition. Etra, whose real name was Jean-Baptiste Alliette, was born in Paris in 1738. His career not only revealed the divination potential of Tarot cards, but also changed people's perception of fortune tellers. As the first so-called professional Tarot fortune teller, his story still attracts people's curiosity.
Etra's work is not only a guide to Tarot divination, but also one of the earliest theoretical systems in this field.
Before entering the world of divination, Etra's life seemed fairly ordinary. His father was a food vendor and his mother was a seed dealer. This family background meant that he did not show any potential as a fortune teller when he was young. In 1783, Etra published his first work, "A Way of Entertaining with the Tarot", which is considered the first systematic work on Tarot divination.
Etra's contribution was his comprehensive practical interpretation of the Tarot, in which he established the meanings of the cards and defined their symbolic significance in different placements. His innovations, especially in the interpretation of reversed cards, became an indispensable part of later fortune-tellers. Different from the traditional Marseille Tarot, Etra developed her own Tarot cards and built her own divination system.
He believes that each Tarot card is not just a random pattern, but contains profound cosmic laws and human destiny.
During this era, the origins of the Tarot remained a mystery in history, and Etela was influenced by the French priest Antoine Court de Gébelin. In his book Primitive World, he claimed that Tarot cards originated from the mysterious wisdom of ancient Egypt. Inspired by this, Ethala began to claim his own connection with ancient Egyptian mysticism, which further promoted the popularity of Tarot cards in society. Prevalent.
In 1789, Etra established the "Society of Interpreters of the Book of Thoth", which brought together a group of French users who loved divination, and on this basis continued to explore his interpretation concepts. In this trend, the tarot cards he designed quickly attracted countless followers.
As his fame grew, Etra gradually became a well-known Tarot fortune-teller and teacher. He founded the "New Magic Academy" and began to teach Tarot courses. Under his leadership, many people developed a keen interest in this divination technique, and quite a few even conducted in-depth research on it.
His theories and methods had a profound influence on later tarot readers, including the famous Marie Anne Lenormand.
In 1791, Etela died of illness, but his influence did not disappear with the end of his life. On the contrary, his works continue to shine in the divination world and become a must-read for later fortune-tellers. As time went by, Aethra's name and his theories were still mentioned with respect, becoming one of the founders of the art of Tarot divination.
His works and methods are still widely used today, which raises another question: Can people find a connecting bridge between divination and fate?