This page is to track the progress of my Etteilla Tarot construction. The project was started in 2022.
Every illustration starts with a hand sketch using pen and ink. The sketch is then scanned in and digitally colored using seamless tile patterns that I make and digital brushes that I have created.

Jean-Baptiste Alliette is, according to the tarot community’s beliefs, the first professional tarot reader. He’s at least acknowledged for popularizing the profession of tarot.
He was an 18th-century tarot expert, which I didn’t know. In this brave new world of Instagram witches and tarot-tube and Facebook groups, it made sense to pay tribute to him. My Etteilla, a redux of his creations as a tribute is what my Etteilla will be.
Etteilla not only did tarot readings as a profession, but he also ran the New School of Magic, a magic school he created. He published his tarot classes in the local newspapers and taught people how “go pro” in cartomancy. Many of his students went on to become divination and tarot teachers.
He created his own tarot card deck in the late 1780s. It was a restoration of the Egyptian Book of Thoth by Hermes Trismegistus. He ran a campaign in his town to raise the funds he needed to print the deck (the first Kickstarter). ).
To create the illustrations, Etteilla and his colleague gathered pre-existing engravings from different sources. You mean like a collage deck from the 18th century? =P
His life was not without drama. Most notably, he had to deal with a rival, d’Odoucet. Both parties resorted, in part, to publishing name-calling. However, d’Odoucet continued to make a profit off Etteilla’s legacy after Etteilla’s passing.
Etteilla would tell you about his school’s 500 students, and how 150 of them went on to become professional cartomancers. But then, he would also boast about the pupils who paid him money. He claimed that only a handful were good while the rest were charlatans.

Was Jean-Baptiste Alliette a mere barber? This is a topic of debate among tarot historians. It doesn’t matter what Etteilla’s “day job” was, it is clear that he was an entrepreneur. It is important to note that Levi & Waite brought up Etteilla’s barbering profession in order to amplify their condescension. It is to discredit Etteilla’s authority in tarot.
The complete cast of four Virtues in the trumps is one of my favorite aspects of the Etteilla Tarot.
The Star card is often interpreted as a symbol of hope, rejuvenation, and healing. The Etteilla, card 4, shows the Star card (titled The Sky Le Ciel), which portends doom, trouble, and death.
Occult Tarot readers who are familiar with the English tradition of cards such as the RiderWaiteSmith or CrowleyHarris Thoth tend to connect planets, zodiac signs and Majors in a specific order and decan rulers to Minors.

The Etteilla also misses the Emperor and Empress. According to Papus, The Empress is replaced by Card 6, The Stars or, as some Etteillas call it, The Firmament.