The birth of occult Tarot
Antoine Court de Gébelin
A Protestant pastor and Freemason who asserted, without evidence, that the Tarot preserved ancient Egyptian wisdom — one of the principal beginnings of modern occult Tarot.
- Dates
- 1725 – 10 May 1784
- Dating
- documented dates
- Born
- Nîmes
- Died
- Paris
The life
He pursued the Enlightenment dream of reconstructing a primordial human civilisation across nine volumes.
Place in the tradition
The theory is historically wrong and its effect was monumental. Almost everything esoteric ever said about the Tarot descends from an essay in volume eight.
a note on the record
History and later legend
No historical evidence supports the Egyptian origin he asserted. It belongs to the later occult story of tarot, not to the deck's documented beginnings.
the written record
Principal works
-
nine volumes, 1773–1782; the Tarot essay in volume VIII, 1781
Le Monde primitif
Volume VIII contains the famous Tarot essay asserting an Egyptian origin and a 'Book of Thoth'.