Explore all 78 Grand Etteilla cards. I translate the French words printed on each card, explain its meanings both the right way up and upside down, and give examples about relationships, work and money.
Five cards from across the deck, to give you a feel for its finely drawn figures and the French titles printed around them. Tap a card to see it larger.
Etteilla was the pen name of Jean-Baptiste Alliette, a Paris print seller who, in the 1780s, became one of the first people to publish a tarot deck made specially for reading the cards. He reorganised the deck around his own ideas about creation and the virtues.
The version shown here is the later Grand Etteilla, also sold as the Tarots Égyptiens, printed by the French playing-card maker Grimaud. It has 78 cards numbered 1 to 78, but the names and order are not the same as the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, the 1909 English deck most people picture when they think of tarot, so I read every card from its own printed French keywords.
Most cards carry two keywords: one for when the card lands upright, and one for when it lands upside down. That's why each card page here includes the reversed keyword printed on the card, with what it means in everyday English.
Showing every card in deck order.
Cards 1 to 8 tell the days of creation, and include the two cards that stand for the person asking: 1 for a man, 8 for a woman.
Cards 9 to 21 use figures and scenes to represent ideas, such as justice, moderation or changing fortunes. This way of illustrating an idea is called an allegory. Open a card to see its picture and read its explanation.
Cards 22 to 35 form the Wands family, identified by staff-like symbols. The King, Queen, Knight and Jack come first, followed by the numbered cards from 10 down to Ace. Each card's printed French words give its particular meaning.
Cards 36 to 49 share cup symbols. The King, Queen, Knight and Jack are followed by 10 down to Ace. Rather than assuming all Cups mean the same thing, I explain the words printed on each individual card.
Cards 50 to 63 share sword symbols. They begin with the King, Queen, Knight and Jack, followed by 10 down to Ace. Open a guide to see how its printed words differ when the card is the right way up or upside down.
Cards 64 to 77 share coin symbols, called Deniers in French. The King, Queen, Knight and Jack come first, followed by 10 down to Ace. The guides explain each card's printed words with examples from everyday life.
Card 78 is separate from the four symbol families. Its guide explains the picture and the French words printed on it, including questions you can use to reflect on impulsive choices.
Edition: Le grand Etteilla, ou tarot égyptien, B.-P. Grimaud, Paris, 1875 to 1880
Author or publisher: B.-P. Grimaud (publisher)
Held by: Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica btv1b105431857), via Wikimedia Commons
Licence: Public domain
Changes: Shown unaltered at Wikimedia's 500px thumbnail size.
Card images from a Grimaud Grand Etteilla printed in Paris between 1875 and 1880, held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.