Individual Card Study

This is the index for individual card study threads. 78. (0.) Folly, or the Alchemist 1. Chaos/Male Questioner 2. Light 3. Plants 4. Heavens 5. Human and Quadrupeds 6. Stars 7. Birds and Fish 8. Rest/Female Questioner 9. Justice 10. Temperance 11. Strength 12. Prudence 13. Grand Priest 14. Devil 15. Magician or Street Performer 16. Last Judgment 17. Death 18. Monk 19. Lightning-Struck Temple 20. Wheel of Fortune 21. African Despot 22. King of Wands 23. Queen of Wands 24. Knight of Wands 25. Page of Wands 26. Ten of Wands …

Fille Blonde - Satisfaction Blond Girl - Satisfaction Upright: blond girl, honor, modesty, timidity, gentleness, news from a person the sitter is interested in. Reversed: contentment, pleasure, happiness, good fortune, entertainment. A.E. Waite gives the following: The latter meaning is not applicable to Etteilla: if anything, the 8 of Cups here shows good luck and a favorable outcome to whatever events indicated by the neighboring cards.

La Pensée - Projets The Thought - Plans Upright: thoughts, ideas, intentions, imagination, contemplation, deliberation. Reversed: plans, projects, intentions, desire, willingness, resolution, determination.

Héritage - Parents Legacy - Relatives Upright: inheritance, success, marrying the desired person, gift, transmission, testament, tradition. Reversed: family, visits by relatives, ancestors, lineage, alliance, affinity, connection. It's interesting to see how A.E. Waite tries to reconcile the meanings of this card, one of the most favorable in the Etteilla deck, with the rather bleak GD 5 of Cups. Even for marrying the desired person, he notes in the PKT:

Ennui - Nouvelles Connaissances Boredom - New Acquaintances Upright: displeasure, discontentment, distaste, slight sadness. Reversed: news, novelty, new understanding, illumination, indication, precognition, prediction.

La maison - Jeu le hasard House - Game of chance Upright: housework, economy, savings, dwelling, domicile, habitation, abode, housing, building, manor, hotel, palace, boutique, bungalow, lodge, shack, castle, inn, cabaret, tavern, barn, vessel, base, archive, religious house, monastery, convent, hermitage, burial, tomb, sepulcher, family, lair, cavern, hideout, retreat Reversed: lot, fortune, game, random event, coincidence, chance, luck, fate, destiny, destined, fatality, judgment, ordinance, decision

Homme brun - Homme vicieux Brunet man - Perverted man Upright: trader, storekeeper, merchant, banker, foreign exchange broker, calculating person, speculator, physicist, geometer, mathematics, science, master, professor Reversed: vice, defect, weakness, deficiency, misshapen, misbehavior, debauchery, vileness, ugliness, deformity, corruption, stench

Route - Declaration Route - Declaration Upright: path, way, road, step, walk, promenade, means, medium, manner, fashion, expedient, career, path in life, delivery, send, broker Reversed: publication, proclamation, poster, bill, publicity, notoriety, conspicuousness, authenticity, permit, license, denunciation, approval, denotation, designation, knowledge, discovery, unveiling, revelation, vision, apparition, appearance, confession, avowal, admission, profession

La passe - L'avenir The past - The future Upright: faded, withered, desiccated, preserved, old age, decrepitude, gone, formerly, previously, before, in older days, once, in the past, antiquity, antiques Reversed: after, following, subsequently, later on, looking forward, tomorrow, next time, upcoming, hereafter

Deuil - Perte Losses - Mourning Upright: damages, harm, disadvantage, failure, defeat, rout, setback, ruin, theft, abduction, plagiarism, opprobrium, disgrace, waste Reversed: regret, desolation, affliction, sadness, calamity, unhappiness, spiritual torment, interment, burial, entombment, funeral service, funeral march

Victoire - Sincerité Victory - Sincerity Upright: success, accomplishment, advantage, gain, winner, upper hand, lead, pomp, triumph, trophy, majesty, spectacle, parade, apparatus, gear Reversed: truth, reality, loyalty, frankness, candor, liberty, familiarity, intimacy, ingenuousness, boldness

Retard - Traverses Delay - Hurdles Upright: delay, suspension, distance, prolongation, deceleration. Reversed: obstacles, impediment, disadvantage, adversity, trouble, calamity.

Militaire - Ignorance Military - Ignorance Upright: man of the sword, man-at-arms, fencing master, professional assassin, hunter, office, soldier, combatant, enemy, hanger-on, briber, dispute, war, combat, battle, duel, attack, defense, opposition, resistance, hostility, enmity, hate, choler, resentment, destruction, courage, valor, bravery Reversed: incompetence, ineptitude, stupidity, nonsense, idiocy, imprudence, impertinence

Garçon blond - Penchant Blonde boy - Liking Upright: studious, study, diligence, application, work, activity, occupation, hobby, trade, employment, observation, reflection, consideration, meditation, contemplation Reversed: soft spot, inclination, approval, attraction, passion, affection, attachment, friendship, heart, longing, desire, leaning, tendency, taste, interest, engagement, seduction, invitation, flattery, cajolery, cuddling, fawning, adulation, praise, eulogy, courtier, sycophant, to coax, to tempt, to entice, siren-song

Amitié - Faux Friendship - False Upright: attachment, affection, tenderness, benevolence, liking, affinity, attraction, rapport, relationship, intimacy, sympathy, interest, similarity, connection, conformity Reversed: falsity, lies, imposture, duplicity, bad faith, calculated deceit, dissimulation, con trick, fraud

Un présent - Cloture A present - Closure Upright: gift, generosity, good deed, donation, gratification, service, the color white, lunar medicine, precious stone Reversed: enclosure, circuit, circumscription, circumference, circle, circulation, to block, obstruction, congestion, monopoly, fixed, determined, definitive, extremity, limits, boundaries, terminus, end, barriers, barricades, walls, dividing wall, defensive wall, fence, cloister, monastery, convent,, incarceration, imprisonment, arrest

Table - Changement Table - Change Upright: a double meaning is given for the word "table", the more obvious "piece of furniture" (hence meanings like meal, banquet, nourishment, host, hotel, abundance) and the "original" ("Egyptian"?) meaning of "table/tablet of law" (producing meanings like stability, obstinacy, painting, image, hieroglyph, catalogue). In line with that latter meaning, this card is said to confirm the prediction of the nearby cards. Reversed: unexpected change, (trans)mutation, alteration, variety, reversion, interpretation. A.E. Waite gives this card a heavy Christian slant that's notably absent in Etteilla's dec…

Réussite - Expédition d'Affaires Success - Business Expedition Upright: success, victory, favorable outcome, cure, relief, recovery, accomplishment, perfection. Reversed: dispatch, execution, achievement, end, termination, conclusion.

Amour - Désir Love - Desire Upright: love, affection, passion, friendship, attraction, attachment. A favorable card for receiving that which the person loves, be it another person, money, ambition, etc. Reversed: will, desire, wish, envy, greed, jealousy. Curiously, the PKT has no reversed meanings for this card, simply adding "desire" (apparently in its noblest forms) to the list.

Homme de campagne - Homme bon et sévère Country man - Good and severe man Upright: honest man, villager, laborer, important man, integrity, conscientiousness, favor, protection from an important man. The meaning of "an uncle unexpectedly leaving you a fortune", somewhat softened, also made it into the PKT 😄 Reversed: indulgence but also strictness, tolerance but also condescension.

Femme de Campagne - Bonne Femme Country Woman - Good Woman Upright: housewife, honest woman, virtuous woman, woman with taste for life, civility, honesty, politeness, abundance. Reversed: goodness, kindness, service, obligation.

Départ - Désunion Departure - Disunity Upright: change, journey, absence, abandonment, migration, evasion, the departure of what's signified by the following card. Reversed: separation, discord, quarrel, broken agreement or engagement, interruption.

Bon étranger - Nouvelle Good stranger - News Upright: stranger, compatriot, messenger, bearer of (family) news. The news is generally good unless this card is accompanied by bad ones. Reversed: news, announcement, admonition, story, anecdote. Again, it's generally favorable unless surrounded by negative cards.

Trahison - Obstacle Treason - Obstacle Upright: deceit, treachery, deception, surprise, duplicity, dishonesty. Reversed: obstacles, difficulties, opposition, embarrassment, (hard) work, inconvenience. also entrenchment, fortification (a military obstacle). These meanings seem to go well with the GD's "oppression". A.E. Waite also adds "that which connects [this card] with honour and good faith... also fortune, gain, any kind of success". I wonder now where those come from.

Partie de Campagne - Disputes Intestines Countryside Party - Internal Disputes Upright: a pleasant promenade, a picnic, countryside, agriculture, garden, forest, amusement, entertainment, peace and quiet. Reversed: family quarrels, regrets, internal agitation, doubts. One of the cards whose upright meanings seem to have been completely substituted by the GD "swiftness" in RWS (but it still features "a flight of wands through an open country" [the italics are mine]). Also, the "arrows of love" meaning is curious: countryside parties were likely a good place for those to flourish 😀 The "arrows of jealousy" for the reversed card go w…