Eudes Picard: elements and idiosyncracies

[Decan]

Eudes Picard's book on astrology (not the one on Tarot) was republished in 1981 apparently, and we still can find some copies (it isn't rare). I ordered one to see the kind of astrology he practiced (I'm curious); maybe I'll be surprised in a good way, I hope!

That's true that we don't hear much about his work today, either with regard astrology or regarding Tarot. Eudes Picard on Wikipedia it's that https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Père-Lachaise_-_Division_43_-_Picard_01.jpg ,well... a bit short and sinister, he was forgotten.

So I will take a look at that, and probably he spoke how he was considering the elements concerning astrology (and from there Tarot, since he was mainly an astrologer).

[_R_]

The are a few of Picard's astrology articles available in the journals online; e.g. in Piobb's journal mentioned above, L'année occultiste, tome 2. It is on Gallica and Matemius.

Incidentally, I will be publishing a translation of the article of excerpts from his Tarot work as soon as I have some suitable illustrations to accompany it.

[katrinka]

I'm really looking forward to that. Thank you!
 

@Decan, astrology undoubtedly would have informed his views on the Tarot, so that's definitely worth reading! 
And yes, he's largely forgotten. I attribute that to the overwhelming hype that the new age and "wellness" Tarot trends are getting, not to any lack of value in his ideas.  It's like he got crowded out or pushed aside. But luckily for us, he hasn't completely gone away. 

[_R_]

The astrology-Tarot connection was at its peak in the 1920s or so, with Maxwell, Volguine, Muchéry, Caslant and others all drawing on it to elaborate their own systems.

 

Some of these authors, in their own way, were ahead of their time, and their influence endures - incognito - in various ways and places.

[_R_]

The second piece by Eudes Picard is now up at: http://traditionaltarot.wordpress.com/2020/10/23/eudes-picard-synthetic-and-practical-manual-of-the-tarot-excerpts/

 

[Decan]

Thanks for your work @_R_, of course I read the original text on my side since it's always easier for me to do so.

Your Blog is of quality, and very informative!

 

I received the Picard's book on Astrology yesterday, and will give you my impressions of it when I'll finish it. That is to say about what I think of it regarding Astrology, and if there is something of value in it concerning the Tarot (I don't know).

I'm not a specialist nevertheless I will be able to know if it's the work of someone knowledgeable or not. My very first impressions are very good though, but it's too soon.

[_R_]

26 minutes ago, Decan said:

Thanks for your work @_R_, of course I read the original text on my side since it's always easier for me to do so.

Your Blog is of quality, and very informative!

 

I received the Picard's book on Astrology yesterday, and will give you my impressions of it when I'll finish it. That is to say about what I think of it regarding Astrology, and if there is something of value in it concerning the Tarot (I don't know).

I'm not a specialist nevertheless I will be able to know if it's the work of someone knowledgeable or not. My very first impressions are very good though, but it's too soon.

 

Thank you. If the text I have used is online, I provide a link, as in this case. If not, you can contact me and I will send you the originals.

Which book by Picard did you get? He published a couple of books, on judicial and on medical astrology.

[Decan]

23 minutes ago, _R_ said:

 

Thank you. If the text I have used is online, I provide a link, as in this case. If not, you can contact me and I will send you the originals.

Which book by Picard did you get? He published a couple of books, on judicial and on medical astrology.

I got the one on Judicial Astrology (republished in 1981); I saw indeed a book on medical astrology but unavailable, and actually I'm wondering if it's a book or a little booklet since on Amazon they say that it is a "communication made to the French homoeotherapy society" (and of 19 pages only).

His main publication must be the book on Judicial Astrology.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Decan

[_R_]

Ah, I see. You must be correct. It will be interesting to see your opinion of this book, keep us informed!

[katrinka]

11 hours ago, _R_ said:

The second piece by Eudes Picard is now up at: http://traditionaltarot.wordpress.com/2020/10/23/eudes-picard-synthetic-and-practical-manual-of-the-tarot-excerpts/

 

 

Thank you! Bookmarked.
Interesting that he notes the man's feet on the Lovers pointing in two different directions. There may be an earlier reference to that, but I don't recall seeing one. 

[_R_]

13 hours ago, katrinka said:

Interesting that he notes the man's feet on the Lovers pointing in two different directions. There may be an earlier reference to that, but I don't recall seeing one. 

Yes, I don't recall one either. Picard's take is interesting in this respect; he appears to have been the first to teach how the accumulation of visual details form (or conform to) the overall meaning. The cynical might say it is an exercise in confirmation bias (like Joseph Maxwell), all the more so since he redrew the deck (like Paul Marteau), but that would be to reduce or negate this major contribution - and more importantly, to miss the point.

[katrinka]

I agree. He doesn't claim to have discovered what the artist(s) had in mind when the images were created, rather, he's giving us devices for interpreting the cards. These are practical ideas. I like his approach.

[Decan]

From what I read in his book on astrology (at this point), he was practical. He gave a particular importance to the Astrological Houses, and these houses are related to situations someone can deal with or face in one's life. Otherwise he was very knowledgeable (referring to Ptoleme, Manilius, Fludd and much more).

[katrinka]

Yes! So many Tarot writers have their heads in the clouds. It's always a pleasure to find a grounded one with a broad knowledge base.

[Decan]

22 minutes ago, katrinka said:

Yes! So many Tarot writers have their heads in the clouds. It's always a pleasure to find a grounded one with a broad knowledge base.

Absolutely.

At his time I don't know what was the general tendency regarding divination (heads in the clouds or in some abstract esoterical considerations? I don't know); actually he regretted that astrologers didn't consider enough the Houses, the reason he wrote his book. Otherwise he seems someone very logical (his writtings aren't atmospherical).

For the guys of his time that he mentioned, I noted Piobb only (who translated Fludd, so when he cited Fludd he added "translated by Piobb"); likely they were regularly in contact since we already know by _R_ that he wrote some articles in Piobb's publications.

Edited October 24, 2020 by Decan

[katrinka]

1 hour ago, Decan said:

Absolutely.

At his time I don't know what was the general tendency regarding divination (heads in the clouds or in some abstract esoterical considerations? I don't know);

 

You can consider when he lived (1867-1932) and what was going on then. Some of it was brilliant. Other things were extremely heads-in-clouds. 😁 https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/when-cameras-took-pictures-of-ghosts/281010/

 

Most of the card reading literature I've seen from his time is OK, though. It was all predictive. Non-predictive activities with Tarot, like meditation, seem to have been done separately.

 

[Decan]

If Picard saw the water element as unfortunate I think it's due to his particular focus on the Houses; imo it's the reason why he assigned the water element to the unfortunate suit of Swords, but?

 

I can develop a bit while remaining simple (if I can, Picard isn't always simple!):

You have 3 water signs, Cancer (4th sign), Scorpio (8th sign), and Pisces (12th sign). For Picard these signs bring (or echo) the meanings of their corresponding Houses, that is to say, respectively, the 4th, 8th and 12th House. For the 4th House, it isn't bad (it represents the parents and the home, while it can also sometimes represent the end of things, the grave), but the 8th and 12th Houses are really unfortunate in Astrology, with the meanings of death, prison, misfortune, long illnesses etc.

Otherwise, there are 3 air signs, Gemini (3rd sign), Libra (7th sign) and Aquarius (11th sign). Similarly he related closely these signs to their corresponding Houses. These Houses refer to connections with other people, of various kinds, with siblings, spouse, and friends. He likely (imo) connected the air element to the suit of Cups due to the relationships involved trough the air signs and their corresponding Houses.

 

Actually he didn't explain exactly why he assigned the water to the Swords, because there is nothing about Tarot at this point in my book, but it is my personal deduction, considering his way to deal with the Houses and the zodiacal signs (the Houses are of major importance for him, next the signs are co-significators of the Houses). Actually for Picard the Signs mirror the Houses (to speak Lenormand), so Scorpio will bring the meaning of death (for example) like the 8th House, or Pisces will bring the meaning of misfortune like the 12th House.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Decan
clarification

[Decan]

Picard's book on astrology made me want to look at my astrological stuff to simplify my own material, because with astrology (since it is a very old divination tool) Tradition can be overwhelming, really (and conflicting too!). Well, I personally think that astrology must be simplified, and I don't speak about modern astrology which is something else, some people would say the ruin of astrology! Sure, it is the ruin of traditional astrology, I agree.

 

Okay, so the first part of Picard's book was the most interesting for me, and I appreciated how he made personal choices based on traditional stuff (he knew his classics!). The second part is the most important and he explains with details a particular method (traditional, but not widely used though, apart by him) that is the derivative Houses method; interesting but repetitive, I think his book is a reference regarding this particular method (more used in Horary astrology than in Natal astrology I think).

Then he listed the Parts or Lots, which is a very ancient method too (not widely used apart the Part of Fortune); here we don't have many details on how to use them in a chart though. The final part is about Picard's astrological interpretations on several charts he chose to show us; I can't say that this last part isn't interesting, but I expected a more logical approach, nevertheless as I said Tradition in astrology is full of methods and approaches so an interpretation can appear a bit clutter while there is a logic behind.

Well, it is just my 2 cents on this, not really a review!

 

And the Tarot? 🙂

Well, no Tarot in this book, but since Picard really focused on the astrological Houses, maybe (?) it could be an interesting choice to use the Astrological Spread with Tarot decks based on Picard work. Possible that he suggested it in his book on Tarot, but I don't know of course.

[Guest]

Although the astrological alphabet is a 20th century construct, it is of course antecedent to the writings of the XVII century. It would, therefore, be far from improbable for Picard to make such a link.
 

Picard’s emphasis on cause and effect has an undertone of Morin. For example, andI am going on memory, the ruler of the tenth house in the twelfth indicates imprisonment or ruin cased through professional circumstances. The ruler of the eighth in the nine is death while travelling. 
 

That said, Picard has a strong emphasis also on duality. Fire is contrary to water as is earth to air. Swords and Sceptres are active, whereas Deniers and Cups are not. Sceptres and Swords clash, as do Cups and Deniers. 
 

I do wonder if he might have just been seduced by symmetry. However, one cannot fault the logic. If one looks at the Swords court and traditional associations of phlegmatic temperaments there is more congruence than with the sanguines. 
 

And yes @Decan astrology should be simplified. There is a conceptual elegance under the dusty of a millennia.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Guest

[_R_]

I suppose that this is as good a place as any to say that I will soon be publishing a translation of Picard’s Tarot Manual, along with a bunch of previously-unknown Tarot articles he wrote.

 

Stay tuned !

[katrinka]

Waiting on pins and needles!
This is the kind of research that's badly needed.