Who's Who List?

[legendaryelement]

I realize that there are different groupings within the realm of tarot (& cartomancy) but can people direct me to lists and/or biographies of the "important" or major figures? This can be authors, deck designers, modern historians who study them , etc.

 

Most of this info was copy-pasted from wikipedia entries ...

 

"Etteilla", the pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1 March 1738 – 12 December 1791)

Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (July 13, 1865 – 25 October 1916), whose esoteric pseudonym was Papus
 

Éliphas Lévi Zahed, born Alphonse Louis Constant (8 February 1810 – 31 May 1875)

 

Paul Foster Case (October 3, 1884 – March 2, 1954)

 

Pamela Colman Smith (16 February 1878 – 18 September 1951)

 

Marguerite Frieda Harris, Lady Harris (née Bloxam, 13 August 1877, London, England — 11 May 1962

 

Aleister Crowley - original name Edward Alexander Crowley, (born October 12, 1875, Royal Leamington Spa, England—died December 1, 1947, Hastings)

 

Samuel Liddell (or Liddel) MacGregor Mathers (8 or 11 January 1854 – 5 or 20 November 1918)

Arthur Edward Waite (2 October 1857 – 19 May 1942)

 

Dion Fortune (born Violet Mary Firth, 6 December 1890 – 6 January 1946) in Bryn-y-Bia, Llandudno, North Wales.

 

Thank you for any help you can give!

[katrinka]

That's a good list of the most famous ones. Off the top of my head, I'd add Oswald Wirth, Pierre de Lasenic...but "most important"? 
Why 20th century deck artists, but not people like Nicholas Conver? Why are we not seeing the less popular ones who possibly contributed more, like Eudes Picard? 
And if we're talking Tarot AND cartomancy (though Tarot IS a form of cartomancy), why are we just seeing (mostly British) occult Tarot people here? What of continental Europe? Where is Mlle. Lenormand? And if she were to be included, why Lenormand but not Madame Thebes? http://magicbohemia.magic-realist.com/2017/06/05/the-fortuneteller-of-the-golden-lane/

And so many others, many of whom we don't know because, like Minetta, they used pseudonyms. Who wrote the PL sheet? 

I'm not blaming you. These are the people who get pushed at us repeatedly, but while they do have their contributions, they're not the whole show by any means.
Sadly, some of the best and brightest are obscure or lost.

[legendaryelement]

😇 This is why I wanted the thread!

 

We only hear of (or see written up in a bibliography) limited circles of suggestions unless we open up to those around the world who have done the study.

 

I do hope many people add the people they know. We have no idea who to look up without knowing a name ... even if it it is a pseudonym,

Edited April 16, 2021 by legendaryelement

[legendaryelement]

I think the "ultimate" starting point for finding more people will be rwcarter's list of books found here

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=125219

 

 

[Rose Lalonde]

This is an old thread, but for modern variety in esoteric tarot...

 

I'd add M.M. Meleen for her work on Book M and the Tabula Mundi Tarot, which has original art that's extremely faithful to Thoth esoterism, and illustrates Golden Dawn astrological connections between cards in a way that had never been done before.

 

Benebell Wen's books, Spirit Keepers Tarot deck, and some blog posts and courses are heavily esoteric. She covers a wide variety of subjects, but generally remains close to RWS and Golden Dawn tarot interpretations.

 

For continental tarot systems, Christine Payne-Towler, with books like The Underground Stream: Esoteric Tarot Revealed and her deck Tarot of the Holy Light.

 

On 4/15/2021 at 8:00 PM, katrinka said:

Why 20th century deck artists, but not people like Nicholas Conver? Why are we not seeing the less popular ones who possibly contributed more, like Eudes Picard? 
And if we're talking Tarot AND cartomancy (though Tarot IS a form of cartomancy), why are we just seeing (mostly British) occult Tarot people here? What of continental Europe? Where is Mlle. Lenormand?...

 

Absolute yes to Eudes Picard.  And continental Europe.  As for Conver and Mlle Lenormand, this thread is in the "Esoteric Tarot" sub-forum.  It wasn't obvious from the thread title and original post.

Edited November 12, 2021 by Rose Lalonde
added some Wen info

[katrinka]

51 minutes ago, Rose Lalonde said:

Absolute yes to Eudes Picard.  And continental Europe.  As for Conver and Mlle Lenormand, this thread is in the "Esoteric Tarot" sub-forum.  It wasn't obvious from the thread title and original post.

 

Yes. I have no idea what Conver was or wasn't into. I've seen writings that ascribe a great deal of esotericism to his deck, but it may well be in the eye of the beholder, or a carryover from earlier TdMs. The jury is still out on Conver, AFAIC.

Mlle. Lenormand's cards, OTOH. have been described by contemporaries as having "all kinds of strange figures and ciphers depicted on them" and being marked with "cabalistic" signs. There was also mention of "cabalistic" books on the shelves. She used marked playing cards and Tarot. It's entirely possible that the Grand Jeu is based on her method and not simply named after her as a marketing gimmick. The Grand Jeu requires at least a passing familiarity with alchemical symbolism, as well as more "open" subjects like mythology, geomancy, and astrology, and folkloric practices like floriography.

https://marykgreer.com/2008/02/12/madame-le-normand-the-most-famous-card-reader-of-all-time/

 

https://marykgreer.com/2015/01/24/a-visit-to-mlle-lenormand-by-marie-comtesse-dagoult/

 

She would have been familiar with Etteilla and most likely used his deck at some point. She certainly would have read his books and taken what she could use from them. The evidence does point to her method having a strong esoteric flavor. The only issue is that she never wrote about it. Her books are autobiographical. But she's certainly worth researching and should be included here, IMHO.

 

[Rose Lalonde]

@katrinka you're brave. 🙌  I too have no idea what Conver was into, but I steer clear of discussing TdM in esoteric tarot, since it's an incredibly touchy subject with TdM readers I've met, and I have no proof (or personal belief) that Conver meant to do anything other than create and sell a game of cards. I don't know, and if you feel it's likely he intended the cards to be read, then I can see why you'd add him to an esoteric list.

 

Lenormand I'd only leave off a list here, because this is a tarot sub-forum, not because I'd exclude her from the esoteric. But the OP did say cartomancy, so left the door open for it.

[katrinka]

2 minutes ago, Rose Lalonde said:

@katrinka you're brave. 🙌

 

"No guts, no glory." 🤣
 

2 minutes ago, Rose Lalonde said:

I too have no idea what Conver was into, but I steer clear of discussing TdM in esoteric tarot, since it's an incredibly touchy subject with TdM readers I've met, and I have no proof (or personal belief) that Conver meant to do anything other than create and sell a game of cards. I don't know, and if you feel it's likely he intended the cards to be read, then I can see why you'd add him to an esoteric list.

 

Yes. There's no solid evidence one way or another. Surely he was aware that some people read cards, but I also suspect that he didn't really care one way or another. I mention him only for completeness's sake. He can't be ruled out, and his deck was quite influential.
 

2 minutes ago, Rose Lalonde said:

Lenormand I'd only leave off a list here, because this is a tarot sub-forum, not because I'd exclude her from the esoteric. But the OP did say cartomancy, so left the door open for it.

 

Yes, and she did read Tarot. I've seen her name in connection to both Etteilla and TdM.

She also read the marked playing cards I mentioned earlier. But the Tarot arguably is a deck of playing cards, with some additions. The lines are definitely fuzzy. 😉

[katrinka]

And Pierre Lasenic and Oswald Wirth belong here as well, IMHO.

[alethian]

Kenneth Grant seem to have had written many books on Thelema OTO and AC.

Did he write any topic in Tarot? I am not sure, but it seems that his books selling for high price with much popularity these days.

[Aeon418]

1 hour ago, alethian said:

Kenneth Grant seem to have had written many books on Thelema OTO and AC.

Did he write any topic in Tarot? I am not sure, but it seems that his books selling for high price with much popularity these days.

 

I've only got 6 out the 9 books in Kenneth Grant's three Typhonian trilogies + the "Remembering Aleister Crowley" book, but I'm not aware of Grant writing extensively on the Tarot. He references Tarot numerous times here and there, but not in a systematic way. 

 

The closest he comes is in Nightside of Eden where he presents an exploration of the 22 Qliphotic sigils drawn from Aleister Crowley's, Liber Arcanorum 231. Someone called Linda Falorio created a Shadow Tarot based on this work. I remember having a book on this at one time, but I don't seem to have kept hold of it. I probably gave it away. I'm not a big fan of Grant or derivative work based on his ideas of the so-called "Draconian Tradition."

 

Here's a page of mini-reviews of most Grant's books.  Typhonian Tomes - Being A Guide To The Works Of Kenneth Grant (bibliotecapleyades.net)   

[alethian]

23 hours ago, Aeon418 said:

He references Tarot numerous times here and there, but not in a systematic way. 

 

 

Sure.  I was under same impression on Grant, but wasn't sure.  Thank you for your confirmation.

I do have a few books by Grant in eBook form, maybe 4 or 5 of them.

I might start reading them, but if they are not tarot related, then I might not until later time when I get interested in the MagicK side of the esotericism.

For now, I can't see it happening yet.