Chapter XIX (part 1)

CHAPTER XIX. LIST OF THE AUTHORS WHO HAVE INTERESTED THEMSELVES IN THE TAROT. Raymond Lulle--Cardan--Postel--The Rosicrucians--Court de Gébelin--Etteila--Claude de Saint--Martin--J. A.--Vaillant--Christian--Eliphas Levi--Stanislas de Guaita--Joséphin Péladan--The Platonist--Theosophical Publications--F. Ch. Barlet--Oswald Wirth--Poirel--Ely Star--H. P. Blavatsky--Ch. de Sivry--Mathers. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHORS WHO HAVE SPECIALLY INTERESTED THEMSELVES IN THE TAROT. RAYMOND LULLE (1235-1315), an eminently learned man, the founder of a system of philosophy, but chiefly of logic, entirely based upon the application of the Tarot; this is the Ars Magna . CARDAN (JÉRÔME). Born in Paris in 1501, died in 1576. Professor of Mathematics and Medicine at Milan and Boulogne. Travelled through Scotland, England, and France, working miraculous cures. His treatise On Subtility (1550) is entirely based on the keys of the Tarot. POSTEL (GUILLAUME). Born at Dolerie (diocese of Avranches) in 1510. Sent to the East by Francis I., he brought back some valuable manuscripts, and was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Oriental Languages in the College of France. Died in the Convent of Saint-Martin des Champs in 1581. One of the greatest Initiates of the sixteenth century. He discovered the key to the Tarot, but did not disclose the secret, in spite of the promise given in the title to his work, The Key to the Hidden Mysteries (1580). A list of his works will be found in the index. THE MYSTERIOUS FRATERNITY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS (1604). La Fama Fraternitatis Rosæ Crucis (1613) shows the Initiate that the Rosicrucians possessed the Tarot, which is described thus-- They possess a book from which they can learn everything that is in the books already written and to be written . We must not forget that the Rosicrucians are the Initiators of Leibnitz , and the founders of actual Freemasonry through Asmhole . COURT DE GÉBELIN. Born at Nîmes in 1725, died at Paris in 1784. An illustrious scholar, who discovered the Egyptian origin of the Tarot. Consult his Primitive World (1773-1783). ETTEILA (1783). We have given a summary of his work upon Fortune-telling with the Tarot, and upon the application of this work to the Kabbalah. CLAUDE DR SAINT-MARTIN. The unknown philosopher. Born in 1743 at Amboise, died in 1803. The disciple of Martinez Pasqualis and Jacob Bœhm, the founder of the So-called Martinist order. His book, the Tableau Naturel des Rapports qui existent entre Dieu, l'Homme et l'Univers , is based upon the Tarot. J. A. VAILLANT. Lived many years with the Gypsies, and received a great many of their traditions orally: these are contained in his works-- [paragraph continues] Les Rômes, Histoire vraie des vrais Bohémiens (towards 1853). La Bible des Bohémiens (1860). Clef Magique de la-Fiction et du Fait (1863). CHRISTIAN.