Tarot Hiéroglyphique Egyptien (unknown, France)

Tarot Hiéroglyphique Egyptien. Unknown, France. Bespoke divinatory deck, 22 single-headed cards + instruction booklet. Size: 77mm x 161mm.

Deck make-up:
Trumps: 22 cards.

A tarot authored around 1897 by Mme Dulora de la Haye (a writer on esoteric matters), publisher unknown. It goes without saying that these cards have nothing to do with ancient Egypt (this claimed origin of tarot is complete fabrication but still gets trotted out even today).

The deck seems to be loosely based on the standard Renaissance trumps (e.g. Justice, Fortune, Strength, Death et al.) but there are some new ones thrown into the mix (Le Roi = The King, La Reine = The Queen, La Croix = The Cross, Le Vase = The Vase, La Bouclier = The Shield, La Voie Lactée = The Milky Way, La Volonté = Willpower).

Le Supplice (Torture/Execution) is a new twist on The Hanged Man card – the card here shows Saint Sebastian (I presume) being shot with arrows.

The instructions (in French) are given below. Print-on-demand versions of the deck are available from various sites.

Click on any card to explore the design.

(Comments or corrections, please e-mail: Click to see e-mail address.)

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