I
Soul, Mind & Body
The deck is cut down to 54 cards in three rows: Soul (26), Mind (17), and Body (11), read from right to left.
Best for a broad portrait of a situation. Read one row at a time, then look for themes that repeat across the rows.
THE TAROT ROOM · ETTEILLA THROUGH PAPUS
A world within the cards.
Explore Etteilla’s four deals. Shuffle the deck, reveal the pattern, and follow the reading one card at a time.
Etteilla’s TarotFour historical operations.
One unfolding conversation.
One unfolding conversation.
Soul, Mind & Body
Three rows. Read each from right to left.
Soul · 26 cardsREAD FROM THE RIGHT ←
Mind · 17 cardsREAD FROM THE RIGHT ←
Body · 11 cardsREAD FROM THE RIGHT ←
Take a moment with your question. Then shuffle & deal.
Swipe or scroll a row. Position 1 is on the right.
How this deal works · sources & reading order
- Shuffle and cut all 78 cards. Divide them into three packets of 26, and keep the middle packet for the Soul row.
- Shuffle and cut the remaining 52. Divide them into three packets of 17 plus one loose card. Keep the middle 17 for the Mind row.
- Keep that loose card with the other unselected cards. Shuffle and cut these 35. Make three packets of 11 plus two loose cards. Keep the middle 11 for the Body row.
- Lay the kept packets as three rows, dealing right to left: 26 above, 17 in the middle, 11 below. There are 24 unused cards.
- Read each row from right to left. The upper row concerns the Soul, the middle row the Mind, and the lower row the Body. The app visits the rows from top to bottom.
The source’s prose once calls the unused packet “21”; its diagram correctly gives 24. The app preserves all 78 cards: 26 + 17 + 11 + 24. Individual places have no additional fixed life categories. This is the middle-packet method, distinct from Mathers’s horseshoe selection.
Source & editions. Papus, The Tarot of the Bohemians, translated by A. P. Morton (1892), Sixth Lesson, original pp. 327–332. See the historical text. Card keywords are abbreviated from S. L. MacGregor Mathers, The Tarot (1888), “Meanings of the Cards.” They are a separately credited meaning tradition, not a transcription of Grand Etteilla deck captions. Wands corresponds to Sceptres; Page to Knave; The Magician to The Juggler; The World to The Universe. Traditional numbering keeps Justice at VIII and Strength at XI. Some archaic personal descriptions are omitted; the Death keywords summarize the source’s change and transformation language. Original symbolic card designs are used here.
Reading choices. Reversals are optional; when enabled, each card is randomly given an orientation before shuffling. That setting takes effect on the next shuffle. The guided next-card controls, modern reflection prompts, and automatic shuffling are conveniences added by this app. Prompts are labeled separately from the historical keywords. The app presents cards and their meanings; it does not generate a personalized written prediction.
Your question and notes stay on this device.
A Quick Guide to the Four Deals
Choose a deal, shuffle, then reveal the cards one at a time. Each layout follows the method Papus recorded for Etteilla.
II
The Seventeen
Seventeen cards are laid in a single line from right to left, with two extra draws set aside to inspect.
Read the line first, then use Mirror the line to swap its ends and see how the story looks from the other side.
III
The Great Figure
Sixty-six cards form a numbered figure, paired into Past, Present, and Future, with the querent at the center.
Best for a long view of a question. Read each pair together, moving from Past to Present to Future.
IV
The Question
Seven cards are dealt from right to left as one connected answer to the question you type in.
Best for a focused question. Reveal the cards in order and read them as a single flowing sentence.