These Tarot trump descriptions were published
in the books,
the Names of the Tarots
His order is that of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor (Justice = 8, Fool = 22), examplars of which are the Tarots of Saint-Germain, C.C. Zain and Jesus Iglesias Janeiro. |
| 1.
The Magus
1. Aleph. Man. Unique God 1. Aleph, Air, the Firmament, the Holy Spirit. The Human Respiration, the Chest |
In the first key, a youthful man, standing at a table laden with 'swords, cups and pantacles', lifts a 'miraculous rod', which Westcott pictures as the caduceus of Hermes. The youth has 'curly hair, like Apollo or Mercury'; Westcott makes the locks long enough to suggest the traditional Christ, also depicting a long robe, beard and halo. |
| 2.
The Hierophantess, Pope Joan
2. Beth. Woman. Sanctuary 2, Beth, Luna, Nature |
The personified Duad, although she holds the book of the Popess, is supposed to be Isis and accordingly wears the Egyptian crown with a disc framed by a pair of horns. While Levi mentions her mantle, Westcott makes it a transparent veil covering her entire figure, which is seated. |
| 3.
The Queen, or Empress, Juno
3. Ghimel. Isis. Urania. Nature 3, Ghimel, Mars, Force |
Levi's Empress, also seated, is described as holding a sceptre topped with a globe. Westcott provides a terrestrial globe, sizeable and embellished with a world map. Levi notes that 'her sign is an eagle', and Westcott makes the bird perch on the woman's shoulder. |
| 4.
The King, Jupiter
4. Daleth. The Cubic Stone 4, Daleth, Sun, Fertility |
According to Levi, the Emperor's body 'represents a right-angled triangle and his legs a cross'. Westcott allows the sovereign casually to cross his right shin over his left; he sits in a profile pose, and his sword, sheathed at his side, tilts backward to form a hypotenuse against perpendiculars in the throne. |
| 5.
The Hierophant, Pope
5. He. Religion. Inspiration 5. He. Aries. Voice |
Another source was the Grand Etteilla, the Tarot by Alliette. Several of his cards include tiled floors like that surrounding Westcott's Pope. |
| 6.
Marriage, the Lovers
6. Vau. The Two Ways. Trial 6. Vau. Taurus. Mind |
Several of Westcott's images have traits never envisioned by French Tarotists. In his version of the Love key, Cupid aims an arrow at a bearded man who, classically draped and seated in a classical chair, resembles a poet or orator. To his right is a lady in peplum and sandals; to his left is a nude woman whose long tresses are snakes like Medusa's. |
| 7.
The Conqueror in a Chariot, Osiris
7. Zain. Victory 7. Zain. Gemini. Motion |
He has copied Levi's Chariot, illustrated in the Rituel. |
| 8.
Justice, with Sword & Balance
8. Cheth. Equilibrium. Themis 8. Cheth. Cancer. Sight |
The allegories of Justice, Fortitude and Temperance also wear classical costumes. |
| 9.
The Hermit, Philosopher, Sage
9. Teth. Wisdom. The Veiled Lamp 9. Teth. Leo. Hearing |
Both Westcott and Etteilla show the Hermit as a monk wandering amid classical architecture. |
| 10.
The Wheel of Fate
10. Yod. Key of Occultism, Virility 10. Yod. Virgo. Work. Duty |
Westcott copied his Wheel of Fortune from a plate in Levi's La Clef des grands mysteres. |
| 11.
Fortitude, Power
11. Kaph. Triple Chain 11, Kaph, Venus, Generation |
The allegories of Justice, Fortitude and Temperance also wear classical costumes. |
| 12.
The Hanged Man, Judas, Prometheus, the Adept
12. Lamed. the Great Work, Crux 12. Lamed. Libra. Sexual desire |
Westcott also represents the Hanged Man as nude, inverted on a gibbet of massive tree trunks. |
| 13.
Death
13. Mem. Death, Renewal 13. Mem, Water, the Earth, the Belly, the Womb |
Westcott's skeletal reaper preserves Etteilla's Death, but the exotic pyramids have become Christian graves. |
| 14.
Temperance
14. Nun. The Seasons, Climate, mutation 14. Nun. Scorpio. Smell |
The allegories of Justice, Fortitude and Temperance also wear classical costumes. |
| 15.
The Devil, Baphomet
15. Samech. Evil Magic, Sabbat 15. Samech. Sagittarius. Sleep |
... the equivalent picture is missing from Westcott's sketches |
| 16.
House of Plutus, Babel
16. Oin. The Lightning, failure 16. Oin, Capricornus. Fury |
The Tower is not Etteilla's classical temple, but a ziggurat (the 'Tower of Babel' in the 'Divine World'). |
| 17.
The Dog Star, Blazing Star
17. Pe. Canopus. Sirius, Astrology 17, Pe, Mercury, Wisdom |
Westcott imitates the figures
and landscapes that Etteilla adapted from the Star and the Moon in the
Tarot de Marseille...
Westcott follows Etteilla and Levi in accepting the nudity of the figures for the Star, the Sun and the World. |
| 18.
The Moon
18. Tzaddi. Magnetism. Light 18. Tzaddi. Aquarius. Taste |
Westcott imitates the figures and landscapes that Etteilla adapted from the Star and the Moon in the Tarot de Marseille. |
| 19.
The Sun
19. Soph. The Stone. Gold 19. Soph. Pisces. Mirth |
Most of Westcott's figures occupy spacious settings, whether natural or architectural. Of the latter, key Nineteen is noteworthy: beneath the sun, a nude couple stands on a wide pavement, surrounded by four crenellated walls. |
| 20.
The Last Judgment
20. Resh. Vegetables. Medicine 20, Resh, Saturn, Peace |
Robes cover those who rise from their graves at the sound of the angel's trumpet in the twentieth allegory. |
| 21.
The World, the Crown, Kether with the Cherubim
21. Shin. Sensitive life. Animals 21. Shin, Fire, the Heavens of Stars and Suns, the Brain, the Head |
Westcott follows Etteilla and Levi in accepting the nudity of the figures for the Star, the Sun and the World. |
| 0.
The Uninitiate. The Fool. Le Mat
0. Tau. The Microcosm. Pan 22, or 0, Tau, Jupiter, Beauty |
Westcott's Fool, however, is dressed in modern clothes: cap, jacket, trousers and one boot. The other boot, upside down, is impaled atop the vagabond's walking-stick. The worrisome animal in this case is a spotted cat or leopard. The tramp advances toward a riverbank or ditch. He is decrepit and deliberately comical, the antithesis of the radiant youth that, at later dates, would be conceived by A.E. Waite and others. |
