We can order Etteilla’s trumps roughly into the following groups:

• 1 – 8: The Biblical Days of Creation
• 9 – 12: The Cardinal Virtues
• 13 – 21: Human Life and Death
• 78: Folly

On this page, you can find the lists of meanings for each of the trumps, and a brief explanation of how the trump relates to the more typical tarot sequence. For a more in-depth look at Etteilla’s trumps, I recommend referring to Michael S. Howard’s blog.

1. Etteilla / Questionnant

This card replaces Trump V, The Pope (also known as the Hierophant).

In the Biblical creation story, it corresponds to the very beginning, Chaos, before the creation of the world.

The main use of this card is a significator, representing the male querent in a reading. If you are reading for a man, you might place this card on the table as a visual cue, or you might use a method where you read the cards near this one in the deck. If you are reading for a woman, you might remove this card from the deck, or if it comes up you might replace it with the female significator (card 8). As a result, this card doesn’t necessarily have any divinatory meaning. However, Orsini does assign some (vague) upright and reversed keywords.

Upright

God, spirit of God, all-powerful, eternal, unique, divinity, devotee, faithfulness, worship, master

Reversed

Philosopher, philosophical, philosophize, sage, wisdom, knowledge, tradition, thought, meditation, contemplation

2. Eclaircissement / Feu

This card corresponds to Trump XIX, The Sun.

It also corresponds to the first creation in the Biblical story: “And God said, Let there be light.”

Upright

Brightening, clearing, explanation, development, instruction, interpretation, analysis, opening, discovery, revelation, clarity, elucidation, light, fire, sun, sky and earth, temple of heat

Reversed

Fire, hot, heat, heat up, cook, heating, spark, ray of light, flow, inflammation, flame, blaze, burn, fires, meteors, lightning, thunderbolt, storm, electricity, St. Elmo’s fire, ardor, embrace, fire of love, passion, light up, enflame, internal fire, magnetism, apple of discord

3. Propos / Eau

This card corresponds to Trump XVIII, The Moon.

It also corresponds to the third creation in the Biblical story: the seas, the dry land, and the plants that grow there.

Upright

Aim, design, intention, resolution, will, language, words, speech, talk, discuss, babble, chat, gossip, idle talk, reasoning, dialogue, discourse, moon

Reversed

Water, fluid, humid, ablution, dew, rain, deluge, sea, river, torrent, stream, fountain, spring, lake, marsh, flat water, pond, waterfall, waves, inundation, spring

4. Depouillement / Air

This card corresponds to Trump XVII, The Star(s).

It also corresponds to the second creation in the Biblical story: the firmament to “divide the waters from the waters.”

Upright

Stripping away, counting, sorting, separation, untangle, inspection, development, deepen, picking-over, remove, deprive, take away, abduct, dispossess, violence, privation, theft, larceny, swindling, fraud, infidelity

Reversed

Air, wind, hurricane, atmosphere, native air, sky, dry, stars, birds, volatility, tone, manner, look, appearance, resemblance, similarity, false semblance, turn of phrase, light discussion, vague words, dissimulation, guise, feint, pretend, hypocrisy, song, music, tone, sound, acoustic, melody, chant, singing, aerial, sylph

5. Voyage / Terre

This card corresponds to Trump XXI, The World.

It also corresponds to the sixth creation in the Biblical story: the beasts of the earth, and man.

Upright

Voyage, pilgrimage, peregrination, tour, emigration, transmigration, change of scenery, movement, steps, walking, running, rotation, circulation, route, reroute, change course, incursion, flight, escape

Reversed

Earth, matter, cold, thick, mud, sludge, lime, raw material, land, leaf, virgin earth, rural, pastures, orchards, fields, vineyards, terrain, landscape, world, state, realm, countries, regions, nearby, places, site, local, reptiles, quadrupeds, aspect, constancy, stagnation, banks, shore, beach, coasts, reef, rock, plains, mountains, hill, valley

6. Nuit / Jour

This card replaces Trump III, The Empress.

It also corresponds to the fourth creation in the Biblical story: the sun, moon, and stars, which “divide the day from the night.”

Upright

Night, darkness, eclipse, mist, obscurity, mystery, secret, hidden, unknown, clandestine, occult, parable, allegory, mystical meaning, mask, veil, cover, sheath, envelop, unvoiced, blindness, oblivion, obfuscate, cover

Reversed

Day, light of day, brightness, clarity, truth, visible, enlighten, manifestation, demonstration, evidence, engender, give life to, uncover, bring light to, publish, come out, bloom, emerge, come to light, zodiac

7. Appui / Protection

This card replaces Trump IV, The Emperor.

It also corresponds to the fifth creation in the Biblical story: the creatures of the sea and the birds.

Upright

Support, backing, holding up, column, base, foundation, basis, founding principles, hypothesis, reason, cause, subject, fixity, stability, assurance, persuasion, conviction, confidence, security, reliability, help, aid

Reversed

Protection, defense, influence, benevolence, benefaction, charity, humaneness, goodness, shelter, preservation, aegis

8. Etteilla / Questionnante

This card replaces Trump II, The Female Pope (also known as the High Priestess).

In the Biblical story, it corresponds to the seventh and last day of creation, when God rested.

The main use of this card is a significator, representing the female querent in a reading. If you are reading for a woman, you might place this card on the table as a visual cue, or you might use a method where you read the cards near this one in the deck. If you are reading for a man, you might remove this card from the deck, or if it comes up you might replace it with the male significator (card 1). As a result, this card doesn’t necessarily have any divinatory meaning. However, Orsini does assign some upright and reversed keywords.

Upright

Nature, rest, tranquility, retreat, private life, retired life, solitary life, life of a hermit, religious life, orphic life, rest of the old, temple of heat, silence, taciturnity

Reversed

Imitation, Garden of Eden, effervescence, bubbling, fermentation, ferment, leavening, acidity

9. La Justice / Le Legiste

This card corresponds to Trump VIII, Justice.

Upright

Justice, equity, probity, uprightness, right, natural right, human right, moral right, public right, civil right, rectitude, reason, execution

Reversed

Jurist, legislator, legislation, tribunal, law, decree, code, order, statutes, precepts, commandment, constitution, domination, institution, natural laws, moral laws, religious laws, civil laws, political laws, laws of war

10. La Temperance / Le Pretre

This card corresponds to Trump XIV, Temperance.

Upright

Temperance, moderation, discretion, continence, abstinence, sobriety, frugality, chastity, patience, calm, restraint, accommodation, regard, consideration, mending, mediation, softening, musical tempering, air temperature, climate, temperament

Reversed

Priest, minister, performer of sacrifices, priesthood, clergy, church, council, synod, religion, sect

11. La Force / Le Souverain

This card corresponds to Trump XI, Fortitude.

Upright

Fortitude, strength, advantage by strength, ability, power, moral strength, greatness of soul, magnanimity, moral or spiritual work, perseverance, constancy, patience, resignation, heroism, courage

Reversed

Sovereign, kingdom, empire, republic, state, people, nation, government, administration, reign, despotism, sovereignty, authority, leadership, supreme power, absolute power, arbitrary power, king, emperor, general, commander, captain, chief superior, governor, authoritarian, driving force, regulator

12. La Prudence / Le Peuple

This card replaces Trump XII, The Hanged Man.

Upright

Prudence, wisdom, reserve, circumspection, restraint, discernment, foresight, forecast, presentiment, prediction, prognostic, divination, prophecy, horoscope

Reversed

The people, nation, sovereign, political body, population, generation

13. Mariage / Union

This card corresponds to Trump VI, Love (or the Lover(s)). You can also note the similarity to Trump V, The Pope, in the card imagery in the Etteilla decks.

Upright

Marriage, wedding, nuptials, alliance, meeting, link, assembly, pledge, promise, oath, intimacy, liaison, junction, conjunction, copulation, coupling, chain, bondage, discomfort, captivity

Reversed

Union, society, contacts, cohabitation, adultery, incest, alloy, blending mixing, amalgam, peace, concord, accord, harmony, coexistence, reconciliation, mending, patching things up

14. Force Majeure / Force Mineure

This card corresponds to Trump XV, The Devil.

Upright

Strength, human strength, extraordinary power, physical strength, virtues, violent impetus, momentum of genius, force of spirit, ravage, violence, vehemence, constraint, firmness, manual or physical labor

Reversed

Lightness, weakness, smallness, tenderness, weakening, dizziness, faint, despondency, depression, languor, collapse, sin, trespass, sacrilege

15. Maladie

This card corresponds to Trump I, The Juggler (or the Magician).

Upright

Illness of the body, disease, physical affliction, infirmity, damage, bad state of health or affairs, disruption, pain, death throes, epidemic, poison, plague, infection

Reversed

Illness of the mind or soul, indisposition, headache, heartache, worry, melancholy, affliction, lethargy, inconvenience, unhappy position, displeasure, anxiety, sorrow, woe, misfortune, medicine, remedy, charlatan, mage, empirical medicine

16. Jugement

This card corresponds to Trump XX, Judgment.

Upright

Judgment, true judgment, good judgment, sane judgment, fair judgment, discernment, intelligence, reason, understanding, conception, view, thought, comparison, deliberation, opinion, feeling, false judgment, last judgment

Reversed

Judgment, decision, decree, ruling, legal outcome, arbitration, pacification, weak judgment, weak spirit, pusillanimity, injustice, madness

17. Moralite / Neant

This card corresponds to Trump XIII, Death.

Upright

Mortality, death, passing, end, extinguishing, destruction, attack, murder, assassination, homicide, suicide, regicide, massacre, carnage, butchery, slaughter, occision, poison, deterioration, rot, corruption, putrefaction

Reversed

Nothingness, inertia, paralysis, paralyze, sleep, lethargy, somnambulism, evanescence, negation, null, not at all, annihilate

18. Traitre / Faux Devot

This card corresponds to Trump IX, the Hermit. However, the meanings fit quite well with Trump XII, The Hanged Man too.

Upright

Traitor, deceiver, dissimulation, hypocrite, fanatic, hypocrisy, fanaticism, impostor, disguise, imposture, corruptor, seducer, treason, craftiness, trickery

Reversed

Falsely pious person, hermit, anchorite, solitary, hidden, concealed, disguised, political, ruse

19. Misere / Prison

This card corresponds to Trump XVI, the Tower (or the Lightning).

Upright

Destitution, indigence, poverty, scarcity, need, necessity, distress, grief, pain, torment, suffering, affliction, unpleasantness, calamity, adversity, misfortune, bad luck, divine punishment, setback, disgrace, severity, rigidity, harshness

Reversed

Prison, imprisonment, detention, arrest, captivity, slavery, servitude, subjection, constraint, oppression, tyranny, yoke, chains, dungeon, dependence

20. Fortune / Augmentation

This card corresponds to Trump X, the Wheel of Fortune.

Upright

Fortune, luck, happiness, joy, bliss, improvement, prosperity, bonus, blessing, benefits, graces, favors, goods, wealth, profits, lot, fate, destiny, adventure, good fortune

Reversed

Augmentation, increase, enlargement, abundance, surfeit, growth, development, vegetation, production

21. Dissension / Arrogance

This card corresponds to Trump VII, The Chariot.

Upright

Dissension, discord, disturbances, agitation, noise, nuisance, disorder, riots, insurrection, revolt, sedition, rebellion, defection, faction, conspiracy, war, battle, conflict, combat, duel, violence, impulse, outburst, anger, quarrel, dispute, debate, argumentation, struggle, vengeance

Reversed

Arrogance, pride, vanity, false glory, pomp, ostentation, audacity, temerity, presumption, insult, affront

78. Folie

This card corresponds to the unnumbered trump, The Fool.

Upright

Madness, insanity, insane, eccentricity, enthusiasm, unreasonableness, blindness, ignorance, senseless, confusion, wandering, drunkenness, delirium, fever, frenzy, rage, passion, fury, transport, innocent, simple, silly

Reversed

Imbecility, ineptitude, insouciance, stupidity, imprudence, negligence, absence, absent-mindedness, apathy, nullity, empty, nothing, useless