THE EGYPTIAN TAROT OF SCHWALLER DE LUBICZ

by Giordano Berti

Those interested in “mysterious archeology” certainly know the name of René Schwaller de Lubicz
(1887-1961), author of revolutionary studies on the architectural symbolism of ancient Egypt. This
article is not devoted to those studies, nor to the adventurous life of Schwaller De Lubicz. The focus
is on the Egyptian Tarot he designed; however, to talk about it, it is still necessary to give some
brief information on the intellectual formation of this extraordinary researcher.
René Schwaller was born in Strasbourg in 1887. In his father's pharmacist's laboratory, some
chemical experiments led him to guess, when he was a young boy, the spiritual essence of matter
and the creative power of light and fire. In 1908 René moved to Paris, where he later graduated in
chemical engineering. At the same time, attending the atelier of the painter Matisse, he discovered
that color is a phenomenon capable of influencing human emotions and acting on reality, both
material and spiritual.
In 1913 Schwaller joined the French branch of the Theosophical
Society. At that time he began to frequent the exponents of the
French alchemistic tradition, including the mysterious “Fulcanelli”…
but someone thinks that Fulcanelli is a pseudonym that must be
attributed to the whole group. Other acquaintances gave him a
growing passion for Egyptian sacred art.
After the First World War Schwaller, together with a group of friends
he founded the Veilleurs (Vigilantes, like the Angels who, according
to the Book of Enoch, gave humanity the arts and sciences), whose
goal was to revitalize European society on the basis of humanitarian
ideas. Another significant moment was the delivery, by the
Lithuanian nobleman Oskar Wladislas de Lubicz, of the right to carry
the de Lubicz family's title and heraldic crest, as a sign of gratitude
for Schwaller's help in recognizing the historical boundaries of the
Lithuania by the Franco-Anglo-American forces.
In 1922 Schwaller de Lubicz founded the Suhalia Scientific Station in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where
he installed a laboratory for the production of homeopathic substances, a forge for the smelting of
metals and glass, a printing house and an astronomical observatory. Suhalia was also a place of
mystical meditations and alchemical experiments.
In winter of 1925 Schwaller received a
series of revelations about “the intelligence
of the heart”. from a mysterious entity
called Aor.
Still in St. Moritz, at the end of 1926 he
published a work on the conjugal mystery
and the metaphysics of eros entitled Adam,
the homme rouge. The following year took
place the marriage, real and alchemic, of
René with Jeanne Lamy. Jeanne took the
initiatory name “Isha” and remained for all
her life the main collaborator of “Aor”
Schwaller de Lubicz, as well as her
biographer, author of studies of Egyptology
and initiatory novels.

1
In the same period Schwaller, together with Isha, conceived his very personal Game of Egyptian
Tarot. The Italian painter and musician Elmiro Celli and Lucie Lamy, daughter of Isha, are supposed
to have contributed to the creation of the images.
On the Tarot cards, Schwaller had already written something in
1914 for the magazine Le Théosophe: “Ta-ro, which in Sanskrit
means “fixed star", is the name of the game of the Egyptian
hierophants who predicts the future, and which Hermes
Trismegistus found and established again. (...) The secret that is
tied to it is now lost to our civilization, but the method of its use
and its symbolism are still known to us and, curiously, in this
case, the experience proves us that it is possible to predict the
future.”
The Egyptian Tarot of Schwaller de Lubicz is composed of 21
Triumphs inspired by the gods of ancient Egypt and 4 Tables
representing “the Game of Life": Exchange, Battle, Love,
Science.
The deck was originally made in black and white, in a limited
edition of about twenty copies. In 1988 the French publisher
Bailly reprinted it in a 300 copies. More recently, thanks to a
private collector, italian Publishing House Rinascimento Italian
Style Art has reproduced the first edition, printed in May 2019 in
a limited edition of 986 copies.
It must be said that Schwaller de Lubicz did not leave any indication on a possible coloring of the
cards, however, to fully restore their charm, the editor of Rinascimento, italian scholar Giordano
Berti, decided to enrich them with colors conforming to the Egyptian culture based on the
fundamental treatise by Jean-François Champollion, Panthéon égyptien (Paris, 1823) and on other
works on Egyptian art.
Then, Berti added two Talismans,
Ankh and Udjat, which
Egyptologist Adan Pavan believes
they have a function of symbolic
protection role during the
divinatory readings. Each card
shows divinatory meanings (straight
and reverse) in four languages:
Italian, French, English and Spanish.
The booklet (90 color pages)
contains an introduction by
Giordano Berti, a summary of the
life and works of Schwaller de
Lubicz written by prof. Aaron
Cheak and the description of the
25 cards and divination methods
written by Ada Pavan. The English
translation is by Vittorio Berti.

The splendid box set has been designed by italian art designer Letizia Rivetti.
This very refined and precious edition is available on ETSY in two different versions:
Deluxe https://www.etsy.com/it/listing/711185625/ltded-grandi-carte-deluxe-egyptian-tarot
Art Box https://www.etsy.com/it/listing/697335278/tarocchi-egyptian-tarot-ltded-schwaller