The Two Schools
Hermeticum brings together the two great traditions of tarot. Choose the language that resonates with you — or let both speak in the same reading.
French School
17th c. · Marseille, France
Non-figurative minor arcana, read through geometry, number and color. The French occult current reinterpreted the deck in light of Kabbalah and Hermeticism, tying each Major Arcanum to one of the 22 Hebrew letters.
The French lineage
The father of modern occultism. He was the first to link the 22 Major Arcana to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the paths of the Tree of Life.
Gérard Encausse. In “The Tarot of the Bohemians” he systematized the deck as the universal key of the occult sciences, tying it to the Tetragrammaton YHVH.
Under the guidance of Stanislas de Guaita, he drew an initiatic Tarot of 22 trumps — a bridge between the Marseille tradition and kabbalistic symbolism.
English School
1909 · London, England
Minor arcana fully illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, with the kabbalistic, astrological and elemental correspondences of the Golden Dawn. An intuitive, narrative and initiatic reading.
The English lineage
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn encoded its entire magical system into the Tarot: Kabbalah, astrology, alchemy and the four elements.
With Pamela Colman Smith he created the Rider-Waite-Smith deck (1909), illustrating the 56 Minor Arcana with narrative scenes for the first time.
Founder of the A∴A∴ (Astrum Argentum). He created the Thoth Tarot, deepening the kabbalistic, astrological and Book of the Law correspondences.
Kabbalah & Tree of Life
Both schools drink from the same source: hermetic Kabbalah. The 78 cards mirror the structure of the Tree of Life — the 22 Hebrew letters, the four Worlds and the four elements.
Tree of Life · 10 Sefirot · 22 paths
The 22 trumps correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the 22 paths that join the 10 Sefirot of the Tree of Life.
The four suits embody the four elements and the four kabbalistic Worlds — the four levels of the Divine Name YHVH (יהוה).
The archetypal world, the creative spark and pure will.
The world of emotions and soul, where the idea gains feeling.
The world of mind and form, of thoughts and conflicts.
The material, concrete world, where everything manifests.
The Spreads
Each layout reveals a different layer. From both schools, we chose the essential spreads — ready to guide your reading.
Past, present and future. The essential reading for immediate clarity on any question.
The Marseille cross: four forces around a central synthesis. Structure, number and direction.
Ten cards in depth: the heart of the question, what crosses it, roots, future and the outcome.
Seven cards in an arc tracing the evolution of a situation, with advice and likely result.
The Ritual
Choose the school — Marseille or Rider-Waite — and the spread that best translates your question.
Focus while you shuffle the digital deck. Turn the cards one by one, in your own time.
Meanings of each arcanum, position and combination — kept in your personal mystic journal.
Plans
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