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Etteilla method reported by Papus · 54 cards read · 24 set aside

Historic Grand Etteilla Tarot Spread: Soul, Mind and Body

This large Grand Etteilla reading reconstructs the first deal reported by Papus: 26 cards for the soul, 17 for the mind and 11 for the body, each read from right to left.

How to use this Tarot spread

When to choose it

Choose it for a broad historical survey when a compact answer is insufficient.

A useful question

“What is happening across the inner, mental and material levels of this period?”

Use an open question about a situation you can influence. Avoid requests for a guaranteed event, diagnosis, court result or financial profit.

Reading order

Read the 26-card soul row, then the 17-card mind row and finally the 11-card body row, always from right to left.

How the connected answer is formed

The answer compares all three historical levels, points out recurring printed concepts and ends with the relationship between the rows.

Draw the 54-card Grand Etteilla spread

Soul · 26 cards

The source treats the longest upper row as the unseen or spiritual level.

Mind · 17 cards

The middle row concerns thoughts and the affairs occupying the inquirer.

Body · 11 cards

The lower row concerns the body and material needs.

24 cards set aside

No cards have been drawn yet.

How the first Grand Etteilla deal works

  1. Shuffle all 78 cards and divide them into three packets of 26; retain the middle packet.
  2. Shuffle the remaining 52 cards and divide them into three packets of 17, with one card left; retain the middle packet.
  3. Shuffle the remaining 35 cards and divide them into three packets of 11, with two cards left; retain the middle packet.
  4. Lay the retained packets as rows of 26, 17 and 11, and read every row from right to left.
  5. Read the three rows together as a broad historical survey; the remaining 24 cards do not enter this deal.

Source

Papus, The Tarot of the Bohemians, Sixth Lesson: “Etteila’s original and unpublished Method”. Card meanings and images follow the German 1857 Grand Etteilla edition used throughout TarotCards24.

Grand Etteilla 54-card spread: frequently asked questions

Why are only 54 cards displayed?

The first deal selects three middle packets of 26, 17 and 11 cards. The other 24 cards are set aside.

Is this Etteilla’s complete four-deal method?

No. This page implements the documented first deal. Later deals require separate layouts and should not be collapsed into one screen.

Why are the rows called soul, mind and body?

Those are the categories in Papus’s historical report. They are kept as source labels and framed non-diagnostically.

Which direction should I read?

Each row is read from right to left, beginning with the 26-card row.

Can I use Rider–Waite–Smith?

Not on this page. The interaction is designed for the two printed meanings and order of Grand Etteilla 1857.