The History of the Esoteric School 1904–1914, Volume Two

GA 265 — Hildesheim

The Book of Thoth (Tarot)

From the instruction session in Munich, December 12, 1906,¹

The Book of Thoth of the Egyptians consisted of 78 cards containing the secrets of the world. This was well known in Egyptian initiation. The cards for the card game come from this. The terms king, knight, tower guard, general are occult terms.

From a lecture in Berlin, December 17, 1906

Those who were initiated into the Egyptian mysteries understood the sign

They also knew how to read the Book of Thoth, which consisted of 78 card decks in which all world events from the beginning to the end, from Alpha to Omega, were recorded and which could be read when they were connected and put together in the correct order. It contained in pictures the life that dies to death and sprouts again to new life. Those who could combine the right numbers and the right images could read in it. And this wisdom of numbers and images has been taught since ancient times. It still played an important role in the Middle Ages, for example with Raimundus Lullus, but today not much of it remains.