clergyman and occultist Antoine Court who named himself Court de Gébelin published in his massive work Le Monde primitif his idea that the Tarot was actually an ancient Egyptian book of arcane wisdom; his work included an essay by the Comte de Mellet who first called tarot cards the Book of Thoth and, crucially, claimed that the Egyptians used the cards for fortune-telling and described what purported to be their method of divination. There is no evidence to support the notion that tarot has an Egyptian lineage but, influenced by de Gébelin, Etteilla responded with another book, Manière de se récréer avec le jeu de cartes nommées tarots ("Way to recreate yourself with the deck of cards called tarots") in 1783. It was the first book of methods of divination by Tarot. In the book, Etteilla claimed that he had been introduced to the art of cartomancy in 1751, long before the appearance of Court de Gebelin's work. In 1788 he formed 'Société des Interprètes du Livre de Thot', a group of French-speaking correspondents through which he continued to discuss his ideas about tarot interpretation. The next year he published a special deck for divination that syncretized his ideas with older forms of French cartomancy. This was the first deck of cards specifically designed for occult purposes. In 1790, Etteilla founded the Nouvelle Ecole de Magie (New School of Magic). Later that year, he published Cours théorique et pratique du Livre du Thot (Theoretical and practical course from the Book of Thoth), which includes his reworkings of what would later be called the "Major" and "Minor Arcana", as well as the introduction of the four elements and astrology. Publications Etteilla, ou maniere de se récréer avec un jeu de cartes / par M.***, Amsterdam ; Paris : Lesclapart, 1770. Le Zodiaque mystérieux, ou les oracles d'Etteilla, Amsterdam ; Paris : Lesclapart, 1772. Etteilla, ou la seule maniere de tirer les cartes ; revue, corrigée et augmentée par l'auteur sur son premier manuscrit, Amsterdam ; Paris : Lesclapart, 1773. Instruction sur le loto des Indiens que nous a donné en 1772 Mr Etteilla, professeur d'algèbre, s.l. [Paris ?], 1782. Instruction sur la combinaison hislérique, extraite du Loto des Indiens, s.l. [Paris ?], 1782. Etteilla, ou instructions sur l'art de tirer les cartes. Troisiéme et derniere édition par l'auteur de la Cartonomancie, Amsterdam ; Paris : Segault ; Legras, 1783. L'Homme à