History of the Oracle of Belline
More than 2 millennia ago, the first playing cards<\/strong> appeared in ancient India <\/strong>and China<\/strong>. But it would take until the 15th<\/sup> century<\/strong> A.D. for them to reach Europe<\/strong>, where they were very soon used by Roma seers<\/strong> for divinatory readings<\/strong>.
And it was in 16th<\/sup>-century<\/strong> France that tarot card<\/strong> decks would upend the customs of the population.
Three centuries later, while this divinatory art<\/strong> still enjoyed great success<\/strong> thanks to the Tarot of Marseille<\/strong>, the magus Edmond <\/strong>changed things somewhat by creating the Oracle of Belline<\/strong>.
A social phenomenon called Tarot
Since its appearance <\/strong>around the year 1550<\/strong>, the tarot <\/strong>quickly became a social phenomenon <\/strong>in Renaissance <\/strong>France<\/strong>, and every layer of the population had their cards read <\/strong>to learn a few predictions <\/strong>to come about their destiny<\/strong>.
Fortune tellers<\/strong> were everywhere. You would meet them on roadsides, in taverns and even within the royal court<\/strong>, which saw in this divinatory art<\/strong> that is card reading<\/strong> one more entertainment<\/strong>.
A little later, after the appearance <\/strong>of the Tarot of Marseille<\/strong> deck, which would once again revolutionise <\/strong>the world of cartomancy<\/strong>, men of science and great sages<\/strong> also began to take a close interest in this practice of clairvoyance<\/strong>, which was taking an even more esoteric <\/strong>turn with this new deck of cards<\/strong>.
Indeed, the Tarot of Marseille<\/strong> deck had every reason to surprise, but above all to fascinate <\/strong>the crowds.
Made up of , this deck <\/strong>was divided into 2 parts: 22 major arcana<\/strong> and 56 minor ones<\/strong>.
In the case of the major arcana<\/strong>, they each represented a powerful figure<\/strong> or a sacred object<\/strong>, and each one symbolised a fragment of human nature<\/strong>, so that placed end to end, these 22 cards<\/strong> showed us the initiatory journey <\/strong>of a life<\/strong>.
But the practice of tarot, although it was based on esotericism like all practices of clairvoyance, managed not to lock itself into overly occult categories and thus remained very popular among all generations, and this for many centuries.
It was deeply unsettling in that era when witches <\/strong>were still burned <\/strong>and magic <\/strong>could be likened to witchcraft<\/strong>.
But the practice of tarot<\/strong>, although it was based on esotericism <\/strong>like all practices of clairvoyance<\/strong>, managed not to lock itself into overly occult categories and thus remained very popular <\/strong>among all generations, and this for many centuries.
The origins of the Oracle of Belline
At the start of the 19th<\/sup> century<\/strong>, Mlle Lenormand<\/strong> was a very famous seer<\/strong>. Specialising in the esoteric fields<\/strong> of necromancy <\/strong>and cartomancy<\/strong>, she had created a new divination tool with the tarot card deck<\/strong> that still bears her name today.
Highly renowned <\/strong>in Paris<\/strong>, she was always courted <\/strong>by highly placed<\/strong> people in society and had her own circle of disciples <\/strong>within her « bureau of clairvoyance <\/strong>».
One of her best pupils <\/strong>was named Charles-Ernest Billaudot<\/strong>, before he was nicknamed <\/strong>the magus Edmond<\/strong> by Mlle Lenormand herself, shortly before her death.
A teacher of celestial mathematics in Paris, the magus Edmond <\/strong>practised his gifts of clairvoyance<\/strong> alongside his profession, and he very soon had very famous clients <\/strong>such as the writers Alexandre Dumas<\/strong> and Victor Hugo<\/strong>, but also Napoleon III<\/strong> and the Empress Eugénie.
Always passionate <\/strong>about esotericism<\/strong>, it was in 1845, then aged 36, that he resumed the work <\/strong>begun by his teacher Mlle Lenormand <\/strong>and finished drawing what would a little later become the cards of the tarot of the Oracle of Belline<\/strong>.
Unfortunately, this new tarot deck, deeply inspired <\/strong>by that of Marseille and that of Etteilla, would ultimately remain at the sketch stage<\/strong>, drawn on several sheets, and this for dark reasons. The magus Edmond <\/strong>passed away in 1881, without ever having seen his project come to life.
The resurrection of the Oracle of Belline
It was only some 70 years later that the sheets<\/strong> blackened by the magus Edmond<\/strong> were heard of again. It was indeed around the year 1950<\/strong> that a certain seer<\/strong>, going by the name of Marcel Belline<\/strong>, found by the greatest of chances the famous sheets at the bottom of a trunk lying around in a Parisian attic.
His life would be changed forever, for Marcel Belline<\/strong> had never really had much luck. Practising his gifts of clairvoyance<\/strong> without great success, he had even lost his son a few years earlier in tragic circumstances.
Then deeply troubled by this sudden loss, he used his gifts as a medium<\/strong> to stay in contact with his child who had passed away too soon. He moreover published this experience in a work that is highly sought after today, named « The 3rd<\/sup> ear listening to the beyond ». It was one of his clients <\/strong>who, one day, offered to let him visit her house, which had belonged to the great magus Edmond in the previous century. Most intrigued, Marcel Belline<\/strong> accepted and went up to the attic during his visit.
It was thus that he came upon the trunk containing many grimoires <\/strong>and above all the sheets <\/strong>on which were drawn all the playing cards<\/strong> of a new tarot<\/strong> imagined by the magus Edmond<\/strong>.
Then he was seized by an uncommon rush of adrenaline, which made him forget those past tragedies a little. He thought deep within himself that it was destiny that had placed these sheets in his hands and that it was the magus Edmond<\/strong> in person who was giving him a new chance to pull himself out of the anonymity in which he had been languishing for far too long.
Belline <\/strong>then set out to update <\/strong>the work <\/strong>of the magus Edmond<\/strong> somewhat, to make it his own <\/strong>in order to turn it into something more contemporary, and to have it printed by a publisher.
It was master Cartier-Grimaud<\/strong> who was put in charge of this task, and on Belline<\/strong>‘s orders, he inserted <\/strong>this new deck of cards <\/strong>into a black case<\/strong>, on which was written in letters of gold<\/strong>: the Oracle of Belline<\/strong>.
The unexpected success of the Oracle of Belline
Very soon, without dethroning<\/strong> the famous Tarot of Marseille<\/strong> deck, the Oracle of Belline<\/strong> would nonetheless upend <\/strong>the world of tarot reading<\/strong>.
With its 53 cards<\/strong> bearing depictions <\/strong>and symbolism <\/strong>as strong <\/strong>as those contained in the cards of the Tarot of Marseille, this Oracle influenced by astrology<\/strong> would open up new reading possibilities for professional cartomancers<\/strong>, for by drawing on the astral chart<\/strong>, dear to the horoscopes found in women’s books and magazines, the Oracle of Belline<\/strong> deepens <\/strong>the nuances specific to each of our personalities<\/strong>.
Which is no small thing in matters of clairvoyance<\/strong>, and the various practitioners <\/strong>of tarot reading <\/strong>would not be mistaken in adopting it <\/strong>for new divinatory readings<\/strong>.
Thus, the interpretation <\/strong>of the cards <\/strong>would be much more oriented <\/strong>towards the astrological signs<\/strong> of future clients, all the more so as these 53 cards<\/strong> are divided into 7 families<\/strong> named after planets<\/strong> of our solar system.
So we find the families:
- of the Sun<\/strong>,
- of the Moon<\/strong>,
- of Jupiter<\/strong>,
- of Mercury<\/strong>,
- of Venus<\/strong>,
- of Mars <\/strong>
- or also of Saturn<\/strong>.
Each of these families is made up of 7 cards<\/strong> that have depictions and symbolism of their own. These 49 cards<\/strong> are complemented by 4 major cards<\/strong>, like the 22 arcana of the Tarot of Marseille. These latter are named:
- The Key<\/strong>,
- the Star of Man<\/strong>,
- the Star of Woman<\/strong>,
- as well as the Blue card<\/strong>, which is a sign of luck <\/strong>and protection<\/strong>.
Thus equipped, the Oracle of Belline tarot<\/strong> deck would therefore breathe new life into the divinatory art<\/strong> of predicting the future to a subject through the cards.
The many contributions of the Oracle of Belline
Since its appearance, the Oracle of Belline<\/strong> has caused much ink to flow within the world of tarot reading<\/strong>.
First of all, because, legitimately belonging to the magus Edmond<\/strong>, some accused Marcel Belline<\/strong> of a certain opportunism <\/strong>for having dared to name <\/strong>this Oracle, which he had not designed, after his own name.
But also because, beyond certain controversies, the readings carried out<\/strong> with this Oracle <\/strong>would delight <\/strong>many clients <\/strong>through their approach so deeply tied to everyone’s existential problems<\/strong>.
Especially for everything connected to romantic relationships<\/strong> and the desire for personal development<\/strong>.
Subsequently, many other Oracles<\/strong> would come into being, without ever reaching the popularity of Belline<\/strong>‘s.
As a little anecdote, divinatory readings<\/strong> carried out with the Oracle of Belline<\/strong> tarot deck made it possible to predict <\/strong>important events of the late 20th<\/sup> century<\/strong> such as the assassinations of JFK and Bobby Kennedy,<\/strong> the premature passing<\/strong> of Albert Einstein<\/strong> and the violent protests <\/strong>of May 68<\/strong>, which pushed General de Gaulle <\/strong>to resign <\/strong>a year later.
Even today, famous tarot readers<\/strong> such as Colette Silvestre <\/strong>or Alexis Tournier<\/strong> swear by it alone, to help us better find ourselves within our life and thus within our destiny<\/strong>.
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