Oswald Wirth (5 August 1860 – 9 March 1943) was a Swiss-born occultist, artist, and writer whose name is forever tied to the refinement of esoteric Tarot in the French tradition. Born in the small lakeside town of Brienz, Wirth moved to Paris as a young man, where his life…

Marie-Anne Adelaide Lenormand was born 27 May 1772 in Alençon, Normandy, France — a 5 of Clubs in the Destiny Cards system. This card is the “Mental Freedom Seeker,” blessed with an agile, curious mind and a restless desire to explore new ideas. Her Jupiter card, the 7 of…

Eliphas Lévi was born Alphonse Louis Constant in Paris in 1810, the son of a modest shoemaker. By all logic, his life should have been ordinary — but fate had other designs. He entered a seminary in his youth, training for the Catholic priesthood, yet never took his vows. Somewhere…

Marguerite Frieda Bloxam—known to us as Lady Frieda Harris (born 13 August 1877 in London)—was far more than the painter behind the Thoth Tarot; she was the arcane artist who breathed life into Crowley’s cosmic vision. Daughter of a surgeon and wife to a Liberal politician-turned…

The Privileged Rebel of the Occult Aleister Crowley was never destined for an ordinary life. Born Edward Alexander Crowley on 12 October 1875 in the genteel town of Leamington Spa, England, he arrived into the world cushioned by serious wealth. His father, Edward Crowley, had retired young after making a…