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The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination — Context and Discussion

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Authors: De Laurence, L. W. (Lauron William), 1868-1936, Smith, Pamela Colman, 1878-1951 [Illustrator] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2013 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Fortune-telling by cards; Tarot Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 38,790

Reading time 169 min

Text sections 8

This digital edition of The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination — Context and Discussion is described by source-level measurements including 38,790 words, 2 hr 49 min estimated reading time, and 8 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 22.5 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Fortune-telling by cards,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #43548

This editorial note examines how L. W. de Laurence's 1918 tarot manual, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, blends occult philosophy with practical divination, focusing on the tension between its catalog subject 'Fortune-telling by cards' and its deeper symbolic claims.

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of Countess Gonzaga, at Milan. A complete Minchiate pack contained ninety-seven cards, and in spite of these vestiges it is regarded, speaking generally, as a later development. There were forty-one Trumps Major, the additional numbers being borrowed or reflected from the Baldini emblematic set. In the court cards of the Minor Arcana, the Knights were monsters of the centaur type, while the Knaves were sometimes warriors and sometimes serving-men. Another distinction dwelt upon is the prevalence of Christian mediæval ideas and the utter absence of any Oriental suggestion. The question, however, remains whether there are Eastern traces in any Tarot cards.

We come, in fine, to the Bolognese Tarot, sometimes referred to as that of Venice and having the Trumps Major complete, but numbers 20 and 21 are transposed. In the Minor Arcana the 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the small cards are omitted, with the result that there are sixty-two cards in all. The termination of the Trumps Major in the representation of the Last Judgment is curious, and a little arresting as a point of symbolism; but this is all that it seems necessary to remark about the pack of Bologna, except that it is said to have been invented--or, as a Tarot, more correctly, modified--about the beginning of the fifteenth century by an exiled Prince of Pisa resident in the city. The purpose for which they were used is made tolerably evident by the fact that, in 1423, St. Bernardin of Sienna preached against playing cards and other forms of gambling. Forty years later the importation of cards into England was forbidden, the time being that of King Edward IV. This is the first certain record of the subject in our country.

It is difficult to consult perfect examples of the sets enumerated above, but it is not difficult to meet with detailed and illustrated descriptions--I should add, provided always that the writer is not an occultist, for accounts emanating from that source are usually imperfect, vague and preoccupied by considerations which cloud the critical issues. An instance in point is offered by certain views which have been expressed on the Mantegna codex--if I may continue to dignify card sequences with a title of this kind. It has been ruled--as we have seen--in occult reverie that Apollo and the Nine Muses are in correspondence with Pentacles, but the analogy does not obtain in a working state of research; and reverie must border on nightmare before we can identify Astronomy, Chronology and Cosmology with the suit of Cups. The Baldini figures which represent these subjects are emblems of their period and not symbols, like the Tarot.

In conclusion as to this part, I observe that there has been a disposition among experts to think that the Trumps Major were not originally connected with the numbered suits. I do not wish to offer a personal view; I am not an expert in the history of games of chance, and I hate the _profanum vulgus_ of divinatory devices; but I venture, under all reserves, to intimate that if later research should justify such a leaning, then--except for the good old art of fortune-telling and its tamperings with so-called destiny--it will be so much the better for the Greater Arcana.

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L. W. de Laurence's The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination (1918) presents itself as both a practical guide to cartomancy and a treatise on esoteric symbolism. The catalog assigns it the subject 'Fortune-telling by cards,' yet the preface immediately distances the work from mere divination, calling it a 'doctrine' concerned with 'the highest' mystic schools. This tension between surface utility and hidden meaning runs throughout the text, which is illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith—best known for her Rider-Waite-Smith deck—though the excerpts do not confirm which illustrations appear.

The Author's Apologetic Stance

In the preface, de Laurence anticipates criticism for engaging with fortune-telling, framing his work as a continuation of hermetic tradition. He compares himself to the 'most illuminated Frater Christian Rosy Cross,' who, after witnessing the 'Chemical Marriage,' expected to become a door-keeper. This analogy suggests that the highest initiates may take on humble roles—including writing a tarot manual. The author's defensive tone reveals a concern that his subject might be seen as beneath his previous works, which include titles on 'Magical Art' and 'Hindu Magic.' The preface thus establishes that the book is not merely a method of divination but a vehicle for 'higher mystic schools,' though the excerpts do not clarify how this plays out in the instructional sections.

The Fool as Mystic Wanderer

The description of the Fool card exemplifies the book's dual approach. De Laurence portrays the figure as 'a prince of the other world on his travels through this one,' with 'light step' and a 'countenance full of intelligence and expectant dream.' The card is said to reverse 'all the confusions that have preceded it' and to summarize 'many symbols of the Instituted Mysteries.' Yet he also acknowledges the conventional fortune-telling meaning: 'the flesh, the sensitive life,' and notes that its subsidiary name was once 'the alchemist.' This dual reading—esoteric and mundane—reflects the book's overall method: offering symbolic depth while still providing the 'common arts of fortune-telling.' The excerpt does not include the actual divinatory meanings for the Fool, leaving the balance between the two approaches unclear.

The World Card and Cosmic Perfection

De Laurence's treatment of the World card emphasizes its unchangeable design and multiple layers of meaning. He calls it 'the perfection and end of the Cosmos' and 'the rapture of the universe when it understands itself in God (Nature).' He explicitly rejects certain interpretations, such as that it represents 'the absolute' (which he calls 'ridiculous') or that the figure symbolizes the Magus at the highest initiation. Instead, he links it to the 'state of the restored world' and a 'story of the past' when creation was declared good. This careful parsing of meanings—affirming some, dismissing others—shows de Laurence's effort to establish an authoritative reading while distancing himself from earlier occult traditions. The excerpt does not reveal how the card is interpreted in practical divination, leaving the connection to fortune-telling implicit.

Readers approaching this work should be aware that its catalog classification as 'Fortune-telling by cards' captures only one dimension. De Laurence consistently frames the tarot as a symbolic system with roots in mystical tradition, and his commentary on individual cards blends esoteric philosophy with practical method. The excerpts suggest that the book may be most valuable to those interested in early 20th-century occult reinterpretations of the tarot, rather than as a straightforward divination manual.

I keep thinking about that tarot book and how it quietly admitted its own contradictions, the gap between what we call fortune-telling and what we're actually seeking. It reminded me of another piece I stumbled upon once, The Promise of World Peace — Context and Discussion, which lingers in a similar way. Both feel less like answers and more like honest questions left open.