Oswald Wirth

Joseph Paul Oswald Wirth (5 August 1860, Brienz, Canton of Bern – 9 March 1943) was a Swiss occultist, artist and author.

He studied esotericism and symbolism with Stanislas de Guaita and in 1889 he created, under the guidance of de Guaita, a cartomantic Tarot consisting only of the twenty-two Major Arcana.

[1] Known as "Les 22 Arcanes du Tarot Kabbalistique", it followed the designs of the Tarot de Marseille closely but introduced several alterations, incorporating extant occult symbolism into the cards.

On 28 January 1884 Wirth was initiated in the regular Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge La Bienfaisance Châlonnaise affiliated to the Grand Orient of France.

In 1889, he joined the Scottish Rite Travail et les Vrais Amis Fidèles where he became Grand Master.