Paul Christian

Paul Christian, the pen name of Jean-Baptiste Pitois (1811-1877), was a French writer and librarian, author most notably of a Histoire de la magie published in 1870 (translated as The History and Practice of Magic). Influenced by Éliphas Lévi, he is generally credited with using the word “arcana” for tarot cards, a usage that became standard in esoteric literature. He also described the arcana as images from a supposed Egyptian initiation rite, a theory with no historical basis.