Oswald Wirth, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Oswald Wirth

Swiss occultist

Date of Birth: 05-Aug-1860

Place of Birth: Brienz, canton of Bern, Switzerland

Date of Death: 09-Mar-1943

Profession: writer, librarian

Nationality: Switzerland

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Joseph Paul Oswald Wirth (1860, Brienz, Canton of Bern – 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.
Known as the "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.
The Wirth/de Guaita deck is significant in the history of the occult tarot for being the first in a long line of occult, cartomantic, and initiatory decks.
His interests also included Freemasonry and Astrology.
He wrote many books in French regarding Freemasonry, most importantly a set of three each explaining one of Freemasonry's first three degrees: La Franc-Maçonnerie rendue intelligible à ses adeptes, tome 1: L'apprenti La Franc-Maçonnerie rendue intelligible à ses adeptes, tome 2: Le Compagnon La Franc-Maçonnerie rendue intelligible à ses adeptes, tome 3: Le Maître