塔罗历史 03(11)

图为帕普斯（左）和瓜伊塔（右）。与列维一样，二人虽出身迥异，但皆有复杂的社会背景，绝非良善之辈。帕普斯参与过沙俄上层贵族的反犹太人阴谋，并且作为沙皇尼古拉斯二世的私人精神顾问预言过沙皇本人和沙俄的前景。瓜伊塔出身于贵族家庭，家境殷实，喜好结交当时的名流艺术家。因对蔷薇十字会的传说十分了解，人送雅号“蔷薇十字会王子”。瓜伊塔一生活得相当充实，曾因思想冲突答应过一位作家提出的手枪决斗要求，决斗中二人均失手，无人伤亡；也曾因好作红衣主教扮相而遭受指控。瓜伊塔生前喜爱吸食吗啡、可卡因和大麻以获得“神秘体会”，在36岁时早逝。
然而，放眼整个时代，瓜伊塔与许多成就斐然的同好相比，仅仅只是神秘主义浪潮的众多弄潮儿中不算起眼的一个。这一神秘主义浪潮自法国起，很快扩展到英国，乃至是全欧洲。不同秘密社团同时在欧洲各地兴起，吸引了为神秘学着魔的各色人等。波兰作家Mouni Sadhu在他关于塔罗的专著The Tarot这样描述这一群体：

To them came people tired by their long religious search; those disappointed in academic knowledge; those desiring something similar to Masonry, but, as they hoped, in a nobler form; ordinary, curious people of all calibers, and those who were unacceptable to other occult organizations. Finally, there were the really honest men and women who were striving after mystical powers, lovers of talks on occult themes in full salons, and hysterically-minded ladies, who are always keen for membership of societies where there is a taste of mystery.