Melbourne

Crowley was an abusive dickhead that used occultism as a power trip. And not French but English, unfortunately, and early 1900s not 1800s. He was active in the 1920s and 30s before he met a well deserved fate. Maybe you're thinking of the 18th century libertine movement, which also experimented with denying the power of organised christian religion, and did not quibble at doing transgressive behaviour. Eg the Marquis de Sade, and truth to tell, Voltaire.

On tarot cards, try reading up on Madame Blavatsky and how her shtick connected with the Theosophical movement so popular in the 1920s and 30s. The consonance with today's CBT is sooo compelling. 'Every day in every way I am getting better and better' as a daily mantra. And this is where the whole power of positive thinking got started too. I've played tarrocco and enjoyed it - having the extra cards lends a whole new dimension to strategy. I'd call it as closer to classic whist or contract bridge - its not similar to poker at all as it's trick based.

The actual cards in the current format have been around since late medieval times - mostly used for card playing. Using cards for divination (and a whole lot of other things too such as the flight of birds and entrails of sacrificial animals) has been popular since the roman empire, and possibly since humanity was invented. As a species we really do want to believe that we can get a cheat code on the future.