Thanks for all that!
Yeah metatron cube being the foundation for Tarot of Marsielles is so over the top but this one author/card creator is convinced! Maybe he's just really high.

I am interested in finding out how Waite took the Minor Arcana of the French and Italian Tarot decks and turned them into full stories for his deck that the other decks did not display. Papus' numerology approach seems simple enough to fit the Tarot of Marseilles Minor Arcana graphics, but not sure how Waite came up with his detailed stories. I'm gonna dig around and see what I can find!

Thanks!