Tarot de Marseille

Hi Folks, I’m new here… It looks like there isn’t a lot of activity on the TDM sub-forum, but maybe there are lurkers. But, no, wait, “lurkers” sounds negatives. I meant, TDM lovers who only need a loving nudge. I’m wondering what are the favorite TDM decks of folks here? I only have two in my possession right now, but about four more in-bound in the mail. I’m really looking forward to seeing those, but I’m also thinking it will be hard to improve on the CBD… Just a rock-solid deck. Seems to me (we can discuss) that TDM reached its maturity with the Conver deck, and that Ben Dove did such a good job of making it pretty, cle…

If anyone has time and an interest to watch a video and think about a question... I saw several videos about the Yves Renaud Gassmann deck and pretty much fell in love. So I ordered it, and it came yesterday. It is living up to expectations. If you watch this video... ... you'll see that she refers several times about how aspects of the deck that depart from canonical TdM harken back to Italian elements. I'm kinda into the Italian connection. For me, there's an intrinsic link between folk tales and tarot... and my favorite collection of folk tales is Italo Calvino's Italian Folk Tales... and in his i…

Introduction For the purposes of the present article, I refer to a version of the Tarot de Marseille that was published by Jean Noblet circa 1659 [1]. 1. The Balding Male Figure That Features in the Illustration That is Printed on the Twentieth Trump Card In the illustration that is printed on the twentieth trump card (figure 1), a balding male figure stands in a coffin with his back turned to the viewer as the commencement of the Last Judgement is announced by an angel that emerges from a cloud while blowing on a trumpet. The illustration that is printed on the fifth trump card (figure 2) suggests that the aforesaid figure is a represent…

The Quintessence was known for its transformative powers. Turning lead into gold. In the Major Arcana every 5th card is particularly transformative and elevates the Fool/Ego to a higher state of consciousness. The 5 levels of consciousness are represented by the 5 paths of the Fool's journey.

A bumper-sticker review, prior to more: the Tarot des Ambiguïtés from Artisan Tarot is frikkin' awesome. I've had the deck for about ten days and I can't reach for anything else.

I’m enjoying getting to know the Talisman Tarot from TarotArts. The box describes the deck as a “Monoprint tarot inspired by Magic, Cartomancy, & the Tarot de Marseilles.” I am not crazy about tuck boxes (who is?), but this is one of the nicest, maybe the nicest, I have handled: sturdy, pretty, and wonderfully tactile. When I put the deck in my cart, it said I qualified for a free matching velvet bag. The images have a primitive (in the best sense), cave-drawing-like feel. I find this very appealing. What’s happening in the card doesn’t immediately present itself. You have to look at the card for a while and let the …

Something to consider when looking at the imagery in (the particularly early versions of) TdM, most definitely! Video: Medieval Walking Gait and Embodied Historical Research

Not-random musings, but still just musings… ~~~ The plants and arebesques in the pip cards of a TdM dek are like a fifth suit, completely differrent than the others. They're like the suit of the tarot itself. The deck showing itself as present with us. Alive. Think about the holy ghost or holy spirit in Christianity. It's like that. They represent the life of the deck. That extra element that makes the whole thing sing, have life and relevance. Like a spirit, they appear and disappear unpredictably. They’re here and then not; they take different forms. Sometimes when they are here, we don't see them (silly us). …

I've just noticed recently that in TdM ( I am reading Yoav ben Dov's recently) , King of Coins wears a hat, not a crown .... Any ideas why is it so? TIA

Hello everyone, this is my first post on this forum. I have a question regarding of famous circle in the crown of "La Justice" card. While comparing cards on the wonderful website – https://www.tarot-de-marseille-heritage.com – I have found out that some historical decks like of Claude Burdel (1751), Jean-Pierre Laurent (1731) and earlier one from Pierre Madenie (1709) have in the crowns of the 8th cards of their decks a dot (is it a dot?) in a rhombus which is inside of a circle. I see that Wilfried Houdouin is also following this tradition. Can anyone share knowledge about this interesting detail which is portraited differently in the d…

I've been slowly coming to a new understanding of the TdM pips in divination, and have had a few interesting conversations with Lee Bursten on the subject. Here is the first of a set of 16 or 17 posts. I covered the Coins in detail in that series and the rest of the suits more generically. There is a tabulation in one post that you may find useful. https://parsifalswheeldivination.com/2019/05/24/over-under-sideways-down/

A trump card could be defined as a playing card that is part of a suit of trump cards. In general, a suit of trump cards could be defined as a suit that is assigned a superior ranking that qualifies players to take tricks subject to rules that are not applicable to the remaining suits. In the context of tarot cards, a suit of trump cards could be defined as a suit that comprises a variable number of playing cards that serve exclusively as trump cards. [Note: in a trick-taking card game, a trick, which is taken or won, comprises the cards that are played during a round of gameplay. The first player to play a card is said to lead to …

Introduction The International Playing-Card Society currently differentiate between two Tarot de Marseille patterns, namely, pattern sheet 1 and pattern sheet 2. For the purposes of the present article, I consider the following versions of pattern sheet 1: a version by Jean Noblet (circa 1659 [1]), a version by Jean-Pierre Payen (1713 [2]), and a version by Jean Dodal (circa 1701 to 1715 [3]). Concerning pattern sheet 2, I consider the following versions, which may be sufficiently representative of the general iconography of the said pattern sheet: a version by Pierre Madenié (1709 [4]), a version by François-Henri (1718 [5]), a version by Fra…

Introduction The International Playing-Card Society currently differentiate between two Tarot de Marseille patterns, namely, pattern sheet 1 and pattern sheet 2. For the purposes of the present article, I consider the following versions of pattern sheet 1: a version by Jean Noblet (circa 1659 [1]), a version by Jean-Pierre Payen (1713 [2]), and a version by Jean Dodal (circa 1701 to 1715 [3]). Concerning pattern sheet 2, I consider the following versions, which may be sufficiently representative of the general iconography of the said pattern sheet: a version by Pierre Madenié (1709 [4]), a version by François-Henri (1718 [5]), a version by Fra…

Introduction The International Playing-Card Society currently differentiate between two Tarot de Marseille patterns, namely, pattern sheet 1 and pattern sheet 2. For the purposes of the present article, I consider the following versions of pattern sheet 1: a version by Jean Noblet (circa 1659 [1]), a version by Jean-Pierre Payen (1713 [2]), and a version by Jean Dodal (circa 1701 to 1715 [3]). Concerning pattern sheet 2, I consider the following versions, which may be sufficiently representative of the general iconography of the said pattern sheet: a version by Pierre Madenié (1709 [4]), a version by François-Henri (1718 [5]), a version by François C…

Introduction The International Playing-Card Society currently differentiate between two Tarot de Marseille patterns, namely, pattern sheet 1 and pattern sheet 2. For the purposes of the present article, I consider the following versions of pattern sheet 1: a version by Jean Noblet (circa 1659 [1]), a version by Jean-Pierre Payen (1713 [2]), and a version by Jean Dodal (circa 1701 to 1715 [3]). Concerning pattern sheet 2, I consider the following versions, which may be sufficiently representative of the general iconography of the said pattern sheet: a version by Pierre Madenié (1709 [4]), a version by François-Henri (1718 [5]), a version by Fra…

Much like pictures here it was a very old deck vintagey, but the colours were still vivid they smelt of musk and dust 😁I bought it of eBay and this is when I started dreaming and going in the deck it had a small piece of paper with 3 word meaning to each card does anyone know there real spelling , origin of the cards they were stunning and the only ones I’ve ever been able to connect with thanks ?

I first read Camelia Elias's book in 2015 and reviewed it here: Wen & Elias - 2 reviews . I can safely say it transformed my cartomancy. I've been reading it again and although I'm nearly finished, now that I've become active on these boards, I thought it might be fun to discuss. Happy to start over at the beginning and work through it. Any takers?