TdM

This is intended as a master thread where we can share and discuss anything and everything that helps us further our understanding of the TdM. You can ask for tips (or share tips) regarding books, decks, websites etc. Discussions around reading techniques, symbolism etc are also encouraged. Just remember to stick to the topic of TdM Now, help me make this place feel nice and cozy! Feel free to share many pics... 😊

Good evening all! I recently felt the itch to get back into more historic decks and stumbled across this deck. I did search the forum but it doesn’t seem to have had much discussion in its own right. It’s not *technically* a TdM but the author has aimed to delve into the history of tarot in creating it (ie pre Golden Dawn interpretations). I absolutely love the art style and consistent colour coding of the suits (even though the choice of fiery red for Swords and deep blue for Batons seems unusual, it actually works for me somehow, even though the Batons are still about willpower and so, fire!) I only just received the deck and its compan…

Hi all, I'm ready to venture into TdM and have seen someone online selling all these TdM decks. I've tried to check out individual cards to see which version I like best, but I had to give up. They are all beautiful and interesting. I was tempted to just get the replica of the olderst, but that one has rough printing quality, wich is beautifully preserved in the modern copy of course, but the younger ones are possibly easier to read with because they are a. bit clearer, also the coloring of the clothes and objects is better, which is important for the interpretation, as I have already learned in my beginner studies. Tough choice. …

Hello. Here are 11 pages of coins from various Tarots de Marseille in my collection (sharper picture here : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZFhrFgBU-7vX71eyQvKty1WoZgiVjjuq/view ) It's interesting to see them side by side because it shows how dark some decks can be. The picture has been adjusted so that the colours are as close as possible as the real colours on the cards. Of course, what you see depends a lot on your display device. But if you've got a high quality monitor set in sRGB, what you see is very close to what's on the cards. 0 - This card (the Lover) comes from an unknown Grimaud deck (it's written on the top left). I don't have the Pa…

First, to define a Tarot de Marseille deck... http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards43.htm "The pattern named after the city of Marseille (southern France) is the most well-known in the world, up to the point of being often considered 'the mother of all tarots', the classic version of this kind of deck. Indeed, it was not the earliest one to be created, and it would be more correct to think of it as the most popular and long-lasting pattern among the several varieties that flourished from the second half of the 15th century to present, some of which did not last very long, or were confined to more restricted geographic areas. The same name 'Tarot of Mar…

I have chosen to start learning the tarot with Tarot de Marseille, starting with a short online course that uses the Rider-Waite. From here, I'd like to continue with a book: So what would you recommend for each of the following: A first book for somebody new to tarot using a Tarot de Marseille deck? If a person only ever got one book on the Tarot de Marseille, which would it be?

Hi, I recently watch the TV Series "War & Peace" (2016) - a very faithful adaptation from Tolstoy masterwork. In the last episode, one of the hero Pierre Bezhukov is consulting cards. Can someone help me identifying the exact deck here ? Thanks, N. Hel

Hello, Here is a comparison between 5 tarots de Marseille that I occasionally use. I won't describe the differences between them. You can find videos on Youtube showing each card. I will rather tell how they look in my eyes and how it feels for me to draw cards with them. As an example, here is the same draw with each of them: Left: -Le véritable Tarot de Marseille, by Kris Hadar I like the deep rich colours of this one. If you get one, try to find the edition with the white box. The one with red and white box has colder colours (that's the one used in the above picture). Right: -Le Tarot de Mars…

Hi, guys! I've become obsessed with the specific shade of light teal used in the 1930 "fleur de lis" deck of the Paul Marteau-designed Ancien TdM, and this is where all my troubles start. :)) This deck comes with the distinct variant of having two red coins on the Magician's table instead of two yellow/black dice, as well as an 1890 French tax stamp, and especially a fleur de lis on the 4 of coins. There's a copy of the fleur-de-lis deck on Ebay right now, and you can see all these distinctions in it, along with the very high collector's price. Here's a screenshot of this deck "in action", these colors, I love them so much. …

Hi over the last year I have been getting more interested in the open reading way of approaching the major arcana. I have found for me that it gives me greater insight when reading. So I wondered what peoples thoughts and ideas were on this method of reading.

Where would one go to browse historical decks - reproductions, revamps, clones - if one didn't want to pay for shipping from the US? Or generally from outside the EU. I know of Il Meneghello (very expensive) and Tarot de Marseille Heritage (only woodcutty Marseilles). Are we left with mass market decks on Amazon, or are there other small studio alternatives? I know there are artists on Etsy but I'm not sure how/who to look for. Other than Gergely Bagameri, I already have two of his creations. Do you have any favorite creators to recommend? For my general and indie decks I hunt on tarot.nl and Salon des Arcanes but if they carry historical decks at …

Wanting to get beyond the standard Golden Dawn ways of reading pip cards, I’m looking into the numerological Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis method described by Knapp in the Knapp-Hall LWB [1929]. Has anyone out there ever tried this? It goes like this: each suite has a keyword: Love for Cups, Hatred for Swords, Enterprise for Scepters, and Fortune for Coins. Knapp breaks down 9 of the 10 pips into 3 groups of 3: 1, 2, 3 —COMMENCEMENT 1….Commencement of Commencement 2….Opposition of Commencement 3….Equilibrium of Commencement 4, 5, 6 — OPPOSITION 4….Commencement of Opposition 5….Opposition of Opposition 6….Equ…

Since a few years back, there exist a Marseille deck printed by Lo Scarabeo under the name Marseille Tarot. It is the fruit of cooperation between Anna Maria Morsucci and Mattia Ottolini. I've been aware of the Marseille subset of tarot decks since back in the 1980s, but what was available then was the post-1970s version of Grimaud's marseilles deck in very dark blue, which makes the lines difficult to distinguish. I didn't warm up to marseilles decks until CBD Tarot became available, because, in that one, the lines are easily distinguishable, and the colour scheme is presumably closer to the original one My question is, when someone new to marseil…

It turns out the Trionfi della Luna was my gateway to jumping into the TdM. I’ve been reading through many of the topics here over the past couple weeks to understand how to read the pip cards better, and that has invariably lead me deeper into learning about the TdM in general. It’s so rich! I just finished Tarot: The Open Reading and I really enjoyed his process and tips for reading the cards. I splurged a little and have some decks coming my way. (Warning: Enabling?) I ordered the CBD Tarot, the Flornoy Noblet, and, the one I might be most excited about, the strange and wonderful Bacchus Tarot (again, following links in the topics here I got to: https://the…

It's Ben Gross's Tarot de Rivesaltes, based on the Pierre Payan 1713 deck. The paintings were made with ceramic paint and porcelin on canvas. The image on the box with has a ceramic-like texture and lustre, and the black lines are raised. The box is truly deluxe, with a magnetic closure and velvet lining. The colors are so lovely, so rich and varied. The border colors on the minors darken and become more intense as the suit progresses. Pretty pips! The Hermit and The Moon are two of my favorite cards in the deck. The Hermit's robe looks so rich and r…

Sipa. Arcane Le Soleil What have been your experiences with this card? Does it always show positive meanings as often expected? Or have you noticed that at times it shows more than we can see? As we know it, light can also be blinding, and might as well confuse us. The Sun has recently showed up as the central card during a meditation on a client's relationship. All good, right? Except that this lady had told me that she had been struggling with her marriage for the past year, and that she was already prepared to move out. As I was doing the spread, the first thing that drew my attention was that the hands of the children implied that they were fighting, …

I bought this deck today, the Tarot del Toro, and it is based on the TdM. I've only used RWS based decks before, so I'm a little confused. I get that the pips are read mostly numerologically with the suit, and this guidebook does tie in elements, but the descriptions in the guidebook for the numerology differ greatly from other TdM descriptions I've read. Example: all is fine until we get to the 6s. He relates the 6s to frustration, being unable to cope with the conflict of the 5s. Then the 8s are all about defeat. A specific example in the guidebook is the 8 of discs, which he interprets as possible bankruptcy or major money losses. …

On February 7, @fire cat pickles gave us a heads-up that a 3rd edition of the Yves Reynaud Pierre Madinié 1709 was in the offing. I’ve been checking frequently… and, today I see it’s there! https://www.tarot-de-marseille-heritage.com/boutique/tarot-pierre-madenie-1709-p-30.html?osCsid=447ecd04de20e269e017fb3a7a9532fd I emailed Tarot de Marseille Heritage twice asking if a new edition would be coming out soon, and never heard back, so I went ahead and got a 1st edition from eBay at what I believe was a fair price. But I’m really glad to see this: I’m a bit of a Conver fanatic, but I bet if you polled historical TdM aficianados, the Madenié would be …

I am fascinated by a number of seemingly minor details... things that look like they could/should be accidents or quirks...but nonetheless repeat across so many historical decks. If they keep showing up, surely they must have some kind of intentionality or meaning. Here's one that flummoxes me: In just about every historical deck (except the Conver... which is weird... because it is usually the most cannonical), the beautiful female figure in The Star is resting her left knee on some kind of plank... some kind of barrier between her knee and the earth. So... umm... what's up with that? Any insights or brainwaves welcome.

I hope to eventually put together all the TdM restorations Yves Reynaud has put out... essentially a Tarot de Marseilles reference library. Made some progress today. The Claude Burdel 1751, Laurent 1735, and Heri 1730 arrived. The Burdel is pretty much a by-the-book Type II. One nice thing: it comes wrapped in a facsimile of the wrapping Burdel used back in the 1700s. When I opened the package today, I couldn't remember why I moved this one toward to front of the queue (even though it wasn't that long since I placed my order: shipping from Tarot de Marseilles Heritage from France to North America is amaz…

On the Use of White and Pink/Flesh Colors in the Tarot de Marseille This is a long post. Here is the TLDR version: The use of white and pink in the Tarot de Marseille, especially the Conver deck, is kind of a big deal. I have been noodling with these ideas for a while. I am presenting them here in draft form and invite feedback. The numbers in parentheses are footnotes. There are notes at the very bottom of the post. I have also posted the essay in my nascent blog, Dispatches from the Cosmic Command Post. ~~~ A great many Tarot de Marseilles (TdM) decks produced in the mid-18th century depict the “pr…

Just a heads up that Sullivan Hismans is working on a second edition of the Budapest Tarot. https://www.tarotsheetrevival.com/en/budapest-tarot/ Updates are on Facebook and Instagram but it looks likely to be released in the next few weeks. It’s a real gem of a deck - easy to read with and interesting from a tarot history point of view too.

Hi all! I was wondering if any of you have experience with the facsimile Grimaud TdM from a company called Vieux Monde? I've seen listings for this deck (apparently a copy of a 1930 Grimaud?) on eBay and Amazon, and the company has their own website where they sell it and other decks. AFAIK Grimaud (or whoever owns the name) is still printing cards in France, but I don't know if they ship to the US currently. Is this "vintage facsimile" legit? And is the card quality, image quality, etc. any good? Price seems to range from USD30 to 40, depending on the site. I can post a link if it makes things easier, but I didn't want to drive traffic if it's a questionable …

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Hi, I’ve been searching for videos of people doing readings using TdM, but I haven’t been able to find many. Any suggestions? Thanks is advance!