Petit Oracle des Dames by Grimaud

My partner came back from a business trip to Barcelona and brought me back this exquisite deck, the Petit Oracle des Dames published by Grimaud.

It is a beautiful deck with large cards and a booklet in French which doesn't even have the date of the original edition from which this facsimilie was taken.

It is a bit of a long shot perhaps as I see that this deck hasn't been mentioned here, but does anyone know anything about it?

When was it first published and is there any online reference which might give me pointers in how to start thinking about reading with it?

It has 45 cards, 11 of which are entirely upright and the other 34 cards divided in half with seperate scenes to allow for reversed meanings. Some of the cards are almost tarot in an Etteilla way; the devil, union/ marriage, apropos (? with two dogs and two towers), Prudence, Death, Justice. Plus Jupiter and Junon, like the Besançon decks. The rest are almost "Sibilla"; country gentleman, trip by sea, dispute. It really seems like a combination of two systems; a type of parlour oracle mixed with a reduced Etteilla deck.

Any info would be appreciated...

Hey Le Fanu,

I was just looking at La Petit Oracle des Dames at www.tarobearslair.com, and the artwork on the box cover grabbed me, so I decided to search for more info, and I found your post (all roads lead to Aeclectic Tarot ).

Then, I found this site, where all the pics are posted (4th row, 2nd from the right): http://picasaweb.google.com/souffledor

I think this is the same deck as yours, but I only count 42 cards (not 45), so it might not be.

Unfortunately, that's all I have to add at this time, except that I did go ahead and order a deck for myself, and now I'm doing the happy dance!!!

x
TRQ

I miscounted! I looked a couple of days later and it is indeed 42! As nobody had replied to my post *sniff*, I didn't update it! But that is the deck!

You'll love it! It really is an interesting deck. Full of atmosphere!

Great site by the way.. already in *favourites*

ETA; if it's in stock at tarobearslair, we need to spread the word here! There are lots of members who buy there and I'm sure they would love this deck!

I've got this sitting in my cart at tarobearslair as well.

Le Fanu said:

I miscounted! I looked a couple of days later and it is indeed 42! As nobody had replied to my post *sniff*, I didn't update it! But that is the deck!

You'll love it! It really is an interesting deck. Full of atmosphere!

Great site by the way.. already in *favourites*

ETA; if it's in stock at tarobearslair, we need to spread the word here! There are lots of members who buy there and I'm sure they would love this deck!

Click to expand...

Oh, I'm glad it's the same deck, because you're right -- it's soooo atomospheric!

I was really glad to find that site full of complete deck scans -- many of which I've never seen elsewhere.

emmsma said:

I've got this sitting in my cart at tarobearslair as well.

Click to expand...

Their 25% Off Holiday sale is almost impossible to resist, isn't it?

TaroBearsLair is one of my all-time favorite places to shop for decks that are not readily available in the U.S. -- especially Grimaud oracles. I noticed yesterday that they even have the "Persian Tarot by Madame Indira" (swoon...) -- look in the Spiritual Tarots section. That one is reeeeally hard to find here. If it weren't for other, you know... priorities... in December, I'd be ordering a back-up right now.

I'll let you know how much I love the Petit Oracle des Dames as soon as it arrives, which will probably be Tuesday -- they're very efficient at TaroBearsLair.

Yay!

Hi,

It's also here (£13.25):

http://www.playingcardsales.co.uk/cards/frameitem.asp?catref=12786


Bee

My google-fu turned up the following. I'm on the fence about getting this deck.

http://noreah.typepad.com/tarot_arkletters/2007/11/world-server.html

"This time we are going to be looking at Le Petit Oracle Des Dames, a foreshortened pack of mostly double-sided cards that encapsulates 74'tableaux' into 42 cards. Technically, this pack is from the Etteilla lineage, though it is an 'oracle game' pack rather than a strict Tarot. The artwork makes Hermetic references, but the contemporary scenes evoke pre-revolutionary France."

Strickingly similar to the trumps of the Minchiate!

I have the Minchiate Eturia, and here are the trump images:
http://www.tarot.org.il/Minchiate Etruria

I have it, and I have to say it looks nothing like the Minchiate apart from being "old".

I don't have it at hand but it basically has 10 entirely upright cards and then 32 double-ended ones thus almost totalling a full tarot deck. Although it is an Oracle, I really believe that anyone who is familiar with historic tarot/possibly Etteilla and then maybe a smattering of Sibillas could make headway with this deck. I was surprised when I went through it as there are cards which make lots of sense in a tarot way, i.e the devil, justice, death, Prudence, wheel of fortune etc, and then some more Fortune-telling type cards, i.e journey, traitor, prison, etc. Altogether, not so hard to read with. Thickish booklet entirely in French, but beautiful big cards, bigger than the average tarot cards...

You'd have to love historic decks to really love this deck. But very much a tarot-based Oracle...

Yes, I explored the deck further, and the mini pip inserts (name for that placement in a card is?) and the descripts make me think of Sibilla, but the original link has cards with reference to Air, and then Prudence, and the tablet carrying image -- all reminicent of the Eturia deck. I see the differences outweigh the similiarities, but I felt the same sensation with this oracle deck when I viewed the original link's images.

Curious, how large is each card?