Tarot de Marseilles?

Tarot de Marsielles?

hey, does anyone know where i can find a tarot book (like, how to learn type thing) that deals strictly with the marsielles (is that how you spell it?) deck? i'm having a terrible time trying to apply the explanations for pip cards with pictures to the picture-lacking pip cards in my deck.

all help would be greatly appreciated!

Being in Canada, if you read French, see if you can get a second-hand copy of Marteau's Le Tarot de Marseille.

The problem which many people face with this deck is precisely looking for a book which describes 'meaning' in clear and straightforward terms for each of the pips. Yet, quite a number of books also include sections on this area, usually in terms of reflections on the numbers 1-10 and the four suits.

The main other book I would suggest is Stuart Kaplan's Tarot Classic, published by his own USGames. Therein, each card is discussed with divinatory meanings.

Dark Maiden: There are not many English books on the Tarot of Marseille. (I wish jmd would write one.....). If you speak French, you are welcome to send me a private message and I can recommend some French books for you.

But how about posting all your questions right here on Aeclectic? You are welcome to do it in the History forum, where the Tarot of Marseilles is studied. And don't forget: there are not stupid questions! Each question asked helps us all to understand this deck better.

One American book which explores a psychologically-oriented suit-plus-number system for reading any non-illustrated-pip deck is Gail Fairfield's Choice Centered Tarot, which I believe has been republished as Everyday Tarot.

-- Lee

Awesome, awesome! yeah, after i posted that message, i found the history section of the forum and really got interested in some of the stuff i was reading. i really love the tarot de marseille because of its simplicity and deep connections to the past and even the beginnings of tarot, but those pip cards get me so frustrated sometimes.

great, great, i am always so pleased with the feedback i get from this site. i'm just beginning to learn tarot and it's been quite the struggle since i don't know anyone else that reads. this place has saved me!!!!

thank-you all so very much for any comments you have to give.

and a note about canadians and french: most canadians can't speak french at all unless they are french. i can only speak the basics because i think it's important to know at least that much in a supposedly bilingual country.

If you see Gareth Knights'

Treasure House of Images or Tarot Magic, this goes into a broad history, describes and shows with line drawings the Tarot of Marseilles cards and explains why if you follow these exercises with the Tarot of Marseilles, it helps you. Some designs after 1910, such as the Thoth, differ greatly in details, so I'd say it's a good overview of tarot up through the Rider Waite.

The Tarot: Fourfold Mirror of the Universe by Garrett Knight continues the visualization and pip card discussions or ways of looking at the number assignment and ideas for further study.

You may want to check Amazon.com and other sources to see if this is working with your choices. Best wishes,


Mari H.

Late 19th century French tarot author Joseph Maxwell's book on the major and minor arcana of the Tarot de Marseille has been translated into English as _The Tarot_. Unlike the books by Fairfield, Kaplan and Knight, Maxwell's book includes an examination of the random imagery of the TdM pip cards. I think that Maxwell's book is out of print, but you may run into it in used bookstores.

I haven't bought Maxwell's book since I have too many French books on the TdM (Sédillot's books are best), but Maxwell's book is probably the only game in town in English.

Amazon has it

The Joseph Maxwell "The Tarot" is at Amazon.com for 17.95 new. It is also cheap as used.

fulldeck: Thanks for the hint. I just ordered a used copy. This book was originally written in French, but I cannot for the life of me obtain a French copy - except at a price above my means. So I'll have to make do with the English version in the meantime!

I ordered a used copy a week ago, hopefully I'll be getting it soon.

-- Lee