The "Odd-Man-Out" principle of CAMOIN Court Cards (and other TdMs)

I wonder if this topic has already been discussed.

According to Mr. Tadahiro Onuma, who coauthored "Camoin Tarot de Marseille"
(written in Japanese) with Philippe Camoin, every set of 4 court cards (devided
by the suit of the rank) has one "exceptional" card in various ways.

Examples: (including my own findings)

Of 4 SWORD cards, only the blade of PAGE's sword is LIGHT BLUE.
(Those of other three's are RED.)

Of 4 SWORD cards, only the KING looks to the RIGHT.
(The other three look to the LEFT.)

Of 4 CUP cards, only the KING looks to the RIGHT.
(The other three look to the left.)

Of 4 CUP cards, only the cup of the QUEEN's is LIDDED.
(The other cups are OPEN.)

Of 4 BATON cards, only the KNIGHT stares at its suit symbol.
(The others DON'T.)

Of 4 COIN cards, only the KNIGHT doesn't have the suit symbol in his hand.
(The others DO.)

Of 4 KNIGHT cards, only the KNIGHT of BATONS rides on a WHITE HORSE.
(The other horses are all LIGHT BLUE.)

Of 4 KNIGHT cards, only the KNIGHT of CUPS is BARE-HEADED.
(The others are NOT.)

Of 4 KING cards, only the KING of COINS is NOT CROWNED.
(while the others ARE.)
And also only his THRONE seems to be placed OUTDOORS.
(The others NOT.)

Of 4 QUEEN cards, only the QUEEN of BATONS look to the RIGHT.
(The other three look to the LEFT.)

Of 4 PAGE cards, only the PAGE of BATONS looks to the RIGHT.
(The other three look to the LEFT.)

etc., etc....

Mr. Onuma said he had found 234 (!) examples by then
but there might be more.
It seems this amazing principle applies to other TdMs in general.
(Heron-Conver, Grimaud, ...)

Just have a try!

kenji said:

..., every set of 4 court cards (devided by the suit of the rank)
has one "exceptional" card in various ways.

Click to expand...

Sorry for the typo...
I meant, "by the suit OR the rank".

thanks for the post...very interesting , I printed it out

Odd-Man-out-principle in TdM by Camoin

Hi Kenji,

I’ve learned about that principle too.
Here the two examples I know about:

In the Minor Arcana, 3 set of 10 colours have romans numbers, only one (deniers) hasn’t…

This principle is also appliable to the Major Arcana: In LE MONDE 3 of the figures in the corners have a halo (aureola), one doesn’t…

In his book, Jodorowsky sets out an "odd-man-out principle" but which has two legs (rather than one leg) and isn't limited to court cards:

La Voie du Tarot, p. 35:

"Once conscious that - underneath apparent symmetry - the Tarot always denied repetitions, I began to notice that the Minor Arcana organized themselves in accordance with a law that I could formulate as follows: "Out of four parts, three are almost equal and one is different. And of these three equal parts, two resemble one other more closely." Stated otherwise: ([1 + 2] + 3) + 4."

One of the examples given by Jodo is this:

"The Valets of Swords, Batons and Coins have hats. That of Cups has an uncovered head. The Valet of Swords and that of Coins have hats that are pretty much similar to one another. That of Batons wears a beret that is very different."

OOHH....can't wait to get that book, Rusty...looks more and more interesting.

terri

The Japanese book which Kenji cites appears interesting as well. As one of the authors of the Japanese book is Mr Camoin himself, I wonder how close that book is to the French book of Mr Camoin's which is eventually going to be published.

thanks kenji

I've often felt that Jean Dodal was a Master,
at the peak of his game, and delighted in the
fact that he was reviving a flagging tradition.

The quirkiness of some of his designs reminds
me of an musician creating even as he plays.

We are invited to join him, he provides clues,
some of which may be easily discovered...

Comparing the Valet, Chevalier, and X of Deniers
(also spelled Denies, on Valet and Roy) we see...
well what exactly I'm not sure, but in the hand of
the Valet the Denier has 6 petals, matching another
one on the 10 of Deniers (the only other 6-petalled)
and on the ground before the Valet is a 7-petalled
Denier, singularly matching that of the Chevalier.

Looking again at those spellings...

REINE DE DENIER
ROY DE DENIES
CHEVALIER DE DENIER
VALET D DINIES