Tarot Deck

Marseille

• Tarot Deck Name: Marseille, Tarot de Marseilles
• Manufacturer: Fournier
• Date Created: 1650 ish, many years of reprints
• Level: Intermediate
• Approximate Cost: $12 US
• Especially Good For... anyone looking for a very traditional deck with a Medieval feel
• Availability: common, a variety of editions available
• Illustrated Minor Arcana: No

What can you expect with the Tarot de Marseille? It is a fairly simple deck featuring stark woodcut-style images. The illustrations depict figures familiar in the later-Medieval world and every edition still keeps to a fairly limited colour palette. Some of the cards in the Major Arcana feature new titles (or old titles, depending on your perspective) - the High Priestess is now La Papesse (the Papess) and The Tower is La Maison Dieu (the House of God). Many of the titles may be in French as will the Minor Arcana suits.

Just so you know...

Batons = Staves, Rods

Epees = Swords

Coupes = Cups

Deniers = Coins, Pentacles

In terms of appearance, I find the Marseille Tarot to be strangely comforting. When I'm reading for someone using these cards, I feel steeped in the history and enduring nature of the Tarot. These symbols are beyond the reaches of time and will continue to connect with people in the future. By working with this deck, you have an excellent vantage point to appreciate where Tarot decks started and contrast that to where they have evolved to.

That being said, I don't think that the Tarot de Marseille is the easiest deck for a beginner to starting learning Tarot with. Anyone who is used to the more Jungian influenced modern decks may find these Tarot cards a little more challenging. The illustrations are far simpler and you'll have to rely more on your memory to understand the meanings of the cards.

That being said, a little bit of extra practice and the Tarot de Marseille can be just as easy to learn as any other Tarot deck. Are you up for the challenge?

Lucy's Rating: 4 cards (out of 5)

Find the Marseille deck on Amazon...