Marseille tarot cards meaning and interpretation. What do we know about the Marseille tarot. High Priest or Pope

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The Marseille Tarot, to which our today's review will be devoted, is, strictly speaking, not the name of a particular deck - it is rather the name of the card design, repeating historical drawings known since the 15th century. Marseille is considered one of the classic tarot destinations. The Marseille school is more often chosen not by beginners, but rather by professionals, since the Minor Arcana of these decks are not plotted, unlike, for example, the Waite tradition. However, among the tarologists there are those who begin training with this particular deck.

History of the deck

Marseille Tarot was named after the French city in which these cards were printed very actively - Marseille. Papus wrote about the Arcana of this deck in his book “Gypsy Tarot” - it is the mention of Papus that is considered the very first to appear in print. Despite the fact that the Marseille Tarot was widely used in France, the design and symbolism of the cards are considered rather Italian.

The traditional designs used in modern Marseille map design were created by Nicolas Conver - they are also called the "Marseille II" type. The Conver deck first saw the light in 1760 (approximate date) and was published for 120 years. The original, older version ("Marseille I") refers to the design of the decks by Jean Noble and Jean Daudal - these card samples were produced between 1650 and 1701. Today you can find several Marseille-type decks for sale from different publishers, but they all essentially repeat the style of Conver: this is the Marseille Tarot by Paul Marteau, the artist's version of Otto Spailinger, Philip Camoin and Alexander Jodorowsky cards, the Ancient Marseille Tarot, Tarot de Marseille (Piatnik) and others.

Key features of the deck

If you look into the gallery of the Marseille Tarot, the first thing that catches your eye is the rather simple style of the images. Here you will not find complex images, as, for example, in Crowley, astrological, cabalistic and numerological references - the Major Arcana look quite simple, but the minimalistic classical symbolism still does not disappear anywhere.

The numbering of the Major Arcana differs from Waite: Justice has the serial number 8, Strength - 11. The suits are traditional. The Minor Arcana are not drawn, but at the same time they are decorated with very beautiful patterns. Court Cards: Page, Knight, Lady, King. All Arcana are numbered with Roman numerals, Senior - on top, Junior - on the sides. However, there are variations of the deck without the numbering of the Minor Arcana. By the way, in the old Marseille decks it was not customary to put a number on the Death card, while the authors of modern cards often neglect this rule.

Symbolism of the deck

The meanings of the Marseille Tarot cards can be deduced if you carefully consider the beautiful medieval costumes of the characters, their gestures, facial expressions, and the attributes present. Also, special attention is paid to the color component: despite the fact that very few colors are used (in most decks they are red, blue, green, yellow, black, white and beige, in some a slightly different combination), they do not mix with each other. with a friend and are clean, bright, saturated, without any shades. Many tarot readers use the colors of the Tarot de Marseille as a clue when working.

Major Arcana

Let's take a closer look at the Marseille Tarot cards and try to look at the archetypes of the Major Arcana through the eyes of a person of that distant time. In this regard, I cannot pass by and not quote the book “Marseilles Tarot. Theory and Practice”, in which I found an interesting way to read the Major Arcana:

“The full set of twenty-two trumps can be read as follows: The Human Will (1), enlightened by Science (2) and manifested in action (3), must find its Realization (4) in works of Mercy and Benevolence (5). A Wise Choice (6) of this Will brings Victory (7) - at the expense of Balance (8) and Judgment (9) - over the ups and downs of Fortune (10). Fortitude (11) brought into the Sacrifice (12) will conquer Death itself (13), and this wise Combination (14) will allow a person to challenge Fatum (15). In each Tribulation (16) he will see the Star of Hope (17) shining through the twilight of Deception (18) and the final Happiness (19) will be the Result (20). On the other hand, Stupidity (0) will bring a Reward (21) in the form of misfortune.

As you can see, during the Renaissance, the images familiar to us were perceived somewhat differently, although the Arcana still retained their main essence. Let's, for the sake of interest, dwell in more detail on several Trumps of the Marseille Tarot. By tradition, we will take the Fool / Fool first.

As you can see, the presentation of this image is somewhat different from the classics we are used to. The hero does not step off a cliff, but simply walks along the road, with his unchanging knapsack behind his back. What was the archetype of the Fool in the eyes of Renaissance society? A fool is essentially a combination of two images, one of which is a homeless beggar, the second is a court jester. Be that as it may, but during the Renaissance, this character was perceived rather negatively. Homeless wanderers often endured humiliation and insults from other people, because they did not fit into social norms and were considered atheists, people with mental disabilities. If you look at the card from this side, it immediately becomes clear that the dog here is not a warning about danger and not at all a true friend, as we often perceive it in modern decks, but rather, it is a dog set on a beggar by someone from townspeople, annoyed by the sight of a tramp.

The jester at the royal court is also an object of ridicule, a kind of holy fool. In general, a positive cut of the meaning of this Arcana is also present, but the emphasis here is again on freedom from social customs and duties, which, in general, could be envied. Only the court jester could let out aloud some kind of taunt against those in power, and he was not threatened with any punishment for this. Summarizing the above, the meaning of the Fool of the Marseille Tarot can be shone to the following key phrases: freedom from social norms, humor appropriate to the situation, stupidity, lawlessness.

Now let's turn to the image of the Magician / Magician. In the Tarot of Marseilles, he is an image that combines a street vendor and an actor who entertains the crowd. Many considered such “magicians” to be ordinary swindlers, while others secretly envied their dexterity of hands, speed of thinking, cunning, and ingenuity. Where did the image of the traveling merchant come from? I think that's what the travel bag on his desk says. The meanings of the Mage are quickness of thinking, dexterity, cunning, ingenuity, the ability to use others to their advantage. In a negative manifestation, the card may indicate that you have become a victim of some kind of deception.

In continuation of the conversation about the Major Arcana of the Marseille Tarot, let's consider the image of Death that frightens many in the Middle Ages. It is not surprising that the unlucky number 13 was even refused to be placed on the image of the card. What is Death? This is both physical death during mass epidemics of the plague, and death from deadly diseases, and at the same time it is a challenge to a person’s simplified ideas about his own life as something unchanging. The image of the skeleton was quite popular at that time, since in the 15th century there was an allegorical narrative about the Dance of Death, mentioned in books, poems, theatrical performances. And this dancing Death was depicted precisely in the form of a skeleton. But, since the Arcana Death comes at number 13, it is still not worth perceiving it solely as the death of the physical body, because after it there is a whole series of Trumps.

The Arcana Devil of the Marseille Tarot is essentially not much different from modern images. We see people who followed the path of temptation, followed their base instincts, failed to curb them. This challenge, which invariably meets a person on the way.

The illustration of the Tower reminds us of the pictures of the Apocalypse popular at the time, often described in religious sermons. In principle, a person of that era imagined that the end of the world was not something abstract, as we think now, but something that could happen at any moment, so this card made a rather frightening impression. Although in essence - this, of course, is not the end of the world at all in the literal sense of the word, but rather the destruction of an unstable situation, the liberation of the soul from those shackles into which it fell on Arcana 15.

On this with Trumps, I propose to finish and move on to the Minor Arcana, although their description will not be so interesting due to the lack of plots.

Minor Arcana

Most of the authors of books on this school offer to work with the Minor Arcana of the Marseille Tarot in the following way: combining the meaning of the suit with the meaning of the number corresponding to the card. I will give these values ​​and we will try to work out several maps using this technique.

So what do the suits mean? These are the four areas of human knowledge. Staves (Wands or Sticks) - creation, energy of creativity, Bowls - interaction, contact with people, Swords - self-defense, protection, control boundaries, Coins (Pentacles) - receiving, finding a comfortable state, provision, including financial.

Brief values ​​of the numbers I designed in the form of a table.

Speaking about the meaning of the numbers of the Minor Arcana of the Marseille Tarot, it is worth mentioning that it can manifest itself in a positive or negative way. So, for example, the Eight can be interpreted as too rigid discipline, dogmatism, excessive assertiveness.

So let's try? For example, let's try to answer the same question with two arbitrary cards: what will be the relationship of a man named, say, Ivan, with a girl named Marya? Take, for example, the Two of Cups. The bowls speak of interaction, the number two speaks of dialogue, comparison. It immediately comes to mind that Ivan and Marya will interact harmoniously with each other. Next, we connect intuition and see what happens in the end? I think love, friendship, strong relationships. However, this can be guessed when looking at the card itself, although it does not have a plot, the drawing clearly speaks of something positive.

What if we take the Ten of Swords? Swords - protection, defense, ten - achievement of the ultimate goal. In fact, the Ten is the maximum, a situation where there is simply nothing to defend and defend and you need to look for new ways. This is the period of disengagement, the end. By connecting intuition and applying this data to the situation under consideration, we can say that the relationship is likely to be destroyed.

To complete the picture, let's take another question: what awaits a person in a new job? Let's imagine that the Four Coins of the Marseille Tarot fell out. Coins are getting, finding a comfortable state, including financial, and four are initial success and efforts leading to a specific manifestation. If we formulate the meaning for prospects at a new job, we can say that a person will be able to win “his place in the sun”, join the work team and receive the first awards.

What if the Five of Wands came up? Wands - creation, creativity, five - challenge. We can say that this work will be fraught with certain difficulties: perhaps a person will have to defend his interests, show what he is capable of, or face opposition from the team.

In general, of course, after any other deck with traced Minor Arcana, associations when considering pictures of the Marseille Tarot come to mind by themselves, because in fact Tarot is always a system where the meaning of the same card cannot be directly opposite in different decks.

court cards

The court cards of the Marseille Tarot describe human behavior. Their values ​​are also distributed by rank: first come Pages (Jacks) - attention, first impulse, interest. Next, the Knights - directness, certainty, seriousness, followed by the Queens - confidence, persuasiveness, purposefulness, approval, but without a power component. And the Kings close the chain - will, pressure, control, love of power. In fact, each character can have both positive and negative manifestations. But here, I think, and so everything is clear, so I will not dwell on the values. Just try to take the characteristic of the suit and apply it to any character of the Court.

Features of the interpretation of cards

When divining on the Marseille Tarot, both direct and inverted cards are most often used. At least most books on this deck provide interpretations for both positions. However, this question, as always, remains at the choice of the tarologist himself, since many see the possible shadow meanings of the Arcana even without a physical flip of the cards. In general, the layouts for the Marseille Tarot do not differ from any other decks: you can use absolutely any you like.

What issues is the deck suitable for?

The Marseille system is universal, so the deck can be called suitable for considering any issues: general events, forecasts of professional and personal life, health topics, negative diagnostics, and much, much more.

Who is the card for?

• For those who are attracted by the historical design of the cards
• For beginners who are ready to study a deck from scratch without plotting the Minor Arcana
• Experienced tarot readers who want to expand their horizons and master another system

There are more than enough books on the Marseille school at the moment. If you decide to buy the Marseille Tarot, the choice of literature for studying the deck will be very wide. To be honest, I work in a different system, so I cannot be responsible for the quality of the information presented in these books, so I simply provide you with a list of references that can be easily found in stores and on the Internet:

• Marseille Tarot. Theory and Practice (publishing house Vneshsigma)
• "Universal Marseille Tarot" (Lee Bursten)
• "Marseille Tarot" (A. Simonenko)
• Marseille Tarot. The Book of Universal Symbols (Fred Gettings)
• "The ABC of Wisdom of the Marseille Tarot" (Vitaly Zaichenko)
• Marseille Tarot. Open Card Reading Method (Yoav Ben-Dov)

In addition to the books mentioned above, if you wish, you can find others. This concludes my review.

- one of the names of the special historical design of tarot cards. This name was originally used in print by a certain Papus in his own book called "Gypsy Tarot", 1889 release. But for a long time after that, occultists called the design Italian, because. it featured various Italian suit symbols and originated most likely from Italy. These cards have been made in France since the 17th century, not only in Marseille, but also in other cities. Finally, the name "Marseilles Tarot" was introduced by a certain Paul Marteau. It was he who in 1930 created a deck of cards « » , and in 1949 published his book "Marseille Tarot", where he described the symbolism of all 78 cards. In any case, no matter how this deck is called, the probability of meeting cards of this design with a tarot reader is quite high. Try to tell fortunes and find out exactly what “Arkan XXI” means, who the “Fool”, “Jester” is, and what the “Empress” promises in divination for love. Tarot in the hands of Astro7 experts will always tell you only the truth!

SENIOR ARCANA OF THE MARSEILLE TAROT:

The Tarot of Marseille is a type of deck that has a special unique card design containing the Roman numbering system, designs and suit signs that indicate the likelihood of Italian origin.

Images of cards can be compared with the temperament of Italians, whose distinguishing feature is emotionality, well-expressed facial expressions and fast speech, accompanied by gesticulation.

• This type of deck, like similar modern cards, does not have a specific author. The first mention of the Marseille Tarot was found in the book "Gypsy Tarot", the author of which was Papus.
• These copies of the decks were printed in various French cities, but their mass production began in Marseilles by Nicolas Conver, later on the basis of such a deck, Paul Marteau created decks called the “Ancient Marseille Tarot”.
• This is what led to the name of the maps now so famous all over the world. The Grimaud company has been producing the Marseille Tarot for more than a century and to this day.

As you know, there are only two schools of Tarot, which are the founders of subsequent schools - these are English and French.

Despite the Italian style of this Tarot, decks of this type belong to the French school.

However, since the middle of the twentieth century, due to the peculiarity of these decks, which made them so popular, the Marseille Tarot has been separated into a separate school and is one of the four basic Tarot schools, on which, in fact, all currently known types of decks are built.

Character of the Marseille Tarot

Tarot cards of this type have a fairly bright and juicy color, which plays a dominant role in their reading. Initially, there was no specific scheme for interpreting the cards, and instructions for the manual were not attached to them.

When reading them, an intuitive perception of the current plot was always used - it was required to read by facial expressions, gestures and emotions, colors and other visual aspects, like communicating with an Italian.

Important for the interpretation in the layout are the emotions that the cards themselves evoke as a whole.

All the characters depicted on the cards are dressed in Italian medieval outfits. The painting emerging from the background also belongs to the medieval period.

• A unique stylistic feature of the Marseilles Tarot is that all the cards have in common the presence of stained glass windows of the Middle Ages, consisting mainly of rich yellow, red and blue colors.
• Stained glass was not accidentally included in the deck style. Since ancient times, they have been not only an amazing work of art, but also carried a special spiritual meaning.
• Thus, the authors wanted to emphasize the holiness and depth of the clergy of the Tarot cards, their involvement in the Almighty.
• Among other things, a small color spectrum, as well as the simplicity of the drawing technique, made it possible to significantly facilitate the printing of maps.

The interpretation of cards, in comparison with other types of decks, is quite simple. Every little thing depicted on the map has a deep meaning and is a clue.

In the absence of instructions for guidance in the interpretation of cards, the main attention in their layout was given to colors.

Interestingly, the color scheme of the deck contains no more than seven primary colors that do not mix with each other, thus obtaining saturated bright colors, without shades.

Pink, red, yellow, white, black, blue, green - these are the main seven colors that are used when printing the deck.

In the design of some decks, the following colors can be used as a background: red, black, white, beige, blue, pink, cyan, and also green.

Each color carries its own specific spiritual meaning, it is easy to understand even intuitively, because, as has long been known, colors can dramatically affect the emotional and physical state of humans and animals.

In contrast to the instructions for interpreting the positions, emotions, gestures of characters and objects on the cards, there is generally accepted guidance for interpreting the colors of the deck.

The most unpleasant color that can be in the scenario is black. It is he who is associated with destruction, sorrow and death. If there is a lot of black in the layout, this does not bode well.

The most auspicious colors in the Marseille Tarot are pink, white and green.

The last color prevails in nature and represents, as it were, a symbol of rebirth, the beginning of something new. Pink color evokes associations with romance, tenderness, friendliness. White is considered the color of purity and innocence.

Red represents passion, aggression and power. Yellow is greatness, abundance, creativity.

There is also a blue color in the deck, revealing, as a rule, magical followers. In the scenario, it can be interpreted in two ways, depending on the saturation and degree of abundance.

If its amount strongly predominates in the cards, this may mean a loss of reality and entry into a depressive state.

The universal Marseille Tarot deck of cards is suitable for both beginner fortune-tellers and those who have reached the heights of skill. The simplicity of the Arcana of the Marseille Tarot attracts beginners to it, but is also of value to experienced soothsayers, who often turn to its study. Marseille Tarot synthesizes other decks in itself and is a guide in the world of Tarot, allows you to better understand Tarot cards and streamline your knowledge about them. In a sense, the drawings of the Marseille Tarot date back to even more ancient Renaissance decks and are the basis of tarot divination and the starting point of all Tarot decks and cards that exist today. Indeed, all the symbolic and esoteric decks of the 19th century, as well as all the artistic and intuitive decks of the 20th century, owe their origin to the Marseille Tarot.

Marseille Tarot Major Arcana

The Marseille Tarot deck was created by the artist and printer Claude Bourdelle in 1751. Its simple and understandable images are due to the printing technique that existed at that distant time. To obtain a printed image, it was necessary to pre-cut the pattern on special wooden stamps. Thanks to Bourdelle's excellent quality stamps, which were used by printers for two centuries using different combinations of paper and colors, it became possible to faithfully reproduce the old Marseille Tarot deck.

The images presented in this deck go back to ancient drawings, and it was this type of card that was the most common in Europe at the end of the 18th century. At that time, esotericists were focused on studying the philosophical component of the Major Arcana. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the method of Intuitive Interpretation of Tarot images was born, when the symbolism of the Marseille Tarot received a predictive semantic load and was somewhat modified. On the cards of the Minor Arcana, illustrations appeared that carry a semantic load. At this time, members of Masonic orders and occultists began to show interest in the Tarot. French cultural traditions had a significant impact on the images on the Tarot cards; costumes and household attributes of that time are visible in the characters of the drawings. You have the opportunity to get acquainted with the photo of the deck in order to independently evaluate the drawings of the universal Marseille Tarot.

However, the Marseille tradition has remained true to its origins and is, in essence, to this day one of the classic branches of Tarot cards, the heyday of which dates back to the 18th century. As a name, the universal “Tarot of Marseilles” is rather a type of divination system and does not refer to any particular deck of cards, it has become synonymous with the quality and the whole topology of divination cards of this type. The unillustrated Minor Arcana of the Tarot are the hallmark of the Marseille Tarot, and to this day are its important distinguishing feature. The Major Arcana of the Marseille Tarot determined all the main events in life, the most significant aspects of life and the psycho-state. The Minor Arcana mattered in divination only to clarify what was predicted by the Major Arcana, the meanings of the Minor Arcana extended to such areas as thoughts, feelings, and possession of property. Fortune-telling on Tarot cards for the future combined ancient magic and modern psychology, oracle predictions and scientific forecast, prediction and vital help.

The main difference between the esoteric Tarot of Marseilles also lies in the graphic solution and numbering. The arcana of the deck is decorated with various decorative elements. Occult Tarot requires, when divining, knowledge of the meanings of the Minor Arcana, which are not easy to remember in the absence of predictive images. But their absence allows you to get an impartial approach to the Tarot and remember the meaning of each Arcana, regardless of visual interpretation. The universal Marseille Tarot is characterized by simplicity and clarity; when interpreting the alignment, your eyes are not distracted by any secondary elements and complex esoteric symbols. There are no names on the cards, and the drawings themselves are very exquisite with a small number printed on them, showing the dignity of the card.

The name "Marseille Tarot" itself is a very conditional and general name for the cards, since the original design of the deck had all the signs of Italian origin, and the deck was produced not only in Marseille, but also in many cities of France.

deck structure

Principles of working with a deck

The layout of the "Celtic Cross"