The Origins of The "Tarot de Marseilles"

About the origin of the Tarot de Marseilles, we know few things but we can however say this: the Tarot de Marseilles deck appeared in France under the reign of the king Charles VI.

When this poor king became insane, he was locked up in a castle by his wife Isabeau of Bavaria.

She provided him a mistress, Odette de Champdivert, who offered a deck of Tarot cards to him.

In fact, these tarot cards were composed by 56 paperboard pieces decorated with figures and signs. This play was used by Sarasins in Eastern countries.

Charles VI asked to Jacquemin Gringonneur to redraw the figures in order to make them look prettier.

Some claim that the first illuminations of the cards appeared in Italy but the work of this artist is indexed on the journal of Charles VI's banker.

The Tarot we talk about here was not a divination Tarot but well a card game; which still exists and is still used in Mediterranean countries.

Although the opinions are divided and the experts seldom agree between them, the Divinatory Tarot de Marseilles was born from this game.

22 major arcana were associated to the 56 basic cards (minor arcana). These major arcana are more often used than the minor arcana.

The graphics of the Tarot de Marseilles look medieval style and reflect perfectly the concerns of our ancestors, who were very superstitious and interpreted all what they saw.

Here are the 22 major arcana:

I.      The Magician,
II.     The High Priestess,
III.    The Empress,
IIII.   The Emperor *,
V.      The Pope,
VI.     The Lovers,
VII.    The Chariot,
VIII.   Justice,
VIIII.  The Hermit *,
X.       The Wheel of Fortune,
XI.      Strength,
XII.     The Hanged Man,
XIII.    Death or (The Noname Arcana),
XIIII.  Temperance *,
XV.     The Devil,
XVI.    The Tower,
XVII.   The Star,
XVIII.  The Moon,
XVIIII. The Sun *,
XX.      Judgement,
XXI.     The World,
XXII.    The Fool **

* classification "IIII" and not "IV" highlights the progression of the Tarot of Marseilles game.

** The Fool is the 22nd arcana but is generally not numbered.

The 56 minor arcana are split into four suits:

- Spears,
- Cups,
- Coins,
- Swords

which include each 14 cards that are numbered from 1 to 10, or Ace through 10 and 4 noble cards ; which are: the Page, the Knight, the Queen and the King.

During the Middle-Ages and later, these suits were associated with the social classes: Coins with the traders, Cups with the clergy, Swords with the nobility and Spears with the peasants

We will develop the significance of these arcana in a next post.

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The Tarot Cards Reading