Mabuse said:
The Germans did create the first Animal Tarots (Tiertarock) during the 18th century.
Good to know about them. I've never seen these early Animal Tarots before. They're double-headed with French suits, aren't they?
I don't believe that card readers will enjoy the same virtual monopoly on the Tarot that they've had in the past though.
Card readers don't monopolize the Tarock, Jeu de Tarot or Tarot Nouveau-style decks at all. And it's hard to imagine that serious game players would use a RWS or Marseille-style deck when the others work so much better for game-playing. In fact, I would venture that the first-named decks are monopolized entirely by game-players rather than tarot readers. I don't know of a single book or article on fortune-telling with those decks. Do you?
I can certainly understand why a discussion of de Gébelin would have little or no interest to those who play the trick-taking game using Tarot Nouveau-style decks that don't use Italian suits nor have any of the trumps pictured or named by de Gébelin. Most of his discussion would be irrelevant.
BTW, didn't there used to be a French website where you could play the game of tarot online? I used to play there quite a bit. I can't find it anymore. Where do you go on-line to play tarot?
This is from Wikipedia so it may not be entirely correct:
"With very few exceptional recent cases such as the Tarocchi di Alan, Tarot of Reincarnation and the Tarot de la Nature, French suited tarot cards are nearly exclusively used for card games and rarely for divination."
I'd still like to know if there is a book on reading with the Jeu de Tarot decks.