I succumbed...just shoot me now

"The reason that VIIII is written like that and not IX, and why IIII is written like that and not IV, also is very important.... it is not by accident. The Tarot journey has a progression. It always goes forward not backwards, and by writing the Roman numerals in this unusual way insists on this point."

Now that makes a lot of sense. I liked the weird way it was written and wanted to keep it that way.

Maybe I'll stick with the French, though non-tarot people may not understand it as easily. Which brings a different problem--what goes into the little white booklet?

HudsonGray said:

Which brings a different problem--what goes into the little white booklet?

Click to expand...

Neat facts, like the ones Diana just taught us.....

Color may not be an option. My best quote so far is $97 for 25 decks of major arcana only. That's pretty steep and it's not even for a full 78 card deck. Black and white is quite literally one tenth the cost of doing color.

Unless I hand color them. Might as well gild the edges while I'm at it.....(just kidding).

don't kidd....

Hudson Gray: I would be happy to help you with the LWB if you have any questions.

The first card should not be called the Magician by the way. If you end up using English titles, or French and English, Major Tom is using a lovely title in his deck, i.e. "The Conjurer". (But perhaps this is talked about earlier on in the thread and I have forgotten.)

Also for your LWB: You must not give the impression that the Empress is the Mother archetype. She is not. The Empress is, if you like, the most Intellectual of the Marseille Arcana (to put it simply). The Papess is the Mother archetype, amongst other things - but at the same time she is MUCH MUCH more than that so one cannot reduce her to that either.

Also, card XVI can't really be called the Tower. It's much much more than a Tower. It's a "Maison-Dieu". But at the same time it is a Tower....

Tower could pass.... Magician not really. Not with the connotations that the word has today in the Tarot world, i.e. the Golden Dawn Magic(k)al Magician. The Marseille Magician is not a Ceremonial or a Magi(k)al type. He's a Conjurer, a Juggler, an Amuser of the Crowds. (I'm talking about the Title here.... his function goes much deeper than that, obviously.)

Let me know if you need me. I am at your beck and call.

Hi Diana!

I'm curius-where you you know all this about the Marseilles tradition?
I never thought there were such differences... never really got into it though, I mostly just love the style...
It's VERY interesting -all this info here...

M-Press: I am lucky in that I speak and read French, so I have access to all the literature - and there is a LOT of it. Also I live next door to France and have had the opportunity of meeting a number of French tarotists who know much about this tradition.

I am still a baby though in my search....

You see, in continental Europe, we are bathed in the Marseille tradition. It's kind of like a heritage we are born with. And also, we are not very interested in the Rider Waite deck. The Golden Dawn was very much an English secret society and it had no impact on us on the Continent, or if it did, I've never heard of it.

If I go up to my bookshop in my town (French speaking part of Switzerland) and I look for books on the Tarot, 99% will deal with the Marseille. (Not all are useful though.)

If you take a stroll through the History and Iconographical Section (PM me if you want to know how to attack it easily), you will soon know as much as I do.

I knew the Marseilles tradition was a whole 'nother ball of wax, and getting ready for the learning curve wasn't going to be easy! Yes, the little white book will be giving me problems. I didn't want to paraphrase other books, and I knew that there are very few standard texts at the bookstore (unlike the RW decks, most books focus on that one). Keeping it simple as possible was my goal, but I hadn't started researching the meanings yet.

Diana: Thanks for the offer, I may just throw up my hands in panic & let you do it! For a free deck with gilt edges & hand coloring....and some Hershey's chocolate thrown in...maybe? Which brings up another minor problem, I've got images of supposedly 'conver' cards that have color done differently in three different ways so I'm not even sure which is the most accurate color choice for each card anymore. Suddenly things get increasingly complex! In the name of accuracy, some people will be against a tunic that's blue when it should supposedly be yellow, or red when it should be blue.... when all I have to go on are online card images. That's another reason to make it a black & white deck (it takes the accuracy out of the question regarding colors). Language would be French, based on what the cards show--but even there I hear there's discrepancy over what to call the Hermit (spelling variants, does it start with an H or an E?).

Osvaldo Menegazzi has made two decks (Major only) with cats on that are black and white. Their charm would not be the same in colour.

I think a black and white deck sounds perfect.

I honestly wouldn't have the time to write the whole LWB - it would be too much to take on right now for me. However, I could try give you a couple of "tid-bits" to throw into it for each Major Arcana, and read your draft of the LWB and give you my opinion and advice.

Call the Hermit "L'Hermite". It's a little nod and a wink to Hermes Trismigestus - the Three Times Great.

edited to add: I'm glad you took up this challenge.