Tarot Minchiate

For those of you that have it and use it-

It has 41 trumps. Do you use all of them?
Do you take out the zodiac? Or do you use them?
What if I were to leave in the virtues and elements and take out the zodiac? Or vice versa?
The Tower is replaced by a card called House of God. (The image certainly doesn't resemble either a Tower or House. Do you use it like the Tower? What about Judgement coming after the World?
Most of all do you like it and think it provides good readings for you?
I like mine, just wish the cards were a little bigger and I find I don't think I need the signs of the zodiac. Can't decide so I will probably use it as a deck of the month for June...

Thanks for your thoughts!

There is a Minchiate Tarot Circle here at AT if you are ever interested.

I use the whole deck because without those extra 21 cards, it just wouldn't be the Minchiate.

The Tower is the La Maison Dieu (The House of God) in the Tarot de Marseilles tradition.

I really don't think of it as Tarot, per se, but rather as Minchiate. It is unique and I find it gives very good readings.

I use the entire deck, as well.

I'm assuming you're using Lo Scarobeo's version, yes? Even though LoS' deck was supposedly taken from a 1725 copy, some of what goes on in it goes back farther than the 18th century.

Yes, the Tower is "The House of God", Judgment does come after The World, and there are Virtues that look unusual to our modern eyes. But such appellations are not unusual in some pre Rider Waite decks. A lot of what goes on in old Italian decks (and especially with the Minchiate) is influenced by the religion/world view of the Italian Renaissance. One need only to take a look at the Visconti-Sforza or read Dante's "Divine Comedy" to get a taste of the symbology of the time.

The book that comes with LoS version is painfully lacking in fleshing all this out. I have to highly recommend Brian William's companion book to his revisioned Minchiate deck. He did an enormous amount of research into its history and symbology in the deck.

After reading Williams' book, I often wonder why the rest of the Virtues were eliminated in modern decks! So, I do read The House of God as The Tower, and I include all the Virtues and zodiac signs. I do read Judgment a la RWS system, but it does leave some room for thinking of the kind of revelation/rebirth that can happen after a querent has achieved The World. Like the previous poster mentioned, without those cards, it wouldn't be Minchiate.

But everyone has a personal preference with their decks. If you feel more comfortable reading without the extra cards, then go right on ahead!

Yes it is the LoS version.

Chiska thank you. I will look at the reading circle but I might need to upgrade. Why do you say it is not Tarot, per se?

Sibylline I will have to check out that book thank you.

I have the LoS Minchiate deck and I quite like it! I love the Elements, the Virtues, and the Zodiac trumps. I use mine two ways - I either split the deck into several different sets - i.e. the courts all in one pack, the majors in one pack, the virtues in one pack etc. and draw one card from each pack for the question (this is what is the suggested draw method in my book) or, I shuffle them all up together and do a regular spread.

If I am just asking about a person's true nature, I will use only the Zodiac, the Virtues, the Courts and the Elements to tell me what their personality is like...which is a lot of fun and has turned out pretty bang on so far...

I suppose you could remover the extra trumps, but in my view, that kind of defeats the purpose of having a Minchie Hope that helps!

PS I have done two of the Minchiate reading circles, and really enjoyed the experience.

I don't think of it as "tarot" in the normal Thoth/Rider/Golden Dawn/Marseille sense at all. It is Minchiate and I approach it with that in mind. I leave my tarot notions at the door. It works together - all 97 cards.

I really recommend the Brian Williams book. It is quite fascinating.

And, you dont have to be a subscriber to join in the Reading Circles! If you are interested, you may sign up for a PM for when the next circle is organized. http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=179859

(not like I am one of the co-hostesses or anything.... )

I have the Brian Williams version of the Minchiate. I was torn between buying this deck, and buying the LoS version. The LoS art I thought was more appealling, but eventually I went for the Williams because I heard that the book was great. And it is. It gives a lot of background for the major cards (not so much the pips, though). LoS isn't so great when it comes to books.

And I do use all 97 cards. It's nice having a non-traditional deck like this. Variety is fun. (I bought an Etteilla deck for the same reason.)

Totally forgot to tell conurelover that my Minchiate is bang on when it comes to readings.
Thanks for posting your original questions because it looks like the Minchiate fans have come out of the woodwork. I don't feel so alone anymore. Yay!

Chiska said:

And, you dont have to be a subscriber to join in the Reading Circles! If you are interested, you may sign up for a PM for when the next circle is organized. http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=179859

(not like I am one of the co-hostesses or anything.... )

Click to expand...

Ooo, Chiska, I will be checking this out. I may lurk around for a bit to see how folks are reading on the deck. For example, I really liked LotusPadma's method of reading on people. Would love to hear how others use the deck. Sounds so interesting

Metafizzypop, I'm working my way through the Ettiella deck, too (LoS' Book of Thoth). I wish so badly that someone out there would publish a book on it. I've been surviving on AT posts on it and whatever I can find on the internet. Love that deck but sometimes leaves me scratching my head. I wonder if there's a study group or reading circle for that.

Since you asked about ways we use the Minchie, this is a method I like to use with it, and with other historic and non-scenic pip decks--"The Oldest Spread": http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=168695&highlight=oldest

Lotus Padma and I used it in the last minchie exchange, and it worked very well! (Hi, Lotus!)

Hi Rachelcat! Yes, I DID love that method! It works really well! I really recommend it....Thanks so much for introducing me to it, Rachelcat...I love this place, I learn so much! Keeps my passion for Tarot alive and well!