Tarot Classic deck- Hanged Man

As I have posted in the New Member forum, I have inherited 3 Marseille decks and a few that are based on Marseille and I have a growing list of questions, being that I'm not familiar with them.

To start with, is there any significance to the Hanged Man hanging by both legs in the Tarot Classic deck? Not only have I never seen this before, it doesn't seem to be apparent in any of the Marseille decks that I have.

The Tarot 'Classic' (a USGames appelation) is a Schaffhouse swiss deck. There are a number of differences between this deck and Marseille decks, the Hanged Man being one. It is not, however, the only deck to have such, as quite a few decks follow this Schaffhouse pattern, some with the Juno/Jupiter change also included (ie, some do not have the Papess and the Pope, but have instead a Juno and a Jupiter card).

Of special interest in the deck, from my perspective, is the clarity in the pips, especially the swords, where the pommel and blad-tip are clearly differentiated.

If I recall, the deck you have comes from a late-ish 19th century mold.

Hope this helps - and welcome to Aeclectic, by the way

Yes, it helps, thank you.

I was told that everything on Marseille and Marseille-like decks mean something so I was wondering if there was some meaning connected with it. So I guess it is just a variation.

I, too, like this deck for the ease of reading the swords. On other decks, they are too much like the wands and I get confused. I also like the coloring.

I received the Camoin, Hadar, and Fournier Marseille decks and the Oswald Wirth and Tarot Classic decks from a friend who is no longer interested in Tarot. I've been studying all of them and I think I'm confusing myself. Do you have any recommendations on which deck would be best to concentrate on first?

Straight

twenty~one said:

I, too, like this deck for the ease of reading the swords. On other decks, they are too much like the wands and I get confused.

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Hi Twenty-one ... The way to keep the swords and batons straight in the Tarot de Marseille decks is to remember that batons are always straight and that the "symbolic" swords are always curved. When there are real-life swords on the card, they're straight but in such case it's easy to tell between a sword and a baton.

Re: Straight

Rusty Neon said:

Hi Twenty-one ... The way to keep the swords and batons straight in the Tarot de Marseille decks is to remember that batons are always straight and that the "symbolic" swords are always curved. When there are real-life swords on the card, they're straight but in such case it's easy to tell between a sword and a baton.

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Thank you so much. I laid all the swords and wands out from all the decks and I see what you're saying. I have hope!

twenty~one said:

I received the Camoin, Hadar, and Fournier Marseille decks and the Oswald Wirth and Tarot Classic decks from a friend who is no longer interested in Tarot. I've been studying all of them and I think I'm confusing myself. Do you have any recommendations on which deck would be best to concentrate on first?

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Any of the Camoin, Hadar and Fournier can be good for Tarot de Marseille study. However, since you already have three of them, you have three decks to compare. Anyways, many of the people on this list have more than one TdM deck they use. By the way, is the Camoin deck you have the Jodorowsky-Camoin TdM?

The Wirth has more express occult symbolism in it, but its major arcana generally follows the Tarot de Marseille images. Wirth only designed major arcana. The minor arcana in the U.S. Games Wirth deck was added to the deck by an artist without Wirth's input.

I would personally include the three Marseille you mentioned (the Camoin, Hadar and Fournier) as well as the 'Classic' Schaffhouse.

By comparing these side by side, the variations and similarities which emerge show not only peculiar ways the respective decks show some detail, but these very details jump to the eye more easily.

With the Wirth (which I like very much, by the way), I tend to view it as more useful when coming to understand the transition in imagery which occured in some decks in the late 19th and early 20th century (especially how the RWCS drew from the Wirth).

Rusty Neon: Yes, it's the Jodorowsky-Camoin deck.

jmd: Not only have I added the Classic, I think I like it the best of all five of these decks. I realize it isn't a Marseille, but I really like the coloring and detailing. (What can I say, I'm an interior designer) Of the Marseille, I think I like the Hadar.

Having said that, I understand that the symbolism is what is considered most important for Marseille and Marseille-type decks, so I have the major arcana of all five decks lined up on the desk and I'm going to study each trump individually and make notes.

Thank you for your help.