what is the best version of the marseilles?

Major Tom

stella01904 said:
Tell me, are those basketball shorts on the Death card? Is there a reason?

I apologise for hijacking the thread a bit.

The idea with my deck is to depict the various characters from the Marseilles in modern clothing and thus, hopefully, appeal to a modern audience. So Death is wearing shorts. If you see them as basketball shorts - I guess they could be. Someone had asked me why Death was wearing West Ham United Football Club (soccer) shorts. :laugh:

And the Death card was drawn the year they were relegated. :laugh:

Thinking about it - it might be even more appropriate to see them as swimming shorts.

HOLMES said:
by which i should see it in the stores eh ?

To quote an old friend: "From your mouth to God's ears."

stella01904

Major Tom said:
The idea with my deck is to depict the various characters from the Marseilles in modern clothing and thus, hopefully, appeal to a modern audience.

MM ~ They have a kind of double-famialiarity about them - from the Marseilles, and the deja-vu of having seen these characters. I think I saw the Conjuror at a train station in Boston...or a bus station in New Orleans...(scratches head). BB, Stella

prudence

Hi !

I have been reading this thread, with the same intention as Holmes, to find a TdM suitable for me. I have no TdM so far.

From what I have read here, 3 decks stand out as more my "style" than others, they are the Ancien Tarot de Marseilles (Lo Scarabeo), the Fournier, and the Tarot de Marsella, by Rodes- Sanchez.

I like bright, bold and funky, not a stickler for historical detail, but am a bit put off by the idea of the 6 of batons in the LoS deck.

The Rodes-Sanchez appeals to me aesthetically (that's a huge understatement) but I don't speak Spanish. Is it possible to order one without knowing Spanish?

The Fournier is nice and bright with its colors, and that appeals to me.

So, does anyone have a strong opinion about these 3 to help "push" me off of the fence and into decison land? Thanks for any help youu care to give!

Also, Major Tom, I love your House of God (Tower) card!!

WolfyJames

I think the Founier is a good beginner Tarot de Marseille, for those who venture in the Marseille world for the first time. It is a real Tarot de Marseille, based on the Conver. The colored backgrounds of the pips help to differenciate the suits, the Epees and Bâtons can be difficult to distinguish at first. If you use reverse in your readings, you can easily distinguish straight cards from reverse cards as well, which is not the case of many Tarot de Marseille. The size is nice and the cardstock is of a good quality, it's nice to hold and to shuffle, the back of the cards is lovely. You can buy it easily anywhere for a good price. The Fournier adds colors and life in the rawness that is Tarot of Marseille. If you find Tarot de Marseille hard to like, which is my case, the Fournier might help you get used to the Tarot de Marseille, and with time, appreciate it.

prudence

Thanks so much wolfyjames,
that's exactly what I needed to hear. And yes, it is a bit hard for me to like the Marseilles type decks, it's just not my taste, but the more boldly colored ones do resonate with me.

Tried to find a site that sells the Rodes-Sanchez, but that didn't turn up any leads. Their "official" site doesn't seem to have a place for ordering. Maybe if I buy the Fournier, it will remove this one from beneath my skin!

WolfyJames

Astrid O said:
Thanks so much wolfyjames,
that's exactly what I needed to hear. And yes, it is a bit hard for me to like the Marseilles type decks, it's just not my taste, but the more boldly colored ones do resonate with me.

I was traumatized by the ugliness of a Tarot de Marseille when I was a child and I avoided tarot for over a decade. It's the Enchanted Tarot that reconciled me with tarot. Once I came here, I got the Tarot de Marseille Fournier and this deck is really lovely, hard not to like it. It has reconciled me with the Tarot de Marseille. And like you I do like bold and vibrant colors.

shaveling

Astrid O said:
I like bright, bold and funky, not a stickler for historical detail, but am a bit put off by the idea of the 6 of batons in the LoS deck.

Oh dear! This is an awfully good description of a deck not in your Final Three. Lo Scarabeo’s Tarots of Marseille. Not the Ancient Tarot of Marseille, the 1760 Conver, but the other one, the 1751 Burdel, in the red box.

It’s historically off, because the titles on the cards are modern additions and do the sorts of things we Marseilles folk don’t do. The main titles are in Italian, not the old French; there’s a zero on the Fool and XIII has a name in addition to its number. The English in the multi-lingual titles for the court cards uses “Pentacles” and “Wands.”

But for brightness, boldness, and funk in a TdM, it can’t be beat by anything I’ve yet seen online or in hard copy. That’s what I find delightful about it. I’m not trying to throw things off by a nomination from the floor here. But if you haven’t looked at this one, you might want to do so.

In another thread https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/40552/, Jeanette says that The Tarot Garden is waiting for a shipment of the Rodes-Sanchez. I’m not sure if that’s just the deluxe edition (the topic of that thread) or if they’ll have the regular decks as well.

Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy your new Marseilles deck.

-shaveling

prudence

shaveling said:
Oh dear! This is an awfully good description of a deck not in your Final Three. Lo Scarabeo’s Tarots of Marseille. Not the Ancient Tarot of Marseille, the 1760 Conver, but the other one, the 1751 Burdel, in the red box.
Hi Shaveling,

I am a bit confused about which deck you mean here. I am thnking you mean, Lo Scarabeo's TdM 1751 Burdel? (this is a complicated club!!)

and thanks so much for the link to the Rodes Sanchez thread!!

Thanks all around!

shaveling

Astrid O said:
I am a bit confused about which deck you mean here. I am thnking you mean, Lo Scarabeo's TdM 1751 Burdel? (this is a complicated club!!)

Yes, that's the bright, bold, funky one. Sorry about the confusion.
-shaveling

Cerulean

Sorry others, I'm switching back to Holmes

I've revised my opinion of the Grimaud with the simple blue, red, yellow and white palette for doing comparisons to "Meditations on the Tarot" and "Tarot: Talisman or Taboo?" The Tarot: Talisman or Taboo book has the Grimaud Marseilles in it and was of value to me by the colored plates. I'll be checking back on the various forums on people saying if there were changes on various cards.

Some of my Italian or French 'historical' (reproductions) or 'stylistic' reproductions also have limited color palettes and are less distracting if I use them to illustrate concepts of study. I actually have seen books that include black and white line drawings with the Marseilles and Rider Waite, at least the majors.

In that instance, as a great interactive study book for me--but the book's mythology segments are drawn from 'modern' retellings or parable/fables--is

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0874776872/ref=nosim/aeclectic/

The Marseilles 22 Trump line drawings included in that book allow you to color them in.

At the time that I bought the book I had not a Marseilles or a Rider Waite, so the line drawings allowed me to meditatively color them in and take time each week to explore the major arcana in terms of generic European mythology and symbol--yes the Tarot 22 arcana were introduced as Western heritage archetypes.

Best wishes,

Cerulean

what is the best version of the marseilles?

Major Tom

stella01904

prudence

WolfyJames

prudence

WolfyJames

shaveling

prudence

shaveling

Cerulean