So Many Marseille Decks But No Books

[gregory]

I really love the idea of a book like you have described. I have Lee's book (Universal Tarot of Marseille) which is a great starter but I'd be happy for more. I suspect what you are suggesting is an extended version of something like that.

I agree.

For starters I love the idea of a beginners book that has nothing to do with the Waite Smith deck. That alone would be worth buying regardless of what content is in it.

Yup !

I'd love quite a thorough discussion of the symbolism of each card and how this could be used in a divinatory sense. What I like about these decks is getting a sense of what the imagery would have meant to people at the time of their creation.

I've never been a huge fan of spreads or sample readings in books and tend to just skip over them, but including this wouldn't stop me buying the book

Yes again.

Cards pictured in sets of two or three with a discussion on how they interact and modify each other.

This appeals more than spreads and sample readings actually. I think this is an area of tarot writing that is pretty under-done really.

I never thought about that - but yes.

Definitely!

Correspondences: astrological, elements, hebrew letters, numerology

Tricky one as there are so many possibilities. I like the idea of some information that shows the many variations so that people have the confidence to know they can work out a system that fits for them. Discussion about the suit implements themselves would be interesting.

I am never sure about all the "extras" - especially numerology and astrology. But the implements - yes.

Really like the idea of this, especially info re using a tableaux.

Oddly enough tableaux with TdM is something I just became vaguely interested in.

Games and exercises to get your intuition flowing.

Mabye, but this wouldn't be a big drawcard for me

.
Please no, thanks !

As mentioned about I'd love a book that was generic. I actually use the Ancient Italian which has some different symbolism to the TdM's so would be great if the info was broad enough to still be helpful for that deck. Having a book that used illustrations from a variety of decks would be fantastic, but not sure how challenging that would be with copyrights etc.

YES !

Ultimately I think a lot of stuff about how to read, developing intuition, correspondences has been done to death in a lot of books. The history and the discussion of the imagery in a historical context with a view to divination is what hasn't been done as much. I'd stay narrow rather than going too broad to ensure that you really connect to the niche market that is going to be drawn to the book.

Sapienza has said so much that I would have said and didn't !!

 

[Yoav Ben-Dov]

new Marseille Tarot book forthcoming

i am just now in the finishing stages of copy-editing a new book on Tarot de Marseille reading. it is based on my own CBD Tarot de Marseille illustrations (Conver originally), but can be used with other decks. it is called "Tarot - the Open Reading". i intend to self-publish it electronically, and then as a print-on-demand paper book in amazon. a matter of a few months.

i did not plan it so, actually it was a process of 15 years, but i think it answers many of the wish-list points raised in this discussion.. i guess things find their proper time.

meanwhile you can read some sections, the table of contents and the intro in a new website i just opened www.cbdtarot.com. i will put more online shortly. you can also find a "LWB-style" list of short interpretations online and for download. also, if you are interested, you can download all the card images as jpgs, and line drawings of the 22 majors for self-coloring. please feel free to use or distribute, all the materials are available for non-commercial use under a creative commons license.

 

[DeToX]

Sounds great!

 

[Niclas]

(...)please feel free to use or distribute, all the materials are available for non-commercial use under a creative commons license.

I love you. Seriously.

 

[victoria.star]

I just received the hard copy of jmd's Reading the Marseilles Tarot...
Initially, I was hesitant to spend the $.
Then, I read how the book is like a course and set with lessons, etc.

I do not have an e-reader and I wanted to be able to carry it with me and refer to it as I study the cards.

I must say that I was happily surprised with the quality of the book, the heft and size of it.

That being said, it isn't as dense as the size might initially portray (a good thing, for me) and it is quite approachable, easy to read, and a pleasure.

I am very happy I purchased this volume. I am tickled with it and cannot wait to delve into the lessons!

I have many Tarot books and many more have passed through my hands.

Honestly, this one has me the most excited.

 

[kalliope]

I third Gregory and Sapienza's comments about your proposed book, Sherryl. And Yoav, I'll be checking out your book as well!

I keep puttering around with the historical decks, but have yet to completely absorb a method to the point that it's natural for me. Examples of card combinations would be very useful. I'd also like a discussion of the implements themselves, and of the historical and philosophical symbolism and how it relates to possible divinatory meanings. (This is something I find attractive about these decks, a refreshing change from esoteric symbolism. Nothing against esoterica!)

All of you just inspired me to dig out my copy of JMD's ebook. Now that I have a tablet that can easily read pdfs, and in color, it will be much more pleasant to read. I gave up on it with my regular Kindle, and don't like reading long things on the computer itself. To those of you who have purchased the annoying Adobe Pdf version, I just wanted to let you know that it *is* possible to make your own personal copy more manageable if you're willing to do some research online. I have processed my own copy so that I can read it with a regular pdf reader, and have even cropped it to reduce the white space so it fits better to my tablet screen. Just FYI.

 

[Ganaca]

Hi TdMers,

Haven't been around in a while but the title of this discussion caught my eye.

I've been a regular in only a few forums in the past, brought up this issue a few times but there was no interest at all... it's true though, there are NO BOOKS.
Actually there have been books... translated; but the TdM reading methods are so different and misunderstood that the authors were simply laughed at... i kid you not; they were treated like second class tarotists. (one example which come to mind, Didier Colin's book about the cross spread... Originally, it's 2 bricks!!... on the cross spread ALONE!!...but only the first book was ever translated in the UK... and immediatelly shot down by the reviews). Lots of RWS folks actually believe that you have to memorise the meanings of the minors to read with Marseilles, including some of the experts.
Kaplan's Encyclopedia of The tarot, Rachel Pollack's etc... there's lots of great history and reference, and they are great passionate works, don't get me wrong. But, FOR AN ENCYCLOPEDIA, it seems nobody even took the time to check out a true TdM master to ask them how they read TdM. And yet, every town has them.

To be fair though, if you check out French Amazon, you WON'T find any books on the RWS either... it's not their cup of tea; and RWS decks themselves are new there, for the younger crowd, but they're not as mainstream as you might think... TdM is king! (and TdM books)... ever noticed?
It's much the same in German Amazon, or was until recently. The decks and books there are more along the lines of Wirth, Crowley, (and TdM too,) BUT, aproached through TdM, especially Wirth which resembles it most (you might recall the Empress in Wirth decks and in the Ecletic deck... or Empress's throne in the Scapini decks, Amber deck).

Cheers,
Ganaca

 

[Ganaca]

Btw,

the "encounters" (combinations) are literally straight Quabbalah...
If you read different books discussing Quabbalah and the Hebrew alphabet and sound, as far as I understand, the method is the same as you would find in writing. So, an example, say Juggler/aleph (1) to the left of Priestess/beith (2) would mean, literally, "starting (1) a home (2)", or a family or a homeland, etc... 1 (action/positive) is a "verb", 2 is passive (sitting), the "object/outcome", or adjective/outcome... in the same way letters compose words AND words compose phrases and sentences.

The encounters are "picked up" in the reading much like a keyword in a phrase or sentence, and not something you do by itself.

Ganaca

 

[avalonian]

The Lulu business was just awful. In fact I paid and never managed to download the ****ing thing. My computer just HUNG overnight over and over again, and the thing stayed happily on lulu laughing at me If I had done, you can't print out a page to take to another room where you can sit with the cards and contemplate, or copy and paste, or even use it on more than one computer, I think. The issue seemed to be that you HAVE to use that NASTY reader software, which will only open up stuff you have paid for, as far as I can see.

I appealed to jmd and was supplied with a PROPER copy. I shall NEVER get ANYTHING from lulu again.

I wonder if they have done an update as I have just purchased the e-book version of JMD's book (already had the print copy but wanted to read it whilst out and about) and have been able to download it to my laptop and Kindle Fire with no problems, and also transferred it to my regular Kindle by USB. It's not perfect on the regular kindle, but then pdf files never are, it is readable if I change the page orientation to landscape.

I also just tested and have been able to copy and paste bits onto a word file, seems they must have done something to improve it.

 

[Sherryl]

I want to express a belated thank you to Sapienza and Gregory who gave me extensive feedback on my book ideas last March. You've helped me focus my book's outline.

My goal is to help people develop their own relationship to the cards, not spoon-feed a system. The book would be an extension of what I do on the cartomancy section of my website http://tarot-heritage.com/cartomancy/

Illustrating the book will be a problem, since I want it to be relevant to all historic decks (Visconti-Sforza, 1JJ, Vandenborre, Ancient Italian, etc.) as well as the TdM. I've considered not having any illustrations at all, requiring the reader to have their own deck at hand as they read the book. Would no illustrations be a turn-off? Another alternative is hiring an illustrator to create line drawings of a generic deck, but that sounds expensive.

Any and all ideas about your ideal TdM book are appreciated.