The suit of Swords in the Tarot de Marseille doesn't really benefit from a card-by-card analysis of the pips the way I've done with the Coins and will do with the Cups (and, to a lesser extent, the Batons). There are really only two basic "flavors:" those cards with a vertical sword at their center … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille “Pips” Overview: The Exclamatory and Meditative Swords
TdM Material
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 3 of Coins
The 3 of Coins is one of the TdM cards that display a "womb-like" arrangement of foliage enclosing a suit emblem. Because the foliage appears to be encircling the emblem in a protective and nurturing way, the implication is that of gestation of the "seed" principle of the suit. The other "incubator" cards in the … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 3 of Coins
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 2 of Coins
There is an interesting convergence of ideas between this card and the RWS 2 of Pentacles. Here we have two coins tightly wrapped in what appears to be a ribbon with a decorative floral fringe, while the RWS card shows an off-balance juggler trying to keep two balls in the air (and not a very … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 2 of Coins
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 5 of Coins
The 5 of Coins is the obvious next stop in this series of TdM "thumbnails," showing as it does an interesting departure from the 4 of Coins. Here the encirclement of the central emblem (formerly a shield) has now been completed and, lo and behold, we have another coin (or fruit, or seed) at the … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 5 of Coins
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 4 of Coins
The 4 of Coins is fascinating in that it is the only one of the Coins pip cards to display a fabricated artifact (other than the coins themselves, which in fact could be seen as fruit or seeds). There is a shield with an abstract central blossom on it separating the two sets of coins … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 4 of Coins
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 7 of Coins
Here is a kind of "trial balloon" floating some of the ideas I've been talking about in my most recent posts. The image in the Conver 7 of Coins suggests a trellis bearing ripe fruit, some of which have fallen (or are in the act of falling) to the ground. It shows the harvest at … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 7 of Coins
“It’s Alive!”
Aleister Crowley went to some trouble in The Book of Thoth to characterize the cards of the tarot as living beings. Much like Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein (who was rewarded after a fashion when his creature began making "yummy sounds" in the basement), I've been on a similar quest to coax heart-and-soul out of … Continue reading “It’s Alive!”
Gaze: Cooperation, Confrontation or Indifference?
Since I've been working with the Tarot de Marseille lately, I thought I would revisit the concept of facing, which in older terminology defines the "gaze" or "regard" of the central figure on each of the trump and court cards. (Is it looking, gesturing or posing toward the left, the right or straight out at the … Continue reading Gaze: Cooperation, Confrontation or Indifference?
Over Under Sideways Down
In 1966, the English rock band The Yardbirds released the song that was the inspiration for the title of this post. The image it conveys reminds me strongly of something I picked up from the Enrique Enriquez documentary, "Tarology," regarding the structural patterns that are evident in the "pip" cards of the Tarot de Marseille. … Continue reading Over Under Sideways Down
Morning Coffee and Caitlin
I do some of my best work over a morning cup of strong black French Roast coffee. Today I took the opportunity to finish reading the last few pages of Caitlin Matthews' book, Untold Tarot, in preparation for writing this review. The book is beautifully produced, with an intelligent structure and numerous full-color illustrations, and it is … Continue reading Morning Coffee and Caitlin
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 