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
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 Road Less Traveled
I've written on this topic before, but have since gained a number of fresh insights and decided that it's time for an update. My impression of modern English-speaking tarot culture is that casually curious beginners pick up one of the "easy tarot" kits (a deck and companion book such as those by Rosalind Simmons or … Continue reading A Road Less Traveled
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!”
The “Crossroads of Opportunity” Spread
Whenever inspiration for my next post fails me, I turn to creation of a new spread. This one plays off my fascination with inserting unknown qualities (in this case, face-down cards) into my layouts, the implications of which are revealed through certain selective operations. Other than that feature, this is a fairly standard multi-path decision-making … Continue reading The “Crossroads of Opportunity” Spread
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?
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 