VoyanceThe Marseille Tarot
It is the reference deck of continental European cartomancy, and the one you are most likely to meet in Switzerland.
The structure
The 22 major arcana, numbered I to XXI, plus the Fool — the only card without a number. They carry the underlying movements.
The 56 minor arcana, in four suits — batons, cups, swords, coins — of fourteen cards each. They carry the concrete circumstances.
A majority of major arcana in a spread indicates, by tradition, a situation partly beyond you. It is the first thing a reader looks at.
Common spreads
Three cards, the most used. The arrangement situation – obstacle – advice gives more usable readings than the classic past-present-future.
The cross, five cards: four positions and a central synthesis.
The Celtic cross, ten cards. The spread for hour-long consultations.
Reversed cards
Does a card drawn upside down read differently? Schools disagree sharply: some see a contrary or weakened meaning, others always read upright.
What Chana would add: card XIII has no name in the Marseille Tarot, and it is the one that unsettles people most. Tradition reads it as a transformation, never as a literal event — and readers almost always explain it unprompted.
Read on
See the cards, a consultation and astrology.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards are in the Marseille Tarot?
Seventy-eight: twenty-two major arcana and fifty-six minor, across four suits of fourteen cards.
What does card XIII mean?
It has no name in the Marseille Tarot. Tradition reads it as a transformation, never as a literal event.
Do reversed cards change the meaning?
Schools disagree: some read a contrary or weakened meaning, others always read upright and draw the sense from neighbouring cards.