The Red Tent

So…i never gave a damn about the Tarot de Marseilles. Yes, i admit it. Not that i hated the deck - i just thought it wasn’t pretty. Well, i thought it was ugly. And the non-scenic pips…a big turn-off. But we change, don’t we? Heck, once upon a time i thought the Fergus Hall’s Tarot of the Witches (yep, the 007 one) was the ugliest deck ever, and now it’s one of my favorites. Everything can happen.

So i got a Marseilles. I was deciding which one i would get and, more importantly, how i’d get one (i’d need to order it from another country = $$$), when fate solved that problem for me - i got the LS Universal Tarot of Marseilles in a trade train at ATF. I was excited, and it took a while to reach me…but it finally did. And now i’m not sure what do i do.

The book that comes with the deck - a thin, soft cover book that isn’t even a paper back - is filled with different information. Not just the good ol’ ‘this card means that’ or ‘you’ve got to cleanse your deck’ kind of babble. It actually teaches you possible ways to read with the cards, specially the pips, without just copying & pasting Coleman-Smith-Waite meanings. Lee Burten did quite a nice work, in my opinion…he gives you suggestions, without turning them into absolute unbreakable rules.

And thus, my Marseilles journey has just started. I’m not sure how will it be, but i can’t deny i’m insecure. When you give up trying to make other meanings fit in the cards and decide to read what you see…you see meanings transform, change or simply become obsolete, no matter how much you liked or were used to them. You have to learn to read images that at first don’t tell you much and, many times, aren’t even pleasing to the eye.

It’s not easy, but learning isn’t. One can always read with a book attached to him, but he will never be the reader - he’ll only be the voice to what the book has to say. Marseilles only gives you two choices - read the cards, or become a basic reader, with basic books as your crutch.

I’m sick of crutches. I really want to make tarot something important in my life, not just a hobby. I already have a notebook, a pen…so Marseilles, show me what ya got, i’m up to the challenge.