Divinatory tarot cards

At first, the Marseille Tarot was the only one used to practise divinatory tarot. And it enjoyed phenomenal success among crowds all over the world. What is more, figures and men of science as famous as Leonardo da Vinci or Nostradamus praised it and practised it themselves, deeply intrigued as they were by these cards whose imagery was so rich in esoteric symbols.

But soon, faced with the eagerness of every class of the population towards it, the Marseille Tarot found itself copied, without ever truly being equalled. This is how new tarot decks appeared, such as the Rider Waite, the Belline Oracle, the tarot of Mlle Lenormand, or the Egyptian tarot.

All these new tarot decks were meant to be made up of cards with profound meanings, whose interpretation by people gifted with a developed instinct and clairvoyance would reveal the future to the people concerned. All these different tarots would therefore form, around the famous Marseille Tarot, what was already being called divinatory tarot.

The Major Arcana

During a divinatory reading, the Major Arcana, recognisable by their depictions of figures and strong symbolic values, are the most telling cards, especially when it comes to the future of a querent.

There are 22 of them in total, and each has a name and a number assigned, except for the very last card, called The Fool. All the others are therefore numbered from 1 to 21, and each of them is filled with symbols dear to esotericism, astrology and numerology. The unnumbered card of The Fool represents the client during the reading, so it is the one following the initiatory path gained through the encounters it makes in contact with the other major arcana, which have a great deal to reveal about future events to come in the client’s destiny. Here are the 21 other major arcana:

• No. 1: The Magician is the one who embodies renewal.
• No. 2: The High Priestess is the one of wisdom and knowledge.
• No. 3: The Empress is the one who brings any idea to fruition.
• No. 4: The Emperor is the one who symbolizes the strength of power.
• No. 5: The Pope is the one who brings together everything that must be united.
• No. 6: The Lovers is the card of our inner light.
• No. 7: The Chariot is the one of every commitment.
• No. 8: Justice is the one that justifies, or not, our actions and positions.
• No. 9: The Hermit is the one who guides us along our path.
• No. 10: The Wheel of Fortune is the one that embodies luck within our destiny.
• No. 11: Strength is the one that helps us accomplish our actions.
• No. 12: The Hanged Man is the one who embodies our self-centeredness on every occasion.
• No. 13: Death is the one that accompanies us to the end of the journey.
• No. 14: Temperance is the one that protects and supports us.
• No. 15: The Devil is the one who embodies our pride.
• No. 16: The Tower is the one that expresses our beliefs.
• No. 17: The Star is the one that embodies our hope.
• No. 18: The Moon is the one that expresses our past actions.
• No. 19: The Sun is the one that makes us grow.
• No. 20: Judgement is the one that inspires us.
• No. 21: The World is the one that embodies all existing matter.

The Minor Arcana

It will be understood that they do not carry the same weight as the majors, even though they have 2 very specific features: they reveal a wealth of detail about the client’s personality, and they are better placed to speak of things buried in their past. In any case, these minor arcana number 56, and are divided into 4 distinct suits:

• The Coins, which concern everything related to material matters and finances.
• The Wands, which express the ambition and character of any personality.
• The Cups, which embody everything relating to emotions and feelings.
• The Swords, which are linked to the events and changes we must face.

Each of these 4 families is made up of 14 cards, numbered from the Ace to No.10, then named the Page, the Knight, the Queen, and the King.

As for the other tarot decks, although their Major Arcana change names, they draw heavily on the meanings of the cards of the Marseille Tarot. Moreover, they often bear the same numbers. This is the case with the Angel tarot, the Osho Zen tarot, and the Gypsy tarot, for example.

And as for the Oracles, each of them has its own number of cards, and each of their cards has a name and a particular meaning, referring to the theme to which it relates.

Thus, for example, the Belline Oracle is particularly influenced by astrology and astronomy.

The great Oracle of love by our affective feelings.

The Oracle of the Triad by Greek mythology and freemasonry.

But all these cards are an integral part of the practice of divinatory tarot.