How to choose the right deck of cards for cartomancy

The options and the various decks of cards are numerous, especially if you veer towards tarot reading. In traditional cartomancy, a simple 54-card deck will be needed. Comprising two colours and four suits, namely hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds, this deck features, for each of these suits, cards numbered from the Ace to the 10, plus a jack, a queen and a king. It is also rounded out with a Joker, which has several meanings depending on the spread. As for the decks of cards used in tarot reading, there are therefore many of them and they are all fairly different from one another. Among them you will find the tarot Rider-Waite, the Triade Oracle tarot, the Egyptian tarot as well as the Celtic tarot, to name but a few.

But the most famous deck of cards used in tarot reading is the Tarot of Marseille deck, ever since it appeared in the mid-16^th century, where it was very quickly adopted by the fortune-tellers who enjoyed great success at that time.

The Tarot of Marseille

Made up of 78 cards, also called blades, the Tarot of Marseille deck boasts 22 of them that are known as the Major Arcana or trumps and that are all printed with powerful images and symbolism drawing their sources from the very depths of human nature. Among them you will find cards named the Lovers, the Tower, the Wheel of Fortune, the Devil or the Fool, which is a card apart, symbolising the initiatory journey of a lifetime.

Boasting its 22 trumps, the Tarot of Marseille is rounded out with 56 Minor Arcana, which form 4 suits or signs named:

• Wands,
• Pentacles,
• Cups,
• Swords

Each of these suits has its own meaning and is made up of 10 cards running from the Ace to the 10, as well as a knight, a page, a queen and a king.

Although all these blades are said to be minor, they are no less important in a divinatory spread, for they too have a great deal to express about the personality and character of a querent.

The Oracle of Belline

Another tarot deck enjoys lasting success; it is called the Oracle of Belline and is mainly devoted to matters of love and to everything related to them.

Designed in the mid-19^th century by Edmond Billaudot, it too enjoyed great popular success, so much so that important men such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas or Napoleon III turned to it as querents during a divinatory session.

The deck of cards of the Oracle of Belline has the particularity of being divided into several astrological families, each marked with the name of a planet. You will thus find the following astrological families:

• Of the Sun,
• of the Moon,
• of Mercury,
• of Venus,
• of Mars,
• of Jupiter,
• and of Saturn.

Each of these 7 planetary families is made up of 7 cards and possesses a specific symbolism. To these 49 cards must be added the 3 stronger blades named Destiny, the Star of Man as well as the Star of Woman.

To round off the inventory of this uncommon deck of cards, one must mention the flagship blade of the deck, which is called the Blue Card. Thus endowed with 53 cards of powerful symbolism, the Oracle of Belline is a tarot deck of cards intended for all those who would like to break away somewhat from the all-powerful Tarot of Marseille, in order to explore new sensations during future divinatory spreads.

To each their own deck

We will have understood that there is a multitude of decks of cards in cartomancy, although some of them are little used these days.

It is nevertheless important to point out that for a beginner wishing to take up cartomancy and later tarot reading, it would be wise to start by acquiring a traditional deck of cards.

After getting to grips with this deck, admittedly basic but very entertaining, it will then be time to move up a level by opting for a Tarot of Marseille deck. It is only once you have become acquainted with the various images and symbolism of its 78 cards that you will be able to venture into the many other decks of cards found in tarot reading.