The Tarot of Marseille is one of the most well-known divinatory card decks (although the most widely used in the world remains the Rider-Waite tarot), associated with cartomancy. However, its true history is much richer than its simple association with fortune-telling.

Origins: a card game above all

The Tarot of Marseille, like many other tarot decks, finds its roots in traditional European card games. You have to go back to the 14th century to see the first traces of tarot games in Italy. This game, then called tarocchi, was primarily entertainment for the nobility. Its cards depicted allegorical and symbolic figures, such as kings, queens, knights, as well as religious and mythological elements.

It was only at the beginning of the 16th century that tarot spread to the south of France, notably Marseille, a city that would later become famous for producing this deck. However, at that time, it was not yet seen as a divination tool, but rather as a game of mental skill, somewhat like chess.

Italian Tarots and their influence on Marseille

The Italian influence on the Tarot of Marseille is undeniable. The first tarot decks were lavishly hand-illustrated, often commissioned by Italian royal families. It was from the 16th century that cards began to be mass-produced thanks to the invention of wood engraving. These decks consisted of 78 cards, including the 22 Major Arcana, adorned with mystical and religious symbols, and 56 Minor Arcana, similar to traditional playing cards.

The production of tarot in the Marseille region, an important commercial center, allowed this city to establish a tradition in deck manufacturing. The so-called "Marseille" style thus emerged as a regional variant of the Italian tarot, with its own motifs and particular aesthetic, simplified for mass production.

The shift to divination

It was only in the 18th century that the tarot began to be used for divinatory purposes. Antoine Court de Gébelin, a French scholar, played a decisive role in this transformation. In his monumental work Le Monde Primitif published in 1781, he claimed that tarot had ancient Egyptian origins and represented the secret wisdom of the ancients. Although this theory is now largely discredited, it helped associate tarot with occultism and divination.

Following this, occultists like Jean-Baptiste Alliette, better known as Etteilla, developed methods to use the cards for divination. They created complex reading systems based on the Major and Minor Arcana, thus laying the foundations of tarot as a tool for prediction.

The Tarot of Marseille: symbol and spirituality

The Tarot of Marseille stands out from other tarot decks by its particular iconography. The 22 Major Arcana are powerfully symbolic cards representing universal concepts such as the Fool, the Sun, Death, or the Hanged Man. These striking images, combining medieval, religious, and allegorical motifs, have fascinated generations of interpreters.

Each card, especially in the Major Arcana, contains many details and layers of meaning. For example, the Magician card (the Bateleur) symbolizes beginnings, creativity, and infinite potential. The Lovers card, often interpreted as a card of choice or duality, expresses the dilemmas inherent in human life. The Tarot of Marseille thus offers a rich ground for spiritual and philosophical contemplation.

The Renaissance of Tarot in the 20th century

In the 20th century, the Tarot of Marseille experienced a resurgence of interest with the development of esoteric movements in Europe and the United States. Figures like Aleister Crowley and Arthur Edward Waite popularized more mystical versions of tarot, notably the Rider-Waite Tarot, but the Tarot of Marseille remains an essential reference for many practitioners.

More recently, in the 21st century, tarot has undergone a true revival, especially in spiritual and artistic circles. Interest in the Tarot of Marseille today goes beyond simple divinatory practice; it is studied for its historical, symbolic, and even psychological aspects, notably thanks to thinkers like Carl Jung, who saw the cards as universal archetypes.