Letters and Words Printed on Tarot Cards

A card is not made of drawings alone. It may carry a title, number, initials, manufacturer’s name, or workshop mark. Each type of text serves a different function. Misreading it can make you confuse one edition with another or attribute to a letter a mystery that may be only part of a label. This guide proposes first recording what can be read on a specific card, then identifying its function, and only then asking whether it contributes anything to interpretation.

Title and Number Are Not the Same Kind of Data

On the cover of Rider-Waite Tarot from Scratch you see a card with the English title “THE HIGH PRIESTESS” and the number II. On that of Tarot de Marsella: casos reales: 60 consultas leídas paso a paso, de la pregunta a la respuesta (Spanish edition used as a visual source), the II can also be seen above a seated figure, but the lower label is too damaged or reduced to transcribe it safely from that cover. The card is usually identified in this tradition as La Papisa or La Papesse; that known name should not be passed off as a literal reading of the letters on the cover. Compare the edition and a legible reproduction before citing the printed title.

If the printing is old or the photograph small, one letter may look like another. Do not write a confident transcription when the label is illegible. You can note “title partially visible” and consult a museum record or a sharper authorized reproduction. On the Bateleur card from the cover of Tarot de Marsella: casos reales: 60 consultas leídas paso a paso, de la pregunta a la respuesta (Spanish edition used as a visual source), the typography and apparent wear of the design are part of its appearance; it is not advisable to turn every irregular stroke into a letter with esoteric meaning.

Workshop Mark and Scene Text

The BnF documents Philippe Vachier's tarot from 1639 and states that the workshop mark “À l’enseigne des deux rois” appears on the Two of Cups. That inscription serves to identify a producer and an object; it is not a love-reading instruction for every Two of Cups card. It is a precise example of why it is advisable to classify the text before interpreting it. The fact that a mark appears on a specific card does not mean that all Marseille editions share it.

In a contemporary deck, a copyright, artist's name, or collection number may appear on the edge. Such data are useful for attributing the image and locating its edition. They should not be mixed with the narrative text of the scene or with words the reader adds mentally. If a website cites a card, the printed title can help identify it; manufacturing information may require the box, the booklet, or the publisher's record.

Fictitious Example: A Translation That Changes the Study

Fictitious learning case. Inés has an English deck and a Spanish manual. She looks for “La Sacerdotisa” and takes a while to find the card because the card prints “THE HIGH PRIESTESS.” Before assuming they are different cards, she compares the number, image, and equivalence table in the manual. She notes both titles and the name of her edition in her notebook. The useful action is to create a personal index of correspondences, not to claim that the English word adds an energy that the Spanish title lacks.

If another deck changes the drawing as well as the name, Inés records it as a different edition. The same concept translated does not guarantee visual identity; a similar image does not guarantee that two titles have the same history. To study a specific variation, dated objects and a source documenting the relationship are needed. The V&A offers examples of cards from different periods and of the creation of the Rider-Waite-Smith; it does not turn every translation into a perfect equivalence.

The Temptation of an Improvised Etymology

An unfamiliar word on a card invites an explanation of its origin, but a sound similarity is not proof. “This form seems to come from such-and-such language” requires a historical dictionary, dated editions, and, at times, study of old spellings. If you do not have that evidence, limit the observation to the spelling you see and the title used by the catalog of the edition. The same applies to initials: a “B” or a “J” in a column may have a documented explanation in a specific manual; do not attribute it to all High Priestess cards by default.

In particular, do not turn a decorative character into a Roman numeral or a printer's mark into a secret message. A low-resolution photograph can create ghost strokes. Get close to the object, check other sources, and record uncertainty. Textual precision is a form of respect both for the maker and for the reader who wants to locate the correct card.

A Visual Guide for Classifying Labels

Draw a schematic card on paper and reserve spaces for the upper number, lower title, workshop mark, and visual motif. Do not copy a card without permission. Then open an institutional record and indicate which of those elements are present in the real object. Perhaps there is no number, perhaps the title uses another language, or perhaps the mark belongs to the back. The schema helps you ask; the record determines what you can assert.

The imagined cards on this page show motifs, but they are not useful for deciphering Marseille or Rider-Waite-Smith titles. For that exercise you need a legible, attributed reproduction of a specific card. Look in the record for the name of the edition and check each visible letter before transcribing it; if sharpness is lacking, record “not legible” instead of filling in from memory.

What to Do If Two Sources Disagree

If a cover, a catalog, and a modern transcription show different spellings, do not merge them silently. Note which comes from the object, which from an institutional description, and which from an editorial translation. The catalog may normalize the title to facilitate searching, while the card preserves an old or variable spelling. A difference does not prove an error until context is reviewed. If the text is material for a historical claim, cite the object record and the inventory number; if it is only a reading aid, explain what convention you will use.

Naming the historical title, the translation, and the specific edition helps recognize the card and avoids confusion between systems. Repeating variants of the name without explaining which object corresponds to each one does not provide that clarity. A short correspondence table can be more useful than a showy and false etymology.

Closing Record

Write: literal text, where it appears, whether it is a title, number, mark, or something else, edition, and source for interpreting it. If you cannot read it, mark a doubt. If it belongs to a translation, keep the original alongside it. To situate that card in a reading, return to the guide to position and meaning. Printed words are first data about the object; their symbolic role, when there is one, must be argued and cited.