← Language
ES EN FR IT PT DE NL SV
HomeArticlesDecks and systems

Sabio Tarot · Decks and systems

By Sabio Tarot

Why Marseille Minor Arcana cards do not tell stories through scenes

A Marseille-style Five of Cups need not show five people or an action to be readable. The cups, their arrangement and the motifs around them already make an image. The mistake comes when a reader looks for a scene remembered from another deck and then claims to have seen it on this one.

Historically, numbered cards, or pip cards, showed their value by repeating a suit symbol, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The BnF's extensive selection of French tarot decks helps us see variations in that visual language. “Without scenes” describes many numbered cards in this family. It does not mean “without artwork” or “without details worth observing”.

What is in front of you

Take a card without opening a guidebook. First record its suit and number. Then describe its composition. Are the symbols arranged in rows, on both sides of a central axis or around a shape? What fills the space between them? Is there a plant motif, a crossing or a detail that distinguishes this edition from another?

Keep this description literal. “Five cups, two above, one in the middle and two below” is a visual record if that is what your card shows. “Inevitable emotional loss” is already an interpretation, and an excessive claim. Distinguishing the sentences reveals which part someone else can check and which depends on your method.

If your deck changes the colours or ornament of the card shown in your manual, do not erase the difference. It may be another Marseille edition, a restoration or a reinterpretation. Suit and number may remain useful even when the book's particular visual details do not.

A four-layer method

Suit: identify the field of reading used by your guidebook. Cups often help examine relationships and feelings, but a question about a creative project may put a different emphasis on them. Do not turn the suit into a fixed verdict.

Number: place the card in a series from Ace to Ten. Memorising “five means conflict” is not enough. Compare how the same number changes between suits and how a suit develops through Four, Five and Six. A numerical rule is a working hypothesis, not a substitute for the image.

Composition: attend to the actual visual arrangement. Some designs emphasise a centre, others symmetry or accumulation. Describe before associating. If you cannot support an idea with a detail on the card or a stated convention of your method, leave it as a possibility rather than a conclusion.

Neighbouring cards: a card beside a Major Arcana or a different suit changes its role in a spread. The same Five of Cups in “what to keep” and “what to let go” calls for different questions. Set the position before seeing the card.

Example: a question about communication

Imagine a three-position spread set in advance: “what I observe”, “what I still need to ask” and “a step I can take”. A Five of Cups falls in the second position between a Swords card and a court card. You might say: “My method links Cups with connection; the five prompts me to review a tension; the position invites me to ask what each party expects.” You cannot assert that the other person is sad or that a relationship will end. The card proposes a line of conversation, not direct access to another person's mind.

If you repeat the exercise with a Rider–Waite–Smith deck, you will also have a scene to describe. Do not import it into the Marseille card. The contrast shows two valid paths for reading, each grounded in its own deck.

How to choose a compatible guidebook

Open your book's explanations of three numbered cards. If they describe people, landscapes or actions missing from your cards, the book uses another visual basis. It can be interesting as a comparison but not as an observation of your copy. Look for a manual that names its edition and explains number, suit, composition and combinations through examples.

Practise with the four Fives, one from each suit. Record visible differences first and consult meanings only afterward. The guide to tarot deck types provides a general map; Marseille versus Rider–Waite–Smith shows the comparison; and how to choose a Marseille edition develops the method.

The risk of turning a numerical pattern into a law

Many manuals give a sequence of words for numbers from Ace to Ten. That can be a useful scaffold, but a rule such as “all Fives mean loss” will fail for cards, positions or questions that suggest a different relationship. To test a numerical hypothesis, examine all four Fives: note what they share by number, what changes by suit and what visual detail resists your chosen word. If your method works only by ignoring one card, it needs a qualification.

This comparison does not require pretending a Marseille numbered card is a blank sheet. The drawing arranges its symbols and may produce rhythm, symmetry, density or a central decorative shape. Observe these relationships, but take care when moving from form to someone's personal life. “The composition gathers elements in the centre” is visible if your copy shows it. “Your relationship is over” does not follow without a question, position and real conversation.

Another exercise is to cover the suit name and describe only the card's geometry. Then reveal the suit and add the traditional association your manual uses. This sequence shows how much of your interpretation comes from the image and how much from a learned system. Neither layer is dispensable; distinguishing them is what matters.

Reading pips in a complete spread

Imagine three positions: “what already works”, “what needs attention” and “next step I can verify”. You draw the Four of Pentacles, Five of Cups and Knight of Swords. Describe each card first. Then observe the movement between suits without forcing a novel onto them: resources or stability in the first position according to your method, relationship or feeling in the second, and a style of action or communication in the final court card.

One possible summary is: “Before acting quickly, check what material commitment you already sustain and which conversation is still missing.” It is an invitation to reflect, not the compulsory meaning of these three cards. Another reader might notice a detail in the edition that changes the interpretation. Showing the method lets both readers discuss observations and steps instead of arguing over one fixed word.

If a Marseille guide never explains how it moves from symbols to a sentence about the question, it may leave a beginner with memorised meanings. Ask for full examples that include a position, a neighbouring card and a limit on what cannot be claimed. That matters more when choosing a guide than how many pages it devotes to each numbered card.

Sources consulted