A faithful reproduction of the traditional Tarot
based on the standard deck printed by
NICHOLAS CONVER, 1760
restored and adapted by
YOAV BEN-DOV, 2010
This booklet is intended to serve as a quick reference for reading the CBD Tarot de Marseille cards. It is based on the book "Tarot - the Open Reading" by Yoav Ben-Dov.
Some parts of the book, additional materials to read and download, updates, and information about the book and the cards appear at the website:
www.cbdtarot.com
Opening the Deck
Tarot de Marseille
CBD Tarot de Marseille
The Deck Structure
Identifying the Cards
Shuffling the Deck
Reading the Cards
Minor Suit Domains
Aces and Court Cards
Quick Interpretations:
Major Suit
Coins
Cups
Wands
Swords
The Blank Card
When first opening the inner wrapping of the cards, it is recommended not to do it carelessly, but in a serene and calm setting and in a focused mind set.
To create a first encounter with a clear view of the various card types, the initial ordering of the cards in the CBD deck is different than the usual. Before shuffling the deck, you are invited to go over all the cards in the original order.
If you are going to use the cards for actual reading, a common practice is to take them out of the original mass-produced tuckbox, and keep them in a cloth wrapping, a bag and/or a box of your own choice.
According to current historical research, Tarot cards originated in northern Italy around the 14th century. In the 17th-18th centuries card makers in France, and particularly in the city of Marseille, adopted a common model for the Tarot cards. This model, which evolved directly from the earliest Tarot decks, became the standard of the traditional Tarot. Widely known as the "Tarot de Marseille", it served as a basis for mystical interpretations of the Tarot symbols, and as the original inspiration for new decks which became popular during the 20th century.
Among the different Tarot decks printed in Marseille, the one which became most influential and best appreciated was published in 1760 by Nicholas Conver. The CBD Tarot de Marseille (Conver - Ben Dov) was restored from copies of several printings of the Conver deck. The lines were copied on paper by the illustrator Leela Ganin using an ink nib. The drawing were scanned, cleaned, titled and colored by the graphic designer Nir Matarasso. Then I (YB) re-shaped the lines and colored areas, comparing them with scans of the original cards. The cards were finally printed in 2011 by Cartamundi in Turnhout, Belgium.
A deck of Tarot cards contains 78 cards. These can be divided into two parts. The first part is called the major suit. It consists of 22 cards with elaborate illustrations. The major suit cards are numbered consecutively, and have a specific name for each one.
The remaining 56 cards are further divided into four suits. These are called the minor suits, and have a simpler design than the 22 majors. Each minor suit consists of 14 cards: one ace card, nine number cards (numbered 2 to 10), and four court cards: page, knight, queen and king.
To identify the different cards, you can either look at their images on the cbdtarot.com website, or use the following guidelines:
Major suit: The illustrations are rich in symbolic detail. Each card carries a title and a Roman numeral (in long notation, so that 9 is VIIII and not IX). Two exceptions are card number 13 with no title, and The Fool card with no number. English names for the major suit cards are listed in the quick interpretations section.
Minor suits: Each minor suit is linked with a symbolic object which appears on all its cards. The objects are: coins, wands, cups, and swords.
The coins are depicted as decorated circles. The cups are goblets with hexagonal bases. The coins and the cups are colored yellow with small areas in red.
The wands are depicted either as green clubs, or as straight rods. The swords are either regular (straight) swords with red or light blue blades, or rounded arches.
The rod-shaped wands and the rounded swords appear only in the number cards. They are shown as narrow stripes in red, light blue and black, with blades at both tips. The wands stripes are straight and cross over at the middle of the card. The swords stripes are rounded and cross over at two points – at the top of the card and at the bottom.
The ace card of each minor suit shows a big and detailed image of the suit symbol, with no title or number.
The four court cards carry titles identifying their ranks: a page (titled VALET), a knight (CAVALIER), a queen (REYNE), and a king (ROY). The titles also indicate the suit: coins (DENIERS), wands (BATON), cups (COUPE), swords (EPEE).
Each number card shows the corresponding number of suit symbol icons, geometrically arranged and usually with floral decorations around. The number cards of three suits, excepting the Coins, also have their numbers written on both sides.
Each reader has his own favorite way of shuffling, and no single way fits all. My way of doing it is to take the cards out of their box, and to shuffle them gently face-down while I listen to the querent’s story. Then I hand the cards to the querent, still face-down, and ask him to shuffle the cards himself. Once this is done, the querent returns the cards to me still face-down. One by one I take the first cards from the back of the deck (that is, from the top side of the face-down pack), and arrange them on the table in the spread layout.
For almost all the types of queries, you can use a basic spread of three cards out of the 22 of the major suit. After shuffling the deck, the three cards are laid down in a row from left to right, and then read as a story which usually advances in this direction.
At a later stage, when you get to know them better, you may want to add the minor suit cards. This can be done gradually: first the aces, then the court cards, and finally the number cards which are the most challenging to study in detail.
To use the minor cards in a reading, you can extend the basic spread to a row with 7 cards, again from left to right.
An alternative method is to use the minor cards as a background layer for the basic 3-card spread. To do this, you start with the first (left) position and pile the minor cards on top of each other as they appear out of the shuffled deck. You go on covering each card with the next one until a major card shows up. Then you pass to the second (center) position and do the same, and then to the third (right) position. Finally, you see 3 major cards that you read as a basic spread. Under each one of these major cards there is a pile of minor cards. These are read as background or additional information for the major card which covers them.
Each minor suit has its own specific character and domain of action. When cards of a specific suit appear in a reading, they can represent either an issue arising in its corresponding domain, or an attitude typical of its character.
Coins: body
Material and physical, practical and conservative.
Wands: desire
Passionate, outgoing, energetic, creative, conflictive.
Cups: Emotion
Sentimental, romantic, social, spiritual.
Swords: Intellect
Rational and verbal, decisive, aggressive.
An ace card expresses the beginning of a process or a new initiative. Also, an attitude or a significant factor expressing the character of the suit.
A page can represent a person acting in a new and unknown field, or irresponsibility and immaturity.
A knight can symbolize a person advancing towards a goal, or being in service.
A queen can express achievements and realization, solidness and stability, conservatism and defensiveness.
A king can express power and control, a phase of maturity and experience, and readiness to move in a new direction.
The following list of interpretations may be helpful as a quick reference in reading. If nothing comes to mind when you look at the card, you can use it as a starting point. But it should not limit you from finding your own meanings by looking at the card illustrations and interpreting them as a symbolic story.
To use inverse meanings, you should turn some of the cards around while shuffling them. Many readers prefer to ignore card inversion. In such a case the “inverse” interpretations can be regarded as negative aspects of the cards, and integrated with the positive aspects.
Card 1 (I) LE BATELEUR – The Magician: The start of something. Beginner’s luck. Having various tools and means at our disposal. Use of supernatural forces. Creating reality with mind power. Training and acquisition of practical skills. Improvisation. Display or show for other people.
Message: create a new reality.
Inverse: Trickery, sleight of hand, cheating. Showing off, pretending. Lack of self-awareness about body, sexuality, or basic motives. Near miss due to inexperience or inaccuracy.
Card 2 (II) LA PAPESSE – The Popess: Wisdom combining intellect and intuition. A spiritual mother. A woman hiding her strengths in a world of men. Modesty. Secrets, something hidden, mystery. Getting a hint of something which remains largely unknown. Impossible to give a definite answer now.
Message: know how to set boundaries.
Inverse: Need to hide our true nature behind the conventions of normal society. Conservative approach to sex and the body. Emotional blockage.
Card 3 (III) L’IMPERATRICE – The Empress: Abundance, growth, productivity. Natural or human touch within an artificial framework. Emotional intelligence. Protection and care. Motherhood. A powerful female figure. Strong feminine identity.
Message: act from the guts.
Inverse: Impulsive behavior, someone difficult to reason with. Over-protectiveness, excessive involvement in the life of others. Problems with a strong mother figure.
Card 4 (IIII) L’EMPEREUR – The Emperor: Practical and material achievements. Matters relating to the workplace or source of income. Authority and control, a commanding position. A protective father figure, patron or sponsor. Assertiveness. Military affairs.
Message: show leadership and responsibility.
Inverse: Belligerence, violence, trying to solve things by brute force. Dictatorship. Possibility of sexual abuse. Difficulty in coping with a dominant father figure. Denial and hiding of inner weaknesses.
Card 5 (V) LE PAPE – The Pope: Teacher, instructor, or counselor. Education and knowledge, academic expertise. Organized religion, conventional medicine or psychology. Spiritual father. Consultation or treatment by a specialist. Marriage.
Message: respect knowledge and education.
Inverse: Excessive adhesion to conventions and outdated norms. Bureaucracy, an oppressive establishment. Hypocrisy, discrimination. Divorce.
Card 6 (VI) L’AMOVREVX – The Lover: Love, amorous relationship. Emotional entanglement. Need to make a choice, or to disengage oneself from past influences. Inclinations of the heart correspond to the will of heaven. Small steps actually taken are the visible signs of inner desire.
Message: follow the path of the heart.
Inverse: Complex relationship between several people, e.g., a rom...
AnnLea