The Tarot of Marseille for Fun and Prophet

Teeny Tiny Tarot © Trumps Major Arcana from the Tarot of Marseille

The 22 Major Arcana or Trumps from the Tarot of Marseille—what a wonderful gift!  Not only do they stimulate the creative imagination, they also offer profound insights into our Western Christian tradition. For example, the series of cards above suggest that we can die before we die– that, Christ-like, we can take up our cross --our old man being crucified with him; that we can become like little children and enter the kingdom NOW; and that being raised up together with him, NOW, we can abide in him and walk with him in newness of life—how cool is that!? Playing the Fool One way to familiarize yourself with these TeenyTinyTarot © Trumps is by means of a very simple game called, “Playing the Fool” (or, if you prefer, “The Pilgrimage of the Fool”). Here’s how to play: Gently randomize the order of the cards– taking care not to bend them in the process –and lay them out, face down, in three rows of seven, as follows: T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T Turn the remaining card face up and play it in its proper position, numerically speaking. Turn the face-down card that was in that position face up and play it in its proper numerical position, and so-on, until all the cards have been played and only The Fool remains. When the game is over, all the numbered cards should be face up in their proper numerical positions as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 If the unnumbered Fool turns up before the last play of the game (as is usually the case), play it face down in the position of another face-down card of your choosing and continue the game as before, until the last card is played in place of The Fool (wherever it has finally ended up). When the last numbered card is played and only the unnumbered Fool remains, the game may begin again: What we call the beginning is often the end And to make and end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from… ~ T. S. Eliot NOTE: It is considered by some to be very auspicious when The Fool doesn’t turn up until the very last play of the game. This doesn’t happen often, but if you keep playing, chances are it will happen for you. Best wishes as you continue on your pilgrimage– have fun –but try not to play the fool too often! 

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The Symbolism of the Tarot - Ouspensky “If we imagine twenty-one [numbered Tarot Trumps] disposed in the shape of a triangle, seven cards on each side, a point in the centre of the triangle represented by the zero card, and a square round the triangle (the square consisting of fifty-six cards, fourteen on each side), we shall have a representation of the relation between God, Man and the Universe, or the relation between the world of ideas, the consciousness of man and the physical world. The triangle is God (the Trinity) or the world of ideas, or the noumenal world. The point is man’s soul. The square is the visible, physical or phenomenal world. Potentially, the point is equal to the square, which means that all the visible world is contained in man’s consciousness, is created in man’s soul. And the soul itself is a point having no dimension in the world of the spirit, symbolized by the triangle. It is clear that such an idea could not have originated with ignorant people and clear also that the Tarot is something more than a pack of playing or fortune-telling cards.” ~ D.P. Ouspensky, “THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TAROT”

Cynthia Giles illustrates this as follows:

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