Discover the ancient roots of tarot divination through the Tarot de Marseille, the original pattern from which nearly all modern decks descend. Its stark medieval imagery, geometric line work, and symbolic coloration preserve the raw archetypes of the Western Mysteries before they were filtered through modern occult interpretation.
Unlike later systems such as Crowley’s Thoth or Waite’s Rider–Waite–Smith, the Marseille deck predates the Golden Dawn synthesis. It speaks in the language of number, colour, and image, not in the vocabulary of explicit esoteric correspondences. Every card functions as a pictorial theorem, a visual formula inviting contemplation rather than instruction.
Each reading on this site draws from the authentic continental method of tarot interpretation, using upright cards only. The meaning arises through positional context, numerical sequence, and interplay among suits and trumps, not from mechanical reversals. This restores the deck’s classical mode of use, where the story formed by the spread itself reveals the querent’s truth.
We offer several types of readings using the Tarot de Marseille, from simple three-card reflections to advanced operations that follow traditional European spread structures. The larger layouts—such as the Cross of Elements and the Grand Tableau of the Trumps—trace the unfolding of fate from outer circumstances to inner cause.
Not sure which spread to begin with? Visit tarotica.com/spreads for detailed descriptions of the traditional layouts and their philosophical foundations.
Scroll down to select a reading or use the form below to begin. These sessions use one of the oldest and purest tarot systems in existence—an instrument not of prediction alone, but of perception.
Enter the world of the Tarot de Marseille and read the language that the modern occult revival only rediscovered centuries later.
Marseilles Tarot Spreads:
Scroll down to the card spread images below or use the convenient form.
Get a Marseille Tarot Reading
