Marseille Tarot

The Marseille Tarot is the historical tarot pattern developed in France between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with celebrated examples by Jean Dodal, Jean Noblet and Nicolas Conver. It is characterised by flat colours, woodcut lines and unillustrated Minor Arcana: the cards from Ace to Ten show only the number of suit symbols, arranged in geometric patterns. It keeps Justice at VIII and Strength at XI. Reading it relies on numerology, the direction of the figures' gazes and the orientation of objects. It remains the dominant tradition in France, Spain and much of Latin America, and it predates the Golden Dawn systems.