In clockwise order from the top: Baba Studio’s Mercury’s Fortune Telling Cards, Envoys & Artifacts: a Pathways Deck, Tarot des Ambiguïtés, Ancient Times Tarot (large edition), Faure’s Tarot de Marseille
It has been a very rainy and dreary start to November in my neck of the north. Halloween was picture perfect day, and November 1st decided to steal the “gloomy” scene and hasn’t relented since. Which makes it perfect to be stuck inside with a Tarot study month ahead! This November I’m tackling the Marseille reading style again. While I’m not completely new to Marseille, I am by no means a seasoned reader, so I like to make sure I spend at least one month out of the year completely dedicated to studying it. And, this past year I found some super fun decks to use! I also wanted to pair them with a couple unusual oracles that are more straight shooters and aren’t too labor intensive to use, so I chose the old-school-cool Mercury’s Fortune Telling Cards, which is a restored printing out of Baba Studios, along with the new Envoys & Artifacts from the same artist that made The Forager’s Daughter Tarot.
The Mercury was a very chatty deck as I shuffled it and was insistent on spitting out multiple jumpers so after I tried to get just a single card, or two, I gave up and kept all three cards it wanted to give.
The Mercury Fortune Telling Deck, unlike a Tarot deck which is layered and esoteric in nature, was historically taken rather literally. Pulling a “Soldier” card literally meant the presence of a soldier, or soldier like person. Perhaps I could read this as standing up for the things I need to defend in my life.
Envoys & Artifacts gave me the curious “The Herbalist” card which features a healing mash in the mortar, echinacea flowers and a young albeit scarred alligator curled around the mortar. We can read this literally as needing a healer or healing, but we can also assume the role of the healer, a stalwart individual that can face things that make others fearful, doing the right thing anyway, but also having scars of their own. Who heals the healer?
These two cards together make it clear that there’s something important that is worth taking a stand for.
The Mercury deck sent its name sake flying into the air paired with a very similar card. If we take these literally, we can see that we are receiving lots of information this month! Starting out of order with the Letter, we can see formal information passing to me from written communication, or perhaps others reaching out in traditional ways. Interestingly, this Letter is delivered by a dove which strongly reminds me of some imagery of the traditional RWS Ace of Cups with the dove delivering the Catholic holy sacrament–this feels like a nod to our healer card.
With Message we can assume we will also be receiving information in person, from others, or though coincidence and synchronicity, or, if you are more of a woo believer than I am, through divine intervention. With the image of Mercury flying with his magical boots and helm along with his healing staff, again I see the Healer’s message repeated. But, I also get a more hurried sense, as if many things are moving about quickly all at once (ah-hem, Eight of Wands?).
Well, the oracle cards had quite a lot to say, but what about the Marseille decks?
The Tarot des Ambiguïtés is a very strange and intriguing modern Marseille deck that was an instantaneous buy for me when I first saw it. The minors are imagined as body parts (Swords are arms, which makes sense as you can use a sword to “strong arm” your way), and while this comes off as grotesque (there’s a lot of bleeding hearts in cups, heads as pentacles, and legs as wands), the majors has a very tongue-in-cheek fun with body parts in strange places. Here I pulled the Four of Arms (Swords) Reversed, and we are in a dead-lock of arms holding blades back. Baby Marseille reader that I am, I read the fours as stability in the suits, but also stagnation. Perhaps even comfort that is difficult to grow past, or being boxed out of something. One of my hobbies outside of Tarot is studying and practicing historic fencing, and this particular Four of Arms/Swords really reminds me of a botched, taking-to-the-close play where you transition from fencing into wrestling. Both fencers are trying to take the sword of their opponents. All hands are being cut by blades, but no one can be dropped because there is fear of even more deadly harm. There is stubbornness.
The Ancient Times Tarot, made by the artist that did the Runic Tarot and the Heaven and Earth Tarot, is a deck I backed on Kickstarter. I love the idea of integrating the Norse runes into the Tarot and I love the art of this deck, so even though it’s not strictly a Marseille deck, it is Marseille-adjacent enough that I’m super excited to get to know it this month. It followed Ambiguïtés Four of Swords/Arms, with the Two of Swords and the rune Thurisaz, or Thorn. Twos in the Marseille for me symbolize balance and harmony, and in the upright position, I see the two of swords being sheathed (its hard to draw a sword downwards from its sheath!). Interestingly, the rune is Thurisaz, the Thorn rune, a dual purpose rune of both literally protecting with the thorn, but also a catalyst of change requiring you to be protective and proactive.
And we end with an absolutely beautiful Nine of Cups from Faure’s Tarot de Marseille. Leaves seem to grow and spill from the cups, and new fresh blossoms are emerging. Nines for me in the Marseille are an internal fulfillment of the suit, so the Nine of Cups is an emotional fulfillment, a wish granted so to say.
If we read the Tarot alone, it seems like we had an experience of resolving a tense conflict that triggered some sort of catalyst in our peacemaking, thus fulfilling a deep wish! But we are reminded in the oracle cards that there is a whole lot to do, to stand up and help heal, and much information moving about.
What a busy month ahead! What decks are you reaching for this month?
