Total Tarot Issue 8

Hi all! With this issue we start the Marseille tarot, the first one that really divided the readers, and we received the Two of Pentacles for the Golden Art Nouveau.

Reading the Tarot talks about Self Reading Techniques today. We touched on this in issue 4, where the article talked about staying objective. This article gives some tips to help with that and some ways to practise reading for yourself without leaning too hard into pessimism or optimism. It's tough to keep neutral for your own reads! The illustrations in this article come from the beautiful Universal Celtic deck, due to arrive with issues 16 and 17.

Our Card in Detail is the Chariot, which symbolises moving forward without fear. Some of my favourite versions of this card come from themed decks, but there are some gorgeous versions given in the article.

The Tarot Spread is the Marseille Mystery and, for the first time, the spread is set over two issues. This week gives us the layout and explains what the positions means; next week will examine the sample cards drawn and help to interpret the cards. It uses the Marseille deck, which we started receiving this week.

Next is the Visual Reference to the Marseille majors. Looking at them laid out here, I can see that they are quite old fashioned, there's a limited colour palette, and I can understand why people may not like them as much. But I'm looking forward to working with them!

The Tarot Deck Library article focuses on the Marseille, talking about its history and about some of the meanings and details that are hidden in the card. I liked the look at the tiny variations in three print runs of the deck! It also features keywords for each card of the deck, and for the first time these are just words, not phrases or sentences.

The Glossary finishes the S and moves into T, and there are as always a few practice tips.