I still remember the first time I held a Tarot de Marseille. I love the mystery of the TdM, and the fact that no one can really pinpoint how it all came together. It was like holding a piece of history. I didn’t know what the cards were trying to tell me at first, but their meaning became clearer the longer I sat with the cards.
I had the same reaction to The Rider-Waite Smith Tarot. The fact that that I held a deck of cards that had existed for almost one hundred years that I could see myself in them was proof that magic existed. Again, I eschewed the guidebook and learned the cards trying to take in what I saw. The cards took me a while to learn, but what a journey it was.
I have many different editions of Ryder Waite Smith Tarot and the Tarot de Marsaille and each of them are steeped in history and meaning. I know the almost unknown history of the cards, but I have never seen anything like Pixie’s Marseille Tarot. It’s magic and history combined and it is astounding.
Alejandro R. Roman has created true magic with Pixies Marseille Tarot. He has used the style of Pamela Colman Smith and imagined what a TdM Tarot would look like through the lens of the RWS framework. The result is something that feels like a part of history and yet at the same time, it forges a new path forward.
When I started to read with the cards, it was like I was seeing Tarot in a new light. Having the TdM married to the RWS makes each card not only a window into yourself, but also a mirror that immediately deepens your connection to the cards. Rozan has balanced the two so that they compliment each other seamlessly.
Sometimes, like the 3 of Cups, it’s the barest nod to Pixie and in other cards, her style is alive and well. It’s a hard feat to make a deck that both recalls what we know of Pixies art, but an even more difficult thing to do to create your own style, while remaining true to the source material. There is so much love, both for Pixie and TdM, and it’s evident in each card of this gorgeous deck.
The Visual Guide to Imagery and Meaning by Alejandro R. Rozan and Chris Onareo that accompanies the deck is an incredible journey not only through Tarot but the symbolism and images within Pixies Marseille Tarot as well as Rozan’s process of drawing the cards. We’re also given Rozan’s journey to finding Pixie again and the spark that inspired the deck. The card meanings bring you further into each card. Each is given a page so that you can examine the art more clearly. Part history, part guidebook and part art book, The Visual Guide to Imagery and Meaning goes beyond the little white book. It’s a thing of beauty in and of itself.
This is deck features 85 cards with several having two versions of some cards such as the Moon, Temperance and the Devil for those that would like to choose. Personally, I kept all the cards in the deck. The cardstock is beautiful and done in a semigloss that shuffles smoothly. The cards are housed in a gorgeous magnetic box with silver accents that match the silver gilding on the card edges.
Pixie’s Marseille Tarot is a beautiful gift to the world of Tarot that feels like I am walking through history and I am so thankful for it.
Spirit of the Wolf 