Free Marseille tarot reading
Draw the Tarot de Marseille online, with the 22 major arcana of a real 1713 deck held at Yale University. Three cards, the classic French cross spread (tirage en croix) or yes or no: free, no sign-up, and your question never leaves your device.
Swipe to see all 22 cards
Cards: Jean-Pierre Payen, Avignon, 1713 (Yale, Beinecke Library, public domain). See the deck at Yale.
How this Marseille tarot reading works
Think of your question, shuffle, then pick your cards from the 22 major arcana laid face down. The shuffle runs in your browser with a cryptographic random generator: nothing is chosen in advance and nothing is sent to a server.
Reversed cards are off by default, because many Marseille readers read every card upright and judge it by its place and its neighbors. Tick the box if you want them. The General, Love and Work buttons change the angle of each card without a new draw.
Three readings in one tool
The three-card reading reads past, present and future. The tirage en croix (cross spread), the classic Marseille spread, lays four cards (for you, against you, the way forward, the outcome) and works out a fifth, the synthesis, by adding their numbers: Le Mat counts 22, and while the total is above 22 you add its digits. The full calculation is shown under your reading. The yes or no tab answers with one card and its reason.
Every reading can be saved to your journal (on this device only), shared with a link or downloaded as an image.
The deck: Jean-Pierre Payen, Avignon, 1713
The cards are a Marseille-pattern tarot cut in wood and stencil coloured by Jean-Pierre Payen, a card maker in Avignon. The 2 of Coins reads "JEAN PIERRE PAYEN ANO. 1713". The full 78-card deck, 121 by 63 millimetres, belongs to the Cary Collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University (call number BEIN FRA166), which publishes it in open access.
We kept the cards as they are, stains and old spellings included: IMPERATRIS for the Empress, IUSTICE for Justice, L ESTOILLE for the Star, and numerals cut backwards on Justice and the Hanged Man. Only pencil numbers added later by an owner on three cards were removed.
Where the meanings come from
The Marseille majors and the majors of the 1909 deck are the same 22 archetypes under slightly different names and order: Le Bateleur is the Magician, La Papesse the High Priestess, La Maison Dieu the Tower, and Justice (VIII in Marseille) trades places with Strength (XI). The English readings on this page use our own texts for the matching card of the 1909 deck, shown under the Marseille name and number, with a link to the full meaning in the major arcana.
For a reading with all 78 cards, use our free tarot reading on the 1909 deck.
Questions
Is this Marseille tarot reading really free?
Yes. The reading is free with no sign-up, no credits, no phone psychic and no email address to give. The shuffle and the reading run in your browser, your question never leaves your device, and you can keep your readings in a journal stored on this device only.
How many cards are in the Tarot de Marseille?
The full deck has 78 cards: 22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana in Coins, Cups, Swords and Batons. This tool uses the 22 majors, as many French readers do, because the Marseille minors carry no illustrated scenes, only patterns of suit signs.
What is the tirage en croix?
It is the classic French spread for the Tarot de Marseille: four cards laid in a cross (for you, against you, the way forward, the outcome) and a fifth, the synthesis, found by adding the four card numbers and reducing the total to 22 or less. Le Mat counts 22 here.
Where do the card images come from?
They reproduce a tarot by Jean-Pierre Payen, a card maker in Avignon, dated 1713 on the 2 of Coins. The deck belongs to the Beinecke Library at Yale University, which publishes it in open access. The images are in the public domain and were not redrawn.
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