This article continues my series examining the trumps of the Tarot de Marseille, adapted from my unpublished manuscript, Tarot de Marseille: The Picturebook of Fate. As throughout this series, the emphasis is placed upon the traditional eikōn of the card, its historical context, and the practical significations I have found useful through divinatory practice. The interpretations presented here reflect my own experience of working with the Tarot de Marseille and should be understood as a working method rather than a definitive authority.

The Fives: The Pope and Temperance

Trump V, Le Pape, or the Pope, is a card that is both misunderstood and misrepresented. Is he merely a conservative patriarch determined to preserve the status quo at all costs? Why do some interpret him as a symbol of bureaucracy, institutions, and red tape? Or does he challenge us to look beyond our assumptions and his imposing regalia to see something altogether deeper?

The traditional eikōn of the Pope is both familiar and remarkably consistent. We see an enthroned pontiff vested in a cassock and cappa magna or ferraiolo. One hand is raised in blessing, with two fingers and the thumb extended whilst the ring and little finger remain folded, signifying both the Trinity and the dual nature of Christ. In his other hand he bears a ferula and upon his head rests the Triregnum. At his feet kneel two tonsured figures, receiving his instruction and guidance.

The essence of the Pope is Wisdom; his function is to act as an intermediary. The distinction is important. The Pope does not represent knowledge alone, nor scholarship, intelligence, or learning for their own sake. Wisdom is something rather different. It is one of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and concerns the ability to perceive reality as it truly is. Wisdom enables us to move beyond our prejudices, passions, and limited perspectives in order to discern Truth and align ourselves with the highest good. The Pope therefore stands not for information, but for understanding.

In modern Europe, where attitudes towards organised religion are often mixed and relativism reigns supreme, the card is frequently recast as a symbol of oppression, conservatism, or institutional authority. Yet this is a superficial reading. The Pope represents neither a particular denomination nor a rigid ideology. Rather, he embodies the principle of Wisdom itself. His role is not to dominate but to guide, not to command but to illuminate. The two acolytes at his feet remind us that wisdom is something transmitted, received, and cultivated through instruction, reflection, and experience.

For this reason, the Pope commonly manifests in readings as a mentor, teacher, elder, counsellor, doctor, or other trusted adviser. Such individuals often appear when guidance is needed and uncertainty prevails. Through a combination of Percipience and inspiration, they help us understand what is truly important and steer us towards the best possible outcome. The Pope reminds us that there is no shame in seeking advice from those who possess greater experience or insight.

The card also challenges us to examine our conscience. Whilst the Empress asks us to communicate and the Emperor to take responsibility, the Pope asks whether we are acting rightly. He encourages reflection upon our motives, our obligations, and the consequences of our choices. In doing so, he becomes an intermediary between the ordinary concerns of daily life and the higher principles by which those concerns ought to be judged.

When the Pope appears, he often signals that guidance, support, or wise counsel is available. More importantly, he asks us to become a source of such guidance ourselves. The card calls us to act with integrity, to place service before selfishness, and to pursue the highest good available within the circumstances before us. In this sense, the Pope is not simply a figure of authority. He is a reminder that true wisdom is expressed through love, understanding, and right action.

General: Wisdom gained through the union of experience, learning, and Percipience. The Pope encourages the querent to look beyond immediate concerns and consider the wider implications of a situation. In times of difficulty, the conscience becomes a reliable guide. The card frequently signifies support, guidance, wise counsel, or the intervention of a trusted intermediary acting on the querent’s behalf.

Love: For established couples, the Pope confirms that the relationship rests upon strong foundations of love, respect, and mutual understanding. Difficulties can be overcome through openness, forgiveness, and a willingness to listen. The card frequently appears in connection with marriage, civil partnerships, and other formal commitments. For those who are single, the Pope tends to promise friendship, guidance, and emotional support rather than the immediate arrival of a new romantic interest.

Career: The Pope is naturally associated with religious vocations of all traditions, including contemporary pagan and spiritual paths. Secular professions include teaching, medicine, counselling, social work, psychotherapy, coaching, divination, and any occupation centred upon guidance, instruction, or the welfare of others. More generally, the card indicates a mentor, adviser, or influential figure whose support can prove invaluable.

Finance: The Pope often indicates a stable and reliable source of income together with the wisdom to manage resources sensibly. Financial difficulties are seldom faced alone under this card. Assistance, advice, or practical support is frequently available through trusted professionals, institutions, family members, or benefactors. The Pope favours prudent decisions and seeking expert guidance before making significant commitments.

Health: More often than not, the Pope signifies a doctor, specialist, therapist, or other trusted healthcare professional. As such, he is generally regarded as a favourable sign in health matters and frequently indicates appropriate treatment, sound advice, and recovery. Anatomically, the card is associated with the muscular system, particularly the thighs, buttocks, and groin.

Essence: Wisdom.
Function: Mediator.
Polarity: Positive.
Astrological Association: Sagittarius.
Timing: December.

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Tarot Cards: Jean Dodal Tarot via Wikipedia Commons. Public Domain.

Featured Image: Ancient Tarot Major Arcana © BP Grimaud/John Waddington Ltd, Leeds & London, Les Tarot de Marseille Jean Noblet, 1650 © Editions «letarot.com» (2001 [hand stencilled trumps]). Les Tarot de Marseille Jean Dodal, 1701 et 1715 © Editions «letarot.com» (2002 [hand stencilled trumps])

This article continues my series examining the trumps of the Tarot de Marseille, adapted from my unpublished manuscript, Tarot de Marseille: The Picturebook of Fate. As throughout this series, the emphasis is placed upon the traditional eikōn of the card, its historical context, and the practical significations I have found useful through divinatory practice. The interpretations presented here reflect my own experience of working with the Tarot de Marseille and should be understood as a working method rather than a definitive authority.

The Fours: The Emperor and Death

Let us now turn to another example, once again utilising the classic tirage en ligne, or linear draw. As before, the cards are read sequentially, each developing the story told by the previous card. This reading was done in 2010.

Due to an acrimonious divorce, Celeste had not seen her grandchildren for almost eighteen months. Following mediation, her former daughter-in-law agreed to restore contact. Although encouraged by this development, Celeste remained understandably cautious. Earlier attempts at reconciliation had broken down, and she feared the arrangement would prove short-lived.

Her question was simple: “Is this a lasting truce?”

The cards drawn were:

Moon – Death – Wheel of Fortune – Emperor

The reading begins with the Moon, which reveals the source of the problem. The Moon is a card of confusion, anxiety, misunderstanding, and emotional instability. In this instance, the dispute appears to have been sustained not merely by events themselves, but by the fears, assumptions, and misunderstandings surrounding them. Hurt feelings gradually acquired a life of their own, and perceptions became more influential than reality. The result was a situation in which distrust and uncertainty repeatedly undermined attempts at reconciliation.

The appearance of Death immediately afterwards is highly significant. Death acts upon the circumstances created by the Moon. Its scythe cuts away what has outlived its usefulness and brings matters to a definitive conclusion. Here, the card suggests that the confusion, resentment, and destructive patterns represented by the Moon are finally being brought to an end.

The placement of Death before the Wheel of Fortune is particularly striking. The scythe appears almost to cut across the endless turning of the Wheel itself. What is dying is not merely the disagreement, but the pattern of disagreement. Every previous attempt at reconciliation seems to have followed the same course. Contact resumed, relations improved, old grievances resurfaced, and the parties eventually found themselves back where they had started. The Wheel depicts this repeated return to the same point. Death intervenes by terminating the cycle itself.

The Wheel of Fortune therefore describes more than fluctuating circumstances. It reveals the repetitive nature of the conflict: periods of peace followed by renewed hostility, agreements followed by breakdowns, and reconciliation followed by further separation. The card shows a situation trapped within its own momentum.

The reading concludes with the Emperor. This is the card that ultimately answers the question. The Emperor imposes structure, order, and boundaries. Unlike the Sun, he does not suggest emotional warmth or renewed friendship. Instead, he establishes clear expectations and rules that all parties are required to respect.

The Emperor’s appearance is particularly appropriate following formal mediation. Unlike the Pope, who reconciles through wisdom and goodwill, the Emperor reconciles through structure. Expectations are defined, boundaries established, responsibilities clarified, and consequences understood.

In practical terms, the Emperor reflects the mediated agreement itself. Contact is restored not because everybody suddenly likes one another, but because a framework has been established within which each person understands their role and limitations. The relationship becomes governed by structure rather than emotion.

Taken together, the cards tell a coherent story. The confusion and emotional turmoil of the Moon are brought to an end by Death. In doing so, Death cuts through the repetitive cycle represented by the Wheel of Fortune, allowing the situation to move forward rather than endlessly repeating itself. The Emperor then provides a stable framework capable of sustaining the new arrangement.

My conclusion was that the truce appeared considerably more durable than previous attempts. The cards did not suggest warmth, forgiveness, or a complete healing of old wounds. Rather, they suggested that a dysfunctional cycle had been broken and replaced by a workable structure. The parties involved did not need to become friends; they merely needed to respect the framework established by the Emperor.

This example illustrates an important principle of the tirage en ligne: the cards often reveal not merely an answer, but the process by which that answer comes about. Here, each card acts upon the next, transforming confusion into closure, closure into change, and change into stability. The conflict itself is not what ends. What ends is the cycle of conflict.

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Tarot Cards: Jean Dodal Tarot via Wikipedia Commons. Public Domain.

Featured Image: Ancient Tarot Major Arcana © BP Grimaud/John Waddington Ltd, Leeds & London, Les Tarot de Marseille Jean Noblet, 1650 © Editions «letarot.com» (2001 [hand stencilled trumps]). Les Tarot de Marseille Jean Dodal, 1701 et 1715 © Editions «letarot.com» (2002 [hand stencilled trumps])

This article continues my series examining the trumps of the Tarot de Marseille, adapted from my unpublished manuscript, Tarot de Marseille: The Picturebook of Fate. As throughout this series, the emphasis is placed upon the traditional eikōn of the card, its historical context, and the practical significations I have found useful through divinatory practice. The interpretations presented here reflect my own experience of working with the Tarot de Marseille and should be understood as a working method rather than a definitive authority.

The Fours: The Emperor and Death

Trump XIII, La Mort, or Death, is traditionally left untitled in the Marseille packs; hence the designation L’Arcane sans nom, the Nameless Arcanum. Death: one of the two certainties of life. But how should we read it? Is it really just a card of transformation and change? Does it ever signify death itself? Whilst modern interpretations often soften its message, the Marseille card is neither subtle nor ambiguous. It speaks of endings.

The traditional eikōn of the thirteenth trump is one of the most familiar in the Tarot and would have been readily understood by medieval and early modern audiences. Here we see a personification of Death: an animated skeleton wielding a great scythe. At her feet lie severed hands, feet, and crowned heads. The message is straightforward. Death comes for princes and paupers alike. Rank, wealth, beauty, and power offer no exemption from her harvest.

The essence of the Death card is demise; its function is to terminate. Death marks the point at which something reaches its natural conclusion. In the words of Ecclesiastes, “There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven: a time for giving birth, a time for dying…”

Death is perhaps the most feared card in the Tarot, yet it represents the one fate from which none of us can escape. Curiously, we seldom speak of death directly. Instead, we rely upon euphemisms: people pass away, pass on, or fall asleep. It is from such discomfort that the popular notion of Death as a card of “transformation” largely arises. Yet the dead do not transform. They decompose. The body breaks down and returns to its constituent parts. Before anything new can emerge, something old must first come to an end.

This is the true meaning of the Death card. Something has reached the end of its allotted season and must be cut away. Situations wither, relationships come to an end, opportunities are lost, and chapters of life close. As Ecclesiastes reminds us, there is “a time for planting; a time for uprooting what has been planted.” Death marks precisely such a season. Something has fulfilled its purpose and can continue no longer.

Significantly, the card does not reveal what follows the ending. In this respect, Death is one of the clearest trumps in the pack. It makes no promises about renewal, rebirth, or what may come next. Death merely informs us that something is finished. To understand what is ending, and what consequences may follow, one must look to where Death directs her scythe.

Death cuts to the bone. In a reading, the scythe cuts directly to the heart of the matter, stripping away pretence, delay, and indecision. For this reason, the card frequently appears when a difficult choice can no longer be postponed. The querent stands at a crossroads and must decide upon a course of action. Death’s message is blunt: choose, or circumstances will choose for you.

Nor is the card confined to symbolic endings. It is not uncommon for Death to herald financial losses, periods of hardship, the termination of agreements, redundancies, or the ending of relationships. Whilst the card seldom predicts physical death directly, it invariably signifies the end of something important. Death arrives with her scythe, and once she has passed, matters cannot remain as they were before.

Although rare, the Death card can on occasion foretell an actual death. In practice, such indications are seldom unexpected and usually concern someone already elderly, infirm, or approaching the end of their natural life. One should be cautious, however, and never rely upon Death alone. Where such a meaning is intended, it will ordinarily be corroborated by surrounding cards and the wider context of the reading

General: The end of a situation, phase of life, partnership, or established way of doing things. The card signifies conclusions, loss, separation, and the necessity of letting go. Material or financial losses are common, though not inevitable. Death frequently appears when an important decision can no longer be avoided and circumstances compel decisive action.

Love: Relationships often enter a crucial and sometimes painful phase under this card. Matters cannot continue as they have, and changes become unavoidable. In some cases this leads to reconciliation through honesty; in others, to separation, whether temporary or permanent. When Death is prominent, there is often a profound sense of loneliness or emotional distance. For those who are single, the card is generally unfavourable for new relationships. More often than not, it suggests that a previous attachment has not yet been laid to rest and that time alone is needed before moving forward.

Career: Death is naturally associated with undertakers, morticians, pathologists, bereavement counsellors, and others who work directly with the dead. It may also signify occupations involving clearance, disposal, recycling, demolition, or waste management. In employment matters, the card often indicates a contraction in opportunities within the preferred field. A change of direction, retraining, or accepting a reduction in status or remuneration may be necessary. Unfortunately, it can also point towards redundancies, closures, and downturns affecting a particular industry or workplace.

Finance: Significant financial losses may occur under this card. More commonly, it signifies a period in which financial obligations exceed available resources, forcing difficult choices and sacrifices. The querent may need to reduce expenditure, liquidate assets, or abandon expensive commitments. Death can also indicate burdensome debts, particularly where repayment has become unrealistic without substantial change.

Health: Anatomically, Death is associated with the skeletal system, including the teeth. The card may indicate fractures, osteoporosis, rickets, osteomyelitis, temporomandibular disorders, and dental complaints, particularly toothache. When supported by surrounding cards, especially the House of God, it may signify surgical intervention.

Essence: Demise.
Function: Termination.
Polarity: Negative.
Astrological Association: None.
Timing: Now.

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Tarot Cards: Jean Dodal Tarot via Wikipedia Commons. Public Domain.

Featured Image: Ancient Tarot Major Arcana © BP Grimaud/John Waddington Ltd, Leeds & London, Les Tarot de Marseille Jean Noblet, 1650 © Editions «letarot.com» (2001 [hand stencilled trumps]). Les Tarot de Marseille Jean Dodal, 1701 et 1715 © Editions «letarot.com» (2002 [hand stencilled trumps])