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Tarot de Marseille or Rider-Waite: which to choose

Tarot · ~8 min read

It's the first question almost everyone asks before buying a deck. Marseille or Rider-Waite? Both hold 78 cards, both tell the same symbolic journey, yet they are read in completely different ways. Here's what truly sets them apart, and how to decide without regret.

Two histories, two intentions

The Tarot de Marseille is the older of the two. It descends from the Italian tarots of the 15^th century, then took shape in the workshops of French card makers during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The deck engraved by Nicolas Conver in 1760 remains the reference for most reprints today. Its artwork is schematic, almost naïve: flat blocks of colour, black outlines, no perspective. That's not a flaw — it's a choice, and it keeps the image open.

The Rider-Waite, by contrast, is an authored deck. It appeared in 1909 in London, published by William Rider & Son, devised by Arthur Edward Waite and entirely illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith — which is why today it's more accurately called the Rider-Waite-Smith. Waite came out of the Golden Dawn, an English esoteric order, and his deck carries an explicit grid of correspondences (elements, astrology, kabbalah).

The difference that changes everything: the minor arcana

If there's only one point to remember, it's this one.

In the Tarot de Marseille, the 40 numeral cards of the minors (ace to ten, across the four suits: wands, cups, swords, coins) are non-figurative. The Five of Coins shows five coins arranged in a pattern, nothing more. You read the number, the suit and the geometry.

In the Rider-Waite, every minor card is an illustrated scene. The Five of Pentacles shows two destitute figures passing beneath a lit stained-glass window: deprivation, exclusion, the help you fail to see. The meaning is told, and therefore immediate.

The very concrete consequence: with the Rider-Waite, a beginner can interpret all 78 cards within the first week. With the Marseille, you first have to learn the logic of numbers and suits — a few weeks of patience, but a reading that then becomes highly structured.

The other gaps, in practice

• The numbering of the majors. In the Marseille, VIII is Justice and XI is Strength. Waite swapped these two arcana to align them with his astrological correspondences: for him, VIII is Strength (linked to Leo) and XI is Justice (linked to Libra). Neither is "right" — but don't mix two systems within the same reading.
• The Fool. The Marseille's Mat is unnumbered: it circulates freely. The Rider-Waite's Fool carries the 0 and opens the series.
• The vocabulary. La Papesse becomes the High Priestess, the Pope becomes the Hierophant, the Maison Dieu becomes the Tower, the Coins become the Pentacles, the Bâtons become the Wands.
• The court cards. The Marseille has Valet, Cavalier, Reine, Roi. The Rider-Waite keeps the same hierarchy under the names Page, Knight, Queen, King.
• The colours. The Marseille works with a reduced, symbolic palette; the Rider-Waite works with narrative scenes complete with sky, landscape and characters.

How to choose, in four questions

1. Do you want to read fast or read for a long time? For a practice that starts tonight, the Rider-Waite. To build a method over years, the Marseille rewards the investment.
2. What kind of mind do you have? If you think in stories and images, Pamela Colman Smith's scenes will speak to you. If you love structures, numbers and geometry, the Marseille is your ground.
3. What do you read around it? The vast majority of English-language books, websites and apps rely on the Rider-Waite. The classic French-language literature (Jodorowsky, Ben-Dov, Camoin) starts from the Marseille. Choosing the deck of your sources saves you a great deal of confusion.
4. What draws you visually? An underrated yet decisive criterion: you'll handle these cards hundreds of times. A deck you like is a deck you'll open.

A sensible path: start with a single deck, stick with it for six months, then discover the other. The two systems end up feeding each other.

What it illuminates day to day

Beyond the collector's debate, the choice of deck changes the way you think. The Rider-Waite gives you situations: an image shows someone turning their back, someone waiting, someone celebrating. It's very effective for naming a vague emotion and recognising it in your own week.

The Marseille gives you movements: a number that rises, a colour that dominates, a series that repeats. It's very effective for spotting an underlying dynamic — for example an accumulation of swords, classically associated with the mind, tension and difficult decisions.

Some astrological correspondences inherited from the Golden Dawn can also enrich the reading: the Hermit is traditionally linked to Virgo, the Devil to Capricorn, the Star to Aquarius. These are reading keys among others, never equations.

Points of caution

Don't mix the systems without realising it. Interpreting a Marseille card with a Rider-Waite manual creates misreadings, especially around Strength and Justice.

Beware the "right" deck. Neither is more authentic, more powerful or more accurate. They are two grammars, not two levels.

Keep the cards in their place. A reading offers symbolic leads and angles for reflection; it announces nothing certain. On a question of health, money or law, it never replaces the advice of a qualified professional — at best, it helps you frame the question you'll go and ask them.

Watch out for reprints. Many decks sold as a "Tarot de Marseille" are in fact modern creations of varying faithfulness. Check the stated lineage (Conver, Camoin-Jodorowsky, Grimaud) before buying.

Frequently asked questions

Can you learn tarot with both decks at once?

It's possible, but rarely comfortable at first. The correspondences differ and the brain retains one system at a time better. Many experienced readers use both, each for a different purpose: the Rider-Waite for everyday life questions, the Marseille for deeper ones.

Which is the most used today?

The Rider-Waite-Smith and its countless variants dominate by far worldwide, not least because most modern decks draw on it. In France, the Tarot de Marseille keeps a strong place, carried by a solid tradition of interpretation.

Do you need a physical deck to read well?

No. The gesture of shuffling has a valuable ritual quality, but the essentials play out in the question asked and in the interpretation. A well-designed digital draw, with a genuinely random shuffle and a journal of your readings, fills that role perfectly — and lets you track the themes that keep coming back over the weeks.