- Illustrator: Nicolas Galkowski
- Publisher: Findhorn Press – https://www.innertraditions.com/mini-tarot-de-marseille
- Date published: 14-Apr-26
- ISBN: 9798888504673
- Website: www.findhornpress.com
- Reviewed by: Clair T
What you might like:
A lovely handy size
Fabulous colours
Presented in a magnetic clip box.
What you might not like:
Not a full picture, titles have taken away part of the image
Guidebook meanings differ from traditional Marseille meanings
Cards are quite glossy and have a sticky gilded edge
So, I have begun by listing a few key positive and less positive points. It is nice to have a deck that is handy for travel. Sometimes you don’t want to carry a big bulky box with all its contents. I do have small hands and was surprised at how ‘mini’ the box is at 11cm x 7.5 cm in size. The gilding, shiny metallic black, has a sticky feel and a plastic smell. The backs of the deck, being red and white, feature a face in a circle that has a worried looking expression. There is a bend in the cards, though, and as I am not a riffle shuffling kind of person, it might not take long for them to develop a more prominent curvature.
The illustrator of the deck, Nicolas Galkowski, wants us to look at the design with a fresh approach. He already has a mini RWS deck out (Findhorn Press 2024) and a specialised creation called “Les Baguettes Divinatoires” (Lotus Elephant 2025) which are not cards but more like sticks that you draw from the box with keywords and meanings. Rather unique and fun! Nicolas is a French graphic illustrator and design artist.
In the guidebook, at 101 pages, is divided into:
Major Arcana
Minor Arcana – the four suits
The Spreads
Page 7 invites you to “heed your own intuition and that it is primarily read from the heart.” Although I agree that Marseille can be read openly, I would tend to stick to some traditional elements of the system, including numerology.
Every card is described with key words, a sentence to describe the meaning and a question to guide you. For example the Three of Cups and Nine of Swords are respectively:
Celebration, Friendship, Community
Bonds are strengthened by shared moments. How do you cultivate your friendships?
Anxiety, Worry, Insomnia
Worries seem heavier at night. How can you put your mind at ease?
Not having seen the mini RWS Tarot, I couldn’t help but wonder if the information has been copied into this book without looking at the traditional Marseille meanings.
There is something I want to discuss at this point and it is how the image is cut off by the title. The 10 of coins, for example, is not a complete picture. Perhaps it might not be a problem for some people and that’s ok too.
However, I do like the colours in this deck (I have some quirky 1970’s/80’s decks that are definitely not conventional), and I like the peachy coloured tones and the creamy coloured backgrounds of this Mini Marseille.
In the guidebook, from page 96 to 101 are basic 1, 3, 4, and 5 card spreads. The 5 card spread is described as “perfect for understanding the dynamic of a relationship between two people, whether it is a love affair, friendship or professional relationship”. I would not endorse reading for 3rd parties but it is up to you as a reader what you do in your own practice.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this deck for Marseille users. It might suit beginners perhaps but speaking as a seasoned Marseille reader, this is not a deck I would purchase for myself or client use. And that’s a shame, because the colour scheme is lovely and the size is handy, but the poor quality printing and the warped and sticky card stock really let it down.
https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Mini-Tarot-de-Marseille/Nicolas-Galkowski/9798888504673
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