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Le Jeu Divinatoire Le Jeu Divinatoire (or The Divinatory Game) is a book and deck set published by Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris. It is technically not a Tarot deck, as it consists of 27 cards which do not all have direct parallels to the trumps. |
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The deck was conceived by Yaguel Didier and painted by her friend Marina Karella. The 186 page book was a collaborative work, with each card’s commentary written by Rachel Pollack and its divinatory meanings provided by Didier. Written in French, the book introduces Le Jeu Divinatoire as an intuitively received oracle: “Like the clairvoyant, the artist – and in particular the painter – has visions; they are not accompanied by rational meanings likely to be expressed by language.” Didier describes the deck as a collaboration: “Marina Karella and I have known each other for a long time; I frequent her painting as she my practice of clairvoyance. The interest which each brought to the work and the sensitivity of the other enabled us to create this divinatory game. As to my symbols, Marina Karella knew to make a true work of art in 27 parts: 27 cards, 27 images, 27 variations of a common symbolic system whose coherence of pictorial treatment is expressed through fuzzy silhouettes, white landscapes, shades hiding characters, angels or demons.” The cards themselves are housed under the back flap of the book, which is not the most elegant packaging solution. Other than that, both the book and cards are of very high quality, and the paintings by Marina Karella are exceptional. The borders, numbers and titles are printed in gold metallic ink. Each card is numbered and named, although even the trump-like cards do not follow the Tarot in sequence. Cards I and II are shown above; they are the significators, or cards used in a layout to represent a man or a woman querant. They also suggest the beginnings of a story, since The Man has noticed a mirror on the ground, and The Woman has picked up that mirror and is looking into it. |
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Despite their titles, the majority of cards in this deck seem to have counterparts in the Tarot. Listed below are the 27 cards of Le Jeu Divinatoire, with their most likely counterparts shown in parenthesis: I. |
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The authors admit the influence of the trumps on this deck: “Some of our cards follow the Tarot very closely. The Magician, Justice, The Wheel of Fortune, The Devil, The Sun, The Moon and The Star issue directly from it. However the representation which we have from Marina Karella does not owe anything to the traditional imagery.” And this is true; several of the cards have only vague connections to the Tarot trumps, as we see with The Voyage (shown top row). Pollack describes it as a symbol of life changes and passages, and as symbolic of a “voyager” lifestyle. Didier adds that the card signals transformation, spiritual or intellectual mutation, and great voyages of the spirit. Didier also offers additional meanings for each card when it appears with another. For example, when The Voyage appears with Work (shown above) it signals ‘professional changes’; when appearing with The Serpents (shown above) it means ‘problematic voyage’; when with Death and Resurrection, it means ‘voyage canceled or missed’; when with The Moon (shown below), ‘an intellectual or spiritual voyage’. The authors suggest that this deck’s meaning is not to be found in its card sequence but in the way the cards fall randomly in a reading: “In place of the 22 atouts of the Major Arcana, Le Jeu Divinatoire proposes 27 figures. The most common interpretation of the Tarot consists in making of it a continuation, a story which starts with the first card and continues, step by step in the sequence of the cards, until the final revelation. The Divinatory Game does not obey such a marked logic: each card is not the element of an overall story, though its meaning cannot be read in isolation; the cards which surround it are significant.” The last card in the deck is called Entertainment (shown above), and bears a possible connection to The World. Where usually the card shows a woman dancing in the center of the ring herself, here we see her holding a ring through which a horse is jumping. The connection between the two, says the book, is that the last Tarot Trump foretells joy, while this card foretells pleasure and entertainment. The golden circle which the figure holds represents the Spirit and Perfection. The interpretation reads “an agreeable card which presages momentary joys, friendly encounters, satisfactions small or great.” When this card appears in conjunction with The Children and The House, the suggested meaning is ‘a joyous atmosphere in your home’; when appearing with The Moon and either The Man or The Woman, it suggests ‘you are in a state of very high optimism’; when with The Wheel of Fortune and The Fish, ‘unexpected luck in a game.’ |
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Since Didier views the Tarot as three groups of seven, plus one isolated card, she intentionally designed Le Jeu Divinatoire to be a ternary structure as well, giving it three groups of nine cards. The book explains that “one finds similarities within each group, in particular between the first and the last card.” This suggests that the first card Man has parallels to the tenth card Love and to the nineteenth card The Links (or The Rings); the second card Woman would have parallels to The Serpents and The Magician; the third card House would have parallels The Sun and The Lion. Personally, I don't see the connections being hinted at. While this deck is idiosyncratic from a traditional standpoint, its similarities to the Tarot trumps make it intriguing to me as a collector. And beyond any divinatory value it may have, the paintings by Marina Karella make Le Jeu Divinatoire a beautiful art deck. This French deck is not distributed in American stores so it can be a little difficult to find. I bought my copy from a seller on Ebay. |