Swiss Tarot

Jupiter, the fifth trump

The Swiss Tarot deck is a 78-card deck used for the tarot card games Troccas and Troggu. It is also sometimes called the JJ Tarot due to the replacement of the usual second and fifth trumps with cards depicting Juno and Jupiter, or as 1JJ Tarot in reference to the catalog number of a common release of the deck by A.G. Müller.[a]

History

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The deck is derived from the Tarot de Besançon, which itself comes from the Tarot of Marseilles.[1][2] It is an Italian suited pack which substitutes the figures of Juno and Jupiter in place of the Popess and Pope of the Tarot of Marseilles. The first version was produced between 1831 and 1838 in the card factory of Johann Georg Rauch. It was the first tarot pack made by the factory and was unexpectedly successful in the American market. The first version was manufactured, unaltered, by his successor, Johannes Müller in Diessenhofen until 1860.[3]

In 1965 the Swiss card game firm, A.G. Müller, issued a reprint which is distinguished by its cleaner lines. The alternative name for the pack comes from this edition, the "1" simply being a number within the product line and "JJ" the replacement of 2 trumps by Juno and Jupiter (see below).

Cards

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The face cards are not double headed and both the trumps and pip cards use additive Roman numeral indexing. The lack of modern features like vertically symmetrical face cards, corner indices, and Arabic numerals has made this deck unpopular for tarot players outside of their native communities. For example, the French-speaking Swiss (Romands) prefer using the Tarot Nouveau to play French tarot. It is still the official deck for Troccas tournaments.

Troccas players use the French-language version but refer to their cards with their Romansh (Rhæto-Romanic) nicknames.[4] Troggu players use the German version. The names of the trump cards are as follows:

Number Caption Rhæto-Romanic
French German English Name(s) Translation
O Le Mat Der Narr The Fool il matto The Fool
I Le Bateleur Der Magier The Magician il bagat the shell game player
II Junon
  • la gaglina
  • la biua
  • the chicken
  • the chicken (baby-talk)
III L'Impératrice Die Herrscherin The Empress l'imperatura the empress
IIII L'Empéreur Der Herrscher The Emperor igl imperatur the emperor
V Jupiter
  • il da Cuoz
  • il Diu fauls
  • the man from Cuoz (a suburb of Disentis)
  • the false God
VI L'Amoureux Die Liebenden The Lovers ils inamurai the lovers
VII Le Chariot Der Wagen The Chariot
  • il carr
  • la Catrina en crotscha
  • the carriage
  • Catherine's chariot
VIII La Justice Gerechtigkeit Justice
  • la giustia
  • la stadera
  • Justice
  • the scales
VIIII L'Ermite Der Eremit The Hermit il pader the monk
X La Roue de Fortune Rad des Schicksals Wheel of Fortune
  • la roda dalla fortuna
  • la ventira
  • the wheel of Fortune
  • fortune
XI La Force Kraft Strength la forza strength
XII Le Pendu Der Gehängte The Hanged Man il pendiu the hanged man
XIII La Mort Der Tod Death la mort death
XIIII Tempérance Die Mässigkeit Temperance
  • la tempronza
  • igl aunghel
  • Temperance
  • the angel
XV Le Diable Der Teufel The Devil
  • il giavel
  • il da cornas
  • il naucli
  • il bab dallas femnas
  • the devil
  • the one with the horns
  • the Evil One
  • the Father of Women
XVI La Maison de Dieu Der Turm The Tower
  • la casa da Diu
  • il tiaratriembel
  • il cametg
  • la Cadi
  • la claustra barschada
  • the house of God
  • the earthquake
  • lightning
  • the Church
  • the burning monastery
XVII L'Étoile Der Stern The Star las steilas the stars
XVIII La Lune Der Mond The Moon la glina the moon
XVIIII Le Soleil Die Sonne The Sun il sulegl the sun
XX Le Jugement Gericht Judgment
  • la dertgira
  • ils bluts
  • la giuventetgna
  • (divine) Judgement
  • the naked ones
  • youth
XXI Le Monde Die Welt The World
  • il mund
  • la vaca
  • la biala
  • il min
  • il miau
  • la ferma
  • the world
  • the cow
  • beauty
  • the cat (baby-talk)
  • the cat
  • beauty

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Swiss Tarot" is the name recommended by the International Playing-Card Society.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Swiss Tarot at i-p-c-s.org. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ^ Mann, Sylvia (1990). All Cards on the Table. Leinfelden: Deutsches Spielkarten-Museum. pp. 166–168, 172.
  3. ^ Ruh, Max (2005) Schaffhauser Spielkarten. Schweizer Pioniere der Wirtschaft und Technik. Verein für wirtschaftshistorische Studien, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-909059-32-5, pp 27–31, 52 and 73.
  4. ^ McLeod, John. Troccas at pagat.com. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
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  • Media related to Tarot 1JJ at Wikimedia Commons