knight of cups tarot card
                Hello and welcome to the personal tarot homepage of MARCHAL !









                                                    
                                                    
Born in the 1960s under the sign of Scorpio I started to study the tarot as a personal interest and "hobby" some time ago with the help of a steadily growing collection of tarot books and decks I use for learning and as references.

I have joined the American Tarot Association (while being a German and living in southeast Germany), because I found its work useful and interesting,  and have become a volunteer for the Free Tarot Network and - as of December 2008 - the Free Reading Network.

Tarot helps me see myself and my choices more clearly and from new perspectives. I have witnessed Tarot readings to correctly tell or hint at future events, although - like many others who study tarot - I feel that we are never foretelling what will by all means happen, but rather have a look at present and past situations from many and new angles of looking and can detect "dry river beds" for possible futures to become active if water is allowed to flow. To me the future is not yet written and closed - each of us is working at it and molding it all the time and the Tarot may give us some glimpses on options, possibilities and ideas of futures that might come to pass if we provide our share of energy and effort - so I think I am trying divination with my tarot decks, trying to glimpse a portion of the divine plan or trying to understand a bit about the currents and flow of events, rather than Fortunetelling
Far more important and fascinating to me Tarot (in my view) requires and led me to a deep interest in the field of Western esoteric or  Western esotericism (alchemy, hermeticism, numerology, astrology, kabballah, magick) with all their symbology - like The Fool I am just at the very beginning of that adventure. I am fascinated by how deeply interwoven a large part or European history (and not only philosophy and art and medical branches like homoeopathy) is with what today is called Western esoteric thinking - and unfortunatley I cannot stop to gather more and more books on the subject (which turn out to be farer and farer away from the New Age books I started with years ago).
I am not into practicing rituals and magic/magick, though, this is not for me - at the moment I rather try to just understand systems and symbols and their history. I do not belong to a formal esoteric group at the moment, although I was initiated into freemasonry and a masonic apprentice some 15 years ago - unfortunately I proved too much a recluse (and witnessed too many changes in my personal life at that time) to carry through. 
I often work with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, but also with the brilliant Alchemical Tarot and sometimes the Bright Idea Deck, as well- at the moment these seem to me to be very "original" and very accessible and in my hands seem to provide the best  results. I very much appreciate my Tarot de Marseilles decks as "the real thing". As of summer 2009 I have fallen in love with Paul Huson`s Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot - this is the deck I now use most of the time, esepcially as Huson's related book on the Mystical Origins of the Tarot proved to be key literature with regard to "Western esoteric" tarot.  And of course there is the Liber T - Tarot of the Stars Eternal deck, which has so much depth and so many dimensions that it will keep me at it for many years to come and (developed and closely stemming from the Toth tarot) will help me gain much more general esoteric understanding, I am sure.
Other decks I possess but usually do not use for readings, but for comparing, studying, meditation:

As studying the tarot and the topics related to it is such a wide field I definitely have to regard and describe myself as a tarot learner - and probably always will.

Reading tarot cards for myself or others is part of this learning, studying and self-evolving process. In doing a reading for others,  though, I am also doing my very best  to go to work for my "client" with professional interest, engagement and a high standard ethical conduct - I am by all means open, honest and real with people I read tarot cards for and see my tarot readings as a means to help and further their spiritual growth and development as well as mine.

                                              My "Code of Ethics" when I read tarot cards:
BTW you can find me at Aeclectic Tarot, which I deem a very good tarot website with lots of interesting information and discussions.
Tarot is a great interest and focus of private studies of mine. In everyday life I have quite a different regular job, though, in the German health sector (MD).
Thank you for visiting this info-page - all the best wishes to you!


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Contact: marchal-AT-freetarot-DOT-us or marchal-AT-freetarot-DOT-us or tarotmarchal-AT-googlemail-DOT-com (replace AT and DOT with a ".", please)
C. Renner, Deggendorf, Germany    (Disclaimer: Please note that this page and my interest in esoteric topics is strictly "hobbyist" and personal and has nothing to do at all with my professional work in the health-sector and that I keep these areas strictly and unconditionally separated, as they have by all means to be!)

The illustrations of the Knight of Cups above is from the RWS deck - and to my best knowledge in the public domain (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cups12.jpg). Note that the colored Rider-Waite Tarot Deck®, known also as the Rider Tarot and the Waite Tarot, belongs to U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Copyright ©1971 by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited. The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck® is a registered trademark of U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Legal Disclaimer: As with any www-site or www-page of mine I am and cannot be responsible for content provided on websites that I do not own nor have any possibility to change or administrate and whose content might change anytime without my knowing- even if there are links on my pages pointing to these sites. I am and can only be responsible for my own pages = DISCLAIMER