Frédéric
Lionel's symbolically detailed major
arcana cards were originally published in
1980 by the French publishing house
Editions du Rocher to accompany the book
Le Tarot Magique. In 1982,
Routledge Kegan Paul of London issued the
cards with an English-language edition of
Editions du Rocher's book, entitled The
Magic Tarot: Vehicle of Eternal
Wisdom.
Although Lionel's cards retain the
"traditional" titles of the major arcana,
his dual-numbering system departs from the
norm. Roman numerals in the upper
left-hand corner represent the symbolic
quality of the card, while Arabic numerals
in the upper right-hand corner indicate
the cards' representative stages along the
path of initiation.
Le Tarot Magique was listed in
Stuart Kaplan's Encyclopedia of
Tarot, vol. III, pp. 329, 330-332.
Kaplan provides great detail on the
meanings of the symbolic elements for all
cards except Temperance and The Moon.
For more information on this unique
selection, write to us at info@tarotgarden.com.
