Is this website related to the occult, the new age, and/or the metaphysical?
Absolutely not! This website is about the Tarot card game and is one of the few English language sites to use the word "Tarot" correctly, that is, in reference to a classic card game.
What is Tarot?
Tarot (aka Tarock, Tarocchi, and a number of other appellations) is a classic trump and trick taking card game. The word "Tarot" has often been misleadingly used in the English (and Spanish) speaking world solely in reference to divination activities. Tarot is , in essence, a card game and any supposed connection with things "occultic" was fabricated long after the invention of Tarot. See Bo Bernvill's page for an excellent summary of Tarot history
How does one pronounce "petit au bout?"
Puh-TEE Oh Boo
How does one pronounce "poignée?"
Pwah NYEH
Does one need to speak French in order to use the French playing Tarot?
No. There are currently a few people in Denmark playing a "Tarok" card game using the same "Tarot Nouveau" deck as the French use. The Danes speak a language sharing the same ancestor as English and German and it is quite distinct from the French language. http://www.pagat.com/tarot/dantarok.html
There is in fact a long history of non-francophones using French language Tarots, such as the Tarot de Marseille or the Swiss 1JJ Tarot, and of actually using gaming terms with French etymology. The playing Tarot may be used by speakers of any language.
What is the difference between Tarot and Tarock?
In a broad sense, "Tarock" is the German word for "Tarot." "Französisches Tarock" is the term used by German writers when discussing the French Tarot game. However it is most often used to describe a particular type of "Tarock" game which is most conventional in Austria and Southern Germany: one in which the Fool/Excuse functions as Trump 22 and the deck is reduced to 54 cards. See Austrian Tarock
