Swiss Tarot

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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.

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.

Troggu players use the German version. Troccas players use the French-language version but refer to their cards with their Romansh (Rhæto-Romanic) nicknames.[4] In 2016, A.G. Müller began printing of Sursilvan captioned packs for Troccas players on behalf of Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha. The names of the trump cards are as follows:

Trump cards

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# Caption Rhæto-Romanic Image
English German French Sursilvan Name(s) Translation
The Fool Der Narr Le Mat Il Narr il narr The Fool
I The Magician Der Magier Le Bateleur Il Bagat il bagat the shell game player
II Junon La Gaglina
  • la gaglina
  • la biua
  • the chicken
  • the chicken (baby-talk)
III The Empress Die Herrscherin L'Impératrice L'imperatura l'imperatura the empress
IIII The Emperor Der Herrscher L'Empereur Igl Imperatur igl imperatur the emperor
V Jupiter
  • il da Cuoz
  • il Diu fauls
  • the man from Cuoz (a suburb of Disentis)
  • the false God
VI The Lovers Die Liebenden L'Amoureux Ils Inamura ils inamurai the lovers
VII The Chariot Der Wagen Le Chariot Il Carr
  • il carr
  • la Catrina en crotscha
  • the carriage
  • Catherine's chariot
VIII Justice Gerechtigkeit La Justice La Giustia
  • la giustia
  • la stadera
  • Justice
  • the scales
VIIII The Hermit Der Eremit L'Ermite Il Pader il pader the monk
X Wheel of Fortune Rad des Schicksals La Roue de Fortune La Roda dalla Fortuna
  • la roda dalla fortuna
  • la ventira
  • the wheel of Fortune
  • fortune
XI Strength Kraft La Force La Forza la forza strength
XII The Hanged Man Der Gehängte Le Pendu Il Pendiu il pendiu the hanged man
XIII Death Der Tod La Mort La Mort la mort death
XIIII Temperance Die Mässigkeit Tempérance Igl Aunghel
  • la tempronza
  • igl aunghel
  • Temperance
  • the angel
XV The Devil Der Teufel Le Diable Il Giavel
  • 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 The Tower Der Turm La Maison de Dieu Il Tiaratriembel
  • 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 The Star Der Stern L'Étoile Las Steilas las steilas the stars
XVIII The Moon Der Mond La Lune La Glina la glina the moon
XVIIII The Sun Die Sonne Le Soleil Il Sulegl il sulegl the sun
XX Judgment Gericht Le Jugement Il Truament
  • la dertgira
  • ils bluts
  • la giuventetgna
  • il truament
  • (divine) Judgement
  • the naked ones
  • youth
  • the tribunal
XXI The World Die Welt Le Monde Il Mund
  • il mund
  • la vaca
  • la biala
  • il min
  • il miau
  • la ferma
  • the world
  • the cow
  • beauty
  • the cat (baby-talk)
  • the cat
  • beauty

Suit cards

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Suit
Number
 Cups Pentacles[b] Swords Wands
Ace
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Page
Knight
Queen
King

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Swiss Tarot" is the name recommended by the International Playing-Card Society.[1]
  2. ^ In English, the face cards explicitly name themselves "PENTACLES" despite not featuring any pentacles.

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