Trump / Card: definition

Lame (card) is another name given to a tarot card, especially in the vocabulary of the major arcana. The term comes from the French tradition of the Marseille Tarot.

The word stresses the material and symbolic singularity of the card: a lame is not just any playing card, but a dense image, bearer of a long tradition of meaning.

Speaking of a lame, rather than a card, often marks a particular attention to the iconographic and symbolic dimension of each arcanum, proper to a careful and traditional approach.

It is especially frequent when referring to the twenty-two major arcana, often called the twenty-two lames, while for the minors the term card is used more.

The use of this vocabulary does not change the meaning of the cards, but it situates the reader within a tradition and a way of looking at tarot with respect for its symbolic density.

In practice, lame and card are interchangeable; choosing one term or the other mainly reveals the reader's sensibility and the school they feel close to.

Ultimately, using the term lame is also a way of recalling that each arcanum is a work in itself, heir to centuries of engraving and symbolism, and not a simple interchangeable card within a deck made for playing.

Whichever term one prefers, what matters is treating each card as a dense, meaningful image to be read with care, rather than a mere counter in a game.